Key Takeaways
- Despite being under new ownership, EliteSingles' mission to provide matches for goal-oriented professionals remains intact.
- The new EliteSingles offers more tech and safety-forward features, including voice introductions and daily match suggestions.
- EliteSingles now charges significantly less for its month-based premium tiers, and now offers a one month trial option.
- Once owned by Spark Networks, EliteSingles is now operated by SuccessfulMatch, a company that specializes in dating platform operations and domain name management.
- EliteSingles is starting out on a more modern foot while its former owner, Spark Networks, continues to operate popular sites like ChristianMingle.
You can’t keep EliteSingles down for long!
Nearly three months after Spark Networks announced the closure of EliteSingles, the dating site is back online— and its new owner is giving the brand a fresh coat of paint.
A new company, SuccessfulMatch, has taken over the EliteSingles domain. At first glance, this new EliteSingles site looks a lot like the old EliteSingles, with some pages resembling the old site down to the sign-up form.
But if you try to sign into the new site with your old EliteSingles login info, you might find yourself facing an error message, one DatingNews employee told me.
Has Elite Singles’ Mission Changed?
Not really. I was struck by the similar product messaging, which mirrors the old EliteSingles’ mission to bring mature, ambitious, goal-oriented people together.
“85% of EliteSingles members are highly educated,” according to the site; it’s unclear if this stat is carried over from the former EliteSingles, or if it was generated for the new site.
In some ways, the new EliteSingles feels like a love child of the former EliteSingles and MillionaireMatch: a glossy site decorated with stock photos and promises of “curated connections … designed for the driven.”
But spend a little more time exploring, and the differences become clearer.
Does The New EliteSingles Also Have New Features?
Yep! The new EliteSingles boasts innovative safety and matching features. Daily match selections, voice introductions, and profile verification are far more visible features than they used to be on EliteSingles. It seems to me like EliteSingles is appeasing the new “I want a date, and I want it now” generation of daters.
Sound familiar? It should. We’ve seen countless dating platforms undergo similar transformations in recent years in an effort to appeal to more safety-oriented daters who crave IRL connections.
EliteSingles is focused on evolving for the future, something the old EliteSingles, it’s fair to say, neglected to do.
After all, in my previous coverage of EliteSingles’ shut-down, I theorized that Spark Networks’ inability to evolve for the Now is what made it a has-been.
Still, some of the more beloved aspects of the old EliteSingles remain, including a comprehensive personality questionnaire and a general emphasis on long-term relationships. The Basic vs. Premium membership model remains, too.
Does EliteSingles Still Cost Money?
Silly reader! Of course EliteSingles’ premium tiers still cost money. But exactly how much users will have to cough up is actually drastically different than it used to be.
Unlike the old EliteSingles, the new version offers a standalone one-month trial for $64.99. Its longer-term plans are also cheaper than they were under Spark Networks.
The three-month plan, for example, previously cost approximately $57.95 per month; it now costs $34.99 per month, according to Forbes. I’m no expert, but I think it’s safe to say that offering affordable prices is SuccessfulMatch’s way of saying, “This is not your rich aunt’s EliteSingles.”
So, Who is SuccessfulMatch, Anyway?
Speaking of SuccessfulMatch, the company describes itself as handling “online dating platform operations, consulting, IT solutions, and domain name management. ” As surprising as this take-over might be, it seems to be a natural fit.
The site’s new About page makes it clear just how the old site and the new site differ, and what new users should expect.
“The current EliteSingles is built on a fresh foundation with an independent member database,” it says. It’s “focused on serving ambitious singles with a simple, comfortable, and trusted online dating experience.”
In other words, the EliteSingles brand may be back, but its previous user base may not come with it. And why would they, if they want a more traditional, Match.com-like matchmaking process?
This brings a bigger question to mind: Can a familiar dating brand successfully start over from scratch?
Well, Can It?
For now, this fresh coat of paint is SuccessfulMatch’s effort to repackage the brand as a more modern, more accessible, and more tech-forward version of what worked in the past. You can’t deny that educated and ambitious singles will always want to connect on some kind of highly selective platform.
As EliteSingles rebuilds under new ownership, the future of its former owner, Spark Networks, is more vague. I can’t find any clear updates on it, although its fan-favorite site ChristianMingle is still chugging along.
Whether Spark Networks will recover after its 2026 insolvency remains to be seen. I’m even more curious to see whether the new EliteSingles will manage to blow the old EliteSingles out the water.
