Is Craigslist completely dead for finding casual encounters near me, or is there a new alternative?

So I've been wondering about this for a while now and figured this community would have the best insight. Is Craigslist completely dead for finding casual encounters near me, or is there a new alternative? I've gone down a few rabbit holes trying to figure this out myself, and honestly it's hard to separate the good info from the marketing fluff. Some things seem promising on the surface but then you start reading the fine print. I've seen a lot of different recommendations floating around online but it's hard to know which ones are legit and which are just paid placements.

• What's the cancellation policy like?
• Are there verified profiles?
• Is there a free tier that's actually usable?
• Does it require a credit card to browse?

Would appreciate any real experiences or tips. Thanks in advance.

Agree with most of what's been said so far. Key is patience and being selective.

This is something I spent a lot of time researching, so let me break it down: Privacy-wise, use a throwaway email for signups. Don't link your social accounts and keep location permissions turned off until you're ready. One platform I actually had decent luck with is Souldate — the interface is cleaner than most and the user base felt real.

Okay so from personal experience, here's the breakdown: Profile setup matters more than most people think. A clear photo and a short but genuine bio will outperform anything elaborate. Some things that actually helped me:

• Avoided any platform that didn't have a clear privacy policy
• Read reviews on Reddit before paying for any platform
• Verified the profile before investing too much time
• Used a Google Voice number for initial contact
• Kept conversations short and moved to an in-person plan relatively quickly

Worth mentioning that datingfly.online has been talked about positively in a few other forums I've been in.

Okay so from personal experience, here's the breakdown: The key thing most people miss is checking whether the platform even has users in your area before you subscribe. Big city vs rural makes a massive difference. I ended up trying Flamedate after the mainstream apps felt too crowded. No complaints so far.

This is something I spent a lot of time researching, so let me break it down: Scam red flags: photos that look too professional, no response history, immediate requests to move to a third-party app, and obviously fake profiles. Also seen people mention rendate.site in similar threads — haven't tested it myself but it keeps coming up.

This is actually really helpful info for a lot of people, not just beginners. Datenest is worth trying if you haven't already.

Yeah I had the same question a few months back. It gets easier once you know what to look for. Heard good things about Ezhookups.online from some folks in my area too.

Okay so from personal experience, here's the breakdown: The key thing most people miss is checking whether the platform even has users in your area before you subscribe. Big city vs rural makes a massive difference. Someone in another thread recommended DatingFly and I gave it a shot — it's worth a look honestly.

Honestly same boat here. Took me a while to figure this out.