Match.com is one of the pioneers of the online dating service. Its appeal is that it works in the most traditional way: simply create a profile, message potential matches, and then arrange to meet for a date.
With one in five relationships now beginning via an online dating service, Match claims to offer more dates, more relationships, and more marriages than any other site. Rather than casual flings, a majority of Match members are looking for long-term, serious relationships.
Match also arranges free drinks events and singles nights, which sets them aside from many other dating sites. These organised events are the best way for members to meet and socialise in a more relaxed group setting.
Safety is a top priority at Match. Identifying genuine and reliable members is made easy with the Certified Match Badge, and verified profiles have been manually checked by moderators. A built-in screening system helps identify and remove suspicious accounts.
With so many positives, are there any downsides to Match? Our Match.com review takes an in-depth look on one of the best serious dating sites on the market.
Match.com review summary
With a large user base and detailed dating profiles, Match.com is the place to go whether you want plenty of options to choose from, or have a specific individual in mind. The profile builder makes sure registration is quick and smooth, and you don’t need to wait for email verification to log in to get started.
It’s geared towards premium-paying members, and you’ll only be able to send or receive messages from other users once you’ve paid for a subscription. However, the variety of subscriptions available can make it confusing for those new to the site to choose what best suits them.
Match.com lacks a verification system, but having messages as a paid-for feature means it still has a relatively low amount of fake profiles compared to other dating sites.
Here are the main takeaways of our Match.com review – it has extensive search filters, an easy-to-use layout, and offers great features for members who subscribe. The dating service’s organised events where members can meet safely in real life are yet another bonus that put the site ahead of many of its competitors.
Match.com review: Paid vs free features
Match.com provides some of its features for free. Register without any Match.com cost, and you’ll immediately be able to search and view matches, and send and receive ‘winks’. It’s a great way to trial the site before signing up to a paid subscription.
Similar to other online dating services, Match.com makes its money through advertising. If you only sign up for the free service, expect to see adverts throughout the service.
The Match.com subscription service – paying for those little extras
To make the most out of the Match site, you can subscribe to access additional benefits. Our Match.com review covers most of the following features:
- Send messages to break the ice and start flirting
- Replying to messages
- Using instant messenger
- Finding out who has viewed your profile
- Viewing entire members’ profiles
- Browsing without ads
- Finding Match on all devices
- Taking advantage of special member pricing for Match events.
Upgrades
You can also add one or more upgrades to your subscription, including:
- Connect: Your profile will be one of the first new members will see. It also lets any member read and reply to your messages, even if they don’t have a paid subscription.
- Select: You can choose the type of people you’d like to hear from and see when your messages have been read.
Match.com review: Prices
What are Match.com prices for premium features?
There are different subscription packages available on Match.com, at different prices and with varied benefits:
- Basic – Send unlimited messages to 10 new members a day and see who’s interested in you
- Discover – Send unlimited messages to 25 new members a day, see who’s interested in you and enjoy special discounts on events
- Unlimited – Send unlimited messages, see who’s interested in you, experience the site ad-free and enjoy special discounts on events
| Match.com subscription | Monthly price |
| Basic | £29.99 |
| Discover | £47.99 |
| Unlimited | £49.99 |
How to pay?
You can securely pay using PayPal and by credit or debit card. If you prefer not to pay online, you can pay using your credit or debit card over the phone with the Match.com customer care team.
It’s worth noting that although pricing is per month, three and six-month packages are debited in one instalment and automatically renew. This automatic renewal can be cancelled at any time from the ‘My Account’ tab but must be 24 hours after you buy the subscription and no later than 48 hours before your current subscription expires.
Getting the best Match.com prices
If you want to save on Match.com prices, it’s best to sign up for a three or six-month subscription rather than pay monthly.
With the Basic subscription, the price drops down to £19.99 per month for three months and £9.99 for six months. The Discover subscription reduces to £17.99 per month if you sign up for a six-month deal, while the Unlimited package is up to 60% off at £19.99 for six months.
Match.com review: Who uses Match?
There are 8.6 million users internationally, and over 350,000 UK users. It’s aimed at the 25-44 age group and has a fast-growing number of over 55s on the site too, making the dating site diverse to singles of all ages.
What is Match.com’s success rate?
Using data based on a Research Now survey in 2018, 1.6million people met their partner on Match. It used a representative sample of 10,671 people aged over 18 and then combined it with a total population of this age group.
Match.com review: Search
Getting started on Match.com is designed to be simple and straightforward. These are the core search features uncovered during this Match.com review.
- Tell us about yourself: Create a few lines about yourself and complete as much of the search criteria as possible, to increase your chances of finding a match.
- Discover the right person: Use the detailed search to find a selection of dating profiles best suited to you, or meet other singles at Match events
- Start talking: Get the conversation started with people you’re interested in.
If you are wondering how to start dating again at 50, read this article after finishing this Match.com review.
Match.com review: Sign-up process
Signing up to the Match dating site is easy.
- Enter the website!
Go to Match.com and select whether you’d like to be matched with a man or woman
- Fill your data
Enter your date of birth and the city you live in
- Choose your gender
You’ll then be asked to select your gender
- Provide your email
Enter your email address, your first name or username and a password
- And that’s all!
Your Match account is now created.
Adding your details
You’ll then be asked a series of questions to add information to your profile. These include whether you’re ready to enter a new relationship, your relationship status, height and body type. A percentage of how complete your profile is shown on the right-hand side, and you can choose an ‘I’ll Keep it to Myself’ option to skip certain questions.
You can add one profile photo, which is moderated by the Match.com customer care team within 15 minutes of uploading. To find your ideal match, you can choose to answer questions about age and height, or simply select ‘No Preference’ to keep your options open to what you’re looking for.
To complete your profile, you’re given the option to add a little about yourself or you can choose to fill out your personal ad later.
Contacting users
Once you’ve seen a profile you’re interested in, you can send them a message by clicking on the blue ‘send message’ icon at the top of their profile. You’ll be unable to send or read messages unless you have a subscription or you’ve been contacted by someone who has upgraded with ‘Connect’.
Match.com review: App
When we decided to carry out a Match.com review, we wanted to check how user-friendly the website and app is. The clean, straightforward design makes it easy to use both. The dating site’s header menu and mobile app’s icons are clearly laid out, so finding what you need is simple.
During our Match.com review, we found the dating app to have a modern, minimalist look that uses icons to show different features, sections and information instead of words. The Match.com app can be downloaded for free for Android or iOS, and doesn’t need much space on your phone to successfully download.
Although you’ll receive a lot of notifications if you don’t update your email preferences, in our opinion the Match.com app is even better than the desktop version. Not only that, there is also an Apple Watch version of the Match app.
Match.com review: Pros and cons
As part of our Match.com review, we found the following advantages and disadvantages.
Pros
- It’s been around for over 20 years, so it has a ‘tried and tested’ reputation
- There are many ways to interact with other members, including wink, email, chat
- Ability to block members if you don’t want to receive messages from them
- Sign up is quick and easy
- Profile builder makes writing your profile a breeze
- Member of the Online Dating Association
Cons
- Only paid members can send and reply to messages
- The site does contain some fake profiles
- Lack of transparency in payment and subscriptions
- #1 trusted dating app in the UK
- For serious, long-term relationships
- Free registration
- Perfect for: People looking to flirt and starts things off in a fun way
- Find someone in your neighbourhood
- Chat with like-minded singles straight away
- The place to find like-minded people who are looking for meaningful relationships
- Great search function
- Immediate support from professional team
- Ignite romance right in your vicinity
- Enjoy exact matching thanks to accurate filters;
- And explore many more benefits that will help you find love!
- Welcome Offer for new members
- Unique VIP Content for premium members
- Maximum payment security (Google Pay, Apple Pay etc.)
- Experienced singles looking for good relationships
- Excellent atmosphere to get closer easily
- Online chatting with attractive people
- Large User Base: Connect with thousands of singles across the UK.
- Easy Navigation: User-friendly interface for hassle-free browsing.
- Quick Matches: Find compatible matches in no time.
- Localized Connections: connect with singles in the UK
- Tailored Matching Algorithm: increasing the likelihood of meaningful connections
- User-Friendly Interface: making the process of finding matches effortless
- Easy and convenient interface
- Perfect for casual dating & hookups
- Plenty of members for you to have fun with
- Over 13 million active users on the site
- Intelligent matchmaking based on background and interests
- 85% of members have a professional background
- Large database of Asian and European singles in the UK
- Full control of your profile to set your desired privacy settings
- Attend virtual events to meet even more members
- Free, fast and easy registration
- Real girls from 180 countries
- Highly engaged and active community
- Best for open-minded looking for “no strings attached” fun
- Free membership
- 54 million users
- Meet attractive Asian, European, & Latino singles
- Quick and free signup
- Casual or serious online dating
Match.com review: FAQs
To keep Match.com safe and friendly, a moderation team checks through every profile and photo to make sure they are genuine. The moderators carefully inspect content for anything that’s inappropriate or in breach of Terms and Conditions. Your personal data is also protected.
Boost increases the visibility of your profile, by propelling your profile to the top of search results. Your ‘boost’ can last up to several hours, depending on how many people are visiting the site and the number of people who see your profile.
As well as paying for a subscription service, you’re given the option to sign up for Incognito Mode. It means you’ll be able to view profiles without being seen, so you can find out if they are a match without them being aware of your interest until you’re ready to reveal it.
You won’t appear in any search results, and Incognito Mode can be activated and deactivated as often as you want to. You can choose to use Incognito mode for 24 hours at £1.99 per day, or the more popular one-month option at £9.99, which works out at £0.33 per day.
Zen Mode means that only profiles that match your chosen criteria can contact you.
There are different icons on the site’s header and on the app, these are all designed to make navigating quick and easy. The heart icon is a ‘Like’ to show another member you find them attractive, and a speech bubble icon can be clicked on to start a message.
It was launched by Gary Kremen and Peng T. Ong in the 90s.
If your subscription has expired and you’ve turned off the auto-renewal, your profile will still be visible but you’ll be unable to send or read messages. If you haven’t logged in for more than 60 days, your profile will be hidden until you log in again.
The subscription that’s best for you depends on how many messages you’d like to send and the additional features you’d like to access. You can trial Match.com on a variety of one-month subscriptions. However, if you decide to join for longer, both the three and six-month subscriptions work out considerably cheaper than joining up for just a single month.
You can block a member quickly and easily by navigating to their profile and clicking the ‘Block from Contact’ link.
Once you’ve created your online dating profile, it will be visible on a variety of Match services that use the same platform. These may be operated under different brand names.
You’ll need to cancel the automatic renewal of your subscription before you take steps to delete your account.
1. Click on your profile picture that appears on the top right of any page of the site when you’re logged in
2. Select the ‘My account settings’ page
3. Go to ‘Manage my subscription’ at the top of the ‘My account settings’ page
4. Choose ‘Suspend your account’ at the bottom and then select, ‘To cancel your account, click here’
5. Your profile will be deleted forever within 24 hours
