OkCupid Review (OkCupid.com)

Whether you’re looking to meet new friends, find a hot hookup, or start connecting with someone who could turn out to be the love of your life, OkCupid’s got you covered. On OkCupid they say “Dating Deserves Better” and they’ve got the features to make this happen. The service uses your responses – and a math-based matching system – to pair you with compatible dates, promising a high accuracy rate as long as you know what you want and are honest about it. And best of all: it’s completely free to use (they do have paid upgrades for certain features).

OkCupid was founded by Chris Coyne, Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder, four men with impressive resumes. In addition to OkCupid, Coyne oversaw the development of TheSpark.com and SparkNotes.com, two hugely popular websites that have received accolades from publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsweek. Yagan was also involved with TheSpark.com, as well as MetaMachine, Inc., Delias, Corp., and Barnes & Noble, Inc. Krohn and Rudder were responsible for two of the most important parts of OkCupid: the OK Web Server and the OkCupid blog.

So what does all that star power give you?

OkCupid.com creates a unique dating environment by putting heavy emphases on member participation. Matches are identified by your profile and your responses to a series of fun questions. Each match question is made up of five parts: the question, the answer you would give, the same question from your matches view, the anwser(s) you’re willing to accept from your matches, and a indication if the question is important to you. The more questions you answer, the smarter OkCupid gets at recommending matches for you.

When viewing another user’s profile, tap or click on the Match Percentage to compare your match question answers to their answers. If your answers match, you agree. If they didn’t give an answer you were looking for, their answer is considered a disagreement (the same if you gave an answer they weren’t looking for). If there’s no hope whatsoever, the tab will say “Y’all Have Issues” instead.

OkCupid also encourages user interaction via quirky essays, like “This is the saddest song ever written” or more dating related essays like “On a typical Friday night I am”. These essays (which usually consist of a paragraph or 2) helps other members to understand you better. Essays don’t affect your match percentages, but they can be searched and are a good way for a potential match to find you and then become interested in contacting you thanks to what you wrote.

Getting started with OkCupid is free and easy, though paying for the service has its perks. Unpaid users see advertisements on the site, while paid users – known as the “A-List” – enjoy an ad-free experience. A-List users also can see everyone who has liked you, see who has read your sent messages within conversations, advanced search features, custom ordered search results, and special identification in search results.

OkCupid takes privacy very seriously, offering a range of privacy controls to members. Users can choose to make their profile viewable only to other OkCupid members who are signed in, and to block or hide users they don’t want to see or contact.

The measure of any good business is its ability to keep up with new trends and changes in the industry, and OkCupid does exactly that. Full-featured mobile apps are available for both iPhone and Android, and OkCupid has a venture called “Events.” OkCupid Events bring online dating into the real world, creating “an instant party where you’re guaranteed to have high matches in the room.”

OkCupid is a force to be reckoned with in the online dating world. It is one of the top free dating sites and apps online, and was voted by Dating Sites Reviews’ users as their favorite free dating site a number of times in past years. OkCupid also has earned a spot in Time magazine's list of the top 10 dating sites. With its user-friendly design and unique and interesting way to meet matches, OkCupid is an excellent choice for singles interested in online dating.

Positives of OkCupid

• It is free to use and users can send and receive messages. Paid options are available that include additional dating features
• Wide range of sexual orientation and gender options (including Non-binary)
• Fairly detailed profiles with a match questions that do not take too long to fill out. Has the simplicity of Tinder and the matching prowess of eHarmony
• Easy to use with a clean interface

Negatives of OkCupid

• Advertising on the website and in the app
• No group chatting, only instant messaging
• No video uploading or audio/video chatting
• Profile verification is limited to Facebook only. Newer methods using texts and photos are not used
• If you are looking for the unique experience of OkCupid circa 2015 or older, it is mostly gone. All the questions, tests, and quizzes that OkCupid and other members made back then have been replaced by just 15 match questions

Editors Bottom Line

What should you take away from this review of OkCupid? Our expert explains:

"OkCupid" is all about who you are and not what you look like. There motto - Dating Deserves Better - means that they are matching on what matters to you and not the superficial traits other dating services may use. Following this mantra has given OkCupid many fans.

Awards

A list of up to the last 5 awards for the Current year and/or Past that OkCupid has been the recipient of, in the Dating Sites Reviews Choice awards.

OkCupid Profiles & Sign Up Process

OkCupid is accessible from their website at OkCupid.com and via apps found on Google Play and the Apple App store. When you join you are required to either use your Facebook account or email address, even on your phone (no phone number is asked for). During signup OkCupid will require you to fill out a large part of the profile. They will ask for the following information:

• Sign-up
  • About You
    • Asks for your first name and location (Country and Zip code)
    • Which gender best describes you? - Choose from Woman, Man, or "More Options". More options contains 22 gender types which you can pick up to 5 including Bigender, Transgender, Pangender, Other, etc...
    • Link your profile to partner if you are in a polyamorous relationship
  • Ideal Person (Who are you looking for?)
    • What connections are you looking for? - Choose from Hookups, New Friends, Short-term dating, and Long-term dating
    • Asks if you are open to non-monogamy (An intimate relationship with more than 2 people)
    • Who are you looking to meet? - Chose from Men, Women, or "More options". More options includes All 22 gender options. If a straight relationship is indicated OkCupid will check if they should show you only straight men or women
    • How old should your matches be? - Choose an age range
  • About You (Tell us about yourself)
    • Add some Photos
    • A photo of you is required to send and receive messages on OkCupid and to appear in DoubleTake or Discovery/Match Search
    • Must be larger than 400px x 400px
    • Download photos from your device or pull from Facebook and/or Instagram
    • OkCupid recommends only to include photos of yourself and not with others (as they could take the spotlight off of you). Photos with you and your pet are also fine. The more photos you have means you’ll get more profile activity
  • Introduce yourself (describe yourself in a paragraph or 2)
• Match Questions
  • Answer 15 multiple choice questions to help OkCupid calculate your best matches
  • The results of these are shown as a Match Percentage on other profiles
  • You can skip questions if you wish
  • Each question has 2 separate parts:
    • Part 1
      • These questions relate to matching and range from asking about politics to if you are messy. They deal a bit with personality but mostly with your own preferences
      • These are multiple choice questions with a single answer
    • Part 2
      • This is the same question found in Part 1 but from your ideal persons point of view and how you would want them to answer. Same answers as well but you can select multiple answers
      • Can indicate if it is important to you. If you select every answer, the question will be marked as irrelevant
  • Example Match Questions:
    • About how long do you want your next relationship to last?
    • Which word describes you better? (Carefree, Intense)
    • Which would you rather be? (Normal, Weird)
    • Are you currently employed?
    • Is jealousy healthy in a relationship?
  • You can re-answer any match question, or change its importance level at a later date
  • Answers are public by default, but can be made private

When you visit your profile page under Settings you can answer a number of other profile details and write about other essay topics not asked during the OkCupid signup process. You can also update/change any of the match questions you have already answered. You will find your Profile broken down into sections including Essays, Match Questions, Profile Details, Topics, and Looking For. Here is the general information you can add and change in the details section:

• Basics
  • Includes: Orientation, Gender, Relationship Status, Relationship Type, Height, Body Type
• Background
  • Includes: Ethnicity, Language, Education, Religion
• Details
  • Includes: Smokes, Drinks, Drugs, Children Have, Children Want, Pets, Astrological Sign, Diet

OkCupid essays and topics are an important part of getting to know other members. OkCupid provides 50 profile prompts for essays and topics for you to choose from. Here are a few examples:

• Essays
  • OkCupid will prompt you to fill in about 8 different essay sections
  • Each essay has about 5 or 6 prompts you can choose from to write about or skip and just write your own
  • If you don't fill out a section then it will not appear in your profile. You can always fill it out later
  • About Me
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "My self-summary" and "Favorite thing about the place I live"
    • This is the required question when you first sign up for OkCupid
  • Aspirations
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "Current goal" and "What I'm doing with my life"
  • Talent
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "I'm really good at" and "I could probably beat you at"
  • Needs
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "My partner should be" and "Six things I could never do without"
  • Hobbies
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "I spend a lot of time thinking about" and "The last show I binged"
  • Moments
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "On a typical Friday night I am" and "Best day of my life so far"
  • Secrets
    • An example prompt for this essay section include "This is the saddest song ever written"
  • Dating
    • Example prompts for this essay section includes "You should message me if" and "For our first date, let's"
• Topics
  • Choose many more things to write about based on your passions and hobbies. Topics are used to help OkCupid match members with similar interests
  • Topics includes many different types of activities and interests - Travel, Outdoors, Music, Style, Pets, Sports, Work, etc...
  • For each topic you are required to include a little bit about why it is important to you. Before you write about the topic you can choose 1 of 5 or 6 different essay prompts OkCupid will show you (can skip if you wish). For Example for the Coffee topic you will be shown a number of prompts to choose from like "Without coffee I would probably never" and "My coffee-making setup". These prompts are designed to help members start the writing process
  • You can also include a photo with your topic

OkCupid Costs

OkCupid offers a free membership that includes communication along with 3 paid subscription options called A-List Basic, A-List Premium, and Incognito Mode. Additional feature(s) can also be purchased by members.

• Prices last confirmed May 15, 2019. Please check OkCupid for most recent pricing. All prices in USD unless specified otherwise. Prices may differ based on location, time of purchase, or device used
• Free Membership
  • Includes:
    • Creating your profile
    • Viewing other members profiles
    • See all of your potential matches
    • Send and receive Likes (only a limited number per day). Pass on matches
    • View your list of Mutual Likes (you liked them and they liked you)
    • Search for matches (limited search filters)
    • Use DoubleTake to Like or Pass on OkCupids best matches for you
    • Send and receive messages
  • Costs:
    • None
• A-List Basic
  • Includes:
    • Everything from the free membership
    • Profile will be marked as an A-List user in search results and on the profile details view (displaying your A-List status can be disabled)
    • See who likes you - Get the full list of people who like you. This will also be marked on profiles, in DoubleTake, visitors, and Quickmatch.
    • Advanced search filters - Search by attractiveness, body type, and other filters. Search for matches by how they’ve publicly answered their match questions
    • Send unlimited likes
    • Message read receipts
    • No ads
  • Costs (in USD):
    • Monthly for $19.95
    • 3 month package for $44.85 ($14.95 per month - Save 25%)
    • 6 month package for $59.70 ($9.95 per month - Save 50%)
• A-List Premium
  • Includes:
    • Everything from the A-List Basic membership
    • Daily Auto Boost - Be seen by more people with an automatic boost every day during peak hours
    • Increased attractiveness - See and be seen by even more attractive matches
    • See public question answers - See everyone’s public answers to questions before you answer
    • Message priority - Your conversations with mutual matches will always stick at the top of their conversations page
  • Costs (in USD):
    • Monthly for $34.90
    • 3 month package for $89.70 ($29.90 per month - Save 14%)
    • 6 month package for $149.40 ($24.90 per month - Save 29%)
• Incognito Mode
  • Incognito is a separate subscription from A-List, and does not include A-List features except for what is listed below
  • Includes:
    • Everything from the free membership
    • Your profile is invisible to everyone on OkCupid unless you like or message them
    • Can manually hide your profile from people you already messaged (use the Hide or Block option)
    • If any visitor tries to visit your OkCupid profile who you haven’t liked or messaged they will get a page explaining that your profile does not exist
    • Turn incognito on or off at any time - you're in control!
    • No Ads
  • Costs (in USD):
    • Monthly for $34.90
    • 3 month package for $89.70 ($29.90 per month - Save 14%)
    • 6 month package for $149.40 ($24.90 per month - Save 29%)
• Via website pay by credit card, debit card, and PayPal
• Your subscription will automatically renew for the same price and package length until you cancel via your account settings

OkCupid offers 1 additional paid feature which can be purchased by free and paid subscriber members.

• Boost
  • A Boost will show your profile in more results than it would otherwise be shown in for 15 minutes. This includes all areas of OkCupid, including Browse Matches and DoubleTake
  • Promoted profiles are indistinguishable from other profiles
  • This will give you about 30 times more exposure when compared to a non-promoted profile during the same amount of time
  • See our Would You Pay To Promote Yourself On OkCupid? for more information
  • Costs (in USD):
    • 1 Boost for $1.99
    • 5 Boost Pack for $9.45 ($1.89 each)
    • 10 Boost Pack for $16.90 ($1.69 each)

OkCupid Viewing & Communication Features

OkCupid has changed in the last few years. Gone are the complex tests and questions (there was over 4,000) users can add to their profile. Instead OkCupid has taken a more stream line approach to online dating. There may be less options but it has made navigating the app and website easier. The features are self-explanatory and make finding members you like an enjoyable process.

Most of these dating features and tools can be found when viewing the profiles either when you search and browse for matches in Discovery, or when you use Double Take to see what matches OkCupid suggests you may like (and should like you).

• Profiles
  • View profile photos along with any information they filled out for their profile (except for any match questions they have marked as private)
  • If the member has connected their Instagram account, their Instagram feed will appear on their OkCupid profile
  • Any essays and topics that the member is interested in and has added to their profile will also show up here and be highlighted if you share the same interest
  • Match Percentage Results
    • View Match Percentage results right on other members profiles between you and that member including the number of match questions they agreed and disagreed with you
    • Match questions let you define yourself and what's important to you. Your match percentage with someone shows at a glance how compatible OkCupid thinks you are
    • Tap or click on the match percentage to go to a new page that compares your answers to each individual match question. You'll see questions you've both marked as important right at the top, followed by questions you've marked important, followed by questions they've marked important. Below that, you'll see all the questions you've both answered publicly, but neither marked important.

  

  • Like or Pass
    • While viewing any profile you can Like or Pass on them as a match
    • If you Like a profile by clicking on the star icon (or dragging the profile to the right) you can at the same time also send an introduction message. Only 1 message can be sent to a profile that has yet to like you back
    • When someone sends you an introduction (a first message), it will appear on their profile and alongside their info on their Double Take card. If you Like (star) the profile, then the introduction will move to your conversations/messages page
    • Once you like someone, OkCupid won't show them to you again on OkCupid until they like you back
    • There is a limit to the number of profiles you can like in a single day
    • If you Pass on a profile by clicking on the X icon (or dragging the profile to the left) their profile will be removed from Search, Discovery or DoubleTake results (for a while). Any conversations will also be removed that you may have had
  • Report or block members from viewing your profile and messaging you by taping/clicking the three dots icon near their name while viewing their profile. Members can be unblocked from within your Account Settings
  • If you have not liked or pass on a member you can Bookmark them to find their profile later by clicking on the 3 dot icon
• Likes (Who You Like)
  • Found under the Star icon on the top (website) or bottom (app) menu bar
  • Lists all the members who you like but you have yet to like back
  • Once you like them the profile will move to the Messages tab
  • Subscription required

• Messages
  • Found under the speech bubble icon on the top (website) or bottom (app) menu bar. May also be called "Conversations"
  • Shows all of the active conversations you're having: all messages from people you have Liked. Messages from people you have not yet liked will be waiting for you to Like them on their profile or on their DoubleTake profile card
  • If the conversation has been inactive for 90 days, it will move to the Older Conversations section (below the active ones)
  • If a conversation you want to view is missing, then that user may have blocked you (or you blocked them), been banned, or have deleted their account
  • Members can be blocked from viewing and communicating with you from the conversation window by taping on the 3 dot icon
• Notifications
  • Includes email and mobile push notifications
  • You can choose from the Settings in the app or website if you'd like to receive notifications for each category (new messages, likes, etc...)
  • You can edit your notifications from your profile's Settings page
• Bookmarks
  • On the website found under your profile menu. For the app, Bookmarks is found in the Discovery tab (under see all)
  • Allows you to bookmark a profile that you like but have yet to message or like
  • Once you have liked or messaged the member, the bookmark to their profile will be removed

Searching and Matching

OkCupid offers both the ability to search for members based on filters and to be matched automatically by OkCupid based on match preferences and more detailed questions designed to help determine your ideal match.

One recommendation we can make to increase your profile visibility on OkCupid when others are searching or reviewing their matches is, stay active. Use the service at least a couple of times a week. Like members, send messages, add photos, update your profile, and answer Match Questions, all will increase your visibility to others.

Searching

Searching on OkCupid can be done under "Browse Matches" on the desktop and by using "Match Search" under Discovery on the app (tap the magnifying glass icon). I guess OkCupid see's every member as a potential match so hence the name of their search tool. Searching is the best way to find matches if you know what you exactly want. When you visit "Browse Matches" OkCupid will show potential matches based on your default search filters. This includes your gender, the gender you are looking for, age range, distance from your location, and last online. The search results by default are sorted by "Special Blend". This means your results are arranged by a number of attributes including match percentage and last login time. Sorting can be changed anytime and include other options like distance and interests.

With OkCupid you can go way beyond the default search options. You can add extra filters to your current view and search by most parts of the profile including Looks, Background, Availability, Vices, Questions, and a lot more. You should note though that a number of search criteria like Attractiveness and Body Type are only available to use by A-List subscribers.

Search results are displayed in a grid like format 4 across on the website. As you scroll down more profile summaries will load in. The app is similar but allows you to scroll the profiles horizontally instead of vertically. The profile summaries include the main profile photo, the users first name, age, their city, and a match percentage. If you see a green dot on a profile (or a green circle around an image) that indicates the person is currently online and using OkCupid. A blue dot is a notification that something new has happened (profile change, new message, etc...) since you last checked the profile. A blue line under the main photo (or a blue circle around a photo) indicates a new message. Finally, a gold circle around a photo shows that someone has liked you.

While searching you can click/tap on any profile summary to view the full profile. From here you can view other photos of the member, read their about me description and view other profile information about them. You also can view your match percent with the member including the number of questions you agreed on and disagreed on. At this point if you choose you can show interest and Like the member by taping on the star icon (or on the app dragging the profile to the right) or Pass on them by clicking on the X icon (or dragging the profile to the left). If you like the member OkCupid will make sure and show them your profile as often as possible until they either like or pass on you. If a mutual like happens they will appear in the Messages section of OkCupid. If you pass on someone they will not appear in your Search, Discovery or DoubleTake results for a long while. Liking someone leads to a better chance of getting a conversation started but mutual Likes are not required to send a message. You can send a intro message to anyone on OkCupid who has not blocked you and you have liked (they don't have to like you).

Matching

On the surface OkCupid's "DoubleTake" works similar to other dating apps matching system. You are shown one profile at a time which you can Like or Pass on. What makes OkCupid "DoubleTake" different is the quality of the matches thanks in large part to the Match Percentage algorithm. OkCupid profiles with their essay and topics feature are also more detailed than your average dating app making it easier to determine if you have more in common with the person. The profiles highlight the individuality of the member helping you better connect with them. Photos are shown along with personality information and your match score.

Double Take uses the "Looking For" section of your profile and your listed location, and your overall match percentage with the member to generate matches. It does not use any other profile attributes (that is what Match Search is for). Remember you must match their "Looking For" preferences as well to be considered a match. Match questions are an important part of the algorithm. The more questions you answer (and not skip) the better the results will be. Indicating which questions are important to you also helps the match system find you better dates. If you don't like the matches OkCupid shows you, you can re-answer any match question, or change its importance level from your profile.

Other OkCupid Information

OkCupid was founded in 2004 and is based in New York city. In 2011 Match Group purchased OkCupid for $50 million USD.

For more detailed information on this dating service you can check out our OkCupid Facts and Statistics page. Information can also be found in our topic for OkCupid news articles.

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