SilverSingles Review: A 69-Year-Old Woman’s Real Experience, From Signup to First Date

Overview

I created a profile on SilverSingles to see if it had good seniors options in my small Georgia suburb. My initial experience yielded genuine matches and a few funny interactions. I even went on one lunch date after a couple weeks of chats. I thought the free membership was more of a teaser than anything, and the paid membership gave me a lot more value. Starting at $15 a month, the paid plans are affordable and offer real results. My biggest tip: heart every guy you’re even remotely interested in. You need volume to find the matches that click.

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As a 69-year-old woman who has adamantly resolved to go to her grave with dyed hair, I didn’t know if SilverSingles would really be my kind of place. I envisioned a sea of silver-haired singles with comfortable hips and pickleball trophies.

I imagined men with dad bods that had long since surrendered to grandpa status. I wondered what, besides our age, we would have in common.

But since I was given the opportunity to comb the online aged-adult dating scene and give the paid features a test drive, I was gung-ho to see what this service was like.

My Signup: First Impressions Were OK

Nothing fancy going on here, no flashing lights, no hardcore sales visible. The SilverSingles site is no flash, no fuss, and easy to navigate. In other words, great for older people. 

To get into the site, you had to, of course, register. Most dating sites won’t let you in anymore unless you provide a birthdate, email address, and some demographics for their matching algorithm.

On SilverSingles, the demographic data was pretty standard. The website asked for my geographic location, height, smoking and drinking habits, level of education, religious beliefs, and political leanings. 

The site did not focus on weight (though height is mentioned), which I found refreshing!

The platform guided me through a personality questionnaire and asked me to set preferences for potential matches in terms of distance and age. 

If you want more filtering options (which you likely will), you will need to move to a subscription. At the paid subscription tier, as I found out, you can really start filtering for the exact kind of man you want to meet.  

The Free Tier & Its Limitations

I could do a few things as a free member, but, honestly, not a whole lot. Think of the free membership as staging for paid membership.  

First, I was directed to our main page, the dashboard. Let’s go through the steps and buttons so you don’t get as confused as I did the first time I visited! The main dashboard (column on left) lists six navigation links:

The Discover page perplexed me on my first go. I’d see a profile, read all the info, and then I had to vote with a heart or a sad slashed heart. Either way, the minute I clicked either “I accept you” or “go away!” the profile vanished.

I just kept rating, expecting something more to happen… but nothing did. Welcome to swiping. Was I merely a hamster trapped in their dating wheel??

Beyond this rating system, the free tier offers very little to see or do. I could only message those who formed a match with me — meaning we both liked each other’s profiles. And I didn’t stumble upon any matches while I was a free member because I couldn’t see who’d liked me in the first place.

The design is clearly intended to push users toward paying for a subscription.

Premium Subscription: I Finally Got Matches

Once I upgraded to Premium, the floodgates opened. By the second day, it seemed I had an endless stream of profiles to browse and rate.

However, only a tiny handful really matched my interests and beliefs. Still, my results were realistic: I didn’t love every profile, but I did heart a few.

A 62-year-old named James appeared as one of the profiles that had liked me. His photo was in his car. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses, and he wasn’t smiling. I didn’t send a like back. He looked too much like a mortician.

The next day, I skipped the Discover section. I moved on to the next button: the Recommended profiles. I was surprised to see some profiles already waiting for me in the Recommended list.

I’d thought these were matches at first, but they’re actually profiles recommended by the algorithm. Free members get three profiles in this list every day (refreshing at midnight), and paid members get to see 10 per day.

I think 10 was more than enough to generate some interest. I quickly ended up in a couple good conversations and even went on one lunch date.

Matches & Messages

On my first day as a paid member, I received a notification about my first match, and it was a familiar face. His name was Bob. I’d hearted his profile on the Discover page the day before. Now I got it! I realized then that Discover lets you vote on potential candidates, and mutual matches land in Chats. That’s where the action is.

Direct text conversation is free for all matches, so the only trick is getting people to like you. The universal dating challenge. 

The matching system itself is straightforward and follows standard dating app conventions. Both users must heart each other to create a mutual match. When that happens, the match appears in the Chats section, and either person can initiate a conversation.

My first match was nearby. Bob shared several of my interests and had an appealing profile. I initiated a conversation with some light humor about cooking and eating. 

His response was engaged and specific. As we got to talking, he made local geographic references that assured me he was real. He even asked whether I’d ever visited the rural artisanal bakery in the backwoods. That’s where I got my holiday pecan pies last year! So amusing! 

The messaging functionality worked smoothly, and the overall experience at the Premium tier felt like online dating as it should be. Real people, real conversations, and real potential for something wonderful to blossom.

Cost Breakdown

SilverSingles offers four Premium subscription tiers, and the pricing structure encourages longer signup terms. That’s pretty standard for all dating sites.

The one-month plan is positioned as “Just curious?” And the three-month plan is marked as “Popular.”

The 12-month plan offers the greatest value per month with a 73% discount from the one-month pricing of $54.99. All subscriptions automatically renew at the end of the term unless manually canceled in the Settings.

Something I liked was the premium match preferences that unlocked for me. I could be more specific about the height, religion, and marital status of the partner I desired.

I found the most useful premium feature by far was being able to see who has liked you. That list was full of sure things. If I liked any profile in that list, it would instantly become a match in my Chat inbox, and that’s a pretty heady and powerful feeling.

This site is not cheap, but I would say it is affordable and worth it in the end.

It sure beats blindly liking and waiting to see if a match happens to form spontaneously. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time for serendipity. I just want to get right to chatting.

Honestly, I got frustrated with the free model pretty quickly. I wasn’t getting any traction. By upgrading to premium, I could see how many men liked me and actually get something going with them.

The Elite Matchmaking Service

One link on the sidebar is not like the others. All of the other options keep you on the SilverSingles platform. But that Matchmaking link redirects you to a different site called matchmaking.silversingles.com.

I didn’t notice this redirect at first. The visual design is seamless. Same branding, same logo, same color scheme. It looks like another feature of your existing subscription. 

But I actually left the dating platform and entered a luxury matchmaking service sales funnel.

The matchmaking site opened with an invitation: “Ready to learn more about our Matchmaking service guided by real people?” 

I said yes, and a second pop-up appeared asking about my capacity for “financial investment” in finding a partner. 

The eyebrow-raising options presented to me were:

• “I’m not in position to invest right now”
• $4,000-$8,000
• $8,000-$12,000
• $12,000+

These are prices I’d expect from a luxury matchmaker (possibly one with a reality show on Netflix). Not something I’d thought a dating site would offer.

It seems SilverSingles has gotten into the traditional matchmaking game. I wouldn’t think there’d be a lot of overlap between people trying online dating and those seeking to pay thousands of dollars for a date. But maybe there are a few folks in the center of that Venn Diagram.

Important to note: The Matchmaking service is a completely different financial commitment than the $15-$55 per month paid for Premium. The regular Premium subscription does NOT include personal matchmakers. 

SilverSingles is making a bid to become a luxury service with personal matchmakers on the payroll.

I only take issue with the way it’s done being a little confusing. The placement of the Matchmaking link on the dashboard makes it look like an online dating option rather than a completely separate business with drastically different pricing.

Who It Helps

The SilverSingles platform is suited for singles over 50 who are willing to pay for the perks if the free membership doesn’t get results. Many members are financially stable retirees who list hobbies like traveling, wine tasting, and fishing.

The dating site helps older singles who want a structured online dating experience with an age-appropriate pool of matches. 

Religious beliefs are prominently featured here, and I found the user base to be overwhelmingly Christian (not surprising since I do live in Georgia). I am not religious, so when I saw a man list “faith and family” as their passions, it was a no from me.

A lot of men listed that they had children, but I did see the occasional childless man. Virtually no one listed that they planned to have children. Rightly so.

SilverSingles was open-ended as far as what types of connections it facilitated. I saw profiles state they’re looking for friendship, conversation, casual dating, serious relationships, and everything in between.

Pros & Cons

The free membership is a bit slow and limited, but the SilverSingles Premium does function as advertised. My experience proved that.

Once I’d paid, I had far more profiles to rate and lots of profiles to read. The more I rated, the more matches I generated.

I’d give SilverSingles a B- overall, and that rating applies purely to the dating site, NOT the matchmaking site, which I did not test. 

I can’t judge the matchmaking site beyond its landing page. The sales tactics seemed aggressive and the prices exorbitant at first glance. On the other hand, now I’m really curious to know whether you CAN buy true love for an investment of $12k! 

There are significant issues to watch out for on the SilverSingles dating site. The free tier is slow going and not super efficient at delivering matches (I wound up with zero, but maybe I should’ve been more proactive with liking more profiles).

The Subscription Worked for Me

I don’t know if I was just lucky, but based on my experience, it seems I could regularly get a handful of potential dates per month on this site! I’m pretty chuffed that I already found two good suitors within my first foray onto SilverSingles. 

I can confirm that real users exist, the matching system works, and dating connections are possible. And if one decorous man takes you out for a meal, I’d say that makes up for the monthly subscription fee. Cynical, perhaps, but value is value!

Go in with your eyes open about what you’re actually paying for, and rate the matches to your heart’s content.

The only real downsides are that it’s difficult to meet people without a subscription, and the Matchmaking service is an entirely different business model. Since I didn’t have $12k lying around to find out what you really get, it’s not fair for me to say more, except caveat emptor.

I had a good experience with SilverSingles. It was very impressive that I found someone I liked right away (Bob and I had a nice lunch, and I’ll leave it at that). But my beginner’s luck did run out as time went on. Still, this site has more authentic profiles than other senior dating platforms I’ve tested. 

And now, suddenly, as I’m putting the finishing touches on this piece, I see another match has popped up for me, someone I had favorably rated. Very nice.