Is eHarmony Worth It?

Overview

I'm old enough to remember when online dating first became a big thing, and I definitely had a lot of trepidation about it.

To try and find someone via the internet seemed like throwing the ultimate Hail Mary. I also had a hard enough time imagining there were any genuinely desirable candidates to be found through these sites.

However, I kept hearing about people in my community who had found their true love through eHarmony. 

To hear them explain it, eHarmony wasn't your run-of-the-mill dating site that was for people looking for a cheap hookup. This was a site that was about building long-term relationships from the ground up.

Still cautious but intrigued, I signed up. It wasn't long before I saw how eHarmony is a cut above the rest. This started when I filled out the various surveys. It gave me a chance to really consider my values. It was like I was tapping into my mind for the first time in a very long time.

Now that I'm an experienced eHarmony user, I can say that it's been one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. I particularly liked the strong matching system, which helped me meet my boyfriend. 

Here's my experience with eHarmony combined with some detailed information to share with you on all aspects of the site.

Key Features

Membership

200-plus countries have eHarmony users among their citizens. In the United States alone, there are 27 million members. People who use eHarmony tend to frequent the site pretty regularly, with approximately 16 million visitors per week.

While there are more men than women on the site, the difference isn't so significant that you'll be in any serious competition.

There's also a lot of maturity from users in terms of age, as most users are between the ages of 25 and 34. That's by no means "old," but it does give you a good indication that users are people who want to find serious relationships.

Some people prefer to have only flings, which is understandable. However, if that's the case, eHarmony isn't the site for you.

This is a site for people who are adamant about finding a future with someone. As soon as you begin signing up, you should see that even more clearly.

Sign Up (Get eHarmony Free Trial)

You'll need to have some time free to sign up for eHarmony. Although registering your account doesn't take a whole lot of time, you're required to fill out some surveys and compatibility tests. These are needed to figure out who will be a good match for you.

It's effortless to get the registration process going, as you can use your email or your Facebook account. There's also no requirement to have your email verified. 

However, much of your focus will need to go into filling out the surveys and tests. For the surveys, you'll offer insight into what you'll do in various scenarios.

Meanwhile, with the compatibility tests, you'll focus on what you want from a potential partner. You should take your time with all of these. If you need to, you can space out the tests so that your brain doesn't get fried by all the questions.

Profiles

eHarmony's requirement of making sure users fill out their surveys and tests helps to create profiles that are full of information.

It's also effortless to update the information on your profile should anything pertinent change. You can elaborate on yourself and what you're looking for while writing the "About Me" portion of your profile.

Upon visiting other users' profiles, you'll be able to use the compatibility feature to see how well their values align with yours.

The qualities that are discussed are very sophisticated, including "Altruism," "Religious Values," "Relationship Values," and "Emotional Intimacy." This feature helps you find someone you're meant to be with.

An optional but fun feature that adds to the eHarmony experience is the Q&A section. Here, you respond to different questions, and your answers are posted on your profile. 

This is another excellent method of determining your compatibility with a particular user, and it also helps to give them more understanding of who you are.

Making Contact

When stacked up next to other dating sites, eHarmony doesn't have the most generous helping of communication methods. For instance, the site doesn't offer a chatroom.

Nonetheless, this is still an excellent site for being able to meet people and building connections through communication.

Without a paid account, you can use messaging on eHarmony only to the extent that you can send any five site-selected questions.

Otherwise, if someone's profile excites you, you can add them to your favorites list or sending them "winks."

For free users, eHarmony is curated in a way that only shows you the profiles of users that are deemed a good match by the site. Matches are refreshed daily. 

When you have a paid account, you'll be able to see users who the website might not think are in your match range. Additionally, searches can be narrowed down based on age or location.

eHarmony Costs & Pricing

You can sign up for eHarmony for six, twelve, or twenty-four months at a time. The longer your subscription is, the more economical it is. 

For instance, a six-month "Lite" subscription costs $34.97 per month, but a 24-month "Extra" subscription costs $17.97/month.

These plans are quite a bit longer than those for other sites, which can start at around three months and go up to 12 months.

This is another strong indicator that eHarmony is a site for people who are serious about commitment. How long you sign up for depends on how long you expect it to take you to find a match.

Payments, which can be done through your PayPal account or a credit/debit card, are charged on a three-month basis or all at once.

Currently, eHarmony only accepts Visa and Mastercard for card payments. If you're not sure about getting a premium membership, they occasionally offer free trials to let you see the benefits of signing up.

Pros and Cons

The Bottom Line: