Mingle2
Free, added features $9.95/month
- The Best 420-Friendly Dating Sites For Stoner Love - February 9, 2019
- 5 Best French Dating Sites To Meet Someone From La République - January 16, 2018
- Real SeekingArrangement Review Updated June 2022 - August 30, 2017
Before I wrote my first Mingle2 review in 2012, I’d never heard of the site. Fast forward to my own dating review site many moons later, and I’m again looking for truly free dating sites to add to my list. Mingle2 is still around, still plucking, and still on the radar. But is it worth it? Let’s see what has changed since I first reviewed it.
Sign-Up Process
Surprisingly, I didn’t need to sign up again – my profile was still posted and ready, as if I’d never left. Good thing? Well, it made writing this Mingle2 review easy.
It also tells me that Mingle2 never purges their databases. A problem, considering most dating sites are measured by their user numbers (how many profiles sit on the site) and not how many people actively use the site.
Case in point: I had an email from “over one year ago” waiting for me. It was from seven years ago.
Having said all that, it was quick and easy to sign (back) up (again).
Look and Feel
Everything about this site screams, “FREE,” including the ads all over you think are part of the site. Annoying.
Still, it’s well laid out once you get used to where to click. Your “Matches” are prominently displayed along the Search and Match tabs, all laid out for you one-by-one to either Heart (like) or X (remove from search forever). Sadly, my X didn’t work, and I had 10,000 Matches when I logged back in.
Search
My biggest complaint on most dating sites (free or otherwise) is that they don’t offer a search mechanism to see how recently someone’s been on the site. Mingle2 doesn’t stray – they don’t offer it either. Phooey. Click on their profile however, and along the top right you’ll get the magic details. “Seen in the last day”. Bingo. Or, sometimes, “Seen over a year ago”.
Still, the search features seem buggy and they were eight years ago when I wrote my first Mingle2 review, too. I plugged in 25 miles from me, looking for marriage, between 25-40. What did I get? Well, the gents were within that age range, but that was it. Clicking on the X to remove them from my search results dropped my Match numbers down, yet, they popped back up on top as soon as I did another search.
Not fun.
What is fun? Mingle2’s messaging features. Go look at your Settings, and then Set Mail Filters. You can limit folks messaging you by age, location, what they’re looking for, if they’re smokers or drinkers… okay, this more than makes up for the other glitches.
Membership Costs
It’s truly free to message other users on Mingle2, although they do offer a “Premium Upgrade” to get a few fun, but unnecessary features.
I call these kinds of dating sites Freemium dating sites – they offer Premium packages to anyone who wants, say, to get higher in the search results or see who has viewed them. You can still use the site though and pay nothing.
What do you get if you subscribe? You keep your messages forever (as opposed to them getting deleted after a month – ahem), you’re stuck at the top of search results (supposedly getting you 300% more views), you can see who Matches with you, and browse invisibly.
The cost? $5.95 a month if you subscribe for a year, $7.95 if you subscribe for 6 months, or $9.95 if you subscribe for 3 months. All options bill at once (meaning, you pay for the lump sum in full at the start). You can also use TrialPay to get three months for free – basically, sign up for a set number of “offers” and in exchange you get a membership.
The Fine Print
It wouldn’t be a Mingle2 review without my going through the fine print, right? I know, I know, you all read the itty bitty details before signing up with a dating site. Of course you do. But just in case…
- You must be 18 to sign up for Mingle2;
- By signing up, you consent to all communications being monitored while using the site;
- No refunds, for any reason, even partial; and
- Mingle2 will auto-renew your membership (if you decide to pay) for the same time frame you originally signed up for. If you want to change this (I suggest an alarm a week before your subscription is due), log in, go to Settings, and change your membership options and renewals.
That’s it! Straightforward and simple, nothing fancy here.
The Bottom Line On This Mingle2 Review
If you’re wanting a free dating site with awesome bells and whistles (use that limit email feature!), Mingle2 works well. I’d avoid the pay-for-use feature unless you’re a guy in a large metropolitan area that wants to stand out from the crowd, or serious about finding love and don’t want to pay a lot to get it.
What do you think? Have you used Mingle2? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.