Best Dating Sites
Looking for a dating site you can trust? Search no more.
isn’t a new name in the online dating industry, and our Lavalife review is one of many endorsements of it. That’s because Lavalife is one of the oldest names in the business. For almost two decades, Lavalife has been pairing singles with similar passions, personalities, and life goals, and it has come up with some pretty great ways to break the ice and make a romantic connection.
There’s more to Lavalife than just the matching system, though. Our online dating experts have broken down the site’s signup process, pricing, features, and everything in between. We’ve also picked out a few other dating sites you’ll want to look into as well — because, when it comes to finding love, you can never have too many avenues.
-
Navigate This Article:
Lavalife Has a Large User Base, But You Have to Pay to Communicate With People (4.3/5.0 Rating)
Lavalife launched in 2001 with a mission to “make dating fun again.” We can get on board with that.
From start to finish, the dating website endeavors to take the pressure off singles, matching them based on their interests, which makes it easier to start a conversation. More than 2,000 people visit the homepage every month, and the app is available for iOS and Android devices.
It’ll take you less than 10 minutes to fill out your dating profile, and then you can start searching for potential matches. New members receive a free seven-day trial that’ll allow them to access all of Lavalife’s features. First, you’ll provide your full name, your gender, the gender you’re interested in, your birthday, email address, and password. You could also sign up through Facebook to make the signup process go even faster.
You can sign up for Lavalife for free via the desktop or download the app via iTunes or Google Play — the latter of which will give you access to other features like LavaLounge.
The next part is choosing a username, typing in your zip code, and selecting your height, body type (athletic, average, curvy, plus size, or slim), ethnicity (black, Caucasian, East Asian, European, First Nations, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern, Mixed, Pacific Islander, South Asian, or other), and religion (agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, Catholic, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, New Age, Other, Sikh, or Spiritual).
Lavalife also wants to know what you’re looking for (casual dates, relationship, long-term, friends, or hookups), your education level (high school, trade, college, university, post-graduate, or other), your smoking habits (never, socially, regularly, or trying to quit), drinking habits (never, socially, or often), if you have children (no or yes), if you want children (yes or no/no more), and your annual income (under $30K, $30K-$40K, $40K-$60K, $60K-$80K, $80K-$100K, $100K-$150K, or over $150K).
For all of these questions, you can choose Ask Me Later and come back to them whenever you want. The About Me and My Ideal Date sections can be filled out any time as well. However, your profile pic, an opening line, and city are all mandatory.
Once all of this information is submitted, Lavalife offers a quick tutorial to show you how everything works, but you can jump right into browsing through dating profiles if you feel ready to go.
Basic search has filters for username, what you’re looking for, age, and distance. Advanced search has filters for recently online, interests (e.g., pets, travel, fitness), and Find Me At (e.g., concert, movies, work), among other things. Save your searches for more efficient browsing the next time you log in.
When you find a special person who catches your eye, use the In Common feature to see what makes you two click. You can also “like” profiles, see who’s viewed your profile, send smiles and chat requests, and send and receive messages.
However, once your free trial is over and done, you won’t be able to initiate messages anymore. This is the part about Lavalife that seems to bother singles the most. You’ll need to upgrade your membership, and prices include one month for $19.99, three months for $49.99 (saving you 17%), and six months for $89.99 (saving you 25%). Note: The three- and six-month memberships must be paid in full upfront — there are no monthly payment options.
3 Online Dating Alternatives to Lavalife
Lavalife is a longstanding name in the industry, but just like you shouldn’t limit yourself to just one one coffee shop, one gas station, or one fast-food brand, you shouldn’t limit yourself to one online dating site. We’ve got three other options that can stand up to what Lavalife is offering. Let’s start with the king of dating sites:
Match the company was founded in 1993, and the dating site was launched in 1995 — six years before Lavalife. Match also sees more than 13.5 million visitors a month — not to mention the 30 million people who’ve already signed up.
Relationships:
Friends, Dates, and Relationships
Match System:
Browse by zip, age, appearance, more
Our Experts Say:
“Match has facilitated the most dates and relationships of any dating site, and its large audience and high success rate make it our top review...”
Full Review »
Browse Free:
View Photos Now
1. Match
★★★★★
User Base
Gender Ratio
Popularity (Visits/Mo.)
Today's Deal
All Singles*
49%*
51%*
39.7 Million*
Try Match FREE
You can take Match with you wherever you go by downloading the app from iTunes or Google Play, and features like Missed Connections will make sure you find your perfect date or partner. In fact, Match has led to more dates and relationships than any of its competitors.
Our next alternative is Elite Singles, which focuses on quality instead of quantity. The site is meant for relationship-minded, highly educated, upper-income singles. More than 80% of members hold bachelor’s, master’s, and/or doctorate degrees.
Relationships:
Serious Relationships
Match System:
Search, Receive Partner Suggestions
Our Experts Say:
“EliteSingles is a leading dating site just for busy, single professionals. More than 80% of members have earned a college degree, and most are looking for a serious commitment...”
Full Review »
Browse Free:
View Photos Now
2. EliteSingles
★★★★★
User Base
Gender Ratio
Popularity (Visits/Mo.)
Today's Deal
All Singles*
44%*
56%*
2 Million*
Browse Profiles Free
Most of Elite Singles’ members are also at least 30 years old (90%), so you won’t find the hookup crowd here. The site is responsible for more than 2,500 love stories every month, and you could be next.
Zoosk rounds out our list, and it’s the most tech-savvy of the bunch. One of the first to offer signup via your existing social profiles (Facebook and Google+), Zoosk has been a favorite of on-the-go daters since 2007.
Relationships:
Fun Dates, Serious Relationships
Match System:
Search and get match recommendations
Our Experts Say:
“Zoosk is integrated with social media sites, like Facebook and Google+, so it's very popular with singles on the go...”
Full Review »
Browse Free:
View Photos Now
3. Zoosk
★★★★★
User Base
Gender Ratio
Popularity (Visits/Mo.)
Today's Deal
All Singles*
48%*
52%*
28.9 Million*
Start Zoosk for FREE
In terms of matching, Zoosk has a unique way of bringing compatible people together. The site has a carousel of singles that you can like, pass on, or come back to later, and a majority of these singles are what Zoosk calls SmartPick™ matches. Zoosk tracks your online behavior, such as the words you use in your profile and the type of people you message, so you can receive the most compatible match suggestions possible.
Lavalife: Definitely Worth Trying, But Keep Your Options Open
As a whole, Lavalife gets the job done and can be fun for some singles, but there are a couple of areas for improvement in terms of popularity and pricing. We’d recommend that online daters sign up for that free membership first, so they can explore their options and make up their own mind about the online dating site. If Lavalife is not your cup of tea, take a look at Match, Elite Singles, or Zoosk.
In a lot of ways, these premier online dating sites make up for what Lavalife lacks, and they can offer a lot of promising matches in your area. Good luck!
Advertiser Disclosure
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 Editorial Review Policy
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!