Online
Dating Site Reviews and Rankings
Updated:
May 24, 2009
Picking
the right online dating
service can seem like a daunting task. This site is designed
to help you
make an informed decision about which dating service is right for
you. We
performed a comprehensive review of the most popular dating
services
available today. In an effort to rank the services fairly and
accurately,
we spent a lot of time analyzing the elements and characterizes that
make each
service unique.
| #1 |
Match.com |
Features |
Review |
| |
1 month subscription:
$34.99
Star Rating:
|
- Ability
to create a free full feature user profile that can even include
pictures. Your user profile can contain information about
you,
such as your interests and hobbies. Your user profile can
also
contain details about what you are looking for in a partner.
- Ability to
quickly and easily search member profiles for potential
matches. You also have the ability to view other
member’s
profiles and send winks for free.
- With a
paid subscription you are granted full access to their
services. This includes the ability to communicate with other
members through IM and email.
- You are
provided a mailbox that allows you to send messages in a safe
and private manner.
- You will
also have the ability to see who has viewed your
profile. This information can help you identify
members who
are likely already interested in you.
|
Match.com
is the industry leader in online dating services. They have
substantially more members than any other dating site. They
also
provide more online features than any other dating service.
Simply put, Match.com sets the bar and all other dating sites are
constantly playing catch-up.
Match.com
is the most popular dating service on the Internet.
It
has been reported that they have more than 20 million members
worldwide. Odds are good that you will not find more local
singles on Match.com than on any other dating service.
Match.com
is extremely confident that you will find someone you like
using their service. In fact, they are so confident that if
you
sign up for a 6 month subscription and don’t find someone you
like, they will give you an additional 6 months of their service for
free!
|
|
|
| #2 |
Yahoo Personals |
Features |
Review |
| |
1 month subscription:
$29.99
Star Rating:
|
- Ability to
create a free full
feature user profile that can even include pictures. Your
user
profile can contain information about you, such as your interests and
hobbies. Your user profile can also contain details about
what
you are looking for in a partner.
- Ability to
quickly and easily search member profiles for potential matches.
- With a
paid subscription you are
granted full access to their services. This includes the
ability
to communicate with other members through IM and email.
- The
ability to have information
about new members emailed to you. You can define criteria
that
you are looking for in a potential match. When a new member
joins
who meets your criteria, information about that individual can be
emailed to you automatically. The process of searching to
find
new members can be time consuming. This feature helps you
keep
track of new members with ease.
- Yahoo
allows you to search member
profiles for attributes that you are looking for in a potential
date. Yahoo’s mutual matches feature will highlight
the
member profiles that meet your criteria and are also looking for
someone like you.
- You will
also have the ability to
see who has viewed your profile. This information
can help
you identify members who are likely already interested in you.
|
Yahoo
Personals is one of the most popular online dating services on the
market and their member base is growing at a soaring rate.
They
now have over 10 million members worldwide!
Yahoo’s web site is feature rich and at the same time
intuitive
and easy to use. When creating your profile you are asked
questions about yourself that go beyond the basics. For
example,
you will be asked questions about your personality such as are you a
home body or the life of the party? The information you and
others provide is searchable and will help you connect with an
appropriate partner.
Most online dating services require that you to sign up as a member
before you have the ability to search and view member
profiles.
Yahoo did not take that approach. With Yahoo, you have the
ability to search and view member profiles without having to create an
account. This is fantastic feature because it allows you to
check
and see if an acceptable number of potential matches are available in
your area before investing the energy required to create an account.
Yahoo Personals is
confident that you will find someone you like using
their service. They offer the 6 month guarantee. If
you
sign up for a 6 month subscription and don’t find someone you
like, they will give you an additional 6 months of their service for
free!
|
| |
| #3 |
ChristianMingle |
Features |
Review |
| |
1 month subscription:
$24.99
Star Rating:
|
- Ability to
create a free full
feature user profile that can even include pictures. Your
user
profile can contain information about you, such as your interests and
hobbies. Your user profile can also contain details about
what
you are looking for in a partner.
- Ability to
quickly and easily search member profiles for potential matches.
- Provides
many advanced searching capabities including the ability to
search by church denomination and personality traits.
- With a
paid subscription you are
granted full access to their services. This includes the
ability
to communicate with other members through IM and email.
- Allows
paid members to
communicate with non-paid members. However, a non-paid member
doesn’t have the ability to respond back. You would
need to
purchase a membership in order to do that.
|
ChristianMingle
is a designed specially for Christians who are seeking individuals with
the same religious beliefs.
ChristianMingle
was designed in an effort to provide a safe and respectable dating
experience. The
members that you will find on ChristianMingle are
seeking a long term relationship.
ChristianMingle has over 300,000 members, which is actually a small
number compaired to the millions of subscribers who are members of many
of the larger dating sites. However, I decided to include my
experiencde with ChristianMingle on this site because I believe it is
the best Christian online dating service available today. If
religion is really important element of your life, I would
highly
recommend trying out ChristianMingle.
I found the ChristianMingle.com easy to navigate.
Their site
includes all of the neccessary features that help make their
service effective and easy to use. They provide everything
you
need to help you meet your soul mate.
|
| #1 |
Chemistry.com |
Features |
Review |
| |
1 month subscription:
$49.95
Star Rating:
|
- Ability
to
create a user profile that includes pictures. You must pay to
view member’s full profiles and pictures.
- Ability
to
complete a free
comprehensive personality profile. This process if time
consuming
but necessary. The personality profile helps collect
information
about you such as your likes, dislikes, interests, personality traits,
and values.
- The
1-2-3
meet feature navigates
you through the process of getting to know your matches and helps you
prepare to meet in person. This feature helps speed along the
process of meeting in person.
- Provides
guided communication that enables members to really get to know each
other
- The
first-meeting feature enables
you to schedule a date with one of your matches using their scheduling
system. The system collects feedback from both parties at the
end
of the date. The system will let you know if both parties are
interested in a second date.
- No
profile
searches – You will only be provided with information about
the matches that are compatible with you.
|
Chemistry.com
is a spin-off service created by Match.com to compete with
compatibility sites such as eHarmony.
Chemistry.com was launched in 1999 and was designed for individuals who
are serious about wanting to enter into a long-term
relationship.
The site is designed for individuals who are ready to settle down and
have a desire to get married. If you are interested in casual
dating, Chemistry.com is not the site for you.
Chemistry.com isn’t the cheapest service available, but their
prices are reasonable. I have come to view Chemistry.com as a
premium version of Match.com that is geared towards the most serious of
daters.
Similar to eHarmony, Chemistry.com does not allow you to search for
members on your own. You only have the ability to view
profiles
and communicate with members that they deem as compatible with
you. Members are automatically matched with compatible
singles
based on their profile system.
I would recommend Chemistry.com to the very serious dater who is
seeking a long-term relationship. The features offered by
eHarmony and Chemistry.com are very similar, but I give Chemistry.com a
slight edge.
|
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|
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| #2 |
eHarmony.com |
Features |
Review |
| |
1 month subscription:
$59.95
Star Rating:
|
- Ability
to
create a user profile that includes pictures
- Ability
to
complete a free comprehensive personality profile (30-60 minutes)
- Provides
guided communication that enables members to get to know each other at
a very deep level.
- Matches
are based on 29 dimensions of compatibility
- No
profile
searches – Only the matches that are compatible with you are
displayed.
- Ability
to
communicate through an anonymous messaging system until
you’re ready to share your contact information.
|
eHarmony
has a large customer base with over 15 million members
worldwide. eHarmony is geared towards serious individuals who
are
seeking long-term relationships. If you are
interested in
casual dating, eHarmony is not the site for you.
eHarmony is very selective about who they allow as members.
Based
on how you complete their questionnaires and personality profile, your
application may get rejected.
eHarmony has some fairly significant drawbacks. For starters,
they are one of the most expensive online dating services.
Their
services cost substantially more than many of the other popular dating
sites.
They also do not allow you to search for members on your own.
You
only have the ability to view profiles and communicate with members
that they deem as compatible with you. I personally do not
like
this strategy. However, I can see where some may view this
strategy as a benefit since they would not have to search member
profiles.
The most significant drawback is that both members must be paid
subscribers in order for communication to occur. Not having
the
ability to communicate with someone can be very annoying and
frustrating.
In summary, I think eHarmony is great for certain individuals but
probably not the best option for most people. |
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