4based has a tagline out on their front page that says the site is, “For creators. For Fans. For you.” It seems like an intentionally vague statement, the kind of thing that could be applied to pretty much any social media network, content platform, or really any site where people are sharing anything. Obviously, I wouldn’t be writing up the joint here at ThePornDude if I didn’t think it had some masturbatory potential, and well, I’ve heard good things.
I first heard of 4based.com in a conversation about alternatives to OnlyFans. The site’s been around a couple years now and has largely gone unnoticed in the shadow of the big OF, but they do get close to a million visitors every month. The site gives homebrew pornstars a place to sell their content directly to fans, which should sound awfully familiar if you’ve been shaking your dick at the internet over the last couple years. Let’s see how they actually measure up to the platform that everybody already knows about.
Getting Based with 4based
If you’re a regular around here at ThePornDude, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard some of my big complaints about OnlyFans. It’s hard not to compare sites like 4Based to OnlyFans, since they’re all trying to get a piece of the same pie, often with the same gimmicks. 4Based is one of just a handful of knockoffs I’ve seen that go as far as aping the completely SFW front page at OF.Load up OnlyFans or 4based for the first time and you’d never guess they were peddling smut in there. The front page of 4Based looks polished and professional, but it’s light as hell on content. Besides some login and signup options, the only other thing on the screen is a simulated phone flipping through a familiar-looking social media interface. Instead of naked girls and blowjobs, though, it’s all food photos, memes and pretty wholesome selfies.
As a porn reviewer here at ThePornDude, a dick-slanging stud at PornDudeCasting, and a knowledge-dropping expert at PornWebmasters, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the reasoning for a SFW landing page on a site that sells masturbatory content. Most bait-and-switch scams lure you in with something good only to offer something shitty, but this is the exact opposite approach. Are they shooting themselves in the dick?
Whatever the case, I needed to see more, and that meant signing up. Registration is free, fast and simple, and you can even use your Google or Twitter credentials to get inside with just a click or two. I took a few seconds to fill in a username, email address and password, and the confirmation hit my inbox almost instantly.
I know most of my visitors here are porn consumers, not creators, so I’m mainly going to be aiming this review at the wankers and spankers. That said, it’s worth checking out the Earning Conditions on 4based.com if you’re an amateur pornographer yourself. They’re not offering the standard 80% cut of earnings that OnlyFans has managed to make standard on these platforms, but they might make up for it. Maybe.
4based creators only get 70% of their revenues from sales, chats, subscriptions, tips and everything else. That seems like it’d only drive creators to other platforms, but they do offer some revenue sharing that could potentially make up for the smaller percentage. Creators also get 10% of whatever their own customers are spending on other creators. They also get a 5% cut of the earnings from creators who signed up through their 4based link. If you’re big into networking, this could translate into big profits.
Let’s Take a Look at Those Ladies
Once I’d signed up for my 4based account, I was dropped into the member area. Again, it will all look very familiar if you’ve used one of these platforms or any modern social media site. They don’t currently stock the default feed with a bunch of promoted content, so I didn’t immediately have anything to look at or beat off to.I clicked the Explore 4based button and the site’s true vibe was finally revealed. The front page implied there’d be at least some wholesome, boring content, but all I saw was pretty girls in various states of undress. I thought there were going to be kittens and recipes, too!
There’s a nice range of babes signing up to sell their nudes and vids on 4based. They’re drawing much of the same Instagram demographic as OnlyFans, so the models skew younger (18+), but I did see some MILFs among the mix. There are white girls aplenty, plus some ebony chicks, Asians, Latinas and mixed exotic chicks. I found thick babes, tattooed emo chicks, cosplay girls and a domina rocking some leather pants.
It looks like full nudes ain’t allowed in the thumbnails covering the search page, because every topless shot is cleverly angled to hide the nipples. Girls without panties cover the goods with coffee cups and video game controllers, though I did spot a couple bare asses.
I started clicking on the prettiest chicks, then hitting the Follow button to fill out my 4based.com feed. There’s a ton of free amateur content here, and I bet a bunch of you cheapskates are just going to rub loads out to these babes with no intention of ever signing up. Good luck, though, because I’m only a few minutes into it and I know my wallet’s going to be hurting soon. These freebies are enticing!
Seeing the Sexy Sites at 4based
4based.com makes it easier to browse through models than OnlyFans. The lack of browsability has always been one of my biggest complaints about OF, so I’m happy to see a better system that doesn’t force fans and creators to find each other on other websites or apps. On the same note, though, I do think 4based could offer some better search options.Right now, there are only a few ways to sift through the pile. For starters, you can scroll through the extensive range of babes on the Explore page, or type something into the search bar. The problem with the search bar is that it only seems to scan through usernames. Searches for BBW, BDSM, Feet and Femdom only turned up models with those terms in their handles. That’s going to make it a lot harder to find niche-specific content.
They’ve also got a Reels section, which 4based says is still in beta. It’s another familiar feature, modeled after services like Instagram or TikTok. You can watch free, short, vertical clips of models looking sexy as fuck. I ended up following a few more creators after seeing them wiggle their pedicured toes or shake their asses.
Once I’d populated my feed with gamer girls (18+), sultry MILFs and big-assed tattoo sluts, it was time to get fapping. One thing you’ll probably figure out right away is that the sexiest, most explicit content is typically hidden until you pay for it. Scrolling through my feed, I had a lot of sexy selfies interspersed with blurry, price-tagged thumbnails.
Users have the option of subscriptions or individual content purchases. A German emo girl I’d followed had a locked post labeled “Boobies” available for three bucks. Alternately, I could sign up for her premium subscription for $60, which would unlock all her paid public posts and let me chat with the gal.
4based.com lets creators set their own prices and terms, so some skip the subscriptions and only offer a la carte clips. Others do a little of this and a little of that, offering subscriptions but selling other posts as doubly premium content. Prices are all over the place, but you may want to set a budget if you don’t want to burn through your allowance too quickly.
I’m a little bit late to the 4based party, but I really like what I found inside. While they ain’t half as popular as OnlyFans, they’ve built a nice interface for both the models and their horny fans. It’s easy to browse, offers a wide range of amateur content, and features freebies galore. I’d say this one’s worth signing up for even if you ain’t planning on spending any money, but don’t blame me if you ultimately can’t resist the urge to start buying clips and subscriptions.