The way that your pool is narrowed down is, well, pretty much up to you. First, you can opt to be shown one person at a time and swipe left or right. As you swipe, match keeps track of your skips and picks up on patterns about what you like (or what you don’t like) about the people you came across. The matchmaking algorithm uses that information to provide more honed-in suggestions: Are you looking for someone who communicates like you or someone who balances you out?
If you’d like a bit more power over who shows up, hitting “discover” lets you jump into the pool head-first with a Facebook-like search. Here, you can filter people by looks, hobbies, lifestyle, and more. It’s more freedom than eharmony supplies, though getting too filter happy could accidentally snub a gem.
The less-guided experience can get chaotic if you don’t know what you’re looking for. match shuffles through millions of people in a day, and you have to sit back and let match learn your swiping habits (while maybe tweaking your distance limits) and let the algorithm develop a sense of who you’d dig past some surface-level agreements.
Speaking of chaos, there are almost too many ways to show interest on match. There are profile likes, photo likes, winks, favorites, “yes ratings,” and more. (Don’t ask what the difference is. No one really knows.) Though these give you a head’s up about whose eye you’ve caught and could soothe some rejection paranoia, this many icons and notifications can be confusing. If you’re not into the back-and-forth game of passive aggressive compliments, this might be more annoying than helpful. But if you’re shy and need a reason to make the first move, these extras could be a point in the right direction.
What match costs in 2020
The commitment is certainly reflected in their prices. At $ per month for a 1-month plan, $ per month for a 3-month plan, $ per month for a 6-month plan, or $ per month for a 12-month plan, it’s unlikely that someone who’s not looking for anything past the friends with benefits stage will slide into your DMs.
The final word on eharmony (opens in a new tab) versus match (opens in a new tab)
Choosing between eharmony and match comes down to one thing: How much control do you want over who pops up in your feed?
Both have a relatively even split between women and men, age groups (including large pockets of people in their 20s and 30s), divorcees and people with kids, but you can feel good about people’s intentions on each: Both sites have a reputation for creating meaningful connections past hooking up and have proven their ability to do so. Your friends who aren’t ready to make it official with someone would probably never consider signing up for match or eharmony mingle2 dating website, and it’s safe to assume that the general public understands those boundaries, too.
You might like eharmony better if you’re a serial red flag ignorer or have no clue what you want. The compatibility score is an enormously useful tool that lets you know how well the pro matchmakers think you’d get along with someone (and if you see a number like 60%, it could even be a way to get the awkward conversations out of the way before you get too invested). Though eharmony may push you to meet folks who feel like a risk, it’s the type of “opposites attract” situation that could hep you become a better partner. The more structured approach means business, and this is the place to go if you’re trying to meet the parents or move in together ASAP.