Elite Singles vs eHarmony: A Detailed Comparison for Choosing the Right Dating Site
by John Santana
How are you supposed to compare those two? Elite Singles vs. eHarmony is like pitting pizza against ice cream.
They’re both delicious, have a wide variety of options, and if you’re willing to splurge a bit, you can customize them to your heart’s content. But just like pizza and ice cream, they have quantifiable differences that we can use to measure each other.
We’re trying to say that both Elite Singles and eHarmony are marketed toward single adults looking for a long-term relationship. They differentiate in how they achieve this through online dating.
They have different pricing structures for premium membership and monthly costs. Their account setup and personality tests differ in content and the way their matching algorithm interprets the data.
You might just be here wondering what dating platforms you should spend significant time searching for your perfect match. In that case, the eHarmony vs. Elite Singles argument is really a matter of personal preference. So let’s look at the data we have on offer and then compare the two dating apps on a few different criteria. Let’s see what dating app is the service for you.
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eHarmony
Since it’s been around for over 20 years, eHarmony’s age stands as a testament to its popularity and success rate. Since its release in the early 2000s, eHarmony has been responsible for nearly 4% of marriages in the United States of America.
The scientific approach to finding matches is what drives the notion that someone finds love on eHarmony every 14 minutes. The extensive questionnaire that’s been perfected over the last two decades is what drives this fine-tuned machine.
Their ‘Compatibility Matching System’ makes dating that much easier. You never have to worry about whether or not you have something in common with your date since each match is scored based on how much you relate to other singles. That’s a lot of functionality for a practically free service.
The site’s userbase is spread long the 25-54 age range, most of whom use eHarmony to look for a serious relationship. Some users are even interested in looking for someone to marry. eHarmony isn’t just a dating site. It helps make relationships. Don’t get tied down by the dating scene. Find something that works for you.
eHarmony is the world’s best dating platform in terms of the number of success stories that come from using it. They’ve reported over 2 million matches made in the last two decades of service.
Elite singles
Elite Singles is a dating site for educated professionals. If your job is what’s most important to you, but you’re looking for someone you can share that drive with, then Elite Singles has a host of educated singles out there that can fit the bill.
For a site that only came into being in 2009, Elite singles already have over 900,000 users active every week. That’s an impressive number for such a young site. Many older dating services struggle to match that with their dedicated userbase, but Elite Singles is already playing at the big boys’ table after a mere decade. And most of its processes are still available for free.
Elite Singles is a dating site for professionals. And no, we don’t mean professional sleaze bags who live on online dating sites. By professional, we mean singles with at least a college degree. Over 85% of its members have a degree-level education or above and are aged around 30 years or older.
Whether you’re after casual or serious daters, Elite Singles ensure you quality matches that live up to a certain standard.
Elite Singles uses a five-factor model based on your personality traits to find people that match your interests. These factors are gathered around a relationship questionnaire and your individual search preferences.
The number of matches you’ll get is relatively low on Elite Singles. This dating site is focused on quality matches rather than giving you a large number of interested singles. So don’t be surprised if you only get around three to five matches a week.
Your success rate definitely depends on how important your work and professional life are to you when you sign up for Elite Singles. You’ll go far on this site if you appeal to its quality educated professionals.
Elite Singles vs. eHarmony in Detail
The personality test
Elite Singles
Like most dating sites, you start by filling out a personality test when you set up your profile on Elite Singles.
Elite Singles has an extensive personality test that looks at your professional background and what you want from a relationship.
The questionnaire has 200 points you need to answer, which is longer than eHarmony’s 150-point quiz.
These questions will help determine your preferences for a match. This ranges from whether or not you’re interested in same-sex matches to more open-ended questions like what you expect other people think of you.
There are technically two questionnaires you need to answer for Elite Singles. The first is only for the matching algorithm to get to know you. However, the second set of personality test results will be on display on your profile.
eHarmony
eHarmony’s mission statement is focused on finding your life partner, so its questions are based on your psychological needs and desires. Questions revolve around how long you should wait before moving in with someone and things like that.
eHarmony also stands out by checking whether or not members are not married.
eHarmony’s sign-up questionnaire is very in-depth and requires a lot of thought to answer. As such, they give you the option to come back to it later if you need more time to think.
The questions can get very personal. eHarmony asks whether you go through mood swings and what kinds of people you think to influence your life the most. It even goes as deep as to ask you whether you think life seems meaningless.
You don’t have to have an existential meltdown or a philosophical debate with the computer, just answer what comes to mind first or take your time to sort it out. If you’re looking for committed relationships, you should expect some of your deepest feelings to be exposed at some point.
The Method
Elite Singles
The online dating site’s five-factor personality model, which measures your compatibility score, relies on the extensive personality test and your dating preference profile. The site will even give you a free personality report afterward.
Two of these factors are your educational or career status and your age.
The main draw of Elite Singles is its catering to a professional audience. Seeing as how most of its clientele is over the age of 30, you’ll mostly find hardworking singles who’ve been through the academic ringer by now.
eHarmony
While the online dating site’s matching system uses a lot of data to score your matches, most of Harmony’s userbase is matched based on how frequently they use the app during the week. This also means the more people use the app that week, the more matches you’ll get.
The wider age range also means you’ll likely find a match that is around the same age as you. eHarmony even has an offer that if you don’t find someone in three months, you get three months of use for free.
Typical user
Elite Singles
The Elite Singles online dating site is predominantly filled with people over the age of 30 with a college degree or higher level of education. Elite Singles is open to casual dating and committed relationships, but it definitely favors people interested in marriage.
When it comes to Elite Singles vs. eHarmony, you will get fewer matches every week out of the two dating sites.
eHarmony
eHarmony has a wider user base when it comes to age on the dating site. There is a very young-at-heart feel in the user community, so why not give someone outside your age range a try?
eHarmony has had trouble in the past for not including a same-sex relationship option. Still, the company has made significant steps in rectifying that in over two decades of improvement. So, don’t worry about any discrimination.
The dating site is still oriented toward those who are looking for serious relationships and even open to the possibility of marriage.
Membership price per month
Elite Singles
Elite Singles has a premium membership and a basic membership option.
The basic option is free, but it is limited to the personality test and some basic site features. The basic option also limits your access to communication features.
The premium membership is only available if you subscribe for a minimum of three months. But you still have the option to pay on a specific time basis. See our full review of Elite Singles here.
Your options are:
- Month to month. Which is around $55 at the time of writing.
- Every three months. Priced at about $38 a month.
- Every six months. Coming down to approximately $28 a month.
eHarmony
eHarmony has a few different account options, but the premium membership cannot last less than six months.
The free version is available but limited in how often you can use it and its communication features.
The dating site does offer discounts to registered premium members on occasion. One available offer is their Valentine’s day offer, which lowers the membership cost by 20%.
- A six-month account costs about $50 per month.
- A year-long account will net you around $35 a month.
- A two-year membership will cost you around $27 monthly.
Security
Elite Singles
The Elite Singles website states that each profile is manually checked to determine whether or not they are authentic.
The Elite Singles team also makes use of SSL Encryption and fraud detection. You can be sure that your online interactions and your data will also be kept safe.
But always be vigilant! No matter how many safety procedures are in place, you can never guarantee that you’re safe online. Fake profiles can slip through the cracks at any time, so keep an eye out and report any profile if they seem odd.
eHarmony
eHarmony is dedicated to protecting its users from being harassed online. The amount of verification software and processes you go through is to assure users that whomever they’re talking to is who they really say they are.
eHarmony will also close accounts if they believe the account has done anything inappropriate on their site. You also can report people yourself if it comes down to it.
You might have been asked to prove that everything you entered into your profile during your setup process is legitimate. That’s because eHarmony closes accounts if the team finds out that you’re already married if you have lied about yourself or otherwise violated eHarmony’s code of conduct.
Special Features
Elite Singles
The “Have you met?” feature gives you a list of people you might have missed while scrolling through your match recommendations.
If you have a premium membership, the “Wildcard” feature gives you an extra 20 matches each day.
Elite Singles gives you the option to add other users to a “Favorites list” so that you can go back to their profiles later. This allows you to focus on scrolling through matches before you get to chatting.
You can filter the users available to you by searching for specific details, like their “desire to have children,” with the “Advanced search” feature.
If you feel like you’re not getting the hang of online dating, then you should go over the “Elite Singles Magazine” for tips.
eHarmony
eHarmony gives you the option to add people to your “Favorites list.” Here you can find users that are interested in you while you are browsing.
Here’s an easy way to let someone know you like them on the site: just use the “Send a smile” feature. Click the smiley face icon under their profile photo, and they’ll notice you.
You can use the “What if” feature if you have a premium membership. This will give you an extra 30 matches that fall outside your preference filters. This is for if you’re curious to meet people outside your comfort zone.
The “Send questions” feature will send an automated question to someone you just met on the app to help break the ice—no shame in not knowing what to say to a stranger.
With the recent pandemic, it’s been hard to get out and interact face to face. Make use of the “Video Chat” feature to get in touch with your matches. This is also a nice feature if you are matched with someone who lives a bit outside your reach, be that on the far side of town or in a different state entirely!
Final thoughts
Both Elite Singles and eHarmony are excellent dating sites. In the end, you’ll need to decide which has the nicest features and which price plan fits best for you.
Why not sign up for both? They are both free to register and use. The only loss on your side would be the time you put in to complete the quizzes. So give both a try and see how all these features fit into your dating life.