These dating services vary in price. Many don’t cost a thing, or have a free month long period for you to try the site and figure out whether it’s worth it for you. In most cases, unpaid sites don’t have the same kind of functionality in comparison with paid sites. For example, you shouldn’t expect to be able to search through interests or hobbies. More likely, you’ll have to sift through hundreds of profiles sorted only by location, age, and sex. That can add a lot of time to your hunt.

On the other hand, if you sign up for a paid service, you can make use of a powerful search engine that lets you sort via a number of different factors, as varied as height, education level, and the kind of food a person likes. If you’re searching through a small community, that’s not a big issue, but when you talk about large cities, there are thousands of people on each site, which can mean hours and hours of searching before finding someone who even looks like a possibility.

Another cost that most people don’t think about? You’ll likely be going on a lot more dates! This could prove doubly expensive for men, if they go the traditional route and pick up the whole tab. This is one reason (with safety being the other primary) why it’s important to spend some time getting to know someone online before taking the relationship offline. And who wants to sit through a long meal with someone they’re obviously not compatible with anyway?

Sites that aim to sign up users belonging to a specific race or religion often cost more than their counterparts, for one simple reason: they can. While the enormous dating sites face fierce competition, niche sites advertise towards specific demographics, and don’t have to worry about people flocking elsewhere, because there’s nowhere else to flock. For the online dater utilizing these sites, that translates to a higher charge on the bill at the end of the month.

One last thing to keep in mind: it’s very easy to sign up with your credit card, and then completely forget about it! A year later, you check your card statement, and realize you’ve been paying for it the whole time. That could mean a whole lot of wasted money.

Dating sites can provide great value for users, but it’s important to choose the right service. Do your research, and you can end up with the perfect match.

Jayde Johannsen give plenty of great advice when it comes to Australian dating sites. She also realises how uncommon totally free personals are.