The portal FetLife is a popular service that operates in the niches of dating sites, sites for hookups, and meeting platforms for the BDSM community’s representatives. It started its work in 2008. You can find materials, porn videos, photo content about all the fetishes that have to do with BDSM, and people interested in this topic. Over 5.6 million users worldwide seem to speak for themselves. In addition to groups, events, and hot videos, a glossary is available here. You can read about all terms used in the BDSM culture and share more explanations with other forums.
At first glance, the FetLife website seems to be the perfect choice if you are into kinky dating. But what about the activity of the users? And how much are the costs if you want to use all functions? This FetLife review considers all the important details. A very close look presented after various tests from real users will answer all your questions about the platform, its members, costs, and experiences. Maybe, the community is exactly the page you’ve been looking for?
The Main Characteristics of the Website Design & Usability
FetLife has an expandable design. To make the atmosphere on the site keep up with the BDSM culture, the developers made the background completely black. The writing is light gray, which means that it is sometimes difficult to read, especially in a bright environment. The design itself is relatively confusing.
You can reach functions with one click, but their names and the site’s menus, in general, are not exact. Pornographic advertising appears on every page. However, the site is very discreet and does not open in new windows through large pop-ups. You can receive notifications of new activities by email if you wish. To get your messages from your smartphone or tablet, you need the mobile website, as an app is not available. The mobile website’s design matches the FetLife website, but is adapted to the smartphone and is, therefore, a good alternative.
The apps are as easy to navigate as the desktop versions. Their interface guarantees you the fluidity of the user experience. There is no specific matching algorithm on FetLife. You can either narrow the list of users by location in your area or find them through perverse preferences. The other option is to go through the profile information. In general, all profiles are accurate, and you have to read them to know if you want to connect with these people or continue your research.
The number of fake accounts is not significant, as the registration process happens through a phone number and an email, which makes logging into the website more difficult for scammers. Overall, the FetLife design of the site is smooth and pleasing to the eye. It’s simple, and the primary colors are black and red, which immediately sets a kinky vibe.
Mobile Application: Prices and Availability
The FetLife app is available for both iOS and Android for free. You should install it, as almost 70% of users prefer to use the application rather than the website. You can also access the website via any browser if you don’t feel like downloading the application.
Special Features of the Site in Terms of Operation
The outstanding features that the site provides:
- Groups. There are groups for almost every fetish. If you join a group, you will find everything related to the topic there and can establish contact with users with the same fetish and meet them if necessary.
- Events. Events near you are your opportunity to get to know other users with the same sexual orientation and practice kinky techniques.
- Discover. Via the Discover window, you can find videos and pictures of all kinds of fetishes. To take full advantage of this feature, you should pay a fee of $ 5.
- Fetish search. Using keywords, you can find the FetLifeusers who have also specified the same preferences in their profile. So, you know directly who suits you and who doesn’t.
- Glossary. In the FetLife glossary, you will find explanations of all terms related to the BDSM culture. Even newbies can understand and learn everything here.
Ease of Use as the Main Working Principle
FetLife is really, as promised by the provider, the social media network for the kink scene. Here you will find all the fetishes, enough users who share them, and ample opportunities to join groups or participate in events near you. The features that you can enjoy after paying just $ 5 are a fair price for the quality you receive. dating sites like this one are not a scam; you can be sure about the protection of your credit card details and getting a refund in case you do not get what you have purchased. FetLife is an all-round easy-to-use site with a friendly atmosphere and open-minded environment. Nevertheless, if you pay, you will receive even more features and broader browsing possibilities.
A Closer Look at the Registration
Registration on the FetLife website is possible using your current phone number. You have to use a valid one, because you will receive a confirmation code in the SMS. You will then need to provide necessary information such as your role preference, sexual orientation, birth date, nickname, and gender. You can add a link to one of your other social media accounts to the profile description.
Some facts about the FetLife registration:
- Profiles and pictures on the profile are visible to all users free of charge.
- You can change personal information and adapt it at any time.
- If you are in a partnership with another user, you can link them.
- All members of the FetLife website can see the list of their profile visitors.
- The profile information is significant and informative. Most profiles are accurate and give you an understanding of what kind of people their owners are.
According to the FetLife reviews, it offers you the opportunity to profoundly fill out your profile and state all the necessary details about your preferences and requirements for the partner. Since this service is about finding the perfect partner for your fantasies, being open about your fetishes and likes makes sense. About 90 percent of the users give a meaningful description of themselves in the profile and provide useful information. A combination of keywords and free text fields makes the user profiles very informative.
The information you provide on FetLife, like the photos on your profile, is visible to other users free of charge. This openness also applies to the guest book, which you will find at the end of the page. You can see your visitors’ list, and other members will see who attended your account and what their actions were. If you are in a relationship with another FetLife user, you can link them and leave your couple’s information on your profile. This way, other users can see straight away that you are only looking for playmates or providing videos. You can add friends and unite many people into open groups on FetLife. These connections are then also in public access for everyone who visits your profile.
The Process of Profile Set-Up in Detail
The FetLife profile has six sections that you should finish. You can do this at whatever point you need; however, the more data you give, the more matches you will get:
- The main section gives you the likelihood to change the data you gave during account creation, and you can further describe a person you want to meet.
- The subsequent section is for you. Offer more details about yourself there. You can enter anything you desire here.
- The following section is about your current marital status. You can link somebody you are with this moment. For this, they should likewise be an individual from FetLife.
- The fourth section contains the connections to the sites you need to include with the goal that different users can see them and get to know more about you.
- The fifth and 6th sections are for explicit photographs and recordings. You can transfer photographs through your email address, and the video size must not surpass 5 GB.
You can set your record as public or private. In the event that you disclose it, know that any activity on your part will be obvious to different clients. There aren’t many scam profiles, and people are generally open about their personalities. However, you may still run across blank profiles. In the event that you notice any abnormal movement or something bizarre, you can report the account owner.
Notification Settings That the Service Provides
Users can adjust their FetLife website settings to receive notifications about messages, likes, friend requests, news updates, and events. This dating and kinky experiment platform have many things in common with social networks. There are various features that you get even as a free user, and the user activity inside the community is high. Therefore, set your email settings to receive notifications and pop-up reminders from the app not to miss out on anything.
Messaging Engines and Their Functionality
The exchange of messages is free of charge, and you can search people by username, fetish, or keywords. Every person who uses FetLife gets a Guest book entry at the end of their user profile. There they can find information about the user activity on their profile. To connect with users and to keep up to date, you can send them friend requests.
Videos are only available to the paid members. However, free users also receive a lot of benefits. For instance, they can unite into groups, which are a way to get in touch with like-minded users. Contacting people on the FetLife website is incredibly easy and, above all, free of charge. The message exchange is, therefore, the easiest way to get in touch with another user.
To find a user, you have a few options to do this via search. You can search for names, fetish, location, country, videos, groups, and other items. Enter keywords into your profile description so that other users can find you based on these details. The words you can use, for example, are “Anal,” “Dominant,” “Swinger,” or the like. Videos will also appear for the individual keywords in the search if you enter specific short phrases. However, these are only visible for a fee.
Another way to contact the FetLife users is through the guest book entry. This data is a public list that is visible to other users. To stay informed about a user’s activities in the long term, you can send them a friend request. The information about your friendship is then also open to everyone. If you don’t know what to enter in the search, you can join groups. These are available for all fetishes and enable you to contact like-minded people on FetLife without rummaging through the search for a long time.
Is the Chat Deletion Process Complicated?
You can delete or archive a conversation in the chat settings. Open a dialogue with a user that you want to clear and click on the three dots in the top right corner.
What Indicators Show Whether a Person Is Online?
The small circle near the nickname shows when the person is online.
Can You Know When the FetLife Message Has Been Read?
You cannot see when the person reads your message. The number near your nickname indicates how long ago you sent the message, and you can also check how far ago the person last entered the site.
Is Sending Pictures Available on the Website?
You cannot attach files to messages in your conversation. Users are free to upload photos to their profiles and share them with others. To upload a photo, you have to click on your FetLife profile. Here you can see the inscription “View Pic” under the photo. If you click on it, you get to the gallery. Here you will find a button at the top right that you can use to upload more pictures. The same goes for adding videos, by the way. To do this, you have to click on the button labeled “Upload Vid” under the profile picture.
Message Filters Present on the Site
Unlike most kinky websites, FetLife offers free messaging. The messages’ format is close to the email exchange, which may seem old-fashioned to some novices. When you open the list of your conversations, you will see the most recent of them. There are also headers of different sections with messages to the right of your conversation. They are:
Inbox;
Archives;
All messages.
The Effectiveness of the Member Search Facilities
There are over 5,600,000 users worldwide registered on FetLife. Both women and men are very active and communicative, and they represent all age groups. In general, users must be at least 18 years old to create an account. When you search for users, this number is the minimum age accessible for choosing as an age filter.
FetLife is a portal that brings together users of all age groups. The point here is to find a playmate with whom you can live out your dirty fantasies. It’s very peaceful on the platform, as the users have one goal: meet like-minded people to have fun, and who knows, maybe you will even find the partner for life here with whom all your fantasies can come true? To create a FetLife account, you must be at least 18 years old. Since nudity and pornographic are popular here, this is necessary for reasons of youth protection. It is incredibly positive that there are no fake users to be found here.
How can you find users who share your preferences? To find users with the same fetishes and hobbies, you have to click on the magnifying glass. Here you now choose between different points, such as groups, kinksters, videos, places, and events. Then enter your search term in the search bar, for example, bondage. Depending on the category, all users, videos, etc. containing the keyword bondage will appear in the search results. Now you can browse the list and find the right user.
The FetLife search simplifies meeting and discovering your best matches according to the criteria you set. You get a tab which will permit you to interface with different individuals and weed them out based on filters. Send messages to anyone you see in the search result or save them to favorites and contact later. You can also see users nearby and get in touch with those online.
Be prepared to investigate extreme photos and videos that will incorporate naked body parts and explicit recordings. You should watch out for who registers on the platform and beware of scammers when utilizing the search tab.
The Services That You Should Pay for
Among the free services that FetLife provides are:
- Writing messages;
- Viewing profiles;
- Seeing profile pictures;
- Writing guestbook entries;
- Uploading photos;
- Making friends.
The paid services include:
- Watching and commenting on videos;
- Seeing all pictures;
- Adjusting activity history.
Are the FetLife Prices High or Low?
One month of the FetLife subscription costs $5. This price is below the average on the market of dating sites.
Lifehacks to Remember When Creating Your Profile on FetLife
Here you will find answers to the frequently asked questions that will help you better understand how to use the FetLife website.
Why can’t I get my account activated?
To activate your account, you must provide a valid mobile phone number, as you have to activate your profile with a code that you receive via SMS. If this doesn’t work, you can contact support at the following email address: [email protected]
How can I find explanations for individual terms?
If you are new to FetLife or very inexperienced in the BDSM scene, you can find out more about individual practices and terms in the glossary. This section is beneficial and clears out many topics.
Is it possible to exchange messages for free?
Yes, the exchange of messages is entirely free here. This fare also applies to guest book entries and comments under photos.
How much does it cost to become a Premium Member?
There is no premium membership on FetLife. You can donate an amount of $ 5 per month to support the provider and use special features. They include watching videos, for example.
Which features can I only use for a fee?
Features like watching videos and pictures are chargeable. If you pay the subscription, you can also comment on the videos. It is also possible to arrange the chronicle with your friends’ activities so that you always see the users you find particularly interesting first.
What options do I have to block a user who has harassed me?
On the one hand, you can block this user via their profile. If this is not enough, you have the option of sending the support an email with their username. After the check by the support, the user receives a warning, or the moderators remove them from the site. The email address for this is [email protected].
Is it possible to delete my account?
Yes, you have to go to the settings via the menu. You will find a link that you can use to deactivate and delete the profile on the right edge. You will have to enter your password for this.
Can I deactivate my account if I want to use it again later?
Yes, you can deactivate your account via the settings. To undo this step, log in again as usual. It is, therefore, vital that you remember your FetLife password.
The Bottom Line About the Site’s Effectiveness
Most of the site’s population comes to meet people who want to explore and experience their sexuality. The FetLife platform has 8 million users worldwide, although most accounts are from the United States. Almost 80% of FetLife users are men, and only 20% are women. So it’s not that easy to find a woman to explore all the possibilities, but it’s better than nothing. Plus, this site is a global social network, too, so you’ll go beyond just meeting people. You must be 18 years old to register on the site. The average age of users of the platform is 24 to 35 years old. They make up the majority compared to other age groups, ranging from 18 to 60 years old.
The FetLife website has proven to be very good in this review. You get everything your kinky heart desires. In groups for individual fetishes, you will find other members who share your fantasies and sometimes even want to implement them into life with you. Age does not matter, as long as the common preferences match. On FetLife, you will find like-minded people, and they will not judge you for slightly different fantasies. Best of all, it’s completely free to exchange messages. However, a monthly payment is necessary to view all of the pictures and videos. It requires paying only $ 5 and is, therefore, really feasible for everyone. For all that you get on the site, the amount is meager. FetLife is an absolute must for BDSM lovers and those keen on dating sites.
