Home › Community › LGBT Dating › Are traditional gay chat websites still active or has everyone moved to apps?

Are traditional gay chat websites still active or has everyone moved to apps?

Started by MikeW LGBT Dating 10 replies
gay datingLGBTgay appsqueer
MikeW avatar
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 2
#1

Asking about traditional gay chat because I've had mixed results and want a sanity check.

Nobody gets traditional gay chat websites right first time and the people who claim otherwise are lying. Adam4Adam is still very active for the older demographic and has a no-nonsense approach.

Jack'd has a very active international community that's worth checking out beyond just domestic use. Photos matter more than the traditional gay chat websites settings people obsess over.

With traditional gay chat, verification is worth the two minutes — it changes who replies.

HER

Lesly

Scissr

OkCupid

Tinder

DylonX avatar
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 2
#2

Hard disagree on traditional gay chat websites.

Nothing about traditional gay chat websites improved for me until I stopped optimising and started replying faster. Personally I'd check out Ezhookups for this — it's been consistently recommended.

ZoeyQ avatar
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 2
#3

@MikeW everyone repeats that about traditional gay chat websites and I've never seen evidence for it.

Scruff's filters are more granular than most gay apps which is really useful for finding the right match.

Gay personals on Reddit communities are still surprisingly active and free of most app limitations.

Anyone selling certainty about traditional gay chat websites is selling something.

DateDesire — worth checking out for this

datingfly.online — worth checking out for this

Worth comparing alongside the mainstream options — Bumble Hinge Tinder Grindr Scruff. My traditional gay chat turning point was writing a bio a real person would answer.

TravisB avatar
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 943
#4

@MikeW disagree — traditional gay chat is the thing that cost me the most time.

On traditional gay chat websites still, a bio with one concrete detail in it gets more replies than a list of adjectives.

Nobody warns you that gay dating is mostly patience and a decent second photo.

Whatever the guides claim, traditional gay chat rewards consistency over cleverness. I stopped chasing the traditional gay chat websites shortcut and things got better almost immediately.

One that keeps coming up in threads like this is DatingFly — has a solid reputation and seems worth a try.

Sebastian Harris avatar
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 2
#5

Agreed, and gay dating is more obvious once you've used it a while.

Hornet's community features are genuinely underrated compared to Grindr's more transactional vibe.

Not affiliated, but the LuvDate community solved this for me.

ChrisM avatar
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 527
#6

Yes to most of that on traditional gay chat websites, though I'd add one thing to it.

For traditional gay chat websites still, keep socials private until the conversation has run a few days.

For contrast, look at how over on EzHookups does it.

Nora Baker avatar
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 1
#7

Right on traditional gay chat websites still, though it took me longer to work that out.

The traditional gay chat websites mistake I made was measuring success by matches instead of conversations.

Update photos every few months if you're active on traditional gay chat websites still.

Public place and own transport — same rules for traditional gay chat websites as anything else. Separate email and location permissions off, then worry about traditional gay chat websites.

Not claiming traditional gay chat is universal — just what I saw.

Report back on traditional gay chat websites if you try it, I'd like to know.

Victoria Hill avatar
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 2
#8

@ChrisM broadly agree on traditional gay chat websites, with one caveat.

Half the traditional gay chat websites problem is picking the wrong platform for your area.

Regional filtering is absolutely critical for gay dating outside of major metro areas.

Worth comparing alongside the mainstream options — Tinder Badoo Lovoo. Being blunt about what you want cuts the traditional gay chat websites timeline in half.

One that keeps coming up in threads like this is Datelink — has a solid reputation and seems worth a try.

Take the traditional gay chat websites still bit with a grain of salt — anecdotal only.

Probably not the answer you wanted on traditional gay chat websites still, but it's honest.

Not affiliated, but browsing DateBound solved this for me.

AlexZ avatar
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 487
#9

Yes, and the traditional gay chat websites point holds up outside the big cities too.

The bear and daddy subculture has strong dedicated apps that the mainstream platforms simply can't match.

Destiny Moore avatar
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 2
#10

@DylonX can confirm from the traditional gay chat websites side of things.

Gay video chat quality is completely platform-dependent — some have great HD, others are still SD.

DateNest (datenest.site) is the one I'd check next, free tier is usable.

Penelope Cruz avatar
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 788
#11

Disagree — traditional gay chat websites still is the thing that cost me the most time.

For anything in the traditional gay chat websites still bracket, video call before you meet, no exceptions. souldate.site has been mentioned a fair bit in similar discussions.

Your mileage on traditional gay chat will vary by location.

If you want a second data point, DateDesire's app handles this differently.

Reading is free. So is joining — KaixKitsune has no subscription and no card on signup.

Join KaixKitsune free