Top Ten Reviews Verdict

The eHarmony platform is incredibly thorough, with an in-depth sign-up process and clever compatibility system. But you need to buy a subscription to access most of its features.

Both the eHarmony website and app are easy to use and brimming with singles who are serious about settling down. The rigorous sign-up process takes at least 20 minutes – which should deter more casual daters – and its clever compatibility system makes it easy to find a match.

The biggest drawback here is that you have to subscribe if you want to send and receive messages, which means that you’ll have to pay out if you’re serious about finding a partner on the platform. Despite this, we still think it’s one of the best dating sites available in 2021, largely because of its serious approach to matchmaking.

eHarmony: The best features

Unlike some other dating platforms, eHarmony makes it clear that it’s exclusively for people who are looking for long-term romance. As such, its user-base is filled with people who are searching for something serious, which feels like a nice contrast to the likes of Tinder.

The company also boasts that it takes a scientific approach to its matchmaking, deploying a unique compatibility system that should help you find your ideal partner. When you’re presented with a match you’ll see a breakdown of exactly what makes you well suited, which feels like a handy conversation starter. More importantly, the compatibility system seems to have a fairly good success rate – on its homepage, eHarmony boasts that it’s the dating site most likely to lead to a happy relationship.

The compatibility system draws from the information you supply when you first sign-up. This sign-up process is impressively thorough, running through several sets of questionnaires and quizzes. As well as answering some basic questions about your lifestyle habits, you’ll also be quizzed on how often you’ve felt specific emotions in the last month, what type of person you are and whether or not you have any relationship deal-breakers.

The thorough vetting process should mean that you are graced with more appropriate matches. In our tests, the three accounts we created received an average of 23 matches across 24 hours, 36% of which were matches with paying members.

eHarmony: The drawbacks

Once you get through the initial quiz, access to your account is free but very limited. You can’t message other users and you can’t peruse their photos either. The free tier membership exists to demonstrate that there are, in fact, at least a few potential matches in your area. But it’s not comprehensive enough to let you form a connection with someone.

We also found the deactivation process slightly laborious on eHarmony. It’s tricky to find, nestled under the billing section, and clicking on it prompts a tedious animation to appear on screen that shows your matches’ photos disappearing. This felt out of place on the platform, as it generally seems to take a more serious approach to dating.

The platform hasn’t always welcomed LGBTQ+ users, either. Previously, anyone trying to use the site to find a partner of the same sex was redirected to another platform called Compatible Partners. This has been fixed now and users can peruse eHarmony directly. But it still feels like the company was slow to embrace the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to this, bisexual users are forced to create two e subscription, if they want to put in multiple gender options for their potential partner. All in all, it doesn’t feel like the most welcoming space. We recommend trying out one of the options from our round-up of the best gay dating apps instead.

Does eHarmony have the best success rate?

The company has made various claims about its success, previously stating that it is responsible for creating more marriages online than any of its competitors. These claims were based on a 2013 survey (opens in new tab) , which saw 19,131 people respond to an in-depth questionnaire probing them about their marital life.

But in 2014, the company was rebuked by the National Advertising Division for making these statements, and told to remove these claims from the site. This was largely because the statements were too ambiguous and could be misinterpreted. Unsurprisingly, eHarmony strongly disagreed with NAD’s findings – but they removed the statements anyway.

In reality, that survey showed there was little difference between eHarmony and Match in terms of success rate. As such, if you’re still choosing between the two different platforms, don’t let this particular figure sway you.

Should you use eHarmony?

The eHarmony platform is geared towards people searching for long-term relationships. If you’re tired of casual couplings and matching with people who aren’t ready to take the next steps, then eHarmony is a good fit for you. If you’re looking for a more laid-back approach to dating, we recommend you try out a site like OkCupid before coughing up the full subscription fee on eHarmony.