OkCupid Review: Real or Scam?

OkCupid is a very successful online dating platform and for good reasons. First appearing back in 2004, it started as a resource for those who did not have the time to go out and try to find people. The creators of the platform had an idea that was revolutionary back then. They decided to create an online platform that would help people find other like-minded individuals to meet, date, and hopefully fall in love. By that point, the internet was reaching many homes, and people started to use it more and more.

Regardless, there is always a group of people brave enough to try crazy ideas, and when people started using the service, they immediately saw the value. Word of mouth started running, and in a little over three years, this site was already in the Top Ten of best dating resources in Time’s Magazine. The growth OkCupid faced was incredible to the point of being almost overwhelming, but the team never let their sight be blurred. As the site grew, the team kept investing in the platform, introducing new functions, and improving the experience. The combination of that business approach, their good sight, and timing assured them a high place and lots of fame in the online dating sphere, which it still has to this day.

Website Design, Usability, and How It Affects the Experience of Users

This platform has gone through many iterations, changes, improvements, and a constant evolution that keeps them fresh. The app is always up to the times and keeps ensuring all users the best new tools and functions while keeping the experience safe and smooth.

The app can boast of over 50 million users and a more impressive one million daily logins as of the latest data. Since dating is pretty much a numbers game, here, your odds of finding the partner of your dreams are outstanding.

Moreover, you have such a big pool of opportunities on OkCupid that the time it would take you to find someone is drastically shortened. It is easy to find reviews all over the interwebs where people write about how they could find amazing partners and are still together after several years. Scientists, athletes, office workers, and everything in between can be found on the website, so regardless of what you are into, chances are, someone is waiting for you on this platform.

As soon as you enter their website, you feel a very modern and beautiful vibe. Logically, the pages’ design and overall look have changed a lot over the years, and it keeps adapting to the times and trends. The main reason pages seem lovely and fitting is that the Cupid offices’ designers are continually looking for new trends, functionality, and improvements. This website is the exact opposite where it keeps improving and getting nicer always.

The pages’ overall layout is clean and bright, making it easily readable, especially if you use a monitor that does not get very bright. In the same manner, texts and pictures have good contrast so you can easily navigate the interface without putting a strain on your eyes. One point worth mentioning is that their menus remind you of many older versions of Facebook, which can be positive due to intuitiveness and practicality. On the other hand, it can seem a little dated, which crashes with the rest of the design. Nonetheless, most users appreciate those intuitive blue buttons and menus.

Worth Mentioning Special Features This Platform Offers

One of the most exciting features OkCupid offers is the personality tests and, more importantly, how those tests affect the users’ experience. Long story short, those tests are a group of basic questions that try to discover what kind of user you are based on specific parameters. Once you answer a preset amount of questions, the system can tell some basic things about your personality and match you accordingly. The matches you get once you have completed at least a portion of the tests are much better and more fitting for you, which means you are more likely actually to develop relationships with those people.

The tests go even further than that. You can enter the tests at any time and answer new questions; it feels like entertaining trivia about yourself, and the more you answer, the better. When you finish a certain number of questions, you even get to unlock “Personal Traits” that are then displayed on your profile. Those traits help other users get to know you better, and they also make you more popular on the platform.

Another handy tool this site offers is ‘filters by status.’ Even though some many websites and platforms offer this option, here, it works each time flawlessly. If you have ever used similar platforms, from time to time, you run into a situation where you think you are messaging someone online, but then it turns out to be a delayed update, and that person left a while back. On OkCupid’s site, that is not an issue; you can clearly tell who is online at any point of the day, and more importantly, in real-time without delays.

One very underrated feature should be the “Likes” tab; reviewers usually do not pay much attention to it, which is strange because that is one of the most useful tools you can have. This tab gets rid of that problem. Whenever you want to check on someone you previously liked, just enter that section, and there you can find a list of all users you were once interested in, which is extremely helpful for online daters.

Talking about lists and organization, Stacks is yet another ingenious implementation from the Cupid folks. When you use such a vast platform with millions of users and tons of matches, you can get lost in a sea of profiles, but there is no reason to worry. “Stacks” is a place where all your matches are smartly categorized so you can easily filter the ones nearby, those that are currently using the site, or by many other filters offered in this section.

The Main Tools Offered for Communication With Other Users

Here you can send all kinds of emojis and even gifs. The messaging pages look fresh, and all the actions you can take are well labeled, so you do not accidentally click on something.

An important thing to mention is how this site improved its security regarding messaging, all while improving the site’s usability without extra cost for the end-user. In most websites, they charge money for unlocking their messaging capabilities and explain it as a measure of privacy and security. This makes sense, especially when you think about Cupid’s early days when anyone could message everyone, and it got spammy very quickly.

Cupid had the option to go for that same solution and increase their profits by a fair bit, but the team decided to do something more user friendly. They reprogrammed the messaging platform so people can only see your messages if they liked your profile. That way, users do not get tons of spam and only chat with their matches.

The Best Profile Enhancement Features Offered Here

You have a wide variety of options if you want to improve your OkCupid profile, and you most likely want to do that because the better your profile, the more matches you can potentially get. Profiles with a specific “look” to them are able to catch much more attention, and with that, more people will be interested in getting to know you better.

One of the easiest and most fun ways to improve your profile is by completing the personality tests this site offers. Every time you enter, you can find new exciting questions and feel like a superstar that is giving an interview to one of the best podcasts on the internet. Moreover, responding to many questions unlocks valuable personal traits that can be “hanged” in your profile’s virtual wall for everyone to check out. Those traits can undoubtedly attract lots of attention from your potential matches.

On the other hand, if you are willing to invest something to get more exposure, then “Boost” is what you want. Boost is a pre-paid tool that, when activated, launches you to the very top of the suggestions, so tons of people see you first. Of course, it is active for a short period of time; nonetheless, that is more than enough to get you dozens, or in some cases, hundreds of new matches.

What Exactly Are the Fee-Based Services Here?

Many people will be happy to find out that on OkCupid, you can meet a lot of people without having to spend all your hard-earned cash. The primordial tools that help you find partners and develop relationships are available free of charge here. You can explore profiles, enter and check out any user’s page, use their Roulette tools, swipe-style dating options, and even use the messaging tools. As mentioned before, messages can only be interchanged with your matches, but still, that is enough to meet people.

If you want a little more freedom like being able to message other people, different kinds of boosts, a better look of your pages, and ranking higher, you need an upgrade. Nonetheless, for those who just want to try the platform and even meet a couple of interesting individuals in the process, they can do that without having to take out their wallets.

A Short Introduction to Their Mobile Application

The mobile application that the team at OkCupid created is a very welcome update in their arsenal. When using this platform from your mobile device, you can notice that all the awesome features you enjoy from the desktop version represent. You do not lose any functionality when moving from the big screen on your laptop to the smaller one on your phone, and that is very nice to see.

Besides, their application has a beautifully optimized experience for devices with smaller screens. The fact that you are mainly interacting with them via your fingers is also taken into account. One of the main ways to interact with the matchmaking section is via the Roulette, where you just swipe right or left on the profiles. Those swiping options are the best way to interact with a touchscreen, and the interphase is very bright and readable, so you do not have to squint to be able to see the pictures in the profiles.

The application also alerts you of new messages, so you always know what is going on on your profile.

A Very Important Section: Security Features of the Platform

OkCupid offers quite a lot of features and layers of security so they can ensure a pleasant and harm-free experience for everyone using this platform. One of the most useful ones is their approach to messaging. Back in the early days of the platform, users were able to message anyone and everyone. As you can imagine, that leads to tons of spam, weird letters, people receiving unwanted and suggestive messages, among other issues.

The good news is that the platform quickly realized their mistake and fixed it. In later iterations of the platform and the modern one, only people who liked your profile can open your messages. This is a unique and very user-friendly solution. Many dating platforms just charge money to people for unlocking the message functionality in hopes that the money barrier will stop spammers. Even though that may work, this platform’s approach is much better and does not affect the user’s experience or financial situation in any way.

An Interesting Feature That Is Rarely Mentioned

The Blog is one of the most visited pages on OkCupid, but it is still not often mentioned when talking about this site. The Blog is a useful resource for anyone interested in dating, not only online but in general. On the Blog page, you can find a very wide specter of articles to help you with your journey through the dating world. There are hundreds of unique and useful advice on what to do in certain situations, like your first chat with someone. You may have doubts about where to take that special person on your first date or what to write on your profile. All those questions are answered in-depth in those posts, and it is all available for you.

What the Price Policy Looks Like for This Platform

The paid options OkCupid offers can be divided into two parts; they have subscriptions and “Boost” options. The subscriptions get you all the awesome premium tools this site offers, and you are charged monthly, every third month, or every sixth month for them. On the other hand, “Boost” is bought in the form of credits that you can then use to improve the visibility of your profile on the site, as mentioned before, by taking it into the top of the suggestions list.

Here are the current prices the app has:

Basic Subscription

• 1 month – 7.95USD
• 3 months – 19.05USD
• 6 months – 23.70USD

Premium subscription

• 1 month – 24.90USD
• 3 months – 68.70USD
• 6 months – 119.40USD

Credits:

• 1 – 1.99USD
• 5 – 9.45USD
• 10 – 16.90USD

In Closure, Final Thoughts About the Platform

People hunting for an ideal online platform for dating should, first of all, find out what they expect from the platform. This can be achieved by asking yourself what you want from experience.

Cupid is one of the few that is a perfect fit for most people, regardless of your end goals; this platform offers you a ton of flexibility. Moreover, just by looking at how many people are using this site, you can tell that there is someone there for you statistically. For those and many more reasons, OkCupid is a straightforward recommendation to make.