Overview
When my editor suggested I review OurTime, I thought it would be great fun to explore. As a widow of four years, I’m old enough to be a senior but still young enough to want to find romance again. This dating site seemed very relaxed and easy to navigate. So I jumped at the chance to mix business and romantic curiosity. I used the premium plan and chatted with three men who struck me as decent and real suitors. The site had a good layout, and I felt comfortable on it. I would recommend OurTime to any of my friends who are over 50 and interested in online dating.
The OurTime homepage sets the tone: a simple design that’s a breeze to navigate. There are no obnoxious ads or high-pressure salesy pop-ups. I took it as a sign that this dating site might be more sincere. It didn’t try to lure me in with fake pictures, blinking boxes in busy columns, or suggestive photos.
It was an unusually low-key, pink pastel introduction to what I hoped would be a large number of real people in my age and geographic range.
Its simplicity made it feel calmer than other services I’ve tried. Nor did it get much more complicated as I went.
The site briskly asked me basic questions and guided me to the free signup plan. From there, I was steered to a profile builder, and I was on my way to finding my matches.
Creating an OurTime Profile
Profile creation and customization come with the free plan, along with free registration on the site.
That means other members will be able to see my profile and pictures. Of course, I’ll be able to see their profiles AND their pictures, too.
Some dating sites get coy about it and will blur out the profile or photo of someone who liked your profile. OurTime doesn’t. That’s a nice way to pique your curiosity.
I completed my bio and prompts before reaching out to anyone because I figured that if they see a blank page, they’ll think I’m sketchy.
At least, that’s how I’d feel if I went to someone’s profile and it was blank. Are they hiding something? Are they cheating on someone? Who knows?
Building a solid profile is pretty easy. The site guides me step by step and even offers assistance in writing my profile with question prompts.
I went with a plain selfie as my main photo.
I fudged my details (my profession, for example), but I tried to keep it real so I wouldn’t come off as an AI bot.
OurTime asks for a good bit of information, but I was not required to write more than I wished. While it may be tempting to keep it short and general, I think it’s important to include interesting details to get noticed.
I included some G-rated photos of myself and wrote a long paragraph to describe my favorite pastimes and date expectations (not looking for a husband).
I highly recommend choosing photos that represent your interests, whether it’s a hobby, your pets, or somewhere you’ve traveled. That makes for instant conversation topics.
Optional Categories
The profile setup includes the standard dating site categories: relationship status, education level, height, body type, and whether I have children.
I can also indicate my drinking and smoking preferences, which I do think is helpful to know before agreeing to date someone. These categories are optional, but they can help with compatibility matching as each one has a corresponding search filter.
Privacy Settings
My favorite feature is the convenient visibility toggle. I can set my profile to Visible (anyone can see me) or Hidden (no one can see me) at any time. If you need a breather but don’t want to delete your account, go invisible until you’re ready to socialize again.
I set my profile to Visible and kept it that way to get the most matches possible.
It didn’t take long for my profile to generate considerable interest from potential dating partners. That’s when I found out that I would have to commit to a paid plan to keep conversations going, so I went for the upgrade.
Upgrading to a Paid Account
As explained above, OurTime’s free plan is generous compared to most. But once you’ve made an introductory contact, you will have to upgrade to the paid plan if you want to keep exchanging messages.
Yes, this is when you have to decide whether you are ready to date seriously and can afford to fund that quest. Your mileage may vary, but for me, things got much more fun when I moved to a basic paid account.
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
Basic plans start at around $12 per month, but that’s only if you sign up for a six-month subscription.
If you choose to pay one month at a time, the rate rises to roughly $30 per month.
So that’s an estimated $72 if you commit to six months, or about $180 if you pay one month at a time for six months.
If you are looking for more perks, check out OurTime’s special power-ups and boosters. This feature reminds me of the power-ups in my favorite handheld games! “Power up your dating experience,” it said.
- Reply for Free ($6.99/month): The people I message can reply regardless of their membership type.
- Private Mode ($9.99/month): I can choose who sees my profile.
- Super Likes ($1.17 per like): Super Likes are three times more likely to match, according to OurTime.
- ConnectMe ($2.99/month): A way to have a phone call without giving out my number.
You can decide to encourage suitors by paying a small fee that allows them to write you for free. Or you can pay more and buy the power to control who can see your profile. You can also add a disguised phone number (similar to Google Voice) so your privacy is protected. And you can increase your likelihood of matching if you leave people Super Likes.
Obviously the downside is it can get pricey, especially if you’re also paying for a premium subscription plan. But, hey, if you’ve got a little extra to spend, why not have fun with it as a “dating game” where you could possibly meet good boyfriend/husband material?
I enjoyed using the paid features, particularly being able to see who had liked my profile, and I would say it’s worth paying for the leg up.
The Quality of Daters
I set a search radius of 100 miles from me, and I found a large number of men fit my age preferences (55-79). The profiles that appeared showed some well-dressed and classy-looking men alongside men dressed casually in jeans.
It was a good mix. Overall, most of them appeared to be real people.
The incoming messages were polite. Here is a good example of one:
“Hi Gloria, I really enjoyed reading your profile. You seem warm, genuine, and someone I could easily see having great conversations with. I’d like to get to know you better. When you have a moment, take a look at mine and see if you feel the same. Phill”
I wrote emails to six men. All of them had decent pictures and reasonably compatible profiles, which I carefully read.
The six men were promising to me for different reasons:
- Three had liked my profile.
- Two had sent me messages.
- One hadn’t engaged with my profile, but I thought he was handsome.
Within 24 hours, three wrote back. That 50% reply rate seemed reasonable.
I corresponded with one man for several days, and he talked a lot about his kids and personal life, which struck me as a good sign. I felt he was a real person.
After three weeks on the site, over 200 men had looked at my profile, and I received 28 likes. I don’t know if it’s typical or if it’s hyped up, but I haven’t received so much interest on a dating site before.
I did notice that a small percentage of people who’d looked at my profile didn’t have photos or information about themselves.
Still, it felt like I would be able to have conversations with dozens of real people if I wanted to. That was great.
I’ve been to sites where I never found more than one or two guys who even piqued my interest. On OurTime, that wasn’t the case.
It would be nice to say I found the man of my dreams, but since I only planned on a short stay, I didn’t want to lead anyone on. I chatted for a while, but didn’t go on any real dates to see if there was a real connection. It’s the eternal internet dilemma, right?
What I Liked
My favorite thing about OurTime is the relaxing minimalism of the site. It’s not all phony, even if they do try to suck you into other dating sites (see my first point in “What I Didn’t Like” below).
The people seem about as real as you’ll find on a dating site, and many of the men’s profiles clearly state that they’re seeking a life partner.
Unfortunately, romantic scams are rampant on the internet! No site is immune to creepy people. So keep your skeptic’s hat on, no matter which dating site you visit.
However, it does seem OurTime is proactive about verifying users. When entering the website, I had to submit my phone number to prove I was indeed real.
Personally, I would recommend OurTime to friends over 60 who are seeking compatible life companions. I’d remind them of the creep factor, but assure them that OurTime does what it can to verify photos and profiles.
I’d also encourage singles who have the money to pamper themselves and have fun with boosts and power-ups. At my age, it seems like a better investment than sinking money into Candy Crush.
Of course, basic membership gives you all the access you need to find someone so you can stick to a tight budget if needed.
Finally, while the site isn’t quite as annoyance-free as I first thought, it was very carefully designed and organized. It maintains a relaxingly simple look and feel all the way through. I really appreciate that. Too many dating sites feel chaotic.
Within a very short period of time, I felt really comfortable hopping around the platform and found it very easy to navigate and message with people.
What I Didn’t Like
Though OurTime starts out low-key, it is owned by Match Group. Right after I registered, I saw pop-ups for Match.com, Plenty of Fish, and its suite of subsidiary dating sites. Fair enough — except that once they started, the pop-ups kept showing up and were hard to dismiss in some cases.
It’s too easy to end up agreeing to be listed, and then suddenly find yourself on numerous mailing lists you didn’t intend to sign up for.
Personally, I would recommend OurTime to friends over 60 who are seeking compatible life companions.
The second disappointment was the lack of online or phone-based customer support. This is becoming commonplace for dating sites, but it may still be frustrating for the end user.
OurTime has a Help site with FAQs that might solve your issues without speaking to anyone. But if you have a unique issue, you’ll have to email the company.
Stay Safe and Date Safe
OurTime offers a refreshingly straightforward approach to senior dating. The platform is easy to use, easy to read, visually appealing, and crisply designed.
Based on my (voluminous!) experience visiting dating sites for counseling clients, OurTime draws a huge number of people without making it the least bit intimidating.
For mature daters who know what they want and can navigate the subscription maze wisely, OurTime provides a huge source of hope for finding long-term love and companionship for this stage of life.
So, to circle back to where we started: when you’re old enough to know what you’re looking for, Our Time truly is a wonderful place to look!
