Saucy Dates is a free hook-up platform for singles. The development team promises to quicky fix you up with a partner for a one-night stand. The home page promises that user profiles are 100% genuine, wows with a wide range of features, and boasts fancy awards.
At first glance, the Saucy Dates app is a jack-of-all-trades. I got curious to see what happens once you strip down the shiny cover and dive deeper into exploring the website. Spoiler alert: it didn’t turn out to be all that good.
Affordability: 2/5
Saucy Dates goes out of its way to prove that it’s free to use. I treat free dating websites suspiciously as it is — if that’s the case, how does the team make money? How would I, as a user, ensure that my hookup is genuine and safe to date? When it came to Saucy Dates, I needed to hit the web and understand what lies beyond the “Saucydates free” cover-up.
It turns out, the platform is an affiliate website for larger and more reputable hookup platforms. As you start to check out the profile reel, you realize none of the girls or guys are the website users. You’ll be redirected to other dating platforms right away — iHookup, AdultFriendFinder, and others.
The platform works as a sales funnel for other dating spaces. You will not be able to communicate freely using a single platform and will have to browse affiliate websites to connect with a match.
Audience quality: 2/5
As an affiliate, Saucy Dates aims to convert traffic to other websites rather than keep users on the page consistently. That means there are fewer active users than on other acclaimed hookup platforms. Those that completed the Saucy Dates sign-in are expressing their opinions online — loud and clear.
As to official numbers, a UK-based platform is not too popular at home. According to Statista, only 19% of all surveyed dating website users gave Saucy Dates a try. A little over half of the online love-seekers heard of the platform by name — 58% of British daters never used it.
Other than that, it turns out that underage users can create accounts on the website. Users have spotted 16-17 year-olds on the platform and wrote negative reviews:
Fake profiles and underage users are the blueprints of Saucy Dates. The website is a far cry from a large platform with thousands of real accounts it claims to be.
Interface: 3/5
The homepage might mistakenly lead you to the idea that the website is sleek and easy to use. It is full of user experience drawbacks.
A lengthy Saucy Dates sign up. Before getting to browse through potential matches, get ready to answer sexual interests and orgasms surveys.
Heavy use of ads. The website is full of third-party banners that clutter the Saucy Dates search page and negatively impact the user experience.
Full-screen third-party offers. If you are not careful when browsing through pages, there are high odds to sign up for dubious memberships.
On the positive side, the interface is well-guided. In-app banners help users move along the sign-up process, and they are helpful and non-invasive.
The website design is a pink-and-white combination, with minimalistic blocks, and enough space between them. Saucy Dates’ design complies well with what a good-looking page means these days. However, the ad-heaviness adds to the confusion and disgust a user might feel browsing the platform — hence, the three-out-of-five score.
Security and privacy: 2/5
Saucy Dates is the opposite of a secure dating space. As a free platform, it’s open to a wide number of users — scammers and catfishers included. During the registration process, the website misses out on confirming the legitimacy of a profile — there’s no need to attach a social media account.
While the Saucy Dates site technically demands email confirmation, there’s an offer to skip it at the bottom of the page.
The website is known for data processing and storage shortcomings. In 2018, it was at the center of a major data leak. The number of shared records exceeded 213,000 and included sensitive data — IP addresses, birthdays, locations, and emails. The platform founders didn’t even come as far as to point a finger on the one responsible.
Recently, the development team improved its security. They launched an AI assistant that scans messages, flags those that look fishy or contain outright threats, and block malicious users.
According to the company’s press release, since the implementation of Scarlet, the AI assistant, users are 75% less likely to get involved in fraud.
Hookup chance: 1/5
With the little-to-no native audience, few investments into the development of the platform, and a dubious reputation online, Saucy Dates can hardly wear the badge of a safe hookup space. While there might be a few-percent chance to land a date on the website, most likely, you’ll waste your time navigating between third-party redirects.
Saucy Dates is the opposite of the standards personals platforms should set.
11 millions members | 300k per months |
4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
low fraud risk | Verification email, phone, photo |
$0.95 – $45.95 subscription price |
A safe alternative
Just in case you expected Saucy Dates to be your next hookup platform and are confused about what to do in the light of its excruciating reputation, the good news is, there are alternatives. One of the best sex sites is Pure — a worldwide hookup website with over 200,000 registered users.
Here’s why you should consider Pure a reliable alternative to Saucy Dates.
- It’s secure. A data breach like the one on Saucy Dates would never happen on Pure simply because there will be no information to leak. All user profiles disappear one hour after signing up. No one in the world will be able to access your data.
- It’s intelligent. Pure uses location-based search along with advanced filtering to find the match that’ll fit your relationship expectations.
- It’s nice to look at. Pure is ad-free, with a minimalistic black-and-white interface. Nothing will distract you from looking for and connecting with a romantic partner.
- It has over 200,000 registered users. Pure has hundreds of thousands of valid accounts that span all over the US, UK, and Western Europe. There will likely be a wide match pool in your area.
Pure is a paid app — after a 6-days free trial, users pay for a subscription.
Conclusion
It’s common for indecent development teams to take advantage of the hookup space.
Platforms like Saucy Dates are a way to lure a relationship-seeker into nonconsensually selling his data or paying a scammer. The platform does little to evoke trust and build a lasting bond with a user.
Pure is a safer, more reliable alternative. It has a large pool of users and will help arrange an enjoyable sex date.