Chemistry.com
Chemistry.com is an online dating site specializing in compatibility matching based on a personality test developed by biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher based on 30 years of researching the science of interpersonal attraction. Chemistry.com is an online dating site specializing in compatibility matching based on a personality test developed by biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher who supervised 30 years of research on the science of interpersonal attraction.
Pricing
Chemistry.com's prices are slightly less expensive than competing compatibility matching services such as PerfectMatch and eHarmony. However, they are more expensive than other search-for-yourself online dating services.
|
1 Month Plan |
3 Month Plan |
6 Month Plan |
| Monthly Fee* |
$49.95/month |
$33.32/month |
$26.25/month |
| Billed As* |
$49.95 |
$99.96 |
$159.90 |
*If you live in New York or Texas you will also be subject to sales tax.
Your Chemistry.com subscription will be automatically renewed unless you specifically cancel it. You will not be prorated for any time remaining in your plan if you cancel before the end of the term. Chemistry.com accepts all major credit cards and will accept payment by check over the phone.
Compare Chemistry.com's pricing to other online dating sites >>
How Chemistry.com Works
As a member of Chemistry.com you will regularly receive match suggestions. Each match suggestion will provide background information about the person as well as an assessment of how your personalities fit together.
Personality Analysis
If you are a paying subscriber you will also receive notices when someone has read your profile or is interested in you. If you are interested in someone you can click the "I'm interested" button, and Chemistry.com will contact your potential match. You will then be prompted to begin the 'getting to know you' process by filling out additional information about your relationship essentials. If you are interested in someone who has expressed interest in you, you will be requested to answer the same questions. Chemistry.com will then offer a comparison of your answers with your match's answers, so you can judge your compatibility.
An example of the characteristics comparison
If you and your potential match like what you see in your compared relationship essentials, you will be asked to send your potential partner several short questions.
Chemistry.com lets you send 6 short questions to potential matches and even recommends questions that may be useful for your personality type.
Recommended Questions
Only after you both accept the answers to these questions will you be able to send direct emails to each other. The goal of this directed process is to ensure that you are still interested in each other and so that you'll have a comfortable first date.
When using Chemistry.com, each step of the process can be rather time consuming as you are constantly required to wait for a response from your potential match(es) who may not answer immediately. Nevertheless, the process is quite interesting and does help you learn about your potential partner and yourself. The waiting process also gives you time to explore other options and to make sure that you are not just over-eager but truly interested in pursuing each match. Chemistry .com provides at least 5 match suggestions daily so you will never be left without potential partners to review and contact.
If you begin a relationship or want to take a break from the world of online dating, you can hide your profile at any time. Doing so will prevent you from receiving any match suggestions and will archive all current match suggestions so that you will not be able to pursue these matches. If you want to hide your profile, first make sure that you are not interested in any current suggestions.
Registration
Before sitting down to complete Chemistry.com's member profile, make sure that you have at least 45 minutes to focus on the task. But don't be concerned by the length of the registration process - the questions are extremely interesting and contain a mix of text-based multiple choice questions and questions that are based on various graphics and images.
The Chemistry.com registration begins with analytical questions that are broken down into the following sections:
Step1: Provide a 'snapshot' of yourself (2 pages)
Step2: Self-perception analysis (3 pages)
Step3: Communication Dynamics assessment (4 pages), which asks questions that don't seem entirely related to communication, such as what you like to do on a Saturday night.
Step4: Personal Traits and Preferences section (8 pages)
Step5: Aspects of Identity questions (2 pages)
When the analytical assessment is complete, you will be asked to answer basic questions about yourself and what you're looking for in a partner. These questions focus on your appearance, ethnicity, occupation and other simple questions. You will also be asked to upload a photo, though you can opt to email it in if you can't figure out how to upload it directly to your profile. Once your registration is complete you receive your personality assessment and will begin receiving match suggestions immediately.
Example of Personality Assessment
Customer Support
Chemistry.com is one of the few dating sites that offers phone support as well as email support. A representative will answer your call between the hours of 9am and 8pm CST from Monday through Friday. I placed 2 separate phone calls to Chemistry.com. The first was at 9:05 EST on a Monday morning. After being on hold for 10 minutes I was accidentally disconnected. I tried again at 1:36pm EST on the same day. This time, I received an immediate response from a representative who was knowledgeable though slightly abrupt. She was able to answer my questions quickly and efficiently.
I emailed them at 6:20am on a Sunday morning:
Customer Support Form
I received an automatic response 4 minutes later:
Customer Support Email Response
Although the reponse I received from Chemistry.com's support was helpful, it was disappointing that a dating service so focused on the needs of every individual member would provide an automated response that made me read through several paragraphs of irrelevant instructions to find the answer to my question.
Compare Chemistry.com's customer support to other dating sites >>
Summary
I was impressed to see that Chemistry.com's personality assessment was extremely accurate, and I found it useful that they provided match suggestions with an explanation of how my personality could potentially mesh with the personality of a suggested match. It was rather frustrating that I had to go through so many steps before I actually got to communicate with other members on a personal level. Still, Chemistry.com provided significantly more match suggestions than PerfectMatch and eHarmony, and most of them were highly relevant.
Positive Features
- Accurate personality assessment
- Useful personality comparison provided with each suggested match
- Inexpensive pricing as compared with other compatibility matching services
- Provides matches on a regular basis
- Customer support by phone
Negative Features
- No ability to search for your own match
- The advice section is difficult to find and offers limited advice
- Email support provides automated responses