Limited messaging options for free users isn’t uncommon among dating apps

Interface and Profiles

After you complete the survey, you can move on to finding your matches, but not before eharmony asks you to sign up for a monthly plan. You can easily opt out and browse for free, but you don’t get much if you don’t pay. The free version is really more of a demo than something usable in its own right.

Free users can only view members who the app deems them most compatible with. For access to a wider range of matches, you have to subscribe. The free version also limits you to “favorite”-ing profiles, sending “Icebreaker” multiple choice questions, and seeing if you have any “mutual favorites” (people you’ve expressed interest in who have also signaled they are into you). To actually communicate with anyone, you have to pay up, which the app prompts you to do whenever you hit a wall.

The Matches section serves up a few compatible users every day. The company says it keeps this to a limited number of profiles so you can focus more on each one. But unless you’re a subscriber, you can’t even see the faces of the people you’re matched with. This is one of the most restrictive free dating app experiences by far, and a great security feature for those who are concerned about other members knowing too much, too soon. If security is a concern, Bumble is also another great dating app that won’t even let a man contact a woman unless she has already expressed interest in him.

Profiles clearly show users’ basic information (name, age, height, and ethnicity), along with tabs for viewing their photos and reading their Q&A. Below that, your compatibility in different areas is shown as percentages, including Romance, Emotional Intimacy, and Social Values. The app really sets you up to not have political arguments with your mate.

Premium Extras

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, to really take advantage of eharmony, you have to subscribe. There are three membership tiers: Premium Lite, Premium Plus, and Premium Extra. Each locks you into a progressively longer plan, but the monthly price also goes down. Premium Lite costs $ per month for six months. Premium Plus costs $ per month for a year. Premium Extra costs $ per month for two years. The only difference is the length of subscription, and subsequent discount.

Premium members receive the basic features you’d expect from a dating app, including unlimited viewing of photos, unlimited messaging, and the ability to access more matches and see who’s viewed your profile.

However, many of eharmony’s other premium options come standard with a basic subscription to other services, they’re features you take for granted. For example, your search results aren’t as gated elsewhere and apps like OKCupid let you message for free without subscribing. Plus, no other apps are as ungenerous with un-blurred photos. Unfortunately, no matter how much you pay or what plan you subscribe to, you can’t opt out of being served minichat ads.

Although it is more expensive overall than most other dating apps, eharmony doesn’t ask you to pay for any other microtransactions such as Boosts, Super Likes, Tokens, Coins, or anything else, which most other services have available in various forms.

Social Distancing With eharmony

During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, people want a warm body to turn to. However, social distancing demands we stay indoors to stop the spread of the disease. In the meantime, dating apps have begun offering more virtual dating options to keep us sane and social, and that includes eharmony. With Video Date (Opens in a new window) , Premium users can initiate a video call either in messages or directly on a match’s profile.

Theo Healthplus.vn