Alt

Dating websites can be a hit-or-miss game, in my opinion. While a good-looking bastard like me has no problem getting attention, but it sucks having to deal with ugly trolls and pretentious prudes who pretend that they are not closeted sluts. Then there are the somewhat sexually loose folks but are into the more vanilla (read: boring as mud) stuff.

I am sure that all of you who are into the kink lifestyle have all experienced this as well. But still, what is so “weird” and “creepy” about saying, on a first date, that your hobbies include long walks on the beach, moonlit dinners, and stretching your sub's limits by seeing if they can take an eleven-inch dildo in all of their holes? Apparently, that is a turn-off for "straight sexuality" folks. Whatever, it doesn't matter because the internet is a diverse and magical place.

One such haven for freaks like us is Alt.com, which has a curious mix of fantastic features and a few quirky aspects to it. To be straight up, this is a quality locale in cyberspace, but there is more to it – good and bad – than meets the eye, as we will see.

The Community Is “Holy Shit” Humongous

"Good googly moogly," was what I said when I first started cruising around this website. Seriously, my glans did inflate a little up at first glance. The community is positively huge, with over 800,000 people registered, and there are thousands of people online at any given time. Moreover, this website caters to people from all over the world, including Egypt, North America, South Africa, a lot of Asia, and Europe.

Since this is the case, it is a good thing that they present this website in multiple languages, which, from what I see, are well translated. Besides the default language of the net (i.e., English) are Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and French. There is even a Svenska version of Alt.com, and I didn't even know that was a thing.

But what is more important is the fact that the community looks absolutely lovely. There is a nice deal of variety when it comes to ages and ethnicities.

And since I know, I have such a massive audience who come from all ends of the sexuality spectrum. Not only are there plenty of trans folks and non-heterosexuals here to be seen and played with, but I did a little extra homework and found that Alt.com has received positive reviews and endorsements from LGBT websites.

There Are Lots Of Ways People Promote Themselves

To touch on it, there are plenty of ways to find different users, which is convenient if you are traveling a lot. If you are more sedentary, then the website will automatically present singles and couples who are near your area. For this reason, you might want to turn off your VPN. Also, I will say that there are singles and couples, but the members seem to skew female, just so you know.

I'll get into the other options later, but there are some spectacular ways people put themselves out there using multimedia. Members can, and often do, upload videos of themselves tied up, handcuffed, and flogged, all while doing sexy stuff – or doing that to someone else. In fact, there are an impressive 250,000 videos (so far) along with thousands of members who do live webcam shows that you can watch with a paid account.

I Like The Chatrooms, But There Is A Catch

There are only about several dozen on top of dozens more chat rooms. Besides the main lobby, there are a few webcam rooms to show your sexy self off – or see someone else do the same. There are also specific rooms for specific fetishists. For example, there is a rubber room, one for goths (because that is still a thing, apparently), another for BBWs and the people who appreciate them, and one labeled PAIN ONLY. I'll let you use your imagination on that last one.

More than that, there are other chatrooms that are specific to the country. In fact, within each country, there are rooms specific to entire regions, territories, and even major metropolitan cities.

But the thing is, most people are not online, or at least not in most of the many rooms available. At most, you might find half a dozen or a little bit more members in custom groups. Those are not too bad, and the types of them are kind of neat. When I logged in once, there were groups called Cunt Degradation, The Dungeon, Slut Auction, and my favorite Beg for Mercy!!!

Oh, and another part of the catch of this website is that you don't want to be caught by a phisher. Yeah, that is unfortunately correct. There are lots of catfishers and scam artists. Well, I would not exactly call that sort of scum 'artists' as their tactics are usually pretty easy to spot. Still, be careful when you are interacting with people. When I started encountering them, it reminded me of my gay bros when they kept going on about all of the bullshitters who used to infest Grindr.

There Are Somethings I Will Say About The Webmaster Program

As you would expect these days, this hookup website does have a webmaster program. Since I am one to encourage other people to make money, I guess I'll talk about this a little.

The name of the game here is to drive traffic to Alt.com, which, on its face, is pretty simple. Of course, there is more to it than that, but those of you who understand internet marketing should not have too much of an issue. Be warned, though, despite the company that Alt.com associates with bills itself as one of the biggest affiliate programs in the world, there do not seem to be any tools or assistance provided.

For that reason, I would say that only experienced marketers should use this program. But if that does apply to you, there are two payment options. The first is a percentage program system where you simply send them traffic, and you will earn 75% on initial subscriptions, followed up by a handsome 55% when a member renews. That is pretty good, considering how much an Alt.com subscription is.

The other way you can get paid is through the per-member order bracket system. You can earn up to $100 per new subscription, though that is based on the total number of orders made, in a given day. Along with that, you might qualify for a percentage for non-standard orders, though the details around this are vague.

However, as we will see, I think there is reason to believe that most of the organic traffic you send here will not convert: the price tag.

The FREE Account Comes With The Following Features

Free package

Alright, the sign-up process is super fast. Or at least you would think that since it looks like you only need to conjure up a password and enter your email, and the usual rigmarole until you have to verify your email. You do have to verify your account; otherwise, you don't get to play, but there is more to it than that. But as it turns out, you will have to go through a lengthy survey which will be used to create your account and fill out part of your biography.

I suppose you could say that this is effectively efficient, but I found the whole thing to be rather tedious and honestly a little annoying. When I am joining a dating or hookup platform, I want to get in the system as soon as possible, get used to the interactive tools, and fill out the bio info at my own pace. I also like it when I can control how much information I get to divulge.

Anyway, my bitching aside, with a free account, you get to interact with other users through a few means. You can flirt by sending "flowers" of the virtual variety or add friends you want to get frisky with, but there is more. The best matching mechanic, I think, is the kink system. You can also check who you match up with this. Another way to see if you will click with someone is through the Hot or Not system and also construct your own hotlist. And for those who believe in such things, you can see if you are compatible with other users based on astrological star signs.

You can also host your own blog, which is something I rarely see on web services like this. Naturally, you can add your own pictures, but also your own promo footage.

The SILVER Package Includes All Of This

Silver package

Monthly cost: $22.94

Yearly cost: $123.55 a year

Now, this is where things get a little complicated. While there are several ways to interact with other users, you can only effectively communicate, at least easily, by getting a paid membership. For example, as a Silver member, you can view full profiles and freely contact people. I know, weird, right? You would think that being able to send a simple message rather than hang around a chatroom and hope you find someone compatible would be complimentary. But I guess the web designers at Alt.com are going hard for the upsell.

One might almost call their free package a tease. >XD

But if you do pony up the cash to get to this level, you will show up in the following tier members, the Gold subscriber's, search. You also get to see other users' live shows and pay-per-view that I talked about earlier. You get to access, or at least partial access to groups, blogs, and magazines. Curiously, with this package, you also get 24/7 customer service.

With GOLD You Get Even A Little Bit More

Gold package

Monthly cost: $33.44

Yearly cost: $185.26

This one comes with a few other options, though it is more titillating than being able to send more virtual gifts like also can with a Silver package. For one, your profile will show up first when it comes to standard searches, including advanced ones, as far as I know. You have the ability to contact new members before anyone else is able to.

And you also get all access to complete blog posts and other group feature access. Whether or not these additional goodies are worth the extra money, well, that's what I am going to cover in the finale of this epic review, finally!

And My Final Conclusion Is This

Alright, this website does present many excellent features, some of which I rarely ever see in others, which is impressive considering there is less competitive pressure for Alt.com's designers to do since this is a niche dating site.

It was cool to see that there are a ton of features that one gets with a free account. But I was a little disappointed to find out that a lot is not all that useful considering you have to upgrade to really use them and easily talk to people. Also, the webmasters need to do better when it comes to filtering out all of the spammers and other jackasses who infest this platform.

I guess I should say that I find these types are of money- and data-hungry trolls easy to spot, and there are ways to report them. And that should not distract from the fact that this website does have a massive number of members who are located worldwide. And so, my rating for this dating website is going to be a solid four hands out of five.