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4/5

  • Large pool of members
  • Comprehensive profiles
  • Games and questionnaires
  • Key functions available in free version
  • Filters to set better search conditions
  • Search via swipes and browsing
  • Fake/spam profiles
  • Intermittent technical issues
  • Many ads

Overview


  • Who uses it?:
    18 - 64, Diverse user base, Looking for hanging out, long-term relationships, hookups, and friendships
  • How many users?:
    170 million+, 4 million/month
  • Features to help you match:
    Photos, Location, Age, Bios, Lifestyle, Interests, Education, Sexual orientation, Habits, Social rank and affluence, Personality
  • Mobile access:
    Yes
  • Pricing:
    Free, Plenty of Fish Premium, Plenty of Fish Plus, Tokens (Cost is dependent on contract length)
  • Free version:
    Yes

Plenty of Fish Review

Emily Thompson
By Emily Thompson Updated on: June 29, 2024 Fact Checked by Aleksandra Gojkovic

Plenty of Fish (POF) is an online dating platform available on mobile and desktop. Interestingly, it’s the third most downloaded dating app in the online dating industry, and to find out why, we tried both the mobile app and the desktop version.

We took some time to test all features and compare them to other market-leading dating platforms. Among the main significant features we saw are a vast dating pool, unlimited messaging, and dynamic resources to easily find matches that meet users’ needs and align with their interests. This results in many compatible matches, without too much effort.

Based on the helpful features and user-friendliness, it makes sense why about 3 million participants sign in and make over 200 million swipes there daily. We’ll describe our experience in detail, so you can decide if Plenty of Fish is where you also want to meet and date.

🎖ī¸ Overall eHarmony Rating

User experience
Demographics
Security
Feature richness
Success rate
4
Way to date

Short on Time?

Plenty of Fish offers many opportunities to find someone compatible with your lifestyle and personal preferences. During our testing, we saw that POF is a user-friendly platform that provides many functions for free. For starters, we appreciated being able to message other users, view photos, and take a quiz for compatibility. Also, we found some special features that are accessible in the free version and the two paid membership plans.

POF is available on both mobile phones and desktops, so you can enjoy its user-friendliness and plenty of helpful features in the format you find more appropriate.

  • User experience: Plenty of Fish allows you to choose someone you want to date via right/left swipes of suggested profiles or search independently by browsing photos of participants on the POF website or in the mobile app.
  • Demographics: You can make a POF account if you are at least 18. The average age of participants is 25–34, with 7% of members aged between 55 and 64. As for gender, 75% of POF users are male. Also, men are more active; according to statistics, they swipe to the right at least one photo out of three.
  • Security: Plenty of Fish lets users feel secure thanks to the selfie, the email, and the mobile phone verification. If there are suspicions of a rule violation or an attempt to submit fake information, the account is suspended and then deleted, even if you are in the process of signing up.
  • Feature richness: We appreciate the large set of filters that help narrow down a search. In addition, an even easier search for like-minded people is available, thanks to personality quizzes. The freedom to address any user is a notable feature, and we enjoyed how ‘Interested in Me’ and ‘My Matches’ enhance interactions between users. All these features turn POF into a place with a high chance of resulting in enjoyable dates.

✅ What We Like

  • Numerous daters: Plenty of Fish has already welcomed 170 million users, so the chances of finding a perfect match are high. Although reviewing and comparing profiles may take a bit of time, POF members regard it as a worthwhile experience. We also found the features simplify this process.
  • Detailed profiles: POF asks users to provide their interests, occupation, financial position, and even background. All this allows you to make a better impression on a person, understand your potential partner’s needs, and figure out whether he or she is compatible with you.
  • Filters to narrow the search: You can set your key preferences and only see the profiles that meet your requirements.
  • Fun games and personality tests: A questionnaire called “Relationship Chemistry Predictor” helps to improve your search results, while “Cue’d Up” lets you have more fun and find compatible people near you.
  • Impressive free version: You can take advantage of the key POF functions even if you don’t want to buy a membership plan. Any participant, free users included, can see photos, view profiles, swipe, and message.
  • Several ways of making matches: In addition to the search by interests, Plenty of Fish members can use “Meet Me” to create mutual matches. Also, you can browse the Discover page to find interesting profiles or look through the “Interested in Me” section to check who has liked your profile.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

  • Scams and fakes: The free access and a large user pool attract scammers and internet trolls. Luckily, Plenty of Fish makes significant efforts to counter this.
  • Intermittent technical issues: The website and application may be occasionally unavailable due to technical maintenance.
  • Many ads: Ads appear in POF, no matter which page you’re on or what action you’re busy with. We did find this mildly irritating and if you’re trying to concentrate on information, the banners can be distracting. The only way to avoid it is to subscribe to POF Plus or POF Premium.

💡 Features

FeatureDetails
User Base Size and DiversityLarge and Diverse
Age Range18-50+
Matching AlgorithmLocation, Common Interests, Preferences
Ease of Use and InterfaceEasy
Safety and Privacy FeaturesSafety features: Two-factor verification, Selfi verification
Privacy features: Hide Profile
Communication ToolsMessage, Voice Chat
Price and Subscription OptionsPlus
One month – $12.90
Six months – $8.50 per month 
One year – $6.78 per month

Premium 
Three months: $20.00 per month 
Six months: $15.00 per month 
One year: $10.00 per month
Mobile App AvailabilityiOS and Android
Special FeaturesFirst Contact, Recommended, Meet Me
Customer SupportLive Chat, Email
Cancellation and Refund PolicyNo Refund
Community and Social AspectsNone
InclusivityHigh: LGBTQ+ friendly

💰 Plenty of Fish Pricing

After testing and comparing, we’re sure that with this platform you’ll have efficient chances to find a dating partner even if you’re only using the free version. This is one reason that makes POF one of the best free dating sites and apps for 2024. However, paid membership plans can be helpful if you want to make the search faster, more comfortable, and more comprehensive.

There are two paid plans for users to enhance their Plenty of Fish opportunities:

  • Plenty of Fish Plus: You get access to extended profile information, an unlimited number of “Likes”, and the chance to be the first to look at new members and read who has read the messages you’ve sent. You can add up to 16 photos to your account and use POF without ads.
  • Plenty of Fish Premium: In addition to the aforementioned benefits, Premium enables you to find anyone by their username, receive additional first contacts, and simultaneously view all the users who like you.

Furthermore, there is a special form of currency, POF Tokens. Free and premium users can buy and then spend them on the following features:

  • Highlight/Boost
  • Super Yes
  • Priority Messages

A careful evaluation of each plan lets you define if you need all these options, or if a free membership is sufficient. You can see pricing in the table below.

PlanLengthMonthly CostTotal Cost
Plus1 month$12,90$12,90
Plus6 months$8,50$49,99
Plus12 months$6,78$81,79
Premium3 months$20,00$59,99
Premium6 months$15,00$89,99
Premium12 months$10,00$119,99
Token1x$3,99
Tokens5x$14,95
Tokens10x$19,99

📱 Plenty of Fish on Mobile

We like the design of the POF mobile app. Funny fish floating against the soft pink background convey a warm and friendly atmosphere, making users feel comfortable and positive. In addition, the usability is also impressive. For example, it is easy to both search and swipe, so making matches can take as little as minutes or seconds.

🤔 How to Use Plenty of Fish

To register at Plenty of Fish, you need about 10 minutes of free time, your phone number, and your email. There is no affiliation with any social media platforms for quick sign-up.

Registration

  • Enter the name you want to use in POF.
How dating should be
  • Choose your gender out of 7 options. You can also choose whether to display it on your profile or not.
Tell us
  • Choose the ethnic group description that fits you best, or select “Other/prefer not to say” if you don’t want to reveal it.
Best fits
  • Insert your date of birth, so the platform can calculate and display your age. If you enter the wrong date, you have just 2 weeks to edit it.
Date of birth
  • Enter your country, city, and Postal or Zip Code. The platform needs it to provide accurate results of users near you.
City and country

Tip: Double-check your answers, as POF will ask you to repeat the postal code and your name after registration to confirm your new account.

Welcome back
  • Enter your email.
Email
  • Create a password and provide a username the community will see.

Tip: You can change your name later if you think of something more interesting.

Username and password

The account is ready! Now take some time to build a basic profile that’s comprehensive enough for others to determine whether they want to match with you:

  1. Choose who you want to date (men, women, or everyone), your preferred kind of relationship (hangout, long-term, dating, friends), and your intention for joining POF.
  2. Define preferences, such as whether you want to date smokers or someone who has kids.
  3. Provide your occupation, education, religion, and second language. You will also be asked to define your income, but don’t worry. It is not shown to the other members and is only used to find appropriate matches for you.
  4. Define your marital status and your appearance (eye color, hair color, body type, and height).
  5. Choose your type of personality and be honest about some of your bad habits. This will help make you seem honest and prove it’s an authentic profile.
  6. Specify details related to kids, pets, marital status of your parents, and sibling count.
  7. Describe your hobbies and interests.
  8. Add your photo.

Now you can make your first match.

When your profile is complete, you will be directed to the “Meet Me” page. Here, you can view photos and swipe them according to your preferences.

Making Matches

To make matches in Plenty of Fish, you can use several methods:

  • Meet Me (create Mutual Matches): You view user photos shown to you and swipe them to the left to pass or to the right to like. If you and a user swipe right on each other’s photos, a Mutual Match is made, and you can start a conversation.
  • Browsing profiles on the Discover page: Here, you can see users who are online.
  • Collecting “My Matches”: You can save the profiles you like to the Like List, and the members will be notified. This may give them the courage to also like you and start a conversation.
  • Looking through the “Interested in Me” and “Interested in You” sections: If somebody likes and swipes to the right on your profile, their profile will appear in this section, and you will get a notification. Open it by tapping on the heart at the bottom of your app, and see who finds you attractive. If the attraction is mutual, you can tap “Like!” on the profile or take the first step by sending him or her a message.
  • Using filters for searching: This is another helpful POF option. You can set many criteria, including age, gender, interests, income, etc., to make the selection of members more targeted and less time-consuming.

Communicating with Matches

You can send and receive messages from all your Mutual Matches by viewing their profiles or using the “Meet Me” page. To draw more attention to your profile, use the “First Contact” feature to let someone know you find them special.

If you opt for First Contact, your messages are pinned at the top of the user’s inbox, increasing the chances for you to be noticed and making your intentions absolutely clear.

As a free member, you can send only one First Contact per day. To make this option limitless, you must become a Premium user.

Optimize Your Plenty of Fish Experience

Plenty of Fish introduces some unique features to make your dating experience more exciting and reliable. This is what you can do to find a better match:

  • Play Cue’d Up: It is a special game that lets the community members get to know each other better. If you join Cue’d Up, you will be offered sentences and a set of funny phrases to complete. Also, you can give your likes to the other participants’ answers. Apart from being fun, it’s a way everyone can showcase their personalities and could result in you swiping right on someone since their answers sparked interest.
  • Give your Super Likes to somebody you find attractive: Super Likes are available to Premium members. Just click on the big heart at the bottom of your profile to let him or her know you are blown away.
  • Make a Live! Statement: Plenty of Fish provides the opportunity to make 90-second streams that become visible to members and attract even more potential soulmates. We should say that this is not the same as a video call, but an excellent opportunity to have your say in a unique way.
  • Keep it short: Though POF allows you to say as much as you like about yourself, avoid the temptation to be too wordy. Many users may be too lazy or hasty to read long paragraphs. If the information is short but informative, members catch all they want to know at once, and the chances of making a perfect match are much higher.

đŸ‘Ĩ General User Experience

POF provides two full-scale versions for users. The mobile app gives more freedom to its members, as they can make matches and find people who match their preferences, even while out and about during the day.

The Plenty of Fish desktop version is popular as well. One feature we liked about the PC screen setup is that you can see more user pictures displayed on the page compared to a smaller mobile device. The bigger screen and layout can make it easier to give them a closer look before sending a Like!

🔐 User Safety & Security

Plenty of Fish offers two-factor authentication, so you always need a phone number and a strong password to sign up.

Phone number

In addition, we liked that POF offers a detailed guide to both online and in-person dating. Tips like the following help users stay safe:

  1. Never share your financial information or send money to anyone you meet on Plenty of Fish.
  2. Protect your personal data, including your home address, security number, preferred locations, etc.
  3. Stay on the platform to communicate until you are sure you can trust your partner.

☎ī¸ Customer Support

You can contact POF in two ways if there are any issues:

  • Via email by filling out the contact form. Please note that you must contact POF from the email registered to your account; otherwise, POF will fail to verify you. This will prevent them from helping you with account-related issues.
Submit a request
  • Via chatbot. It is available between 08:00 a.m. PST and 01:00 p.m. PST.
Can we help

Plenty of Fish suspended phone support in January 2023, so now you can’t reach them in this manner. We think that a hotline would be beneficial. Additionally, numerous users have expressed dissatisfaction with the long wait times for responses via email. And sometimes, requests remain unanswered. We decided to check the support quality and asked questions using both methods:

  • The chatbot helps find answers to basic topics by proposing to read relevant articles from the “Help Center” section. 
  • As for email support, we received a confirmation email immediately after the request but waited for the POF support team’s response for at least three hours.

🎖ī¸ How Does Plenty of Fish Compare?

To help you save time and find the best dating site, we decided to compare POF with another popular dating service, MillionaireMatch.

While Plenty of Fish attracts users of various ages and social statuses, MillionaireMatch was designed for successful and wealthy individuals seeking lasting relationships with their peers. A narrow focus ensures the careful selection of singles, so there are fewer profiles on MillionaireMatch. In addition, we want to draw your attention to other differences, such as:

  • Most MillionaireMatch members are interested in finding their equals in wealth and position. At the very least, they are looking for someone particularly attractive or interesting. Plenty of Fish offers more variety with regard to status or money.
  • There is an income threshold of $200,000 for users wishing to join the MillionaireMatch community. POF is more accessible to members from different social groups and a wide demographic.
  • Plenty of Fish offers several membership plans, while MillionaireMatch only has Golden Membership available. However, it’s worth notingthat MM provides about 40 extra features, including online profile management, coaching services, concierge, and online profile management.

In general, MM is tailored for people seeking compatible matches for long-term relationships and aiming to enhance their quality of life. Registration conditions that involve indication of income, interests, and quality photographs help meet these goals. Plenty of Fish is more flexible, as it allows you to look for new acquaintances among a huge number of people, all different in wealth and position.

Plenty of FishMillionaireMatch
Best ForAccess to all dating opportunitiesFor affluent singles seeking wealthy partners
Popularity4 million users/month
>500,000 subscribers
5 million users/month
>500,000 subscribers
FocusHang out
Long term
Dating
Friends
Short term
Long term
Marriages
Hookups
Verified ProfilesYes – Image verificationYes – Image verification
Meet Successful Singles, Wealth Meets Romance
Visit MillionaireMatch
Explore a Sea of Singles, Find Your Catch
Visit Plenty of Fish

How We Rate Dating Sites and Apps 

We rate each dating site after an in-depth review process that includes fact-checking and to align with our editorial policy, our feedback is based on real-life testing of each platform. We do have advertising partners, which is explained in our advertising disclosure, but we deliver unbiased information and update content regularly. For your peace of mind, learn more about our process in our detailed ranking guide.

🏆 Final Verdict: Is Plenty of Fish Right for You?

Plenty of Fish is a popular online dating platform with a mobile app and a desktop version. Our testing showed both of these formats have user-friendly designs, quick onboarding, and easy operations. POF caters to many types of users’ intentions, including dating, hanging out, friendship, long-term relationships, and hookups. Swipes along with the opportunity to browse a member’s profile give a sense of control over your dating life.

Also, many POF members find its “fun” approach to dating very inspiring, as Plenty of Fish is more focused on conversation and human interaction than just looking at photos. The opportunity to see who liked you and the quick transition to communication, along with games and live streams, reveal the character and personality of members and help to avoid fixation on appearance only.

At the same time, ads can become annoying, and users complain about fake profiles and the lack of support. This should prompt you to always stay cautious when making new matches.

We understand why so many people have downloaded the app. While it’s not on our top list of best dating sites and apps yet, the brand’s mission to constantly improve its services is impressive.  A huge bonus is that if you decide to create an account here, you become a part of a huge community, giving you a high probability of finding a match.

❓ FAQ

Does Plenty of Fish offer free services?

Yes, you can register and seek matches for free on Plenty of Fish. Unlike other popular dating platforms like PositiveSingles or eHarmony, POF offers numerous features to help free users find matches. If you require more options, such as viewing users’ extended information or loading additional photos, you can opt for a paid membership plan, POF Plus or POF Premium.

Where can you access Plenty of Fish?

Is Plenty of Fish safe for online dating?

Is Plenty of Fish for hookups or serious dating?

Can you browse Plenty of Fish if you don’t have an account?

Emily Thompson
Author Emily Thompson

Emily Thompson, a 34-year-old Dating Coach and Author, has a rich background in helping singles find love. She combines practical dating strategies with insights from her PhD in Social Psychology. Her methods are informed by academic research and real-world case studies in modern dating and interpersonal relationships.

Plenty of Fish

4/5