The year is 2005, and online dating is in its infancy. Most people would rather surf Craigslist for free than have to join a dating service. After all, Craigslist is where you find personal ads for casual sex – and you never know what you’re going to find next.
What a fun trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, that Craigslist hardly exists anymore, and there is a need for a Craigslist personals alternative.
In this article, we’re going to review the 10 best Craigslist personal alternatives, from uncensored personal ads to online dating sites that feel like the original Craigslist.
Read on because we think the #1 pick may surprise you…
Best Craigslist Personals Alternative for 2023
First Look
- Escort Directory – Best overall Craigslist replacement
- Euro Girl Escorts – Best filtering options for EU escort searches
- Ashley Madison – Best married but looking site, like CL
- AdultFriendFinder – The new spot where all the swingers gather
- Secret Benefits – Sugar dating fun, like old school CL
- Bedpage – The most similar style to CL
- Doublelist – The most similar online dating platform to CL
- Erotic Monkey – Real escort reviews, ala Craigslist Classified Ads
- YesBackpage – Best international CL replacement
- Adult Look – Keep up to date with where European escorts are working
1. Escort Directory – Overall Best Sex Dating Site Like Craigslist
Pros
- Legal listings of international escorts
- Associated with EscortGuide.co.uk, a trusted name
- Escorts provide quotes & limits
- Most escorts have photos
- Very detailed escort profiles
Cons
- No escorts listed in the U.S.
- No relationship personal ads
Pricing
- Free
For a time, Craigslist personal ads were notorious for escort ads, as well as “undercover” escorts who advertised their time and companionship under the Erotic Services category.
Several years ago, Craigslist, a San Francisco-based company, stopped listing escort ads because of strict anti-sex worker laws in the U.S.
However, international sites like Escort Directory, based in the U.K., have much more lenient laws towards sex work.
Therefore, if you’re looking for a Craigslist alternative specifically for locating escorts in your area, you can’t beat Escort Directory.
The number one of the best escort sites is legally hosted in the U.K. and has escort listings for cities all over the world.
While the site favors Canada, Britain, Australia, and parts of Europe, they do not list any escorts from the United States.
Still, if you’re living in or visiting countries where in-person sex work is legal, Escort Directory feels very much like the Craigslist of old. You can even filter your search according to criteria like pictures, verified contact details, pornstars, traveling, BDSM, trans, and body type.
Escort Directory doesn’t sponsor or facilitate escorting but does provide a haven for legal sex workers looking to advertise, and that’s the “most Craigslist thing” we’ve heard today!
>>Get uncensored personal ads for all sorts of sex workers anywhere!
2. Euro Girl Escorts – Best Filtering for Escort Classified Ads
Pros
- Escort ads in cities all over the world
- Legal escort personal ads
- Filtered searches to find specific escort types
- Has reviews of escorts
- Has a blacklist of untrustworthy escorts
Cons
- No U.S. escort services
- Intrusive third-party ads
Pricing
- Free
EuroGirlsEscort.com is one of the escort listing sites based in Europe, which contains escort personal ads from all over the world.
Unlike the Craigslist Persons of old, however, EGE has a much more colorful interface, reminiscent of your average porn site. The listing site lets you filter your search according to body types, services offered, travelers, languages, ethnicity, and other personal preferences.
The filtering also gives you more practical fields for narrowing down your search like:
- Good reviews
- Verified escorts
- Newcomers
- Video intros
- Pornstars
- Independent
- Recently seen
- Threesomes
- Couples
You can also read reviews of escorts from users, including a “blacklist” section for sex workers who may be scam artists.
Euro Girls Escort also takes a stand against human trafficking and/or underage sex workers and asks its users to help keep the site clean by reporting suspicious activity.
Maybe more community cooperation would have helped Craigslist back in the day!
Nevertheless, the profiles here are fairly detailed, with prices included. You can search for escorts just as you used to do on Craigslist Personals but with far more options.
While the third-party ads are intrusive, this is a free site that helps you find trustworthy and well-reported escorts worldwide.
>>See why Euro Girls Escort is even better than Craigslist Personals!
3. Ashley Madison – New Craigslist Personals Site for Married Women
Pros
- Anonymous married chat
- Open marriage friendly too
- Women get free premium memberships
- Photo editing tools for privacy
- The most popular married dating site
Cons
- Very competitive
- No personals – just profiles
Pricing
- 25 cents for 1000 credits
- 30 cents for 500 credits
- 49 cents for 100 credits
Who could forget one of the most memorable pastimes of using Craigslist – searching Casual Encounters for “married but looking ads.” Usually posted from a lonely housewife (let’s face it, no one cares about the lonely househusbands!) looking for a steamy affair.
Craigslist’s personals are gone, but the spirit of married but looking lives on in Ashley Madison. Since 2001, the site has been arranging casual dating encounters. It’s one of the few sites whose reputation precedes it: it’s Ashley Madison, and you don’t have to hide anything or explain yourself!
Like Craigslist, Ashley Madison has many profiles of married women, along with anonymous chat and private and public galleries. Even better than Craigslist, you can use online photo editing tools to block out or mask your public pictures.
Sure, Ashley Madison is pricey, but having a discreet affair and not getting caught is priceless!
Ashley Madison is the Craigslist of the modern era and has the anonymity factor going for it that men can appreciate.
>>The Craigslist Personal Affair forum lives on at Ashley Madison!
4. AdultFriendFinder – Best Craigslist Personals for Swingers
Pros
- Post personal ads for swinging – just like CL
- Active non-monogamous community
- Video intros & live shows
- Forums & niche chat rooms
- Social media type interface
Cons
- Fake profiles & escorts roam here
- Pricey
Pricing
- $19.95/mo for 12 months
- $26.95/mo for 3 months
- $39.95 for 1 month
Craigslist Personals used to be the best place to meet fellow swingers, who weren’t halfway across the world. People used to post an ad, start a conversation, and bingo! It’s a key party. (Well maybe that’s m0re 1970s, but you get the idea!
Although Craigslist has been neutered, Adult Friend Finder is still standing tall as the best place to meet local swingers online. Since 1996, AFF has been connecting the local adult community together and has helped many couples find their ideal fantasy. From threesomes to hard swaps to orgies – AFF has everything on your sexual bucket list.
You can post ads on your wall and start a blog, post erotic stories, talk on the forums, add NSFW photos, or even start broadcasting an intro or a live show.
This makes it one of the best ways to meet other swingers in your area – and immediately show them what you look like! Of all the Craigslist Personals alternative websites, AFF is the most fun and definitely the most active community of friendly non-monogamous people.
>>Who needs Craigslist? Post a swinger personal ad on Adult Friend Finder!
5. Secret Benefits – Craigslist Personals Alternative for Rich Married Men
Pros
- Luxury online dating site
- Sugar baby searches
- Verified profiles
- Become admirers of your crush
- Highest female-to-male ratio
Cons
- Luxury theme is not for all tastes
- Pricey
Pricing
- 29 cents for 1000 credits
- 34 cents for 500 credits
- 59 cents for 100 credits
Where else did people go, besides Craigslist, if they wanted to find a hot young partner to spoil with money and affection? Before we even knew what sugar dating meant, Craigslist had all sorts of cheeky ads catering to rich men who didn’t know what to do with all their money.
Craigslist may not run luxury dating ads anymore, but Secret Benefits has become the new go-to site for luxury dating, sugar babies, and everything in between.
Secret Benefits is ideal for married men with money to spend who are tired of fighting for female attention on traditional dating sites. Secret Benefits has a much better female-to-male ratio on account of all the wealthy men joining the site.
Even better, all members have verified profiles, including the wealthy and the beautiful. Members can also look forward to video intros, private galleries, secret questions and answers, and detailed profiles.
You can start a chat, become a top admirer of your crush, and start leaving tips. Secret Benefits fills the void left by Craigslist Personals by facilitating members who need a little sugar in their bowl.
>>See why Secret Benefits is the best for wealthy married men!
6. Bedpage – The Best of Craigslist Personals Replacements in Style
Pros
- The most similar site to Craigslist Personals
- Contains multiple community sections
- Allows U.S. escort ads
- Allows stripper & massage ads
- Has a dating personals section
Cons
- No detailed profiles
- Some sketchy listings
Pricing
- Free
Bedpage shares a visual style similar to both Craigslist Personals and Backpage, two sites that used to be notorious for hosting casual dating and erotic personals.
While Backpage no longer exists, and Craigslist Personals has eliminated all Erotic Services and Seeking sections, Bedpage has picked up where it left off.
While the site is not exclusively used for casual dating and has sections for computers, real estate, for hire, and jobs. Clearly, the most popular sections are Adult Services and Dating Personal Ads.
The Adult section lists female and male escorts, body rubs, strippers, BDSM workers, trans sex workers, phone sex, and adult jobs. The Dating section features the usual M seeking F ads, along with massage listings.
Bedpage is hosted in Canada, and so doesn’t apply to any U.S. laws regarding sex worker ads.
Unlike other escort directories, however, Bedpage boldly lists escort ads all over the United States and in major cities. The site does not have detailed profiles of each sex worker but does allow pricing, photos, animated GIFS, and contact information listed for free.
>>See why Bedpage is the most similar Craigslist Personals replacement!
7. Doublelist – Best New Dating Site Similar to Casual Encounters
Pros
- Dating personals just like Craigslist
- LGBTQ friendly
- Platonic section
- Sex ed & other interactive fun
- Send “Super Messages” to your favorite ads
Cons
- Charging for personal ads
- Free version has ads
Pricing
- $3.75 a month for 12 months
- $7.50 a month for 12 months
Based in San Francisco, DoubleList is yet another one of the Craigslist personals alternative sites, although it’s more of a dating site with personal ads than a free-for-all site for sex workers.
DoubleList contains a Craigslist Personals type of layout with major cities worldwide, as well as sections for Connect Now, Entertainment, Let’s Date, and Sexual Education.
The site’s personal ads feel very much like the original Craigslist, with sections devoted to Guys for Guys, Women for Women, Guys for Women, Women for Guys, Couples for Couples, Couples for Her/Him, and other seeking ads.
There is also a platonic section for people to meet or meet up for miscellaneous dating or non-dating opportunities.
The DoubleList site offers a free version, as well as two different levels of membership per month, Hookup and Hardcore.
The Hookup plan removes all the ads and lets users filter posts by age and location. You can post 6 live posts and send 30 messages per day while viewing a total of 250 pages a day.
The Hardcore plan offers unlimited messaging and ten live post ads.
While no adult services are offered here, the dating section feels like the Craigslist Personals of old, and unlike modern Craigslist, no one will flag your sexy post!
>>Find a hot date, Craigslist Personals style, with the far more modern DoubleList!
8. Erotic Monkey – Best of the Casual Dating Sites for Escort Reviews
Pros
- Intimate user reviews of escorts
- U.S. listings included
- Forum for user conversations
- Premium version includes photos & email
- Get notifications of your favorites
Cons
- Only sorts by top U.S. cities
- Not a strong international presence
Pricing
- $29.95 per month
- $23.33 per month for 6 months
Erotic Monkey is a discreet and non-adult page reporting first-person user experiences with real escorts. While it’s often mentioned as a Craigslist Casual Encounters alternative because of its escort listings, the site doesn’t have much else in common with the original site.
The site customizes all listings for your location, although you can browse other U.S. cities. You can click on ads and see the escort’s profile, including prices, quick notes, and details.
Users can also browse the forum and ask questions of regular escort clients.
But the biggest attraction here is the personal and detailed experiences with escorts. You have to join Erotic Monkey’s premium services to read the numerous user reviews.
Besides access to all parts of the forum, you also get to see escort photos and get free internal messaging with other members. You can even get notifications from your favorite escorts.
Erotic Monkey isn’t the only site that offers escort user reviews. Like Craigslist, however, it allows personal ads along with an active community of users to discuss and or blacklist suspicious listings.
Erotic Monkey is an excellent choice for a first-timer who doesn’t know what to expect but wants some help from the greater adult community.
>>Visit Erotic Monkey, and get to know your favorite escorts!
9. YesBackpage – International Choice for Replaced Craigslist Personals
Pros
- Freedom of speech & freedom to list
- Many international cities to choose from
- Escort ads & dating ads
- Other non-adult community sections
- A pro-sex worker site
Cons
- Some sketchy listings
- Not much going on in dating sections
Pricing
- Free
YesBackpage often lists as one example of Craigslist Personals alternative websites, because of its similar look and mission.
The site operates as an uncensored local community page, with sections like Jobs, Local, Community, Gigs, and Rentals. But the most popular part of the site is the personal ads section, which includes not only casual dating personal ads but also a variety of escort ads.
As you may remember, Craigslist Dating Personals always seem to have escort ads, along with a few married couples or experimenting singles who enjoy fooling around for free.Unlike other sites on our list, YesBackpage lets you search by your local city or even major cities across the globe.
If you’re planning a trip across the world and want a free and uncensored personals section, YesBackpage has all the escorts, strippers, body rubs, dom and fetishes, TS, male escorts, and sugar babies you could hope for.
The site is completely free and also lists photos and contact information along with the personals ad. YesBackpage is legitimately Craigslist’s successor, albeit with even more details as to what sex acts the escorts offer to do.
YesBackpage is very much like Craigslist Personal Ads, but its unknown location and focus on international escort listings protect it from being shut down.
It’s the international version of CL Personals, and you’ll recognize it by the freedom manifesto at the bottom of the site, suggesting that the original Backpage site was unfairly shut down because of sex worker prejudice.
>>Visit the international version of the Craigslist Personals Site at YesBackpage!
10. Adult Look – Best Craigslist Personals Alternative for Scheduling
Pros
- Scheduling dates a year in advance
- Agencies & independents represented
- Reviews & prices quoted
- Search all over the world
- Contact info & social links
Cons
- Fairly new site
- No personal ads for dating
Pricing
- Free
Unlike most other Craigslist Personals alternatives, AdultLook.com offers both independent sex worker ads, as well as agencies and adult-oriented companies.
While escorts are the most searched section of the site, you can also find listings for agencies, strip clubs, massage parlors, body rubs, and adult stores.
While there isn’t much of a personal ads section, escort profiles are organized according to city and state. Information provided includes bio details, prices, location, and user reviews reporting on the safety and honesty of the worker.
Linking directly to each listing are related forum discussions, escort reviews, and live ads. But the best feature of AdultLook is how detailed the escort pages are for booking dates. You can see the escort’s date schedule, including what cities they travel to and where you can find them. Contact information is included for both independent works and agencies.
The community aspect of AdultLook, as well as scheduling assistance, makes it a rising star to watch internationally.
>>AdultLook helps you stay safe when browsing sexy personal ads!
Runners-up for Better Craigslist Classified Ads Sites
11. OnlyFans – The Most Explicit of All Casual Dating Sites
The only way to explore sexy personal ads safely! OnlyFans models broadcast sexually explicit content online but do not engage in physical sex with clients for money.
12. Reddit Personals – A Casual Dating Classified Ads Site
Subreddits R4R and Dirty R4R have a personal ads section where you can post your location and what you’re looking for.
13. Original Craigslist – Still a Good Site for Non-Adult Classified Ads
Still has a personals section for business, community, and Missed Encounters.
14. FetLife – A Niche Dating Site for BDSM
A low-cost site for online personals for niche kinksters and polyamorous relationships.
15. Facebook Marketplace – Better Than Garage Sales!
The new champion of person-to-person sales with free listings, messaging, and photo exchanges.
FAQs About Craigslist Alternative Sites
What happened to Craigslist Casual Encounters?
Craigslist Casual Encounters and Erotic Services was taken down in 2010.
While Craigslist claims it was to fight sex trafficking, it was likely because of heavy pressure from the U.S. Government, which passed a sex-trafficking bill that holds platforms liable if they are found to be facilitating sex trafficking through personal ads.
What happened to Backpage and Craigslist Personals?
Both Backpage and Craiglist Personals faced heavy scrutiny from the U.S. Government.
An anti-trafficking law that threatened to hold platforms liable for facilitating sex trafficking through prostitution, knowingly or unknowingly, was enough of a threat for Craigslist to remove all personal ads.
Backpage stayed – and lost. Eventually, the FBI seized the website in 2018 for facilitating prostitution. A victim of sex trafficking later went on to sue the creators of Backpage.
Are escorts from sites like YesBackpage illegal in the US?
Escort listings from sites like YesBackpage are a gray area.
A personal ad for outspoken prostitution could be illegal in the U.S. – including posting and facilitating a meeting for sex in person in exchange for money.
However, sex-for-money exchanges are not illegal worldwide. This explains why some countries that allow solicitation, like London, Canada, and Australia, will host legal sex worker sites.
Most escorts will not discuss sex openly on a public forum. They are only paid for their time and companionship. Any sex that follows is a choice between consenting adults.
Did Craigslist Personal Ads ever have escorts?
Yes, escorts used to post there all the time.
Occasionally some sex workers still post on Craigslist “Activity Partners,” although the ads are quickly flagged and deleted nowadays.
Do escorts work on sites like Adult Friend Finder and Ashley Madison?
There might be escorts working on Adult Friend Finder and Ashley Madison, but they are “undercover” and not approved by the site.
Escort ads and profiles are universally banned by most online dating sites because of their questionable legality – not to mention the stigma of users having to pay for sex.
What is the best Craigslist Personals replacement today?
The best Craigslist Personals alternatives today depend on what kind of personal ads site you’re looking for.
Adult Friend Finder and Ashley Madison are considered safe casual sex sites, with a no escorts policy to protect users.
On the other hand, Escort Directory and Bedpage are known for running sex worker personal ads. These sites resemble the old Craigslist Personals section in a different and “underground” sort of way.
Conclusion – Find Better Connections with Better Craigslist Alternatives
Craigslist is still up and running, but most online traffic has moved onto better sites more suited to their purposes.
Adult Friend Finder and Ashley Madison provide a casual sex community for horny users, with heavy socializing and anonymity, respectively. Escort Directory provides escort listings in countries where sex work is legal and protected.
There are also a host of Craigslist Personals alternative sites to check out for a wide variety of purposes. Therefore, it’s best to stay away from personal ads that mention sex in U.S. states where solicitation is definitely banned.
You don’t want the hassle of dealing with undercover police, nor do you want to inadvertently support human trafficking by answering illegal sex worker ads. Why not keep things legal and sexy by flirting with millions of online partners who are available, ready, and willing?
