Our exclusive directory is the result of months of registering, writing profiles, uploading photos, and contacting and being contacted by hundreds of members from every kind of dating service (and we do mean EVERY). There were a few broken hearts and hurt feelings along the way, but plenty of fun times as well.

We all survived to tell the tales. And, more importantly, it was all worth it. The result is an overview of more than 150 of the best and worst dating services. These are real reviews from real users, not regurgitated hype from the sites' own "About Us" pages.

A few things to keep in mind:

• We focused on the United States. Some of the featured services are international, but all have an emphasis on the U.S. If you're looking to meet someone in France, this directory isn't where you should start.
• Virtually all dating sites are free to search, create a profile and send "winks" but require payment to contact other members, to receive messages and to see who's viewed you.
• Some services have "premier" members who recognize that a lot of people look but don't sign up and have paid extra to be able to receive messages even from these non-paying guests.
• There are many sites that are absolutely free, so if you just want to try out a site and see how online dating works, you might want to start with a free one.
• The prices we list are retail prices. If you register on a service but don't pay right away, you might receive an email offer with a discount to encourage you to take it to the next level. Discounts may also be available if you click through from our site (we made affiliate deals with many of the services).
• There are plenty of specialized sites targeting singles (and in some cases couples) of specific ethnic group, religion, age, sexual orientation or interest. Check out our list of categories to see if one is calling out to you.
• More services are coming along all the time, so check back often for new additions. And if we've left off one you think we should know about, please let us know.