OKCupid vs eharmony :: This Should Be an Easy Decision…
In the battle of OKCupid vs eharmony, the decision seems pretty clear, right? OKCupid is (essentially) a free site, so our work here is done. That’s all you need to know, right?
For some, that might be the case. But if you’ve read SingleRoots for long, you’ll know we always encourage you to look beyond the “FREE” label—especially because SingleRoots readers are often looking to our reviews for the Best Christian Dating Sites. And while OKCupid is far from the lowest of the online dating options, there’s a reason it isn’t even in our Top 5.
If that Top 5 were simply about price, then that would certainly make these decisions easier. But there are far more factors to take into account when you’re looking for the best online dating site for finding like-minded Christians.
So let’s compare OKCupid vs eharmony, shall we?
OKCupid vs eharmony :: Who’s Got More Members?
Let’s be honest: The number of matches on an online dating site is important. It’s important if you live in the city, in the country, or somewhere in between because you want to know how easy it’s going to be to run out of matches. When you’re a Christian who is serious about his/her faith, you’re already trimming down the list of available matches to the few who are likewise serious about theirs. So with a smaller pool of potential candidates, it’s best to start with a lot of matches. It’s a simple numbers game.
If you’re trying to decide between OKCupid vs eharmony, rest assured that both sites have a large database to choose from. Both eharmony and OKCupid boast millions of members. How many million exactly? Well, it’s difficult to get hard and fast numbers from these online dating sites, but know that millions means “many.”
OKCupid has been around since 2004 and was sold to the parent company of Match.com in 2011. eharmony launched in 2000. So needless to say, both sites have longevity and numbers on their side.
OKCupid vs eharmony :: Which Site is Easier to Use?
If they both have lots of users, then maybe looking at the design aesthetic and the ease of use would be more a more helpful evaluation tool, right?
Well…notsomuch.
Both sites are modern, clean, and their user interfaces make it easy for those who are, shall we say, less technologically savvy.
eharmony is a pretty straightforward site. It takes some time to set up an account, so you’ll want to give yourself a good 30 minutes to take their personality profile, as well as fill in your personal information on your profile.
Once finished, they’ll send you daily matches based on criteria that you’ve set up. eharmony does not allow users to create their own searches and see all of the members in their database. They give you an allotment per day (usually 7) until they run out or run low. Sometimes, when they’re running low, they’ll skip to every other day or once a week. Even then, if you adjust your settings (depending on your convictions), you can often receive more matches.
eharmony also has a “What If?” feature that’s been added more recently. Each day they’ll show you 30 matches’ summary profiles. These are matches that don’t quite meet your criteria. You’ll have to make a decision whether or not you want to start communicating with that match before you can move onto the next one’s profile. It helps you see more matches, and it’s eharmony’s answer to the complaints of users not being allowed to see more than their daily allotment of matches.
Conversely, OKCupid has more options, more bells and whistles than eharmony. And when compared to other similar paying sites, OKCupid is well designed and easy to use for those who are techno-challenged. There’s a whimsical air to OKCupid that makes it a little more fun than the average online dating site.
OKCupid’s profile is more basic than eharmony, but more in depth than other sites. They give you 8 short answer questions you can complete about yourself. These questions range from a summary of yourself to things you’re good at to your favorites (movies, books, food, etc.) to what you can be found doing on a Friday night.
Beyond that, OKCupid also has you answer random questions that their algorithm uses to help determine who your best matches are. Many Christians will find some of the questions offensive, as there are a good number that are sexual in nature, but you can skip the ones you don’t want to answer. (Get ready to skip quite a few.)
When it comes to searches, OKCupid allows you to do custom searches using their entire database. OKCupid also has a Quick Match feature, similar to the swiping left or right that you would do on Tinder or Hinge. If you express interest in a match and they express interest in you, you’ll both receive notifications and move to chatting. If you express interest in a match but they’re not interested in you, they’ll never know you were interested in them.
OKCupid vs eharmony :: Which Site Is Cheaper?
Well, we’ve already established up front that OKCupid is cheaper. That isn’t too hard to determine because when it comes to price, eharmony is the most expensive site out there. It can run you nearly $60 for a one-month subscription. But if you sign on for multiple months—like 3, 6, or a year—you can save significantly.
And, Pro Tip: if you scroll down and check out our coupons, you can save even more. You can easily get discount codes that drive the price of an eharmony subscription down to less than $20/month when you purchase more.
Essentially, you can use OKCupid for free. We say, “essentially” because you can send messages for free and see matches’ profiles for free, but if you want to do things like see who has liked your profile or who has visited it or boost your profile to the top of the pile, you’ll have to pay a premium. If you want to do an advanced search (like for body type or personality preferences, etc.), you’ll also have to pay.
To purchase the premium features for one month, it runs around $19.99/month. Like eharmony and other online dating sites, though, the more months you purchase, the larger your discount will be. It will run you around $15/month for 3 months or $10/month for 6 months.
OKCupid vs eharmony :: Which Site Is Best for Christians?
When selecting an online dating site, there are a lot of minor details like aesthetics and price that people get hung up on, but for us, the most important evaluator that supersedes all others is: What is the experience like for Christians looking for like-minded Christians? And this is where eharmony excels.
In our 2016 SingleRoots Online Dating Survey, the number of Christians we heard from who are using OKCupid is significantly less. Of the 203 survey participants, only 28% said they or their friends had used OKCupid at some point, compared to 74% who said they or their friends had used eharmony. Of all of the traditional online dating sites, 44% of surveyed Christians preferred eharmony, while only 6% preferred OKCupid.
eharmony keeps things simple, and while you don’t have as much control on their site as you would on other sites, our survey shows that more Christians are finding like-minded matches on eharmony than on any other site. So that’s kind of a big deal.
Don’t let the whimsy of OKCupid fool you. The company prides itself in its progressive agenda. Much of the communication on the site is sexual in nature. The infographic they released in 2015 is not only a good gauge for where the majority of users are spiritually, but it also is a good representation of the kind of information and innuendo the company often produces.
Other online dating sites might have similar statistics, but they don’t parade them like OKCupid does. Freedom of sexual expression—in every way—is celebrated in the OKCupid culture. For Christians who are already struggling with sexual purity or addictions, OKCupid makes sex difficult to ignore or overlook in the process to find a match. (For more detail about our experience using OKCupid, check out our OKCupid review.)
Are there Christians on OKCupid? Sure. Is OKCupid cheaper than eharmony? Yes. Does OKCupid give you more control than eharmony? Probably. But is OKCupid the best online dating option for Christians seeking other like-minded Christians? No. Our recommendation for the best online dating site for Christians is eharmony.
While certainly imperfect, our anecdotal research (personally and from SingleRoots community members) shows there’s something helpful about the eharmony algorithm. Not every match you receive will be someone who is pursuing Christ wholeheartedly and seeks marriage instead of a hook-up. No site that we know of can boast that kind of excellence.
What we are seeing over and over and over (and over and over) are more Christians who are finding like-minded matches and eventually getting married on eharmony than on any other site. Yes, there are Christians getting married on sites like Christian Mingle and Match.com (and others), but more consistently we hear from people who have been connected through eharmony and it’s why we continue to recommend it over the others.
Our Recommendation in the OKCupid vs eharmony Battle: eharmony
Current Online Dating Deals:
Last Updated: 5/23/2023
eharmony (USA Offers):
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Zoosk:
ChristianMingle.com:
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Best Christian Dating Sites Rankings
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| $12.49 to $29.99 | High | Simple | Fair | Browse Zoosk for Free! | |
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| $8.99 to $34.97 | Medium | Option-Overload | Excellent | EXCLUSIVE 17-Day Free Trial! Use this link with this code at checkout: SINGLEROOTS17 | |
