You can get good results without spending money on a site. There's a sensible argument to be made for picking a free site. After all, with the $20, $30, or $40 you pay to a dating service each month, you con buy a bag or two of groceries.

Nevertheless, the relatively low cost of online dating compared with real world dating is one of its greatest advantages. Consider that dinner at a three or four star restaurant and a movie can easily cost $100 $125. That amount is roughly equivalent to six months of time on an Internet dating site. Subscription sites are still a bargain, considering that they bring dozens or even hundreds of dating prospects to your attention in a matter of minutes.

Not only that, but free sites aren't always a bargain. They can hit you with extras that you might not like:

Advertisements. Free dating sites have to make money somehow. So they bombard you with ads that pop up in new browser windows or that appear as static banners on web pages.

Marketing. Some sites, and the advertisers on those sites, trace you through your IP address or email address and send you masses of unsolicited "spam" email, having to do with love, dating, and sex especially sex.

Lack of selectivity. If anyone can join without committing any money, you are more likely to get people who aren't serious about dating. You might get married people looking for an affair, or people with bad manners, criminal records, and the like. True, the same kinds of people can sign up for any dating site, but they're more likely to try a free service.

Beyond that, free dating sites lack the features of other sites, such as the ability to automatically match you with people who share the qualities you desire; the ability to tell you who has joined in the last day or two; the ability to include sound and video; and other features that require expensive computer programming to create and maintain. With free sites, you tend to get freeform dating sites in which the burden of creating a profile is all on your shoulders.

Subscription Services

Within subscription services, there are different pricing schemes. Some sites let you do unlimited personal messaging and email for a single monthly fee. Other sites have a pay as you go system. They charge extra if you want to contact others by email or instant messaging. Many dating sites have very similar pricing structures. It pays to keep in mind that the dollars and cents involved in real life dating are not unsubstantial. If you go the route of personal ads, there's usually a charge for getting it in the paper in the first place, and then a minute by minute fee for picking up your messages. Dues for a singles club often include an initial start up cost and a monthly fee, not to mention additional expenses for outings and special events. Nobody wants to be the one doing the counting, but a simple night on the town can really add up if you factor in wash, hair cut, new outfit, manicure, food, and entertainment.

Because you're laying eyes on your new prospect for the first time (if you've been only online dating), it's not too likely that you'll spare any expense to look your best. Another thing to consider with online dating is that you're likely to have a hefty toll for travel and lodging if your date doesn't happen to live in your immediate vicinity.