Big crowd, clear purpose
Forget Dinner vs Plenty of Fish: Which Is More Casual?
One is a large, general crowd. The other is adults only and casual first. Here is how to choose.
Forget Dinner is casual by design, so it suits UK adults who want to start there. Plenty of Fish suits you if you want a large, general crowd, a basic membership with chat between matches, and room to state your intent, with casual among the options. Both are 18 and over.
The route to a drink
Three moves to a first drink, on each
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Say who you are
Plenty of Fish: register, add a face photo and state a dating intent. Forget Dinner: pick a username, add a photo if you like and say what you are after.
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Find each other
Plenty of Fish: swipe through Meet Me or search with filters, and a mutual like opens a chat. Forget Dinner: browse, use the daily match suggestions, or say hello to someone nearby.
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Take it to a drink
Plenty of Fish: chat with your matches, then use Share My Date to send your plans to a friend. Forget Dinner: keep the chat on the site until it feels right, then pick somewhere public.
At a glance
What are the real differences?
| What you compare | Forget Dinner | Plenty of Fish |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | UK adults who want casual dating | Singles from “all walks of life”, in its own words |
| Audience and age mix | Online since 2008, with around six in ten members aged 35 to 54 | Eighth in Ofcom’s UK dating top ten, with 0.4 million adult visitors in May 2025 |
| Saying what you want | Casual, friendship and more, used in daily match suggestions | Five dating intents, casual dating among them, per its blog |
| Cost | Everyone starts on Classic. VIP and VIP Plus cost extra | A basic membership to start. POF Plus and POF Premium are paid, and the app carries ads |
| Messaging | A daily message limit on Classic, none on VIP | Message your mutual matches on the basic membership |
| Verification | Optional ID verification by live video check, shown as a badge | Selfie verification, shown as a badge |
| Minimum age | 18 | 18 |
The crowd
Will you find people who want what you want?
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On Plenty of Fish
It is a Canadian service founded in 2003 and has belonged to Match Group since 2015, per Wikipedia. It says it welcomes singles from all walks of life, so casual is one intent among many. Its own blog, archived in December 2025, says profiles offer five dating intents and Search can filter by them.
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On Forget Dinner
Online since 2008, with around six in ten members aged 35 to 54. Casual dating is what the site is for, and you still say what you are after so the suggestions can use it.
The honest trade is simple: search a big, mixed crowd for your people, or join a site with the purpose on the door. Our profile and first message tips help on either.
The money
What do you pay for on each?
Plenty of Fish
- JoiningBasic membership, with chat between matches
- POF PlusUnlimited likes, more photos, no ads
- POF PremiumAdds who likes you, read receipts
Forget Dinner
- ClassicWhere everyone starts
- VIPUnrestricted messaging, advanced filters
- VIP PlusExclusive matches, priority placement
Both keep the full view of who likes you behind a paid tier, and paid plans on both renew until you cancel, apart from our 12-month plans. Forget Dinner’s plans are on the pricing page, and the features page shows what each tier adds.
Safety
How do they handle safety and verification?
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Photo checks
Plenty of Fish has selfie verification and a badge. Forget Dinner offers optional ID verification by live video check with a moderator, no documents needed, with a badge of its own.
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Staying on the platform
Plenty of Fish’s safety page warns that some people rush to move a chat elsewhere. Forget Dinner shows a warning if someone tries to shift a chat to another app.
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Reporting and blocking
Both have blocking and reporting built in.
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Planning the date
Plenty of Fish offers Share My Date. On Forget Dinner, meet somewhere public, tell a friend, and see our safety page.
Worth knowing: neither one carries out criminal background checks, and both sets of terms say so. Treat a badge as a good sign, not proof.
Being fair
When Plenty of Fish suits you better
- You want a large, mixed crowd. It has run since 2003, and Ofcom ranks it among the UK’s ten most visited dating services.
- You want to chat before paying. On the basic membership you can message your mutual matches.
- You like to swipe. Meet Me is a stack: left to pass, right to like.
- You want more than messages. Its Google Play listing mentions dating games and live streams.
- You want an app and a website. Plenty of Fish runs on both.
Comparing the other big names too? Try Forget Dinner vs Hinge, or read the best casual dating apps in the UK.
Plenty of Fish, answered plainly
What do POF Plus and POF Premium add?
The Plenty of Fish help centre says basic members can search, like people in Meet Me and message their mutual matches. POF Plus and POF Premium are paid memberships with extras such as unlimited likes and seeing who has liked you. The app also carries ads, which POF Plus removes.
Is Plenty of Fish good for casual dating?
Plenty of Fish can suit casual dating, but it is a general service, so casual is one intent among many. Its own blog says profiles offer five dating intents, casual dating among them, and Search can filter by them. Forget Dinner is a casual dating site by purpose, so casual is the starting point.
Is Forget Dinner better than Plenty of Fish for casual dating?
It depends on what you want to say up front. Plenty of Fish has the bigger audience: Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 report ranks it eighth among UK dating services, with 0.4 million adult visitors in May 2025, and it lets you pick from five dating intents. Forget Dinner has been online since 2008 and is built around casual dating, so casual is the starting point rather than one choice among many. In February 2025 Ofcom found that most UK adults using dating services visit more than one, so trying both is normal.
Is Plenty of Fish safe to use?
Plenty of Fish publishes safety advice and tools, including selfie verification, Share My Date, reporting and blocking. Like any dating service it cannot vouch for every profile, and its terms say it does not run criminal background checks. Stay on the platform while you get to know someone, send no money, and choose a public place for a first meeting. Our dating scams guide covers the warning signs.
Skip the sorting and start casual
Pick a username, say what you want and see who is close by.
Start chatting