Best sites like Craigslist in 2024. These are classified ad sites that let you browse, find products & services without having to sign up or pay. Yes, this list is for you even if you’re searching for Hookup sites like craigslist. In fact, the first 4 options here are dedicated to just that.
Of course, if you need normal listings for cars, houses, gardening services or anything of that nature, those are abundant as well.
I’ve also listed a few security tips that will help you stay safe on these sites. Let’s get started then?
Security tips for Sites like Craigslist
Security is a major concern on these sites. That’s because you’ll mostly be dealing with other human beings. Humans aren’t exactly always trustworthy or legitimate, are they?
Hence, if you wish to stay safe on these alternatives to Craigslist, the following steps could help.
- Do not divulge personal information unless absolutely necessary. Yes, it’s perfectly fine to sign up with a fake name. Similarly, use/share your non-primary number if you can.
- Never send a payment to the other party in advance, unless you’ve absolute proof of the product and that it’ll be delivered. It’s best to always opt for cash on delivery. If they’re in your locality, go pick it up. Yes, the added hassle is worth it as compared to losing your money.
- Make it a point to pay using digital modes, even for COD payments. This gives you proof in case the other party denies receiving the payment later.
- Do not fall for “shipping charges” scams. You’ll often be sold a very expensive item, without any advance payment but they’ll ask for a small shipping fee. You’d make the payment thinking it’s just $50.00 for a $10,000 product. Well, you just lost $50.00.
- When availing a personal service, try to meet at your location. If possible, arrange the first meeting at a public place, a cafe, bar, or just a shopping mall. Do not be in a rush to take them/go to a private location. These dating/massage/sexual ads are some of the most scammer-rich categories.
- Again, do not share your real name, address, number when meeting these personals. It could lead to blackmail and many other issues.
- If you’re hiring babysitters, maids or other similar people, you can check personal backgrounds before hiring them.
- Do not click on links shared by people on these sites. They can lead you to false/misleading websites and at times infect your system.
- It’s best to avoid new accounts and go for older accounts with more stats (when these stats are displayed publicly).
1. Ashley Madison
Website: https://www.ashleymadison.com/
Ashley Madison is the best alternative for Craigslist personals. Yes, “personals” being the keyword here. If you need to find a partner for sexual desires, without any attached strings, there’s no better place.
That’s because Ashley Madison is an “extramarital affair” site. In other words, everyone there knows that you may be committed, and they just don’t care.
It also has the highest user-base with its 60 million registered users. Oh, it sure is anonymous!
No personal details are demanded, ever. You can even put in-built masks and other filters on your profile pictures! It even lets you lock your private album so it’s only shared with those who you explicitly allow.
There’s a very professional and modern chat feature that lets you chat in real-time. Ashley Madison has its own apps for Android as well as iOS too. If you’re a woman, it’s 100% free for you.
2. Adult Friend Finder
Website: https://www.adultfriendfinder.com
The name tells you how it can be one of the best sites like Craigslist personal, doesn’t it? It’s basically a full-fledged social media platform, but for sex.
Signing up is mandatory to browse the website. Once you do, the interface feels similar to what Facebook was, about 10 years back. You have a feed, other users like/comment on your posts and you can do the same for them.
It also has live-streams you can join. You can add/block people, chat with users, send gifts/tips and so on.
The core of all of this however, is sex. Nearly all the profiles will either be nude or semi-nude. Most people there are seeking a sexual partner rather than a “best-friend”. And yes it’s 100% anonymous. You can put up any random name/email (active) you want.
3. BedPage
Website: https://www.bedpage.com
If you need the best alternative to Craigslist personals, BedPage is the definite winner. Yes, I said the same about Ashley Madison. Let me explain. Ashley Madison is a more modern website, more like a social network and has more advanced features.
BedPage too lets you find partners but in a more Craigslist way, simple ads posted by users. Not many advanced features but surely enough to make it one of the most popular classified sites on the planet.
In fact, it has an “adult” category. You’ll find direct listings here for “escorts”, “dom and fetish”, “strippers” and so on. Yes, you sure can use it for vehicles, real estate, garden, pets, and other things.
Most ads have direct numbers and social profiles listed. No sign up/payment needed, simply connect on the shared details. It’s very rich in terms of listings, I’ve never found any location/category empty or with a disappointing number of listings.
It also only accepts Google signups. This massively reduces spams and scams.
4. Classifiedads
Website: https://www.classifiedads.com/
This probably is the most premium website name you can have if you’re building something the best Craigslist personals alternative. It looks and feels almost exactly like Craigslist. And yes, it does have a “personals” section.
You get filters such as women seeking woman, men seeking woman, missed connections in the “personals” category.
Other available categories include rent, vehicles, jobs, community, services (construction/ office/ lawn/ legal) and hundreds more.
The no. of available listings is impressive as well. Similarly, its presence too is global. It’s available in all the major cities and countries on the planet.
You only need to sign up when posting ads, which is free. All you need is an e-mail ID.
5. Claz
Website: https://claz.org/
Claz’s tagline says -”Classified Ads Marketplace” and it’s free. This makes it one of the free classified sites like Craigslist, doesn’t it?
Its “number of listings” is impressive. It has nearly 5 million listings in its housing category, followed by 2.4 million in vehicles and so on. Yes, alongside each category, it mentions the number of listings in the category so you know how well-populated they are.
You can search for your product using either the search-bar, or its category-list. It has a “create alert” feature that lets you create alerts for any category. You’re then notified when new listings appear in the category.
I do like its user-transparency. The users who post ads have their profile stats displayed publicly. They often have badges such as “top 100”, “verified account”, “user since”, “last seen” etc. These let you have an idea of how active the user is, and their legitimacy.
There’s a chat box right there on each listing. Helps communicate easier. Posting ads is 100% free. You may however opt for the optional “premium” features ($29.99/month). The premium listings show at the top, more frequently than normal listings and are highlighted.
6. UK Classified Ads
Website: https://www.ukclassifieds.co.uk/
As the name suggests, it’s definitely one of the sites like Craigslist but exclusively for the UK. You can not buy/sell or offer services to/from any other country.
It does have a wide range of available products such as vehicles, property, boats, jobs, travel etc.
A “seller info” panel is available, however it doesn’t show the sellers “total sales” which I believe is a major decisive factor. Anyway, you do get to see a seller’s total reviews, no. of active listings, registration date, last online etc.
Posting listings is free and does require registration. Overall, in terms of available listings,
I do hate the fact that it’s spammed to death with ads. Tons of popups and banner ads are a major inconvenience. It does let you “favourite” listings not sure if that lowers the previous inconvenience any bit.
7. Oodle
Website: https://www.oodle.com/
Oodle may or may not be better than Craigslist but it definitely is a replacement for Craigslist.
When you land on the site, you’re asked to set a location. Oodle is currently available in the U.S/U.K/India/Canada/New Zealand/ and Ireland. You can also skip the location input to browse it at random.
Just like Craigslist, it too has a list of categories you can find the ads in. For now, some common categories include pet, animals, coupons, cleaning, technical repairs, travels, services etc.
The interface is very simple. No sign up or registration is required for browsing. Even when ordering products, you only need to fill in a form with a random name/e-mail (that works).
For posting though, you must have an active Facebook account. That’s right. This may be an inconvenience but it also makes the marketplace that much safer.
The site has a top-bar that has a “browse” option, or you can use the left-sidebar for ad categories. Yes, it does have sponsored listings but you’ll see the “sponsored” tag next to them.
8. Gumtree
Website: https://www.gumtree.com/
Gumtree has one of the best interfaces and features of all these sites like Craigslist. On the website you get a search-bar at the top to search exactly for the product you need. You can also use the category-list that has cars, property, jobs, services, community etc. to find the ads you need.
The ads listings also look better and have a thumbnail, location, price and age of the ad attached to each listing.
While browsing ads doesn’t require registration, posting your own ads does. It’s 100% free though.
Some of its unique features include the ability to “favourite” listings and access them later. You can also set alerts for your categories. This sends out an alert each time there’s a new listing in your category.
You can also rate other users which prevents scammers and time-wasters. The chat system too is smoother and better than many options here.
9. Locanto
Website: https://www.locanto.com/
Many of you may be searching for hookup sites like Craigslist, Locanto is for you. It has dedicated “Personals” and “dating” categories. These are also what make Locanto the best Craigslist personals alternative.
It even has category-specific filters. E.g. in the “personals” category, you can filter for men seeking men/women, couples seeking men/women, strippers, massage and a lot more. Similarly “music” has “CDs/records/movies etc”. These category-specific filters are what make Locanto stand out from the crowd here.
It sure does have other categories such as automobiles, baby & kids, vehicles, hobby & leisure/real estate/ classes etc.
It also lets you set “alerts” for categories. You can choose to be alerted either via email or push notifications. Update frequency can be set to daily/instantly and weekly.
Browsing the website is completely free. You only need to sign up if you wish to post a free ad.
10. Poshmark
Website: https://poshmark.com/
Poshmark is one of those sites that do not look like Craigslist at all but do have the same core features and functions. Poshmark looks and feels like a modern e-commerce website. Complete with all the colours, advance filters, profiles and so on.
It calls itself a “social marketplace” where people buy and sell anything they want. You find products related to men, women, luxury, vehicles, beauty, electronics and so on.
I like the seller profiles. They tell you total number of listings by each seller, their total sales, average ship time, and “love notes”. These love notes are basically like appreciations and positive feedback. Combined, these metrics help you filter the scammers from the legit sellers, don’t they?
The filters are impressive too. You can filter for colour, price, condition and more. The only reason it’s low is it’s more product-focused than on “services” as was the case with Craigslist.
11. Wall Classifieds
Website: https://www.wallclassifieds.com/
Wall Classifieds is currently available in US/UK/India/New Zealand/ UAE/ Philippines/ Canada and a few other countries.
The search filters are decent. You can set a min-max price-range. This ensures all the results displayed to you fit within your budget. You can also choose only see “listings with pictures” which gives you a better sense of the product and more serious sellers.
The seller-information isn’t very impressive, because it doesn’t exist. You’re only shown the “total views” on a listing, no other information is displayed.
Yes, it too has very invasive and frequent ads that hamper the overall experience. In fact, at times it’s hard to differentiate between an ad and a listing (which probably is the goal anyway).
12. Hoobly
Website: https://www.hoobly.com
Hoobly isn’t exactly a new Craigslist personals alternative and has been here for quite some time. Despite that, it hasn’t lost its simplicity. No registration is required. Simply heard over to the site, and click “pick a category”. Yes, it does have a search-box you can use instead as well.
The listings are extremely simple and basic. There’s a description, price and sometimes an image. That’s it. It does look like reading an article on a new blog.
Anyone can post an ad as long as they’ve an working e-mail ID. No seller-information is displayed.
Sites like Craigslist- final words
By now, you must have about 10 Craigslist alternatives, don’t you? I’ve made sure all categories are covered, even the naughty ones. If you ask me for one absolute best alternative to Craigslist for personals, I’ll say it’s Ashley Madison.
That said, AFF and Bedpage are pretty good for finding a partner too. All the other websites give you the Craigslist experience as well if your search is non-adult.
That’s about it folks. Go on then, I’m confident you’ll find what you seek on one of these sites like Craigslist.
