With the rise of dating apps, cyberstalking one’s matches before meeting them IRL, or soon after, has become a routine part of modern dating. Now, a new website is offering to save curious daters some time and effort by doing the internet deep-diving for them.
Stud or Dud, a new site from PeopleFinders that launched in beta on August 26, allows users to dig up info about potential partners. Drawing on public information, the site compiles data including court records, assets, marriages, and more, giving daters a fuller picture of their matches.
“Daters today have access to more information than ever, except about the person sitting across from them,” said Amber Higgins, CEO of PeopleFinders, in a press release. “Stud or Dud changes that dynamic by giving people additional context before they meet up, while leaving the ultimate judgment to the user.”
The site allows users to search by name, phone number, or location to check the background of potential or current dating partners. “We’ll look for public records, social signals, and other available details that may help you see the bigger picture,” it explains.
Stud or Dud provides an initial report for free, but users must choose from three plans to unlock the full findings. The “vibe check” plan, which offers a onetime search, costs $5, while the “casual confident dater” plan costs $8.97 per month. For those likely to investigate more than a few matches, the “serial confident dater” plan, at $19.97 per month, provides insights on up to 25 studs or duds.
The idea is to take some of the work out of sussing out potential red flags, a process that can be time-consuming. And given how common it already is for people to research potential partners online, the service is tapping into an established habit. According to a 2024 DatingAdvice.com survey of 1,000 active daters, 64% look up a date online before meeting them. Women are much more likely to do so: 80% research their matches, compared with 49% of men, suggesting safety concerns may be one factor driving the behavior.
Some daters take their digging even further: 15% say they run background checks on dates. That might sound a little extreme, but 39% say they’ve uncovered something sketchy.
There are, of course, privacy concerns around services that aggregate personal information, including the possibility that they could facilitate actual stalking or harassment. Stud or Dud’s terms explicitly prohibit that kind of behavior. “Stud or Dud may not be used to stalk, harass, threaten, shame, dox, intimidate, defame, or otherwise harm another person. Users are responsible for using the service lawfully and respectfully,” the site says.
The site also notes that people can sometimes have information removed from the platform through its designated privacy request process, though public records may remain available elsewhere online.
Of course, the only way to really get to know a potential partner is to spend time with them. Still, Stud or Dud is offering a shortcut for a kind of online sleuthing that plenty of daters are already doing themselves.
