Overall Results:

In the chart below you will see the overall results for eHarmony compared to the average results of all 10 reviewed online dating sites including Match.com, the overall winner.

	Average 10 Sites
Overall Score (1-10)	6.89	5.39	9.23
Search/Find Members (1-10 Score)	6.80	6.76	7.65
Communication with Other Members (1-10 Score)	6.16	4.09	5.91
Free Registration (1-10 Score)	5.74	2.50	7.50
Prices (1-10 Score)	5.61	3.01	5.87
Number of Monthly Visitors	2,321,000	4,500,000	7,100,000

EHarmony scored 10th place of all the reviewed sites. Its strong points are its personality test and the quality of its members’ profiles. However, this site has very limited capabilities in free registration with no trial and gives few options to communicate with other members. It also gives you a very limited ability to find other members and is the second most expensive site of the ones reviewed. For these reasons, the site has not received as many points as the rest of the dating websites.

See the Overall Test Results for All Sites

Free Registration:

EHarmony offers free registration that allows you to fill out a lengthy quiz and then matches that profile with other compatible members’ profiles. With free registration, you can answer multiple choice questions that a subscribed member sends you, but you cannot initiate communication.

Type of Dating Website:

The focus of eHarmony is on helping you find your soulmate or another serious long-term relationship that has commitment in mind. Eharmony is a match site that connects members based on what they fill out in their profiles and physical distance if they so choose.

Filling Out Your Online Dating Profile:

EHarmony prompts you to fill out a comprehensive list of your personality and personal preferences upon registering. If you do not complete the quiz, you can log in later and finish. The quiz takes about 25-30 minutes and is one of the most thorough online dating quizzes covering 29 dimensions of character.

Among other things, the questions cover religion, physical attractiveness, emotions, personality, preferable partner qualities, how your friends would describe you, relationship values, communication style, interests, and living skills.

After logging in the second or third time, eHarmony also asks you to give specifics of certain interests for which you expressed a strong preference. You will be asked about your approach to food, punctuality, sense of humor, the cleanliness of you house, what you like to do in your spare time, etc.

Seeing Other Singles Profiles:

Once you register for the site, you will be matched with the most compatible person for you. On his or her profile, you will see some basic information: occupation, age, height, ethnicity, religion, whether s/he wants kids or not, if s/he drinks or smokes. You will also see more descriptive information like:

• The thing s/he is most passionate about
• Three things for which s/he is most thankful
• The most influential person in his or her life
• How his or her friends would describe him or her
• His or her best life-skills
• The most important thing s/he looks for in a partner
• The first thing you’ll probably notice about him or her when you meet
• The one thing s/he wishes more people would notice about him or her
• How s/he typically spend his or her leisure time
• The things s/he can’t live without
• The last book s/he read and enjoyed
• One thing that only his or her best friend knows
• Some additional information he or she wants you to know

If you have something in common with the person, eHarmony will mention one or two of these things under “Something to Talk About.” You will not, however, see the person’s pictures until you buy a paid subscription.

Preferences for Your Dating Profile:

There are a few personal settings which a member can change at any time. These include personal preferences like drinking, smoking, age, and desirability of children. There are sliding scales you can adjust for how important each of the following rates in your partner: religion, ethnicity, education, income, height, and the distance your new potential mate lives from you.

You may choose between eHarmony’s standard guided communication or fastTrack open communication which allows you to send messages through eharmony’s anonymous communication system. Guided communication allows one of your matches to send you multiple choice questions in order to get to know you better. EHarmony provides a number of pre-made icebreakers to make the first contact easy. You can also request a Secure Call service, which hides your phone number and makes sure you don’t rack up any long distance charges.

You can choose whether or not to receive photo nudge notifications from your matches. You also have the option of choosing who can view your entire personality profile. You may also want to see who’s viewed your profile.

Online Dating Paid Subscription:

Paid membership under the basic plan lets you see who’s viewed you, gives you access to view your match’s pictures, and the ability to communicate with them. The rates for the basic plan are as follows:

• 1 month for $59.95
• 3 months for $39.95
• 6 months for $29.95
• 12 months for $19.95

You also have the option of going premium. The Total Connect Plan includes the premium personality profile, RelyID (which verifies personal identification), and the secure call system. The rates for the Total Connect Plan are as follows:

• 3 months for $44.95/month
• 6 months for $33.95/month
• 12 months for $23.95/month

As a separate service, the Secure Call system is $5.95 a month. If you want to call someone anonymously, you may as well get the Total Connect Plan since the basic plan plus the separate calling service winds up about equalling the price of a premium membership. There is an auto-renewal system, so you must cancel before your term is up or you will be automatically charged.

What I Liked Most About eHarmony:

I liked the in-depth personality quiz and also appreciated the options for closing communication if one doesn’t wish to further communicate with someone. EHarmony gives you a variety of multiple choice reasons to say why you’re choosing to stop talking to the person. “I don’t think our Must Haves and Can’t Stands fit;” “I would rather not say,” etc. I think closure is a much better option than just ignoring a person.

What I Liked Least About eHarmony:

You can only initiate communication with someone eHarmony says is a match for you, which disempowers your ability as an individual to make your own choices. I was annoyed at not being able to see my compatible matches’ pictures unless I paid for a subscription. It was like running a race only to realize there was actually no finish line unless I paid to win. The fact that you can be matched with non-paying members means you might not be able to communicate with someone that eHarmony says is a match.

Worst of all, there is a hidden auto-renewal system, so when you sign up for one month, you are actually signing up to be charged every single month until you cancel. Eharmony does not make this clear upfront, so you must go hunting for this information in the “Terms and Conditions.” If you are not actively looking for this info, you will not be able to find it and could incur unexpected charges after your subscription is over.