Match Dating Site Review (2023)

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Overview

Match at a Glance

Best for: Serious relationship seekers, casual dating

Number of members: 21.5 million

Recommended age: 35-50+

Favorite features: Lara chatbox, Missed Connections, and live events

Match Video Review: Find True Love and Compatibility via App 

Here’s why Match.com is the best option for dating online today: 

How Match Works

How to Sign Up for Match 

Match is definitely one of the best dating sites for people who know exactly what they want in a partner. This website is for someone who’s ready to settle down and get married within the next year or so. As a woman looking for a man, I entered that information into the homepage popup along with my age and zip code. I was then prompted to enter my email address, password, and name followed by a bunch of questions about my ethnicity, weight, height, and dating preferences. 

The entire signup process should take between 20-30 minutes; not a huge commitment in the grand scheme of things. You can also save your progress and continue later to make the process more palatable. 

Here's a basic breakdown of the signup process:

• Give Match your date of birth, zip code, and email address to kick things off.
• Define the nature of the relationship you are interested in.
• Give some more details including marital status, height, level of education, smoking preferences, religion, ethnicity, and more.
• Then, the detailed questions begin. You’ll be asked about all sorts of things such as hobbies and drinking penchants. The whole application can be divided into 3 major categories including the About Me, About My Match, and In My Own Words sections. Each section can be as long and as detailed as you’d like, but the more information you give, the more likely you are to find suitable matches (and faster).

Once the signup process is complete (you can also skip sections and come back to them later), you can start viewing profiles.

Matchmaking Features

The statistics seem to be in favor of Match. In fact, almost 40% of members have stayed in a Match-formed relationship for months. This is, in part, because the user base is more serious than on more casual dating sites, but it also speaks to the efficacy and efficiency of Match’s matchmaking abilities.

 Match is super easy to navigate and offers a bunch of specific search features to help people find that perfect match ASAP. As user John explicitly states in his profile bio, “I’m looking for something serious and not a pen pal,” which felt like a direct hit because most of my online dating matches become forever virtual pen pals. Shout out to all of my dating app matches who have become good friends!

You can browse profiles on your own or have Match do the work for you. With a paid membership you can view profiles and pictures, email or IM other members, and get read notifications. 

Match has an incredibly sophisticated search function, so you can get exactly the kind of profiles you want. The search capabilities allowed me to find someone who perfectly fit my requirements, which was really amazing. You can search via:

• Match words for specific tags (soccer, bubbly, etc.)
• Reverse search to see who’s looking at you
• Daily mutual match for matches with shared interests
• Location-based searches

The Daily Five is one of the most useful matchmaking options. This feature delivers 5 suitable matches every day based on your preferences. Match uses behavioral learning (just like Zoosk) to learn your preferences, based on your interactions and activity on the site. Then, it uses this information to make better match suggestions. The idea backing this technology is that we sometimes have preferences of which we aren't even aware. Let's say that you write on your profile that you are looking for white/Caucasian women. Yet, when searching, you constantly like to meet Asian women. The algorithm will pick up on this innate preference of yours and start showing you some Asian women in your results to provide for the underlying preference.

Match also has a quiz which lets you add up to 20 questions to your profile for other members to answer. It can help with compatibility and getting to know one another. Match also has games you can play to promote positive, fun interaction between singles.

Match Communication Tools

There are several communication options on Match, though you have to pay for them (you can wink for free, though!) Subscribers can opt to wink, email, or IM other singles that they’re interested in. As mentioned, you’ll get email read notifications when an email you sent was read by the other member. You can also send out VIP emails that will be highlighted in the other person’s inbox (1 per week). Match also has a What’s New newsfeed with all of the latest activity on your account including emails, winks, likes, call requests and more.

Match's Missed Connections feature lets users know when a possible match was recently somewhere in their vicinity. The feature uses geolocation to find a user’s location and pairs it with that of another Match user who has opted for the feature and fits their dating criteria. Members will get notified of the match and can choose whether or not to connect. But not to worry, other users are only shown an approximate location within a one-block radius a few hours after your paths crossed.

If you want to turn off Missed Connections on Match, you can do so in the app's settings. Alternatively, you can also block specific users if they make you uncomfortable. According to Match, those users are then removed from the system until their case is reviewed by a Match employee. 

For singles looking to meet their potential lover in real life, Match’s Events tab offers a ton of really incredible experiences to do just that, including, but not limited to, speed dating parties, food tours, and even cruises to Cabo. I want to go to Cabo?!

In 2022, Match rolled out a new feature, the Lara Chat box. This is a well-branded live chat type of feature that helps new members get started. If you don't really know where to start on Match, Lara can walk you through the process. This friendly face chat box feature asks you basic questions and holds your hand while you get your bearings in this new system.

Like most dating sites, Match has a mobile app that makes dating on the go easier for everyone. You can browse profiles, send messages, or respond to emails from the comfort of your mobile device via Match’s smooth and clean mobile interface. When you download the app, you’ll also be able to get an SMS notification when activity is happening on your account. You’ll even get location-based services with the app. 

Match App

Like most dating sites, Match has a mobile app that makes dating on the go easier for everyone. You can browse profiles, send messages, or respond to emails from the comfort of your mobile device via Match’s smooth and clean mobile interface. When you download the app, you’ll also be able to get an SMS notification when activity is happening on your account. You’ll even get location-based services with the app.

Match Help & Support 

Match has a customer support team that is available via an online contact form Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM CST. It also has an incredibly extensive help center with loads of FAQs and an easy to search database of information.

Match Pricing

How Much Does Match Cost?

Match doesn’t charge you a penny to sign up, so you can delve into the world of online dating without pulling out your credit card.

Though anyone can sign up for a free Match membership, only subscribers are privy to certain features including:

• Contacting other members
• Priority access to exclusive match events
• Email and IM capabilities
• Mobile emailing
• See who’s viewed your profile
• One-click searching
• Match with people you've crossed paths with in real life with the Missed Connection tool

For those interested in subscriber features, the Match pricing model offers numerous plans and subscription tiers: you can choose from 3-month, 6-month and 12-month subscriptions in either a basic or bundle plan. The longer the membership, the larger the savings on the per month cost. The 12-month trial is a commitment but it works out best for your buck.

Match Cost Breakdown

Take a look at Match’s cost breakdown and see the difference between the offered Basic Plan and Bundle Plan. 

The basic plans are slightly cheaper, but it hardly seems worthwhile considering all that you get with the bundle plans. The bundle packages come with email read notifications, first impressions, and highlighted profiles, and for only a few dollars more per month, it seems like a better investment.

What Does the Match Free Trial Include?

There is a free basic account option on Match. You can create a profile, upload some photos of yourself and browse potential singles - all for free. You can also send and receive “Winks,” a special online dating flirt.

You can also find various 3 or 7-day free trial Match promotions. With these options, you will have limited access to singles profiles in your area in order to get a taste of the matchmaking process. With both free trials packages you need to create an account, provide your basic information, and enter your payment details after choosing a subscription plan. You can always cancel your free trial within the trial time frame to prevent getting automatically charged. 

What Don’t You Get?

Without a paid account on Match, you are limited in your actions with other singles. For example, you can only send likes to others and can’t send messages. With a free account, you can’t see who is active in your area. 

Match Alternatives

How Match Compares to Other Dating Sites

Top10 set side by side the forerunning dating sites like eHarmony, Match, and Tinder in this handy comparison chart. 

Match Visit Site

Match vs. eharmony

Match may be one of the main apps for people looking for a serious relationship, but eharmony also has a lot going for it. Match’s signup process is super easy and the platform offers features that genuinely make it easy to find a suitable match. At the same time, eharmony boasts a number of amazing features, and offers various options to find a compatible partner with ease (just from spending time answering the fun questionnaire and browsing local singles). With both offering what most singles are really looking for, they are both winners in my book.

Match vs. Tinder

A full Match membership unlocks similar features as well as other cool ones, like selective visibility, email read notifications, private mode, super likes, and seeing who’s viewed your profile. Match also hosts fun local events for singles to meet up in their area, which is something that Tinder lacks. Tinder offers a “Feed” under the Matches section of the app where previous matches can upload photos and other updates. Match beats Tinder with activity status, though, which is a feature that lets you see how active a potential match is on the dating service depending on the different colored dots that show up. 

Bottom Line

One of the best places to find love online, Match proudly boasts more dates, relationships and marriages than any other dating site. You can start meeting new people with a free account. For someone like me who’s looking for something less serious at the moment, I prefer a more casual app.  If, or when, the time comes that I’m an older, crazy cat lady who’s still single, I’ll definitely consider hopping back on this app because I can tell it’s extremely effective for those who want a serious relationship.