We wanted to find the best backpage replacement in 2019, so we asked everyone for their votes from a 50-strong list.
These are the poll results, sorted by worst to best. We also tried ten top options, and you can read our experiences (as well as see photos and rates from the providers we met) at the 2nd half of this.
What caused the backpage shutdown?
After the FOSTA SESTA law passed in March 2018, Backpage was taken down. FOSTA is an acronym that stands for “Fight online sextrafficking act” and holds all websites legally responsible if illegal trafficking ads are posted on their sites. BP was found guilty of sextrafficking minors. It was raided and shut down. The owners were sentenced at 40 years imprisonment.
How new websites get around the law
New websites must be hosted off-shore and not on American soil in order to get around the law. They could still be blocked by the FBI in the United States. Sites within the USA, such as Adult Friends Finder or Doublelist, can also circumvent the law because they have staff who monitor and remove illegal ads.
Is it possible to bring it back?
It’s unlikely that BP will ever go up again, considering their owners have been in prison for many decades. The FBI agents who took it down also stated they will seek out the best replacements.
10 Backpage Alternatives Reviewed and Tested
Since the shutdown, I have tested 27 replacement sites. Here are the ones i would use again and again and why i’d recommend them.
Switter.at – The Best Alternative To Escorts
After Twitter banned some profiles, sex workers came together to create Switter.at. This website looks like Twitter but has the heart of backpage. Switter stands for “Sex Worker Twitter”, and it’s a great tool to find escorts.
After you sign up, you can go to https://listings.switter.at where you can scroll through all the newest ads for escorts near you. Follow them to receive updates in your newsfeed. This is a great way for you to keep in touch with your favourite girls or guys and find out if they offer any special rates.
Switter.at – Leila Love
Petite flexible and petite-hared professional dancer from NOLA now at the UES Receive some one-on-one TLC with a girl nextdoor charm.
Switter’s best feature is the fact that you will never receive spam or fake posts. You can easily identify if the profiles of all the escorts are genuine and fake ones are quickly removed. It’s the non-profit equivalent to BP, and there are no fees or ads.
Switter was my first introduction to the service when I saw a local provider offer a black friday discount. Leila was her name and she was soft, submissive, thin, with thick thighs and a dirty head. Although her rate was $200 per hour, it was still very reasonable. Switter.at also has escorts that charge closer to $100 an hour.
See my Switter.at review
Switter
Tryst.link
Tryst.link , a non-profit escort website that is run by sex workers, is . It works in a similar way to a Co-Op. Each sex worker who signs up gets a piece.
It has approximately 10,000 registered providers, with detailed photos, rates, bios, and bios. It’s more fun to browse than the backpage and more visual. So far, I have used the services of three escorts from my local Minneapolis area. Everything went smoothly, and there were no ads or spam to sort through to find the right ladies.
Sara is one of the most lovely women on Tryst. She charges $140 incall and $160 outcall.
The Sublime Sara
My favorite part about sexwork is meeting new clients and watching them feel nervous and shy. Then, I watch as they grow comfortable and happy. I’m most happy when my clients have a safe place to escape the stresses of their lives.
Tryst.link
Check out my Tryst Review
Adult Friend Finder: Casual Sex and Hookups
Adult Friends Finder The largest site for hooking ups (about 120,000,000 members), and home to sex addicts, nymphs and kinky swingers.
AFF exceeded all my expectations after backpage was shut down. I had 4 great relationships with 4 women in 4 weeks and only $30 to join AFF.
This system works with both free and gold members. Gold members can message free members but cannot message others. Gold members can also message anyone. It’s a free site with most women, but guys pay to be there (kind of like a nightclub). This balances the girls to men ratio better than any other hookup site. The horny people are also more responsive and easier to meet up.
Adult Friend Finder
EscortDirectory.com
EscortDirectory.com offers another option for escorts. Over 20,000 premium providers are available around the globe, with each offering detailed advertisements.
Searches can be filtered to make it easy to find pornstars willing to fly to your location.
You can view their photos, measurements, incall and outcall rates as well as their email and website addresses. Here’s Nikki’s bio. She was an escort that I used on escortdirectory.com while I was in Chicago.
Hello! Hi, my name is Nikki! I’m the BEST ESCORT IN CHICAGO! I am tall, slim, and sexy, with the looks of Super Models! I love yoga, and I love men! I have a PhD in Art of Passion and Pleasure, and I use it frequently! You will have a great time with a beautiful, passionate woman who can MAKE MAGIC!
Read my EscortDirectory.com review
Visit EscortDirectory.com
Slixa
Another website I have bookmarks is Slixa. It has a similar design to escortdirectory.com. It is very visual and offers premium escorts. Although the rates are higher than other sites for sex, it is worth it for the professionalism displayed and the beautiful women available. You can also be sure that the escorts are legitimate and not fraudulent.
Here’s a Slixa girl who converted to it after the BP shutdown.
Some people say I have an old soul. I am a down-to-earth person who loves to make people smile. I am discreet, and privacy is important to me. For every occasion we spend together, I dress well. I look forward to our unforgettable date.
Visit Slixa
Learn more about Slixa
Bedpage – A Backpage Clone
Bedpage is a combination of backpage and black-and-red color schemes. It is difficult to find sex on Bedpage, despite this. It is easy to get scammed and fake accounts, but it took me over a week to find something that was real.
It worked when it was needed, but I’m fairly certain the woman I found was not a fake. At the moment, there seems to be a 50-50 ratio between spam and real people.
Los Angeles seems busier than other cities. This site’s functionality will depend on your location. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Bedpage.com
Review
Ashley Madison rather than Backpage
Disclosed dating sites are a great way to find hookups. These sites are for committed individuals looking to ‘cheat’. The only catch is that they can’t be seen or expected to do much long-term.
This means that many middle-aged women are more attractive than average. Sites like Ashley Madison are free and allow women to find partners.
This type of affair dating keeps things interesting and secretive. It’s like being a teenager again, sneaking out at 2AM to meet your crush. AM has one drawback: it is expensive for men, but free for women. This allows them to attract many women to sign up and become part of their community.
Visit Ashley Madison
Fetlife Classifieds
You may have heard of fetlife. It is a free social network site for the kink community. It works in a similar way to facebook except that it has BDSM and bondage.
Most people forget about the classifieds/personals section of fetlife though, which is a great bp substitute and a nice place to find hookups, escorts and casual sex for free.
The main classifieds section is home to over 100,000 members. It’s for ‘doms and’slaves to find people who are interested in the roles they want. This section covered all 50 states. It was easier to post an Ad about the topic I was looking for than to search through hundreds of unsorted USA ads.
Fetlife should make this section state-by-state so that it is easier to find people near you.
Check out our Fetlife.com Review
Visit Fetlife.com
DoubleList
Doublelist is another great site to find providers. You can view other people’s ads as well as post your own ads. You cannot post nudes or explicit photos. It is a little more restricted. You can’t post anything other than ‘phallus’ or polite words about body parts.
You can also sign up by phone, although it may take some time. However, this is to reduce spam. It is frustrating that I found many fake posts and ads within posts. This site is growing and it’s great if you’re looking for casual sex or escorts within larger cities such as Los Angeles.
Review the Doublelist
DoubleList
Ebackpage
Although ebackpage is exactly the same as backpage, it’s much more busy.
After looking through the Minneapolis section, I came across many spam and repeat ads. When I found a service that seemed promising, I didn’t get any text back from them. Although the site is improving, there are some promising signs for the future. It will be interesting to see if it is the next big thing.
YesBackpage
Yesbackpage is a similar story, but not the best. There is a lot spam and it could use more people. It is hosted in Germany and therefore not subject to the USA jurisdiction and FOSTA laws. They don’t have moderators such as AFF or doublelist. It’s worth adding bookmarks and returning to this page from time to again.
Oodle
Oodle was one the smaller guys in the USA classifieds. Although they have been around as long as backpage, they were unable to compete until recent years.
Oodle now has an growing personals section . This site is used by a few escorts. It is also more common to see casual sex ads.
Oodle has a unique user interface. You can view the images of others and filter them by age or sex.
CasualX
This app works just like Tinder, but it’s for hooking up. Like Tinder, you swipe left and right and can only message the people you match.
It worked for me, so I tried it out. I tried to buy a premium account, but it is not as good as other hookup sites. I’d recommend Tinder if you are looking for a way to swipe.
OLX Classified Escorts
OLX is used just as often for finding escorts if you travel to Europe or South America. People in the US now use OLX to find personals.
OLX classifieds excel in one area: meeting foreigners to meet up in your locality. It is very popular in countries such as India, South Africa and Romania. People who visit USA feel more at ease using OLX than craigslist.
Although it’s difficult to meet people in your area, you can still hook up with women from other countries for free on this classified site.
Summarising & Moving Forward
The new law was very hard on BP and is a real bummer. The new sites are great fun and we may end up with even better options now that the dust has settled.
Ashley Madison and Switter are my favorite new options. I recommend AFF to anyone who wants to have a long-lasting relationship and find a good friend. You can also view our huge list of craigslist people alternatives.
Good luck and Happy Hunting!