When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
2024 Shagbook Review: Is It the New Social Media For Getting Laid?
The Internet has become such a core part of our everyday lives. From barking commands at devices around our homes to finding hookups and relationships, it all relies on the Internet. It’s only natural that what we’ve come to expect a high standard from the websites and apps that we use too. Does that mean we can judge a website based on appearance alone though? In this Shagbook review, I’m about to answer just that.
It has a questionable name and a dated look but does that mean it’s a site you should avoid? There are so many dangerous “dating” websites out there these days and I actually enjoy testing the questionable ones. By the end of this review, you’ll know the ins and outs of Shagbook.com without ever having to visit it yourself.
I’m going to walk you through the good and the bad on this site and whether or not it’s worth your time (and money).
I’ll always begin with a free account, entering only the mandatory details. I’ll leave the account blank for a week just to see if I get any messages in my inbox. Scam sites will often start spamming you with messages from “women” on the site the moment you create an account. Since real users won’t message a blank profile, this is an obvious red flag.
After that, I’ll populate my profile completely. Quality photos, a proper bio, the works. I want to see if it’s possible to set up any real dates with a free account on the site. I’m also looking to see what the user experience is like overall.
After several weeks of this, I’ll upgrade to a paid account and keep setting up those dates. Now I’m trying the paid features and comparing the number of conversations and dates I got as a free vs paid user.
Let’s see what our results were:
Our Thorough Shagbook Review
As you can see, I work hard to be objective with my dating site reviews. That said, if there’s one reliable trend I’ve noticed it’s this: If the site’s name makes you cringe, it’s probably not worth visiting.
Looking back at the dating sites I’ve reviewed, only one of them proved me wrong. It still wasn’t a worthwhile site but at least it wasn’t dangerous.
With Shagbook in particular, the answer is yes. The site is every bit as bad as its brand name and not worth your time. Sorry, spoilers, I know. Still, it’s a review I enjoyed doing because of just how bad it is. If you’re after a good laugh, I’d suggest you keep reading.
Now, let’s take a look at a comparison between Shagbook.com and AFF. As the biggest name in hookup dating sites, AFF makes for an ideal comparison.
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Our team rates each site objectively based on many hours of independent research, the features each site offers, and how it compares with other sites. The ratings are the opinion of our editors and their extensive experience. |
2 | 9.5 |
| Quality of Women Our opinion of how attractive the typical woman is that uses this site and how easy they are to connect with compared to other sites. |
2 | 9 |
| Popular How many people are using this site to actually meet people compared to other sites. |
2 | 9 |
| Usability How easy is this site to use and how quickly can an average person begin meeting people compared to other sites. |
4 | 10 |
| Privacy & Safety Does this site take proper precautions to safeguard its members, their identity, and their data. |
4 | 10 |
| Effective Our opinion of how easily an average person will be able to achieve their dating goals with this site compared to other sites. |
1 | 9 |
| Value Will the time and money spent using this site pay off for an average person based on the opinions and experience of our editors. |
1 | 8 |
After spending several weeks trying and reviewing Shagbook we came away with a pretty bad impression. With so many other options available there really isn’t any way that we could recommend that you use Shagbook. There were not may real people using it (that we could tell) and overall it felt like one big waste of time.
Really, I think these scores kind of say it all. The only reason “Privacy & Safety” got a 5 is because I didn’t see signs of them actively trying to trick me into more than just signing up. That in itself is bad but very standard for these types of dating sites.
No US accounts allowed
This would be a major drawback if the site weren’t absolutely terrible. In this case though, it’s probably a good thing. When you visit the home page, you have to select your country from the drop-down list.
For those of us in the US, we get to go through the account creation process only to get this message:
No Shagbook profile for you!
For this review, I just listed my location as Canada and they seemed happy with that. Really, I just wanted to see what this dumpster fire was like from the inside. Keep your email address and credit card safe and experience it through this review rather than first hand. That’s what I’m here for.
Fake (yet amusing) profile text
Near as I can tell, these terrible dating websites are typically run by virgin men. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a virgin, but they sure as hell don’t know how women act and speak.
In this instance, I’m referring to the bio text found in some of these profiles:
“Rowan” really escalated things quickly here, huh? From her location to oral sex in just two lines. “She” really doesn’t mess around!
A handful of profiles seems as though they were once real
Every now and then I’d come across a profile that seemed entirely legitimate. Whether they scraped this from another site or it’s proof Shagbook used to be real is unclear. Either way, there’s no way to message them.
Still, it’s interesting to come across this among the clutter of profiles pretending to be women.
Constant inbox messages
I ended up leaving my profile blank for a couple of weeks and came back to find 20 messages in my inbox.
As usual with these types of sites, they’re just trying way too hard to pretend they’re interested women. Just look at some of the subject lines in here. . .
“Do you want someone flexible?” says Emmie. What ever happened to starting with a simple “Hi?” Geez.
As for why they do this? They’re trying to push you toward signing up for a premium account. Any time you click on one of these messages, you’re taken to this payment page to upgrade.
No matter what you do, you can’t read or respond to any of these messages until you upgrade.
All those messages but nobody viewed my profile. Hmm.
One thing I like about Shagbook is they do a terrible job of pretending they’re real. They hit you with so many over-the-top messages yet when you look at “Profiles that viewed me”. . . nothing but crickets.
So these women haven’t even looked at my profile yet and they’re ready to jump straight to oral sex? Weird.
If you really want to shag, AFF is by far your best bet
The bottom line is this: Shagbook has nothing to offer. You won’t get dates, you won’t get laid and worst of all, you probably won’t even talk to a real woman.
If hookups are what you’re looking for, avoid no-name sites like this entirely. Stick with the major ones like AFF and eHarmony. They have real, active users, a strong support team and are notoriously good at getting you real dates. AFF, in particular, is famous the world over for having millions of users who all want to get laid. And in case you’re from the US, you can absolutely create a profile here.
Try out the AFF free trial and see for yourself. You can talk to dozens of women in a day, and there’s a pretty big chance they’ll reply to you. This gives you better odds of landing a date without wasting your time or money on sites like Shagbook.
Does Shagbook have anything good to offer?
Now let’s look at the major pros and cons of this site too. I like to give credit where it’s due. Call me an optimist but I’ll find some kind of positive in there!
- The site looks as bad as it is. Not many people are likely to fall for it.
- The payment system is broken, so they can’t take your money
- The site doesn’t appear to have any real users
- The name alone is a weird, massive red flag
- Constant messages in your inbox
- Dated, horrible design
- You can’t even create an account in the US (maybe this is a positive?)
Look, I tried, okay? Those are the only positives I could really come up with and the list of negatives could go on forever. The site is bad and they should feel bad.
A very dated website layout was the first thing we noticed in our Shagbook review
Some of these sites seem as though they started out with good intentions. Maybe they were actually legitimate sites back in the early 2000s and they’ve just let them run ever since.
With a name like Shagbook, I’m not sure that necessarily applies here but it would explain the design. It’s slow, is not responsive and it just has that 20-year-old look about it.
I can practically hear Limp Bizkit playing in the background as I gaze at this masterpiece of modern history.
Popups galore
Another throwback this site seems so fond of is popups. Even with a popup blocker doing its thing, you’ll still get pop-ups on a very regular basis.
The moment I signed in for the first time I was greeted with this one:
As if Shagbook wasn’t bad enough, now we can see they have a whole range of related Cringebook names.
Overwhelmed with options, I closed this window and found that email verification was required. So, I verified my email address only to have this one show up next:
Harriet seems nice! Still, I wasn’t here to chat yet, I just wanted to look around. My destiny with Harriet would have to wait for now.
We found crass ads all over the website while reviewing Shagbook
Sticking with the theme of early 2000s throwbacks, they also have a host of crass porn ads. Some of them cartoonish like the one below, others far more graphic.
I want to make a joke about this ad but I think it kind of speaks for itself. If any dating site was capable of gaining “a very high number of female members,” men would flock to it immediately.
Ever been to a “ladies night” at your local bar? Yeah, nothing but thirsty men. That’s what it would turn into and this is why we can’t have nice things. I digress.
The other interesting thing I noticed was the location targeting for some of these ads. I couldn’t tell if it was based on some kind of user data or just coincidence. Take this ad, for example:
I set my location to Canada so it makes sense that I’d see one with a Canadian flag. The one on the right though, “Gumtree for Sex,” was interesting. I’d been to Australia not all that long ago and Gumtree is essentially their version of Craiglist.
Was it coincidence that I was seeing this or did they more than I gave them credit for? It’s a mystery to us all.
As if those messages weren’t enough, they blow up your email inbox too
Don’t think for a second that your email inbox is safe from this kind of fake attention either. In about a four-hour window, I received 11 emails from them — a little excessive, even if it were a real site!
Their payment system is broken
The good news to come from all of this is your credit card is safe. Even if you fell for their lazy tactics and tried to pay them, you can’t. Their payment system is broken and just won’t process payments.
I suppose all those women who desperately want me will have to wait until they fix the site, huh? How disappointing, they seemed so into me.
Links to two separate cam sites
Since most terrible dating sites seem to link to cam sites, I assume it’s where a big chunk of their revenue comes from. For Shagbook, they double down on this idea and link to two different sites. Both CamMonster and StripChat are linked to from the main navigation.
If cam sites are your thing, I assure you there are better options out there for that as well. That’s a topic for another day.
All profile changes “need to be approved”
Judging by the instant approval, this seems to be a bit of security theater — a ruse designed to make you think real moderators are keeping you safe from fake accounts.
Each of the changes I made to my account (photo uploads, detail changes, bio text etc) were approved within seconds. Either they have a very active support team on the case — highly unlikely — or it’s all nonsense to make you think it’s a real site.
Shagbook Review: Frequently Asked Questions
This wouldn’t be a complete Shagbook dating site review without covering the most frequently asked questions.
If you’re still looking for any information about the site, you’ll probably find the answers below. If not, be sure to reach out with a comment and I’ll update the review.
What is Shagbook.com?
Shagbook is a horrible fake dating website. A design from decades ago, cringe-inducing ads and poor attempts to imitate women. The only saving grace is their payment system is broken so they can’t take your money.
How do you log into Shagbook.com?
For some odd reason, there are two steps to logging into this website. First, you need to click the drop-down and select your country from the list.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be taken to the appropriate login page. Just click the Login button in the top right corner to log in.
What are Shagbook.com alternatives?
This site is complete trash. Rather than wasting your time on it or giving them ad revenue by using the site, find a legitimate one instead. To save you even more time, we already covered the best hookup dating apps and websites. Have a look through that review and try the sites that appeal to you the most.
How do you use Shagbook.com for free?
Since their payment system is broken, the only way you can use this site is for free. To create a free account, select your country from the drop down list then follow the prompts. Note that you can’t create an account from the US.
After that, you’re free to look at all the fake profiles you like, just know that you can never communicate with anyone. Only paid accounts can do this.
How do you cancel or delete your Shagbook.com membership?
Deleting your account on this site is easy, just follow these steps:
- Hover over Account in the top right corner
- Click Site Membership
- Scroll to the bottom and click Delete Account
- Click the “Click Here” link from the paragraph of text
- Click “Please continue with the deletion”
Given the nature of the website, don’t be surprised if your account never gets deleted.
How much does Shagbook cost?
Below is a breakdown of the prices they set out. The website isn’t worth a single cent and thankfully, that’s exactly the amount you can pay them. Their payment system is broken so there’s no way to upgrade to a paid account.
1 year = $239.95 ($20/month)
6 months = $149.95 ($25/month)
3 months = $94.95 ($31.65/month)
1 month = $44.95
Is Shagbook.com legitimate?
No, not even slightly. The ads are weird, the site is very old, most of the profiles are fake and so are the messages you get spammed with.
Does Shagbook.com really work?
There’s absolutely zero chance you’ll ever get a date from this website. Even if you could upgrade to a paid membership.
How do you send messages on Shagbook.com?
Quite simply, you can’t. This is a function that’s restricted to paid users. Since their payment system is broken, you couldn’t upgrade to send messages, even if you wanted to.
How do you search on Shagbook.com?
You can click Search from the main navigation at the top. You can select the age range and location and apply a few filters.
These profiles aren’t real and you can’t message them so there’s no sense in going into further detail from there. No matter what you enter into the search fields, you’ll just see a grid of fake profiles.
More reviews worth reading
If you found this review useful check out these other hookup sites:
Easy Flirt Review
Doublelist Review
Lusty Locals Review
The Adult Hub Review
Book of Sex Review
