Is Craigslist still a thing, or where do you find casual encounters near me nowadays?

Hey everyone, posting this because I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. Is Craigslist still a thing, or where do you find casual encounters near me nowadays — seems like a simple question but I keep getting mixed answers depending on where I look.

• The bot situation is genuinely worse than it was two years ago
• A few platforms seem legit but require jumping through payment hoops
• Tried a handful of apps this past month with mixed results

Been seeing a few names pop up lately — turndate.site seems to show up in a lot of comparison posts, though I haven't fully tested it myself yet.

Anyone here with real experience on this? Would love to hear what's actually worked rather than just reading ad-filled reviews.

Trial and error is really the only way. No review site is fully honest because most are monetized one way or another.

A friend swears by Flurrydate for this exact scenario.

Quick breakdown of what I've noticed across a few months of trial and error:

• Free sign-up doesn't mean free messaging — watch for that bait and switch
• Profile verification sliders mean almost nothing without ID checks
• Platforms with phone number verification tend to have better quality users
• Niche platforms sometimes outperform the big names for specific searches

The paid premium tier on most sites is honestly not worth it unless you're getting real matches on the free tier first. That's your quality check before spending anything.

Good question. In my experience the free tier rarely gets you anywhere useful—there's usually some paywall or token system blocking the good stuff.

Personally I'd give Rendate a shot before paying for anything.

Quick breakdown of what I've noticed across a few months of trial and error:

• Free sign-up doesn't mean free messaging — watch for that bait and switch
• Profile verification sliders mean almost nothing without ID checks
• Platforms with phone number verification tend to have better quality users
• Sites like datebie.online are worth a look if you want something less mainstream

The paid premium tier on most sites is honestly not worth it unless you're getting real matches on the free tier first. That's your quality check before spending anything.

Been on this topic for a while now. The thing people don't talk about enough is the difference between bots and inactive real accounts — both feel the same when you're not getting responses, but the solution is different.

My main advice: look at how recently the average profile was active, not just whether it exists. Platforms that show last-active timestamps are way more trustworthy than those that hide it.