Match.com Review
Helping Gay Men Find Love Since 1995
Maybe you are newly single after a long-term relationship has ended; maybe you are still looking for a partner that you want to be with for the rest of your life; or maybe you just want to chat and get to know other gay singles to expand your social circle. Whatever the case may be, Match.com wants to help you find the type of connection that you are seeking. Since 1995, Match has been bringing gay singles in 24 different countries together. With millions of members, you are likely to meet someone special on Match.com.
Packages and Features
Match.com offers a number of packages with features that could suit the needs of almost any online dater. Though it provides limited features in terms of communication, the free trial membership should give you a pretty good idea of who's available in your area. If you decide to become a paying member, you'll instantly realize the benefit of being able to reach out to your nearby matches. The standard plan offers a slightly lower price tag than the value plan, and can certainly help you if you're willing to contact people who interest you. If you're trying to get noticed, though, the value plan will give you the most bang for your buck, providing a number of features to help you stand out. These features include:
- A highlighted profile
- Notifications of when your emails are read
- "First Impressions" - having your profile emailed directly to new members to provide them with a sense of Match.com's members. This can drastically increase the amount of interest in your profile.
| Feature | FREE Trial | Standard Plan | Value Plan |
| Receive match suggestions | |||
| Search independently | |||
| Create a profile | |||
| Add images | |||
| Send winks | |||
| Respond to communication | |||
| See who's viewed your profile | |||
| Block certain members | |||
| Send and receive emails | |||
| Use instant message communications | |||
| Highlighted profile | |||
| Receive notifications when emails are read | |||
| Have your profile emailed to new members |
In terms of price, Match.com offers several durations for its standard and value packages so that you can choose the dating program that best fits your budget and your needs. Pricing is as follows:
| Subscription Period | FREE Trial | Standard | Value |
| 3 Months | FREE | $22.99/mo | $25.99/mo |
| 6 Months | FREE | $19.99/mo | $22.99/mo |
Membership Base
- Serves heterosexual and gay singles
- Married people may not register for Match.com
- Approximately 17% of women and 16% of men using Match.com are 50 or older 1
1 Source: datingsitesreviews.com
How Match.com Works
To join one of the largest online dating communities, you will need to build a profile so other gay singles can learn more about you and get a clear idea of your ideal match. You will need to select the age range of the person that you are interested in meeting as well as the location that you want to search. Now think about the perfect guy or girl for you. The next section will ask you about your ideal match’s hair color, eye color and body type. You can always choose “no preference” which will leave the door wide open to dating possibilities. You will also be asked for details about your match such as their their living situation, relationship status, languages they speak as well as their education level.
The next part of this process will ask about your physical appearance, occupation, salary range and exercise habits. You can also write a personal description of yourself and your ideal mate. Finish your profile by adding a photo of yourself or of anything you like.
Are you ready to check out the members? Searching on Match.com is done a few ways. You can do a quick search by selecting basic filters like age range, location and whether they have posted a photo. You can also add more filters such as physical traits, common interest, political view, pet and horoscope sign. Keep in mind the more filters that you set, the less dating options that you may have.
Do you see someone that you want to get to know better? With a basic membership, you can see their full profile, add them to your Favorites list and flirt using free winks. While you are waiting for them to reply, check out the Daily Match feature, which will show other gay singles that Match thinks make great picks for you.
When you upgrade your membership, you unlock Match Me which will place your profile in a Daily Match of someone that you like. You will also have the ability to remove any members that you aren’t interested in so you don’t waste time. The Connections feature will keep track of any site activity and show you members that have viewed, winked, favorited and liked you.
Match.com offers 3 helpful search options:
- Search based on which users are online locally. This service will help you find relevant people near you and will also lead you directly to profiles that are still active. Searching by those who are online in your area will also allow you to chat immediately with anyone you are interested in.
- Reverse Matching - With this search feature you can check out profiles of singles looking for people like you.
- Mutual Matching - In this section you can find people who provided a similar answer to the "About my Date" section.
Match.com presents each profile in a clear, concise way and also tells you which aspects of your profile are compatible with the member that you're interested in.
Match.com also enables you to sort your search results in a couple different styles so that you can view your options in the most useful way. You may choose from the "detailed" view or the "gallery" view.
Finally, Match.com offers you a comprehensive My Match section, in which you'll see suggestions based on multiple criteria. The Daily 5 offers recommendations of 5 potential matches based on various qualities that you have in common. You should be aware that you may not always receive a Daily 5 suggestion (or, in some cases, you may just receive a Daily 3), if Match.com's algorithm does not find an ideal candidate for you. The Mutual Match option presents potential partners based on stated preferences that you and your match suggestions have in common. Like at First Site offers match suggestions based upon your answers about first impressions in the registration quiz, and the Singled Out feature offers highly-targeted matches based upon computer algorithms that suggest you and a potential match have an especially high likelihood of liking each other in person.
Customer Support
Although most online dating sites offer customer service by email only, Match.com offers both email and phone support. I called the customer care center on a Sunday afternoon at 2:35pm EST and received an immediate answer. I didn't even wait a minute before a customer service representative came to the phone. He was both friendly and helpful and knew the answers to all of my questions.
Customers can also contact help services through email by submitting a form on the website.
Overview
- 6-month guarantee that you'll find someone special
- A large user base
- Mobile dating availability
- Search by who is online now
- Daily suggested matches based on compatibility
The Good
There is an online Match.com magazine with helpful articles about safely dating.
Talk and Text can help you connect with many new gay singles.
The Bad
No month-to-month plan is available.
The Ugly
The basic membership is quite limited.
Not all submitted reviews are posted but all submitted reviews are factored into our rating. Consumer-Rankings.com believes the posted reviews best reflect the overall opinions of all submitted reviews.
As a Christian professional black woman, we are always told that it is hard to find a professional black man. Well I was matched with a great guy, and now we have been married for almost a year. We are happily married; we are very blessed.
Having access to so many features was really helpfully since I'm new at this and didn't know exactly which features I would need.
Good site, no questions.
I have been a member for four months. I have found some men I E-mailed but they either did not get back to me or they were not interested. I am getting too many men who are not at all within my travel distance, theirs either. I am 60 yrs. old but look much younger. I think you have better luck if you are younger, but I am not giving up yet.
I tried all the other sites before and always had bad luck! Match led me to my soul mate! I recommend this site to every single and looking person I know. It's affordable and so worth it!!
Mixed experience but the best overall.
Great site...only one where you can truly find matches that meet your criteria!...I met many interesting, stable, intelligent men. Only a few duds… Two of the men became serious relationships
I met many quality people over the couse of 2 years but did not meet my match. Then I noticed a new member. I sent him a message, we met for lunch and it was true love. That was 5 years ago. We have been married for the past 3 years and are living a dream I never thought possible.
I found match to be fun and really easy to use. I just signed up this past weekend and already met a great guy that lives 10 minutes away.
I've met so many guys through match it's been great. Going on a third date with really nice guy tonight.
It was an easy to use website with a lot of interesting people on there. I will definitely be back on the website again.
I still think is a great site.
Belonged for over a year. Easy to use, lots of matches. Quality of matches were not high enough... too many obese women, or women lying about their age, old pics, etc.
I met more friends and compatible mates on this site than on e-harmony. I spend 3 months on both. One the other side, computer date sites are still not really for me.
In love already!