Best Dating Sites
Looking for a dating site you can trust? Search no more.
Online Dating
For me, trying to pick between two good dating sites, like eharmony and Chemistry, is like trying to choose between dogs or cats. I like them both a lot! I grew up with cats because that’s what my parents preferred. However, I always wanted to have a dog of my own.
As soon as I moved out, I got a puppy, and I absolutely love having him in my life. It’s not that I’ve turned my back on cats — it’s just that, now that I’ve experienced both, I can make an informed decision about what kind of animal person I am.
To pick between eharmony and Chemistry, you need all the facts, and we’re here to deliver them to you. This article has everything you could ever want to know about both dating sites — from how much they cost to how successful they are.
Let’s kick things off with some general must-knows about eharmony and Chemistry. Below you’ll also find star ratings from our experts, who’ve been testing and reviewing dating sites and apps for numerous years.
Co-founded in 2000 by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist, Christian theologian, and former seminary professor, eharmony has become a household name. We bet you’ve seen the commercials or have a friend (or friend of a friend) who have used the site to find love. Here’s a chart our team created that breaks down eharmony’s essentials:
Relationships:
Casual Dates, Deep Relationships
Match System:
Personality test suggests matches
Our Experts Say:
“Accounting for 2% of U.S. marriages, eharmony's compatibility-based system and commitment-minded user base are ideal for those seeking a serious relationship...”
Full Review »
Browse Free:
View Photos Now
User Base
Gender Ratio
Popularity (Visits/Mo.)
All Singles*
4.1 Million*
View Profiles FREE
Overall, eharmony is behind a significant number of marriages in the United States, its membership consists of only heterosexual men and women, and it’s absolutely free to register and search through profiles.
Chemistry was launched in 2006 by the same folks behind Match, so that’s a plus for the site. In 2017, the site got a makeover, but the Chemistry brand as a whole still has the same mission and mostly the same matching and messaging tools.
On Chemistry, it doesn’t cost anything to create a profile, take the personality test, upload photos, look for and receive matches, and communicate in certain ways.
If you couldn’t tell by the higher star rating, eharmony takes the cake in this section. It’s got the history, the reputation, and the numbers on its side, and many singles have chosen it as their go-to wingman.
Money is probably one of the most important factors people look at when choosing a dating site, so we’ll break down the types of memberships eharmony and Chemistry offer and the price range of each.
First things first, when you sign up for eharmony, you’re automatically given a free membership that never expires. You can fill out your information, take the site’s very own matching questionnaire, and receive matches. If you’re interested in upgrading, your choices are:
With any of the memberships above, you’ll gain access to features like Guided Communication and Secure Call, among others. We also have two deals that’ll save you even more money: 73% off any eharmony membership or 60% off any eharmony membership. Use the promo codes DATINGADVICEBBB or DATINGADVICEAAA, respectively.
Chemistry is one of the most affordable dating sites around. A standard membership (which should last a lifetime) allows you to upload information about yourself and your ideal match, add profile photos, search on your own, receive daily match suggestions, and communicate (e.g., send virtual flirts, like profiles and photos, and create a My Favorites list).
Prices for upgraded memberships look like this:
These memberships give you enhanced search and match options, unlimited instant messaging, and the ability to see who’s interested in you and send and receive emails. Keep in mind that you have to pay everything upfront, not in installments, so if you choose a six-month membership plan for $6.49 a month, your total bill will be $38.94.
Even with our eharmony discount, it’s hard to beat $6.49 per month, so we’re gonna have to give the kudos to Chemistry when it comes to affordability. Dating is expensive enough (what with paying for drinks, food, transportation, and entertainment), so whatever dating sites can do to take some of the burden off, the better.
Next, we’ll delve deeper into the people who use eharmony and Chemistry — such as where they’re from, how old they are, what their personalities are like, and so much more. It’s one thing for a dating site to have tons of members, but it’s another thing for a dating site to have tons of members you’re actually interested in.
According to the latest numbers, eharmony has more than 33 million members, and more than 4.1 million people visit the site every month. Available in 195 countries, eharmony is rather diverse in terms of members’ locations, education, appearance, backgrounds, and hobbies, and it has a pretty large Christian audience.
The most important thing to note about ehamonry’s user base is that it’s only straight singles. However, the company created a sister site in 2009 called CompatiblePartners.net, which caters to single gay men and lesbian women. It works in exactly the same way; the only difference is the gender preferences of users.
Receiving over 520,000 monthly visitors, according to SimilarWeb, Chemistry is a smaller dating site than eharmony. However, Chemistry draws in many different types of people for casual dates and serious relationships. You can also sort through members by your preferred age range, zip code, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, education, religion, and interests. Finding someone special shouldn’t be a problem here.
Three cheers for eHarmony! Not only does the site have a global presence, but it’s a household name at the same time. You’ll probably never run out of like-minded people to meet, get to know, and go on dates with.
The most intricate part of a dating site is usually the matching algorithm, so we’ll walk you through how that works on eharmony and Chemistry. This portion includes what you’ll have to do during the sign-up process and the ways to use the search and communication features.
eharmony has the most famous questionnaire of any dating site. It was created by clinical psychologist Dr. Neil Clark Warren, and it takes deeper personality traits and life goals into consideration — including emotional temperament, social style, physicality, relationship skills, and values and beliefs. Usually, the questionnaire takes people an hour to complete, but don’t let that discourage you. It’s worth the time to really think about who you are and what you want.
Once you complete the questionnaire, the site uses your answers to recommend date prospects to you, and then you decide if you like them or not. If you do, you can communicate with them via live chat like you would on other dating sites, but you can also use Guided Communication. Learn more about in this article.
A big difference between eharmony and most dating sites, like Chemistry, is that you can’t search for dates on your own. The site takes all of that work off your shoulders.
Chemistry also has its own personality test, which more than 13 million people have taken. Dr. Helen Fisher, an American anthropologist, human behavior researcher, and self-help author, is the brains behind it, and you’ll most likely need 30 minutes to answer all the questions.
The site wants basic info like your gender, gender looking for, and date of birth. But Chemistry also wants more detailed and scientific information like index finger length, if you agree or disagree with certain statements (e.g., I’m always looking for new experiences), and your top three interests.
Unlike eharmony members, Chemistry members are able to search for matches on their own, which is great for those daters who want to take their loves lives into their own hands.
Chemistry offers the best of both worlds by giving daters the option to find matches by themselves as well as receive match suggestions based on the site’s algorithm. On days when you’re busy, you can sit back and let Chemistry do all the heavy lifting. On days when you have more time, you can get into the driver’s seat.
We can tell you our opinions about eharmony and Chemistry, but something else that makes a huge difference is seeing the cold, hard facts and hearing stories from other singles like you. Below are more details about how good eharmony and Chemistry are at pairing people as well as testimonials from former members.
Each day, more than 236 people who met on eharmony get married. That’s more than 86,000 people a year!
Corie and Brian are just one of those couples, and they shared their loves story on the site: “We say all the time how glad we were that we used eharmony and how accurate it was for us!” Corie said.
Another good sign: eharmony has several positive reviews on Google Play and the App Store, where it has 3 out of 5 stars and 3.8 out of 5 stars, respectively. Chanelmybelle wrote: “Keep the faith, folks! I met my wonderful husband on this app after two weeks. I found this app to be fun and easy to use in the short time I used it. If I can use, it anyone can. Be open minded — it totally work for me!”
You can learn more about eharmony’s success rate here and its success stories here.
It’s a little hard to find concrete statistics about Chemistry’s success, but we’ve seen on the site, as well as in articles and forums, that it gets positive reviews. Susan V. gave it five stars on SiteJabber, saying: “My boyfriend and I found each other over Chemistry.com. We have been dating for a year now and love every moment we get with each other.”
Some negative comments about Chemistry include that some of the profiles appear to be inactive or fake and there aren’t enough gay singles on the site.
eharmony has such an impressive success rate — few dating sites can stand up to that. When it comes to online dating, it’s nice to see proof that it works and that your precious time and hard-earned money won’t be for nothing. From its thoughtful matchmatching system to its success stories, eharmony definitely makes a strong case for itself.
It was a close race, but eharmony is our champion, taking three rounds out of five. Chemistry is still an awesome dating site, so, more than likely, you won’t be disappointed no matter which option you choose. It’s like picking between puppies and kittens — they’re both adorable and cuddly, but most of us have a preference. Test out both eharmony and Chemistry (it’s free, after all), and see which one you prefer.
DatingAdvice.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation from many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across the site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). DatingAdvice.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.
Our site is committed to publishing independent, accurate content guided by strict editorial guidelines. Before articles and reviews are published on our site, they undergo a thorough review process performed by a team of independent editors and subject-matter experts to ensure the content’s accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality. Our editorial team is separate and independent of our site’s advertisers, and the opinions they express on our site are their own. To read more about our team members and their editorial backgrounds, please visit our site’s About page.
Discuss This!