BDSM Date Review [2024] - Bound for Love?

What is BDSM Date & who’s on it?

BDSMdate.com is owned by Konception Digital Media Inc in Canada and appears to be founded in 2000 (though I wasn’t able to confirm that from the company themselves).

It might feel obvious who a BDSM date site is for, but I’ve been surprised before so I don’t jump to assumptions. Unlike some of the alternative lifestyle and kink dating sites I’ve checked out (like Fetish.com) that had lots of educational stuff for newbs like me, BDSMdate feels aimed towards people already into the scene.

Sure there are some forums and stuff for people to connect and share opinions, but the main focus feels like it’s for matching people on their kinks and interests whether it’s love or just for the night.

I will point out that the homepage said there’s millions of users worldwide, but it felt like there were relatively few people active on the BDSM chat and live cam areas when I was putting together my BDSM Date review. Just like anywhere else, do your homework before you give out any personal information to make sure they’re legit!

Is BDSM Date legit or not?

Even though the number of active users in some of the major features felt low to support the number of users BDSM Date claims to have, the site feels legit and it’s been around for a number of years. I didn’t get any immediate sketch vibes like I have from some other sites.

The only weird thing that happened was that it said I’d viewed 14 profiles when I had actually not looked at any. What I noticed, though, is those profiles showing up there were also the featured ones on my main page, so I’m guessing maybe they count that as viewing it since I could see a very short little summary?

While the site feels legit, navigating it was a bit clunky and free members pretty much can’t see anything beyond the main page featured profiles and what’s happening in chat (more on these shortly).

The tl;dr on BDSM Date

If you're busy and always on the go (I'm looking at you, city gals!) then you don't have time to read through a ton of ‘sh to find the info you need and want. Let me give you the rundown:

This wasn’t my first dive into the BDSM dating scene but it was a unique site. Let me break down the tl;dr of just the highlights:

• The overall look and feel of BDSMdate was pretty good, and felt like a sexy place to be.
• You start out with a “Nice” filter on, but if you change it to “Everything” be prepared for a lot of NSFW profile pics!
• I like that they have a “Cupid Match” feature that shows you who you’d be a good match with based on preferences you pick.
• They just added a Hot or Not game (you know it’s my favorite).
• Free users can pretty much be seen and not heard. Wanna connect? Time to upgrade to a paid membership.

Are there verified profiles on BDSMdate.com? Yes! They don’t seem to really display it a ton of places, but you can become a verified account through ConfirmID on BDSM Date. To encourage people to prove they’re real, you get two weeks of a Gold membership free when you verify your account plussss you’re listed as a trusted member and get a verified checkmark on your profile! We love freebies.

Is there a BDSMdate app? There’s not a BDSM Date app right now, but the mobile version of the site is known for being user-friendly. At least there’s that!

How to delete BDSM Date account: Deleting a BDSM Date account is super easy. When you click on “My Account” in the upper right corner of any screen, it takes you to a page with a group of links for managing your account right at the bottom. You can click “Close My Account” and it gives you quick and easy options for hiding or deleting your account.

Is the BDSM Date site free to use? Kinda? It’s free to join, but if you want to actually connect with others or participate in most of the features, you’re gonna need to upgrade to a paid account.

Is there a BDSM Date free trial? Again…kinda? You know I love a freebie (who doesn’t) so I checked things out and even though there’s not a regular free trial offer, you can get two weeks of a Gold membership free when you have your account verified! If you’ve got nothing to hide, I say go for it.

Is there a premium membership for BDSM Date? Of course there is! There are actually two levels of premium memberships (Gold and Silver) plus some add-ons you can purchase. The prices on BDSMdate really didn’t seem too bad and were cheaper than some other sites I’ve checked out.

What are points on BDSMdate.com?: Points can be used for things like emailing members you’d like to meet, showing up as a “top fan” and more!

Is there a BDSM Date app?

Like you saw above, there’s no BDSM Date app for right now. But it’s not bad! The mobile site is pretty user-friendly and I didn’t have any big probs checking things out on it while putting together my BDSM Date review.

I’ve noticed a few of the BDSM dating sites I’ve checked out didn’t have apps (or they weren’t on the App Store or Google Play). I’m wondering if maybe it’s a content issue or something, since it’s kink dating?? That said, not having a BDSM Date app wasn’t overly shocking to me like it would’ve been with a more mainstream dating site.

What's the BDSMDate sign up process like?

The BDSM Date sign up process kinda got off to a rocky start but was smooth sailing from there. The reason it started off weird is because there wasn’t just a “Join Now” button on the homepage to show me where to click.

There are two different paths to start creating an account but neither were super obvious. You can start by choosing who you are and who you’re looking for, and then it sort of rolls you into account creation on the next page… or you can click Member Login and then Free to Join to get there.

There’s a small link further down the homepage that says that, but all it does is navigate you back to the top of the page. Not the worst setup I’ve seen, but not the best either.

Once I figured out where to go, the process was simple! Check it out 👇

1. It kicked things off asking me to choose who I am and who I’m seeking. The list gave four options: Man, Woman, Couples, and Trans. It sort of fills out this page if you’d already made the selection from the homepage, but it wasn’t immediately clear.

   

2. Okay next was age and location. Pretty basic and self-explanatory. I will say that my main page after signing up still had some people kinda far away, but the majority of the profiles featured for me were pretty local.

   

3. Keeping up the simple questions, here is where they asked for my email and to choose a username and password. It’s all pretty basic up to this point, but I like a straightforward sign up process so bring it on.

   

4. Okay now we finally got to a little more substance! This page asked for my sexual orientation, body type, race, marital status, and role. The role was interesting because it really focused on positioning versus what you’re into. It gave options like dominant, submissive, switch, and unsure. At least they had the unsure option for people who might be kinda new or still figuring out what they’re into. (Hi, it’s me.)

   

5. Okay time to get creative with a headline and short bio. This was the first opportunity to really personalize my BDSM Date profile. Since I’m still pretty new to it all (but catching on quick!) I wrote that I’m open to it whatever and seeing what sparks my interest. Cast a wide net, right?

   

6. Okay honestly I was getting concerned about the lack of verifications up to this point, so when I had to confirm my email I started feeling better.

   

After that, I was dropped onto the main feed!

Here, I was able to pretty much do the same things I was on Alt.com, which makes me wonder if they’re also partners with that parent company, or just bit off their style??

I could…

• Manage my photos, videos, update my kinks, do a kink search, and update my status.
• Next up, I could view all sorts of data for the past 90 days – messages, friends, who flirted/hotlisted/viewed me, my gifts & tips (YES PLEASE!!), my top fans, and testimonials.
• I could also see metrics for my own tracking, like how many people are in my hotlist, who I’m a fan of, flirts that I’ve sent, etc.
• The center part has members who are broadcasting (remember how I mentioned this was DEF NSFW!?), who is online, new matches, members near me, and VIPs.
• The right side has bling, member groups, blogs, and a member magazine (which ironically has a post titled “Do people read blogs?” LOL).

What about search capabilities on BDSMdate?

I have to be real with you, checking out the search capabilities when I was putting together my BDSM Date review was a strange experience. As a free member, you can check out their search feature but since you can’t actually VIEW anyone’s profile, it’s only moderately helpful until you upgrade to a paid membership.

If I hovered over anyone, this is what I would see before I was encouraged to upgrade:

Anywayyyy! The advanced search features gave me the option to filter members from tons of options including:

• Sex/gender.
• Role (dom, sub, switch, etc.).
• Distance.
• Members with photos, videos, online, etc.
• Ethnicity.
• Orientation.
• Language.
• Personality (Passive, Assertive, Average).
• How often you think about alternative lifestyles.
• Verified and Gold members.

There were so many more that included if you have kids, the way you dress, physical traits and stuff like that. I could also go into their local directory and search by state if I was traveling or wanting something long distance!

At first, I didn’t think I could search by kink (which blew my mind TBH) until I realized it was on the main feed like I mentioned earlier. If you click “Kink Search'' it brings up this gigantic directory of all kinds of kinks (and I mean… ALL kinds…) that you can check out.

Once you click on a kink, it takes you to another page where you can search those who selected it:

Also, I found this odd but if I clicked a profile here, SOMETIMES I was able to see their full profile!? Other times I couldn’t. Was it a glitch??

What does a BDSM Date profile look like?

On that note, here’s what you can expect to find on a BDSM Date profile:

I was able to see,

• Photos/videos (if they had them public – otherwise I had to upgrade)
• Options for interactions, like flirts, hotlisting, adding as a friend, adding a tip, referring to a friend (which was something I haven’t seen often!) etc.
• Their friends network (Myspace vibes, right?)
• An introduction
• Their physical attributes
• Zodiac sign and personality type!

Then if I scrolled down, I was able to see…

Kinks galore! I could see all the kinks that they liked, along with the groups they were interested in, and any testimonials.

Another thing you can add on your profile is various questions/answers from their database! I thought this was pretty cool.

Is BDSM Date free to use?

I touched on this in the tl;dr section but in case you skipped over that to get alllll the details let’s recap — the BDSMdate.com site is free to join, but if you want to interact with anyone you’re gonna need to upgrade to a paid membership.

I sorta equate it to being like you’re a voyeur until you upgrade, because you can look but not touch! (Or spank!?)

Free vs. paid subscriptions for BDSM Date

Because the free version is so limited, I had to check out the premium ones so I could get a real sense of the site for my BDSM Date review. But first, let’s check the free features on BDSMdate.

Free features for BDSMdate

Here's what I was able to do during my BDSMdate com review without whipping out my credit card:

• Possibly view other profiles if yours is getting attention.
• Contact Premium members who have purchased standard contacts.
• Create/view personality test results.
• Search by distance and username plus save search settings.
• Upload and change your photo to get seen.
• Keep a personal "Hotlist" of your favorite members.
• Upload your video greeting.
• Use of our active chat rooms. (more on the BDSM chat here shortly!)
• View up to 10 matches if you match.
• Talk to people instantly using the IM system.
• Database search using the "standard" form.
• Play the new Hot or Not game.
• Add a ton of questions/answers onto your profile from the topic database.
• Participate and view results for recent polls.

Okay so this looks like a long list of freebie features, right? And I guess it is, but the thing is since you can’t click on any profiles as a free member, it sorta makes them all kinda useless until you upgrade, IMO.

So let’s check out the paid features for BDSM Date, shall we?

Features and cost for Premium BDSMdate memberships

Obvi I’m not new to the dating site scene, so I think I’m a pretty good judge as to what paid features are worth it! The BDSMdate site was a little surprising to me because their prices were pretty good, but they offered more than just your typical tiered memberships. 👀 Peep the details for the pricing below:

Along with the plans we’re about to dive into, you can also pay to “Enhance Your Profile” or get your profile highlighted in the search results.

As well as buy “point” packages which kinda overlap with what you get above, but nice to use if you don’t wanna pony up for the packages just yet!

BDSM Date Silver Plan

• $19.95 each month.
• $11.99 each month - you're charged $35.97 upfront every 3 months.
• $8.33 each month - you're charged $99.97 upfront every 12 months.

With this plan you can… ready for all this!?

• Stream live: Members can send points in the form of virtual gifts or tips. Streamers can turn these points into physical gifts, memberships and more!
• Top of each list of members search results (5x more views).
• Get ICQ, AIM, YIM & MSN ID's of members in your network.
• View up to 20 member photos.
• View member videos along with live or recorded video intros! (Full access is for Gold though)
• Super-search for members using the "priority" form.
• Get 24/7 telephone customer support.
• View past polls and results.
• Premium Smilies in Chat.
• Have your username on the Members Online list.
• Priority for faster profile and photo reviews.
• Email of new matching members - up to 20 matches for Silver.
• Emails viewable for 60 days.
• Maximum members in Hotlist.

Seems like a lot, right? The silver membership to BDSM Date gives you access to all the features on the site.

BDSM Date Gold Plan

• $29.95 each month.
• $19.99 each month - you're charged $59.97 upfront every 3 months.
• $12.50 each month - you're charged $149.97 upfront every 12 months.

Gold members get everything the free and Silver level members do, but with a few upgrades:

• View all user photos.
• Send flirts to other members.
• Email of new matching members - Complete list (30+) instead of 20.
• Emails viewable for 120 days instead of 60.

The “matching members” for the paid plans aren’t just talking about people who may like you on the Hot or Not game, but a unique feature to BDSM Date called the “Cupid Service” that delivers daily matches to you based on your profile preferences. It’s a nice feature, but is more like a daily delivery from the search you could do on your own. I appreciate the assist though!

What about BDSM chat?

Okay so one of the features I had mixed feelings on during my BDSM Date review was BDSM chat. Sounds awesome, right? A fun spot to connect with others and chat it up kinky style? I thought so, too. And I liked that it was on the list of freebie features! It kinda stopped there, though.

Not gonna sugarcoat it, the BDSM chat feature felt a little stuck in the late 90s. Where the rest of the BDSM site was sexy and fun, the BDSM chat feature was giving a throwback to AIM. I was waiting for the cringy “deep” away messages (we all had ‘em, don’t lie).

Graphics aside, the other issue was it didn’t seem to really work right for me. Maybe it was just my experience here, because I could see people live chatting… but whenever I typed in to join the convo, it glitched out and wouldn’t post. I think with some fixing, it would be an awesome feature more people could enjoy!

What sets BDSM Date apart from the rest?

Okay, so what makes BDSMdate.com so special? Tbh I liked the site, and there were a few things I noticed while putting my BDSM Date review together that stood out to me. Some of them were:

• Profile verification:I like that they offer incentives for profile verification.
• Hot or Not: It’s pretty common on more mainstream dating sites, but I haven’t come across this as much on my adventures into BDSM dating site reviews, so it was a fun feature!
• Groups and forums: This BDSM dating website isn’t as dedicated to education on kinks and stuff, but they still have groups and forums you can join to add to the convo and meet other people.
• NSFW filter: I’m no prude, but I felt other BDSMdate.com reviews really underplayed the fact they give you warnings before potential erotic content and give you direct control on whether or not you see NSFW content. It makes it easier to scroll on your phone while you’re on the subway or in your Uber without having to worry about that nosy person next to you freaking out!
• Kinks galore: Fo’ real. There were SO MANY KINKS in the database.
• Profile Q&A for all kink/BDSM topics: I liked that you had boilerplate – but relevant! – questions to answer for your profile (and a TON of them, at that!). This helped people understand what I like, and what they liked too.
• Kink search: I’ve seen this on a few other sites, but this really had an extensive list to sift through… some of which I most DEF haven’t heard of!

Pros and cons of BDSM Date

I think you’ve pretty much gotten that I dug the BDSM Date site, but what about the cons? Let’s give it the balanced treatment:

What I like about BDSM Date

I’ve hit some of these already, but let’s do a recap on what I liked:

• NSFW filters.
• Hot or Not game (it’s always my favorite!).
• Good premium membership prices.
• Site feels legit and rewards people for becoming verified.
• Lots of community features and chat options (even though the chat itself gave me issues…)
• The ability to keep photos/videos private if someone isn’t an upgraded member (this is a double-edged sword tho!)
• That you could buy points packages for certain features without paying for the Silver or Gold packages.

What I didn't like about BDSM Date

With the good comes the bad. Here’s a few things that gave me the ick about BDSMdate:

• You have to become a premium member to really do much of anything.
• The BDSM chat feature I mentioned was a bit of a letdown but has potential if it wasn’t just a “me” problem!
• The sign up process was easy but I had to figure out where to go first.
• It was suuuuper busy. There was almost WAY too much going on to figure out where to start.

So… final thoughts for my BDSM Date review

Okay so by now I’ve checked out a few BDSM dating sites and I’m still a newbie, but feeling more familiar with it all! I’m glad I didn’t check out BDSM Date until a little later in my adventures because it’s less educational and more get-to-business. I might’ve been a little lost if it had been my first BDSMdating site.

Overall, it felt legit and I enjoyed checking it out. The new Hot or Not game is a huge plus for me so an automatic bonus point! But the BDSM chat feature was definitely a letdown since I personally had issues using it. What’s great about it all is that the users seem to really be into the scene, so you’re dealing with people who know what they’re doing.

A lot of people ended up viewing my profile but it took a bit to get any messages?? It didn’t seem as hoppin’ right away as some other sites but after a while I got some good convos going on. This girl had plenty to report back to my friends after putting together my BDSM Date review but I think some of them are gonna want to check it out, too!

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