About 2,000 customers immediately signed up for the paid membership. Initially a free service, Manhunt emailed its customers in April 2002 and told them that those who wanted to enjoy all the perks of the site would have to pay $10 per month, and those who declined to pay would be able to use a more bare-bones version of the site. Within a year, about 10,000 men from the greater Boston area had created profiles on the site. Manhunt was officially launched in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Apby Jonathan Crutchley and Larry Basile after their original Boston-based gay telephone dating service declined when more of their clients began to use the Web to find partners.
