All the eharmony commercials I’ve seen are quick to mention its high success rate and quality membership base, but they aren’t so forthcoming about how much eharmony costs.
That’s a pretty important detail to leave out, so we’ve done some research to break down how much singles can expect to spend on their eharmony membership. Instead of a free trial period, eharmony has a free membership that never expires and includes unlimited browsing and several communication tools. Singles can choose to upgrade to one of eharmony’s premium plans to get more online perks, including the ability to use advanced search filters.
Here’s everything you need to know about eharmony’s free and premium plans:
A Basic Account Doesn’t Cost Anything — No Need for Discount Codes or Coupons
Every eharmony member gets the basics for free. That means new members have the ability to upload photos, take quizzes, view profiles, and send likes without needing to hand over any PayPal or credit card information.
All you need is a valid email address to set up an eharmony profile and browse for local matches on the online dating site. It’s also free to download the dating app, register an account, and swipe through the database from an iPhone or Android device.
No eharmony coupon or discount code is necessary to get a free account up and running. New members automatically qualify for a standard membership that costs $0.
Since its launch in 2000, eharmony has endeavored to find the formula for love. Its 32-dimension personality test uses psychological truths to identify areas of compatibility between two individuals. The dating site's mission is to foster relationships that last, and every potential match has a reason behind it.
- Over 2 million people have found love here
- Users can filter their match recommendations by age or city
- Compatibility Quiz identifies common interests, lifestyles, and goals
- Browse eharmony profiles 100% free »
A single person used to need an eharmony promo code to get a free trial or to apply a discount to your paid membership, but that’s a thing of the past. The site has a universally free membership plan, and every single person who signs up can keep their costs low while exploring a high-quality dating scene at their leisure.
There is no pressure to subscribe to an eharmony paid membership, and free accounts never expire.
Since eharmony has made the transition from paid dating site to free dating app, it’s more popular than ever, and that’s good news for anyone seeking a compatible match.
Enjoy Free Access to Features Like Icebreaker Quizzes
So, we’ve established that it’s free to join eharmony, but you should know that the basic plan doesn’t include every feature on the dating website and dating app. It’s important to note that eharmony is not a free communication dating service, and only a paid member can send messages to anyone they fancy.
However, free members do have the ability to send limited messages to their most compatible matches, and they can also send a smile and/or icebreaker quiz to show their interest in a new person.
It’s free to send an Icebreaker Quiz in a private chat on eharmony.
An icebreaker quiz is a five-question picture quiz that you and your potential partner can take and compare results. Maybe you preferred the picture of fall foliage, but your chat buddy preferred the picture of a snowy field. It’s a fun way to get to know someone without having to pay to send messages.
The eharmony team will sometimes unlock a conversation window between free members who show an interest in each other, but such privileges are temporary. You may only get a free communication weekend to message your online match, so make sure to make each message count.
Free members can also take the Compatibility Quiz, which currently has over 80 questions, to improve their match ratings and get a compatibility breakdown based on their personality traits. Many serious daters find this matching system works better than superficial swiping because it helps them get to know date prospects on a deeper level right from the start.
The eharmony matching system is grounded in psychology and has yielded great results for 20+ years.
Upgrade to Premium — Price Starts at 35 Dollars a Month
It makes sense for serious daters to upgrade to an eharmony subscription plan because free members cannot send unlimited messages or view photos on the dating site and app. That can be pretty restrictive for someone whose top goal is to build a real relationship.
If you want to send a private message, you’ll have to upgrade your eharmony account to a premium plan for at least six months. The eharmony platform offers premium membership plans for six months, 12 months, or 24 months. The longer the subscription lasts, the lower the monthly cost.
Here’s the current eharmony cost breakdown:
- Premium Light: $65.90/mo for 6 months
- Premium Plus: $45.90/mo for 12 months
- Premium Extra: $35.90/mo for 24 months
These prices fluctuate from year to year based on demand, and eharmony frequently offers seasonal discounts (anywhere from 10% off to 50% off) to tempt users to sign up.
Seasoned online daters may notice that eharmony costs a lot more than the typical dating site — especially free dating sites — but that’s actually by design. The eharmony team aims to appeal to the cream of the online dating crop. Its members can afford the monthly fee and are willing to make that investment because they’re serious about meeting someone special.
Since 2000, eharmony has fostered a quality-driven matchmaking system that helps men and women find their ideal match. But before you can chat that person up, you’ll need to subscribe to the online dating service.
What is eharmony?
Put simply, eharmony is one of the most trustworthy dating services in online dating history. Its mission is to help serious daters get in a serious relationship, and over 2 million couples in the U.S. have eharmony’s matching algorithm to thank for their love story.
Although eharmony began as an old-fashioned dating website, it has made an effort to keep up with the times and adapt to today’s changing dating culture.
As a free dating app, eharmony offers a premium alternative to mindless swiping, and its thoughtful matching system is basically the anti-Tinder. Since its launch a few years ago, the eharmony app has been downloaded over 5 million times and has earned a four-star rating in the App Store.
How Does eharmony Work?
Since its inception, eharmony has taken a serious approach to matchmaking and used psychology as the basis for its compatibility ratings and potential match suggestions. This online dating site asks its free and paid members to take a lengthy personality test to improve their odds of finding a compatible partner.
The Compatibility Quiz is 100% optional, but it’s worth spending 15 to 20 minutes to complete the quiz because doing so will increase your odds of finding a perfect match online. Its thoughtful questions probe into your habits, values, and relationship goals, and the more honest you are, the more accurate your match ratings will be.
A free member can take the quiz to increase the quality of their potential match results and compatibility ratings.
Thanks to its in quiz, eharmony creates a detailed personality profile.
The matching algorithm uses 32 dimensions of compatibility to identify how two people click in terms of their attachment, communication style, social patterns, lifestyle, and other important characteristics. The online dating site measures introversion and empathy, among other qualities, on a sliding scale with a points value assigned based on answers to personal questions.
If both members have taken the Compatibility Quiz, they can view a thorough assessment of how their personality traits line up. The match system also takes the member’s preferences in terms of age, location, and appearance into account.
“Dating never stops evolving and never will, so our team of relationship experts are constantly monitoring social trends to integrate their findings,” the eharmony team says on the website. “Within our Compatibility Quiz, more than 80,000 subjects were involved to ensure a quality matching process.”
How Long Has eharmony Been Around?
The eharmony dating website launched in 2000, and it has been remarkably successful at making quality matches in the dating scene. At one point, this psychology-driven dating site was responsible for almost 4% of marriages in the U.S.
Between 2000 and 2010, more than 33 million singles signed up to eharmony in hopes of finding true love. Their success helped cement eharmony’s reputation as a serious dating service, and business has been booming ever since.
Is eharmony’s Compatibility Matching System Free?
Yes, free members are welcome to take the Compatibility Quiz and use its insights to up their online dating game. The dating site and app highlight quality matches based on a combination of dating parameters, profile information, and compatibility ratings.
The Matches tab provides filters based on age, height, smoking habits, and desire to have children. Premium members have access to more advanced filters for religion, ethnicity, income, and education. Sorting by distance and online activity is also a premium feature.
Free members can view lists of their favorite profiles, recent visitors, and profiles they’ve visited to find a potential partner more quickly. They can also check out a detailed compatibility assessment on every dating profile.
Is eharmony Safe?
Yes, eharmony is a supremely safe dating platform because of its lengthy sign-up process, advanced security measures, and paid communication system.
The eharmony philosophy is to put quality before quantity, so it asks users to jump through a lot of hoops (by answering a lot of personal questions) to complete a dating profile. This deters scammers from taking advantage of the network. It also makes it a lot easier to spot a fake profile.
Only eharmony members with an approved photo will show up in match lists.
Communication isn’t totally free on eharmony, and that raises the caliber of messages you’ll find in your inbox. It’s pretty rare to see spam messages or pickup lines on the eharmony site. Premium users have invested their hard-earned money in eharmony’s love-centric message, so they’re naturally more serious and authentic in their messages.
If you see a person acting suspiciously on eharmony, you can use the block feature and then report that member to the eharmony moderators. The team is serious about keeping online daters safe and will remove anyone caught using a fake name, uploading fake photos, or harassing other members.
Joining eharmony comes with pros and cons, and the platform’s safe dating environment is a pretty solid pro.
Is the eharmony App Free?
Yes, eharmony is technically a free dating app, but it has some paid features that keep free members from making a match. Any eharmony member can download the dating app and start browsing profiles immediately, but they cannot view photos or send messages. The app offers a more streamlined version of the dating website, but the overall pricing model is the same.
“It matches you with people that I found were very kind, but you can’t even speak to them because you need to pay,” said Radiant Shadow in a Google Play review. “It blurs photos so you can’t even see their face.”
Is an eharmony Subscription Worth It?
A premium eharmony membership comes with a price tag, and the company no longer offers a satisfaction guarantee to users, so it’s natural to wonder if the eharmony price is worth it. Honestly, it’s a gamble, and the answer is going to differ from person to person.
The couples in eharmony’s success stories on the site certainly feel it was worth paying for a subscription because they met the love of their life that way. However, our dating experts have also found negative reviews from singles who paid for an eharmony premium plan and did not walk away with a promising love interest. The basic membership may not be enough to spark a match, so interested individuals should look into membership options.
“To anyone on the site that is tired or having poor luck, don’t give up! I found my match just as I was about to cancel my subscription.” — Rachael, a former eharmony member
If you live in a large and populated city, it may be worth subscribing to eharmony so you can focus on chatting up highly desirable singles and compatible partners near you. If you’re in a more rural area, you may find slim pickings on eharmony.
Singles could potentially spend hundreds of dollars on this online dating service. That’s a serious commitment, and it will hopefully yield serious results. But it’s only worth it if you’ve struck out on free dating platforms and are ready to take a bigger risk for love.
Does eharmony Allow LGBTQ Singles?
When eharmony launched in 2000, it was strictly for straight singles. The company’s founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren is an Evangelical Christian who said his mission was to strengthen traditional marriage. Needless to say, eharmony took a lot of criticism (and lawsuits) for taking that stance.
But that was then, and this is now. After a change in leadership in 2016, eharmony has pivoted firmly toward inclusivity. It now uses its smart matching algorithm to create same-sex matches as well as opposite-sex matches.
The eharmony site and app are open to men seeking men and women seeking women.
The current eharmony setup works great for gay and lesbian singles seeking a potential partner for life. However, LGBTQ+ singles should note that eharmony doesn’t have non-binary or trans-friendly gender options, and it requires users to choose to seek either men or women — not both. Bisexual singles must create two distinct accounts if they want to date both genders on eharmony.
Given the site’s history, eharmony has not been a fan favorite in the LGBTQ+ community. Gay and lesbian singles have yet to truly embrace the dating service, and we’d estimate that 90% of eharmony members are straight and cisgender singles.
All in all, our reviewers don’t consider eharmony to be the best LGBTQ dating site available, even though it is worlds more rainbow-friendly than it used to be.
Where Can I Find an eharmony Coupon?
Unfortunately for your wallet, there isn’t a valid eharmony coupon or eharmony promo code available right now. This paid dating site occasionally offers sitewide discounts or special deals for active free members, but it does not have a place where you can enter in a discount code and save money on your monthly subscription plan.
As much as I wish I could wave a magic wand and make eharmony cheaper, the truth is the high-price point is part of its business model. The purpose is to ensure that only the cream of the online dating crop sign up to eharmony and enjoy a more serious dating environment.
Which Online Dating Sites are Similar to eharmony?
Our eharmony review is mostly positive, but that doesn’t mean the standard plan or paid subscription is right for everybody. The price tag can be too much for singles on a tight budget, and the serious dating message just doesn’t appeal to casual daters.
Luckily, the online dating scene has plenty of good alternatives that can work just as well as eharmony — for a fraction of the cost.
Match.com has come a long way since it launched in April 1995. This well-reputed dating site has honed its match algorithm to identify long-term compatibility and facilitate countless first dates, serious relationships, and successful marriages. Match's esteemed dating experts go to great lengths to guide singles to a seriously good match.
- Match is the world's longest running dating site
- The Discover section has search filters by interests, looks, lifestyle, and more
- Match is available in 50 countries and 15 languages
- Browse Match profiles 100% free »
First up, we highly recommend Match.com as an alternative to eharmony because it’s also relationship-focused and has a compatibility matching system that has worked for over 25 years. Match boasts inspiring more relationships and marriages than any other dating service.
It’s free to join the Match network and use search filters to find local singles who meet your standards. The dating site and app allow free communication with users in your Top Picks list, and free members can also respond to messages from premium users.
A free Match membership can be enough to help you meet quality matches and go on first dates, but some singles find it’s worth subscribing to get more chatting and dating opportunities. The premium plan is affordably priced (starting around $19 a month) and offers access to an event calendar and video chat feature.
EliteSingles.com maintains a sophisticated network of young professionals seeking a relationship. Over 80% of its members hold a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree, and over 90% are over the age of 30. Elite Singles uses an intelligent matchmaking system to introduce daters to someone on their level.
- Over 2 million monthly users
- Premium members receive 20 wildcard matches a day
- Search features include age, height, education, ethnicity, and lifestyle habits
- Browse Elite Singles profiles 100% free »
Elite Singles is a premium dating site that offers free browsing and matching, but requires singles to get a subscription plan to view photos and chat. As a result, the majority of its users are single professionals over 30. Approximately 82% of Elite Singles users have a college degree.
Much like eharmony, Elite Singles uses a compatibility test to help singles find their perfect match. But the Elite Singles test is significantly shorter and uses five key factors to identify true compatibility.
Our Elite Singles review goes into more detail about the dating platform’s pricing, membership, features, and success rate. It may cost money to access the private communication feature, but this online dating service delivers results for its premium members. The Elite Singles team boasts helping 2,500 singles find love every month.
In 2004, OkCupid's founders decided to create a fool-proof formula for love, and they launched a free dating site to delve into what personal attributes made relationships work. OkCupid members can send unlimited messages for free. It's easy to discover mutual interests and compatibility on the platform's information-rich dating profiles.
- Free, unlimited communication for everyone
- Singles can swipe or search for a compatible date
- Over 91 million connections every year
- Browse OkCupid profiles 100% free »
Don’t want to pay to chat with your matches? Then OkCupid is the best dating site and app for you. All communication is totally free in this network, and all members can send a greeting and engage in a conversation without having to pay for a premium membership plan.
OkCupid has a similar personality-driven matching system as eharmony in that it relies on a combination of profile information and answers to a personality test to create compatibility ratings. But OkCupid is more direct and transparent in its user comparison section.
OkCupid users can actually go through another member’s answers to match questions that range from silly to serious. The dating site asks “Do you like the taste of beer?” and “Have you ever cheated on a partner?” to get a baseline for user compatibility.
Every year, OkCupid makes over 90 million matches and leads to around 2.5 million first dates.
It’s Free to Join eharmony, but Certain Types of Messaging Will Cost You
The commercials are right about eharmony being a trustworthy place to meet a potential partner. This online dating site has facilitated over 2 million relationships and creates a new match every 14 minutes. However, eharmony doesn’t offer all its time-tested resources for free.
New members can set up a dating profile, take the Compatibility Quiz, and explore their matches without paying anything, but they will not have full access to their messages unless they subscribe to a monthly plan. As we’ve outlined in this article, eharmony can cost as little as $0 or as much as $65.90/mo depending on the type of online dating experience you’re looking for.
You can try your luck with a free membership and hope your online crush is an eharmony premium member who contacts you first, or you can go the more proactive route and invest in your love life with a paid eharmony account. It’s up to you!
