- Reasons to buy: Great matchmaking, deep personality test, good moderation
- Reasons to avoid: Not the best for the LGBT community, no free unlimited messaging
eHarmony in 5 seconds
| Monthly visits | over 50M |
| Mobile version/app | Android dating and iOS eHarmony dating app can be downloaded from official stores for free |
| Matchmaking filters | there are Match Preferences instead of standard search filters, part of which are free |
| Messaging on-site | Messaging is the main communication feature |
| Paid or free | Members need to upgrade to premium, the monthly cost starts at around $25 per month without a discount |
| Site | eharmony.com |
Who is eHarmony for?
First and foremost, eHarmony is an online dating site for people who want to find someone special and start a serious relationship with their most compatible match. All the new members take a 20-minute eHarmony compatibility quiz to meet this goal, and of course, that’s completely different from the approaches that other dating apps and sites for casual relationships, NSA, and affairs usually use.
Features and benefits
So, those who choose the eHarmony dating app or site get a few serious perks. All the new members who are ready to spend some time answering multiple questions get their personality test results and can learn something new about themselves. On top of that, they can learn as much about their potential matches, and there’ll be even no need to search for them manually—the eHarmony website will suggest the best candidates, and all you’ll need to do is to make a choice. What else makes it stand out? I’m going to analyze and evaluate its search feature, communication features, and pricing policy, so just keep reading.
Searching guide
There’s no classic search feature on eHarmony. Of course, just like most other dating sites, members can choose some preferences manually, but most of the work is done by algorithms that use the information that a member provided during the personality test.
The preferences one may change are as follows:
- Age
- Height
- Smoking
- Children
- Desire to have children
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Income
- Education
- Distance
Note that even if you change the Preferences (you can do it by clicking on Match Preferences on the Matches page), you’ll be able to see profiles only in the Matches section. Also, only the first five filters can be used by eHarmony members who haven’t paid for premium membership yet.
I carefully looked through the profiles that this online dating site suggested, and must admit that they really look like the most compatible matches, which I didn’t see on more mainstream dating sites and apps.
Messaging guide
There are not so many ways for eHarmony members to contact each other. Basically, there are only two communication features:
- Messaging — private conversations that all premium users can initiate
- Smiles and favorites — a free and low-effort way to let someone know you’re interested
The only way to have a conversation with someone is to go to one’s profile—there, you’ll see the message icon next to a profile photo.
Also, a user can access all the messages and dialogues by going to the Messages section. All in all, it works like a regular online messenger and is pretty convenient to use.
Smiles are sent from profiles, too. However, if you see an attractive member on the Matches page, you can favorite them even without visiting their profile page.
Free and paid membership guide
eHarmony can hardly be considered one of the free online dating sites. There’s not much that a member who didn’t purchase a premium eHarmony membership can do on the site, but I still evaluated the experience one can get as a non-paying and a paying user, and I share my experiences and impressions on free and special features of the site and dating app below.
Free membership
Those who use the free version of eHarmony can do the following:
- Take a personality test & see the results. This is definitely the best free feature on eHarmony. As a free user, I could see the compatibility score and, most importantly, lots of details that show why and how compatible I am with a particular member.
- Visit profiles. Free members can see pretty much everything except for the photos, which, unfortunately, are blurred.
- Send smiles and favorite others. These features work pretty well just because you can find out what’s the approximate response rate on the site.
- Send Icebreakers. That’s one of the most interesting eHarmony free features. You can click on an Icebreaker icon on one’s profile and see 5 pairs of photos. You can make choices, and your match will need to make their choices, too. After that, you’ll see how many similar choices you’ve made and well, start a conversation about them.
- Change some of the Search Preferences. As I’ve noted previously, I could change some preferences and customize the search filters.
All in all, the free eHarmony features allow you to learn more about the community and potential matches, and see how many people have a high compatibility score with you. At least that’s enough to decide whether you are ready to pay for a 1-month premium membership plan or not.
Paid membership
So, you need to upgrade your membership plan to communicate with other members. How much does eHarmony cost? Currently, eHarmony membership plans are as follows:
- Premium Light — $55.90 for 1 month
- Premium Plus — $430.90 for 12 months, $35.90 per month
- Premium Extra — $373 for 24 months, $25.90 per month
Note that there may be some serious discounts on eHarmony, so you can cut costs just by buying a plan at the right time. For example, right now, members can save up to $20 monthly.
As for the premium features, they are as follows:
- Unlimited messages. That’s the essential feature and the main reason why nearly all eHarmony users upgrade their membership plans.
- Full-sized, unblurred photos. That’s another great bonus—as a free user, you can see the compatibility level and understand what a member is looking for on the site, but you don’t know what they look like.
- Filters to sort your matches. That just saves time. By the way, as a paying eHarmony member, you automatically start seeing more potential matches as they are updated regularly, so it’s really helpful.
- Detailed personality profiles. As a paying member, you get much more information and useful insights on any other member of eHarmony.
- Profile check. If you don’t receive that many messages on this online dating site, you can improve your results easily by following recommendations from the team of eHarmony.
So, is eHarmony worth paying for? Yes, it is, but only if you are really motivated not just to have a fun online dating experience but to find someone special on the eHarmony site. This is not one of the cheapest dating apps but also not one of the most expensive ones, so for a person seeking serious relationships, it may be worth a try.
Tips for using eHarmony to find a perfect relationship
If you want to use eHarmony correctly and start a relationship with your perfect match in the near future, you just need to customize and optimize everything, including search. Also, I’d recommend setting your priorities. Reading the results of one’s personality tests and comparing different traits and priorities takes time, a lot of time, to be exact. If you focus on the things that are the most important to you, you’ll be able to spend less time reading and more time on communication. Also, I’d recommend sending creative first messages instead of standard icebreakers more frequently—that will just improve the chance that the person you like will reply.
Pros:
- No random matches, only high-quality matchmaking services
- Super-detailed profiles of members
- Great moderation
- eHarmony mobile app is available to both Android and iOS users
Cons:
- Pretty high price for a 1-month plan
- No free access to profile photos
- No free trial
Your safety on eHarmony
Dating sites must take certain measures to provide the highest level of safety to users, and in the case of eHarmony, they are as follows;
- Very strict moderation, all suspicious accounts are blocked very soon
- Great data encryption software
- Only safe payment methods
- Verification by phone
- Opportunity to block users and report scams
eHarmony is rightly considered one of the safest websites overall, but the truth is that if you’re going to use an online dating platform, whether eHarmony or any other website, you need to follow certain safety rules:
- Block everyone who asks you for money (of course, no money must be sent)
- Block everyone who offers you money for nothing (this can be a fake check scam)
- Beware if things are moving too fast (sometimes it just means that somebody is trying to gain your trust)
- Don’t believe excuses not to meet in real life if there are many of them
- Protect your personal and financial data at all costs
Just remember that you’ll be able to feel safe on eHarmony or any other dating sites if you follow these simple rules, and remember that they actually don’t have exceptions.
4 ways to make your dating profile stand out
As I’ve noted previously, eHarmony isn’t the cheapest dating site, so making your profile more attractive in the eyes of other members definitely makes sense, and you can do it pretty easily just by following some simple recommendations:
- Add as many high-quality photos as possible
- Focus on your self-description—all the eHarmony profiles look more or less the same, and the About Me section written by a user is what makes them stand out
- Choose 3-5 extra questions—all members describe their perfect dates, but you can stand out just by adding information on what’s really important for you
- Don’t underestimate the importance of interests & hobbies—that’s the second or at least the third thing that members usually pay attention to
It’s that simple. Just remember that your dating success depends not only on how you interact with others but also on how you represent yourself on the dating site.
Conclusion
First and foremost, eHarmony isn’t a casual dating site. It can work as a casual platform, but the vast majority of singles use it to find a serious relationship. Yes, there’s no denying that your dating success won’t be possible if you don’t pay for special dating services, i.e., won’t upgrade to premium, but the prices aren’t too high, and the pricing policy is transparent. So, if you’re looking for an online dating platform to find someone special, and a long sign-up process doesn’t look bothersome to you, no need to search for more eHarmony reviews—you can just give it a try.
