Ashley Madison is arguably one of the most popular online dating platforms, and for a good reason – which we will explore in this Ashley Madison review.

Unlike most dating apps that focus on conventional dating, Ashley Madison takes a unique approach by catering to the needs of married people in search of extramarital affairs.

It’s a platform that married folks use to spice up their bedroom affairs discreetly.

However, singles can also sign up and try their luck with other singles or married people on the site.

But despite its ever-glistening reputation in terms of security, member quality, and features, is Ashley Madison the right fit for your needs?

To help you out, we’ll take an in-depth look at the hookup site, paying close attention to its features, member pool, ease of use, and even more importantly, cost.

Ready?

Then let’s jump straight in!

What Is Ashley Madison?

Ashley Madison is a Canadian online dating platform launched back in 2001 to serve married men and women looking to have affairs discreetly (and without judgment).

Over time, however, the site has evolved into a community of like-minded adults looking to have casual, short-term relationships.

It’s a site meant to add flavour to otherwise boring bedroom affairs by allowing members to flirt and casually interact with other users discreetly. You’ll find married men, lonely housewives, students, retirees – virtually anyone flirting on the corridors of Ashley Madison.

And although the site has been marred by controversy, more specifically after its infamous 2015 security breach, it manages to bounce back – every time coming back stronger than before.

At the time of writing, Ashley Madison is considered one of the safest platforms for discreet online dating – and rightfully so.

Security features like two-factor authentication, anonymous billing, and strong data encryption mean your personal details are safe, allowing you to flirt away without any worries in the world.

How Does Ashley Madison Work?

Using Ashley Madison is pretty straightforward. You’ll first need to create an account and specify your interests. While you can register via the Ashley Madison website, we highly recommend downloading the app (available for iOS and Android devices) for enhanced security.

Once you’ve created your account and selected your preferences, you’ll be able to view Ashley Madison users near your geographical location and several others with similar preferences to yours.

You can also click on Discover mode (on the home page) to view hundreds of other profiles on the platform.

Point to note, Ashley Madison is completely free for women to use and send messages, but if you’re a man trying your luck on the platform, you’ll need to purchase credits to initiate and respond to messages.

Ashley Madison is a feature-rich online dating site and boasts features like Travel Man, Priority Man, Message Plus, and virtual gifts all of which add a much-needed edge to on-app/site communications.

Ashley Madison Pros & Cons

Although not for everyone, Ashley Madison comes with several pros that make casual dating fun and easy for members. Let’s take a quick look at some of the site’s main advantages and disadvantages.:

Pros:

– Large member pool
– Free Registration & app download
– Simplistic, easy-to-use website
– Free for women seeking men
– Healthy female-to-male ratio
– Feature-rich
– Profiles regularly monitored
– Stealth features to disguise app and notifications
– Advanced security features
– Responsive app version

Cons:

– Some fake profiles
– Not free for men
– Free account is basic
– Pricing can be complicated
– Credit system can be costly

How Much Does Ashley Madison Cost?

The Ashley Madison subscription is different from the payment model used by most online dating services. Male users must purchase Ashley Madison credits to initiate conversations and access the hookup app’s premium features.

Women looking for married or single men on the dating app get to access all features for free, including sending and responding to messages.

And although creating a profile and downloading the Ashley Madison app is free, male members or female members looking for females must buy credits.

So what does it take to purchase credits on the site?

Buying credits is fairly straightforward as Ashley Madison sells them in three bulk packages:

1. The Basic plan is the cheapest and will set you back $59 for 100 credits.
2. The second plan is the Classic plan which costs $169 for 500 credits.
3. The final plan is the Elite plan (recommended for active users) which costs $289 for 1000 credits.

Although costliest on paper, the Elite plan can help you save in the long term as it gives you access to Priority man, a potentially costly feature that allows you to rank high in search results.

Ashley Madison also allows you to sign up for its cost-cutting program dubbed Member Initiated Contact (MIC).

The program is free for the first 30-days and costs just $29.99 afterward. This feature is optional and suitable for active members as it allows you to view and respond to messages without using your credits.

The Canadian online dating site allows you to make payments through several methods, which is a huge deal for users that prefer flexible payments. Some of the main payment methods accepted include:

– Paypal
– Credit cards
– Debit cards
– Checks
– Gift cards.

Please note that Ashley Madison bills clients anonymously to keep all transactions discreet.

What Are The Members On Ashley Madison Like?

Despite being costlier than several other competitor sites, Ashley Madison has an ever-increasing pool of active members.

With over 60 million members worldwide and over 50,000 daily logins, Ashley Madison is the ideal hunting ground for people searching for no-strings-attached types of relationships.

And although most members are men, the majority of female members on the site are active and rarely hesitate to initiate conversations with other attractive members.

Ladies are likely to kickstart conversations with men whose profiles are detailed compared to accounts with incomplete user details.

While most of the members on the hookup site are married individuals looking for discreet affairs, there are also tons of separated or recently divorced singles in search of casual, non-serious relationships.

All members understand that Ashley Madison isn’t for long-term dating, but don’t be surprised if you find someone you click with instantly and want to engage with for the foreseeable future.

Everything’s possible on Ashley Madison!

The level of competition can also get stiff on the dating platform, more so considering there are more male members than females. Therefore, the best way to stand out is by:

1. Creating an attractive profile
2. Uploading quality photos
3. Purchasing credits to access premium features

Members that take advantage of Ashley Madison’s advanced features like priority man, traveling man, and priority message are almost certainly guaranteed to secure dates compared to those without access to such features.

Is Ashley Madison Safe & Secure?

Ashley Madison’s 2015 data breach caused a lot of concerns for both old and new members. In all honesty, the site’s future appeared bleak, with most members pulling out and potential clients opting for rival dating apps.

The good news, however, is that Ashley Madison bounced back impressively by doubling, if not tripling, its security features!

From double authentication to encrypted transmission via SSL and anonymous billing, there’s little to no chance of data being hacked by third parties.

Ashley Madison also has a bug bounty program that rewards people who point out vulnerabilities long before they’re exploited by hackers.

All the security measures put in place have helped make Ashley Madison legit, ensuring it continues to cement its status as one of the most secure online dating sites around.

And although you’re likely to stumble upon some fake accounts when browsing the Ashley Madison site, you’ll appreciate that profiles are regularly monitored to ensure there are no malicious users looking to take advantage of unsuspecting members.

We also like that the Ashley Madison app is discreet and doesn’t bear the official logo, meaning you can easily access the app on the go without arousing any suspicion.

However, for advanced security, Ashley Madison recommends signing up with a different email address from your main one.

If possible, you should create a new email address specifically for engaging on the platform, as doing so reduces the chances of a friend or family member stumbling on Ashley Madison emails.

How To Delete An Ashley Madison Account

There are two options you can take up when looking to delete your Ashley Madison account. You can either deactivate or delete your account completely.

Deactivation is short-term and means your profile will be removed from the platform’s search results. Moreover, your profile will be completely hidden from other Ashley Madison members.

However, deactivating is not permanent, and you can restore your account by contacting Ashley Madison’s support team as your account will still be in the system.

The second option is full deletion, which means your profile will be removed from search results and the system completely.

Full deletion will also remove all photos, messages, winks, and gifts received on the site. Your site usage history will also be completely deleted under this option.

To deactivate or delete your Ashley Madison profile, you’ll need to do it from a desktop computer and not from the app version. Go to the Manage Profile page and choose the Delete Profile or Deactivate profile options.

Ashley Madison will then instruct you on how to go about either deletion or deactivation.

Disclaimer, if you choose to delete your Ashley Madison profile, customer service cannot help you restore it later on – you’ll simply have to create another account if you choose to return.

Some Great Alternatives To Ashley Madison

1. AdultFriendFinder – Top Adult Online Dating Service

Adult Friend Finder is arguably one of the most popular casual hookup sites in the world as it boasts over 80 million members from all around the globe.

It’s the ideal hunting ground for people interested in a wide range of no-strings arrangements from polygamy, swinging, monogamy, BDSM, and tons of other sexual preferences.

As expected, the online dating site has more male members than females. But the female members on the site are active and open to conversing and making arrangements with male members in or around their geographic location.

AdultFriendFinder comes with a mobile app with similar features to the desktop version. Be warned, though, that you’re likely to stumble on fake profiles on the corridors of AdultFriendFinder, hence the need to pay close attention to the accounts you engage with.

While creating an account is free on Adult Friend Finder, you’ll probably need to upgrade to premium to stand a chance of hooking up with other members.

Please note that content on Adult Friend Finder is on the explicit side, so you might want to avoid it if you don’t fancy NSFW content.

But if you’re the adventurous type that doesn’t mind kinky sexual arrangements, then you’ll enjoy interacting with other members interested in swinging relationships, threesomes, and unique fetishes.

2. Seeking – Best Hookup Site For Older Men

Seeking, also referred to as Seeking Arrangement, is an online dating website that initially started as a platform for wealthy men seeking younger companions.

Over time, however, the site has evolved and now welcomes anyone in search of premium casual dating without judgment.

Unsurprisingly, most members on Seeking are beautiful young ladies searching for casual flings or serious relationships with well-moneyed men.

The dating website is available in several countries and in multiple languages like French, Portuguese and Spanish, making it suitable for international dating. Its rigorous profile verification standards reduce the chances of interacting with bots and malicious accounts.

With more younger females than men, the competition can be stiff on Seeking. This explains why members need to be active, more specifically the ladies if they’re to land well-off companions.

What we like the most about Seeking are its extensive search filters that give members flexibility in choosing who to interact with. You can search based on location, age, hair colour, social habits, education background, language, and even the number of children.

3. Victoria Milan – Most Discreet Dating Site

Victoria Milan’s slogan ‘Relieve the passion- find your affair’ tells all about the nature of the online dating platform.

Similar to Ashley Madison, Victoria Milan targets married men and women looking to spruce up their otherwise dull bedroom affairs.

It’s a great alternative to Ashley Madison if you want a discreet, non-judgmental platform to have extramarital affairs, or if you like the idea of swinger sites.

Victoria Milan has some impressive security features that guarantee user privacy such as private photos and blur. You can blur your profile photo to keep your profile anonymous, while the private photos feature gives you the option to choose who to share your photos with on the site.

Be warned, though, that Victoria Milan is not short of women scammers looking to take advantage of green members.

And while creating a Victoria Milan account is free, you’ll definitely need to upgrade to premium if you’re to have any luck on the app. Unfortunately, Victoria Milan doesn’t have a short-term pricing plan as the shortest duration is a 3-month plan that’ll set you back around $149.97.

Similar to Ashley Madison, Victoria Milan will bill you anonymously and encrypt your credit card information, ensuring everything remains 100% discreet.

4. NoStringsAttached – Great for Short-Term Flings

As the name suggests, No Strings Attached is a casual dating website targeting people in search of short-term flings.

It’s a great option if you want a fast hookup with like-minded strangers.

And while the No Strings Attached website might come off as a bit basic, it is a preferred playing ground for singles or married couples looking for discreet fun.

Of course, you won’t be interacting with as many profiles as you would with the likes of Ashley Madison, Seeking, and Victoria Milan, but you’ll appreciate No Strings Attached geo-matching algorithm that suggests profiles close to your location.

Member profiles on No Strings Attached aren’t monitored regularly, meaning you might find yourself chatting with bots or scammers if you aren’t careful. There are also hundreds if not thousands of abandoned profiles that might mislead you during sign-up.

As a result, try as much as possible to limit your interactions with suspicious accounts like those with incomplete profiles.

Is Ashley Madison Legit? Our Final Thoughts

Although not for everyone, Ashley Madison boasts of being one of the most secure dating sites around, boasting an active and highly interactive pool of members.

While it’s mostly known as the premier dating site for extramarital affairs, it’s also a great place for recent divorcees and singles to try their luck with short-term flings.

So, why not join today?

If you’re a guy signing up on the Ashley Madison dating site, we’d recommend going for the Classic or Elite plans, as they’re a lot cheaper in the long run.

You can also subscribe to the Member Initiated Contact program to ensure your credits aren’t used when viewing and responding to messages.

With more male than female members, the competition for dates and casual encounters can get stiff on Ashley Madison. But you can always jump ahead of the queue by taking advantage of advanced features like priority man, priority mail, virtual gifts, and traveling man.

Besides capitalising on advanced features, setting up a decent, well-detailed profile can also make you stand out from the rest and boost the odds of securing a date on the platform.

Happy hunting!