Elite Singles is a dating site for adults with extensive educations and/or high-flying jobs to find matches who are equally successful. Most users hold at least a bachelor’s degree, and many have impressive job titles.
But really the ‘Elite’ part of the marketing shouldn’t distract you too much. In my opinion, the bigger feature of Elite Singles is its extensive personality test and sign-up questions. The test is apparently designed by psychologists, focusing on 29 personality traits.
As well as being a useful tool for matchmaking, this is a pretty interesting test if you answer honestly. You can download your personality analysis as a PDF — who knows what else it could be useful for! Choosing a new job, meeting someone IRL, pinpointing bad habits… it told me, for example, that I am ‘rather sensitive’. Obviously, I took great offense.
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Elite Singles is actually really easy to use, and I think it bridges the gap between more intense, serious dating sites like Plenty of Fish or even Match.com and Apps like Tinder or Hinge. It’s pretty fun to use, but you have the option of engaging in in-depth personality analysis if you want to do so.
Does Elite Singles Work?
Elite Singles claims to match 2,000 successful new couples per month across 20 countries. That’s pretty good odds! Plus, there’s demonstrably a large and active user base on the site. It’s a dating site for busy, successful young to middle-aged people, so it’s not necessarily only pushing serious relationships.
Matches are selected based on a set of very customizable preferences, so you can play with these and see what difference it makes to who you’re matched with if you’re not immediately drawn to anyone suggested.
Basically, Elite Singles will work if you put the effort in to make it work. It has some excellent features and it’s fun and user-friendly. With hundreds of thousands of UK users and even bigger numbers in the USA, Elite Singles has big numbers on its side! If you want to test Elite Singles for yourself rather than reading the review, you can sign up for free here.
Elite Singles Review
Elite Singles is a big site chockablock with a lot of features. It took me quite some time to go through it all thoroughly, including the personality test and premium features. You’ll find my review of everything below.
Elite Singles User Overview
Most Elite Singles users are between 33 and 50 years old. So we’re talking serious dating age, perhaps just aging out of swiping through endless apps or just a little too mature to have been caught up in that craze at all. Of the over 13 million users worldwide, Elite Singles is very proud that 85% hold undergraduate degrees.
So, unusually, we can pinpoint the education status of the user base! Elite Singles also takes an interest in their users’ financial status, with many of their users claiming to be in high-income brackets.
Amazingly, Elite Singles has pretty much a 50/50 male-to-female user base. That means that you have excellent odds of finding a match if you’re looking for someone of the opposite sex. In fact, 50/50 is really unusual so it’s a big plus point for Elite Singles. Most users of the site are looking for serious relationships, though there are some on the lookout for more casual situations, friendship, or fun.
Elite Singles Signup
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Signing up to Elite Singles can feel a little arduous. I advise choosing a quiet evening and sitting down with a glass of wine and Netflix on in the background before you embark on signing up and creating your profile!
Initial sign-up is by email address, at which point you confirm your gender and the gender of the matches you’re looking for. The basic information section of your profile also filled out right away, is pretty standard. You provide your location, height, age, income, habits, etc. Interestingly, though, you also dictate on a sliding scale how important each of these things is to you in a partner.
The approximately 20 minutes of questions are a little more off the wall. For example: Do you sleep with the window open? I mean, this is something couples will often argue about eventually so I suppose it’s good to get it over with! Taking the quiz and signing up is also free.
Dude Hack Rating: 7.5/10
Making Your Elite Singles Profile
Elite Singles has impressively in-depth profiles, but pretty much everything is optional. As with the rest of the site, a profile on Elite Singles is pretty much as basic or in-depth as you want it to be.
Dude Hack Rating: 8/10
Pictures
Pictures, for example, don’t have to be included in your profile. If they are included there’s no rule that says they have to show your face. Obviously, profiles with pictures get more interest, and pictures that show the user’s face are more still. But your pictures, or lack thereof, are totally up to you on Elite Singles.
Personality Quiz
This in-depth personality quiz was designed by psychologists and focuses on 29 personality traits in 5 distinct areas: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
It takes 20-30 minutes, but you can pause your progress at any time.
Personal Description
Your personal description in all the basics, and a little more. This includes physical characteristics, habits if you want kids, and of course the all-important level of education. This section is really easy to fill out, the work of just a couple of minutes really.
Questions and Answers
The fun part of your profile! Questions and Answers on Elite Singles allow you to express yourself. You can choose questions, or you can get random questions thrown at you by the site.
The ‘questions’ (which are in fact sometimes statements to finish) range from the classic, ‘What are you passionate about?’ and ‘What my partner should know about me?’ to the probing ‘What four terms would your friends use to describe you?’ and the silly, ‘This makes me laugh:’ for example. You can answer as many or as few of these questions as you like.
Interests
Elite Singles profiles have an extensive ‘interests’ section. You’ll be prompted to give information about your interests in three categories: general interests, sports, and music.
But you don’t need to write out a long ode to tennis or anything, you can simply choose keywords from a list that will help to match you with others who like similar things.
Other People’s Elite Singles Profiles
As a basic member of Elite Singles, you can only see a blurred-out version of other users’ profile pictures. You can, however, see all the information they have provided in their profile. That includes all the questions they have answered and their interests, as well as their basic personal info. You can see their personality test scores, but not how they match up with yours.
Elite Singles lets you search for matches by distance, whether they’re over a certain height, amongst other factors. You can get pretty specific on Elite Singles, which is useful and a tick for this site over other similar ones. Education is obviously a key feature, and educational credentials are shown on everyone’s profile.
Dude Hack Rating: 9/10
Matches and Compatibility
Elite Singles offers daily matches, though you can also use the separate and less scientific ‘Have you met’ feature that shows you abridged profiles for a quick yes or no judgment.
Your matches will be sorted by a ‘compatibility score’, the details of which remain a mystery to users. Presumably, it’s the secret of the psychologists who wrote the personality quiz, and perhaps the coders who built the site.
Anyway, whatever its basis, the matching algorithm doesn’t set you up with users who have personality scores who look just like yours. Instead, they choose people who will complement one another’s personalities, perhaps push one another beyond their usual comfort zones, or level out some of their more difficult traits.
For example, I was matched with people who had tested as ‘emotionally stable’, that’s interesting…
Dude Hack Rating: 8.5/10
Elite Singles Communication
Unfortunately, only premium members can send messages. Premium members can send messages to anyone, and basic users can receive them, but basic members can’t reply. Pretty frustrating stuff, and kind of tricksy on the part of Elite Singles. I mean if you get a message you want to reply to, don’t you!
Basic users can like pictures and send flirty winks, as well as 5 pre-determined ice-breaker questions but that’s about it. So this is another site on which the basic level of membership is really nothing more than a taster for the real thing.
If you’re a paying member at any level you can send unlimited messages. You’ll also receive read receipts so you know when your messages have been seen. Premium users can also communicate by commenting on one another’s pictures and replying to the comments of others.
Dude Hack Rating: 6.5/10
Elite Singles App
Happily for its users, especially the younger crowd, Elite Singles has a decent app. It’s free to download on the App Store or Google Play and works fine on both Apple and Android devices. It’s not the world’s best-looking app, and can be a tiny bit clunky, but overall it does the job and provides all the same features as the desktop site while not taking up too much space on your device.
Obviously, if you don’t have a premium Elite Singles account, though, there won’t be a huge amount for you to do on the app as you can’t exchange messages with anyone!
Dude Hack Rating: 5/10
Elite Singles Free
The free version of Elite singles isn’t really very useful if you’re looking for love. It lets you get a feel for the site and decide whether or not it’s for you, and that’s a good thing. Or it would be if it wasn’t such a time-consuming site to join!
I think it’s important that everyone goes into using a site like this knowing that they will eventually have to cough up for premium membership. That being said, Elite Singles is a bit of fun with its personality quizzes and questions about whether or not you sleep with the window open!
By all means, have a go at Elite Singles on a free membership if you’re shopping around for a site that you’ll eventually spend money on. You’re able to have a taster of most of its features without paying, which is a positive and not something that all sites offer, and you can even see who you’ll be matched with even if you can’t message them.
Or actually ‘see’ them, now I come to think of it, the pictures are pixelated! But you will be able to read their profiles and get a feel for the quality of matches on the site generally.
Dude Hack Rating: 6/10
Elite Singles Premium
Premium membership to Elite Singles comes in three, six, and twelve-month packages. The six and twelve-month packages include more features than the three-month package, as well as working out at a lower cost per month.
All premium memberships include additional ‘intelligent matchmaking’ features. This essentially means you can see more about why your matches have been chosen for you and why the two of you should be compatible than is visible as a non-paying member.
With the two more expensive plans you also get to see all member pictures (versus just profile pictures on the cheapest plan), you get to see who visited your profile and you get read receipts for all messages you’ve sent.
Elite Singles premium gives you basically everything you’d expect from a decent dating site, including good matching technology. This isn’t all based on the psychological test either — answers to profile questions that match your own answers are highlighted. You also get your daily matches whether you’re a premium or basic member, but obviously, they can only be contacted if you’re premium.
Additionally, you can keep a favorites list that you can go back to at any point. This is useful if you’re using the app on the run, for example, and can’t send an in-depth message until later. Or perhaps you want to take some more time to compare one profile to another and find your favorite.
Dude Hack Rating: 9/10
Elite Singles Cost
‘First Date’, the one-month option, includes unlimited communication and full intelligent matchmaking. ‘Greatest Love Story is for six months and includes intelligent matchmaking, unlimited communication, read receipts, viewing all member pictures, and seeing who visits your profile. The final membership option, ‘Happy Forever’, includes all that for six months.
All three of the options are not actually debited monthly, but taken all at once. The subscription will auto-renew after the stated number of months is over, and the prices I stated are all introductory so be aware of what you’re liable to pay when they’re done!
You can cancel your membership at any time to stop the autorenewal, as long as it’s at least 7 days before the next payment is to come out. To do this you have to contact Elite Singles customer care.
| Pricing | Total Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 3 Months | $173.85 | $57.95 |
| 6 Months | $269.70 | $44.95 |
| 12 Months | $383.40 | $31.95 |
Elite Singles Value For Money
As the stated prices are introductory, you get the best value for money with longer subscriptions. As the savings are deeper with longer memberships, when they renew the costs relative to your first payment will be even higher, but you will have saved the most money possible over the months you did get at the introductory rate.
If you’re looking for a quality dating site with the science behind its matching technology, then Elite Singles is a relatively good value for what it offers. If you really are specifically looking for a partner who is matched to you educationally, and in terms of work and life goals, then even more so. The psychological profile that’s given to you by Elite Singles is a nice perk, and as a premium member, you can download it.
As with all dating sites, you need to assess Elite Singles’ value to you personally. After you’ve given it a try you can make this decision for yourself. If the payments won’t make a huge dent in your budget and you’re seeing matches that seem very suitable for you then Elite Singles premium may well be the best investment you’ve ever made. I mean, can you put a price on true love?
Dude Hack Rating: 7/10
Is Elite Singles Legit?
The short answer to this is, yes, Elite Singles is definitely legit. That being said, you should be careful about reading all the small print when you sign up for premium and be aware of when you need to call or email to cancel your debit agreement with the company.
In other words, Elite Singles is legit but they also want your money! Which, I believe, is true of most companies and therefore nothing to stress about. There are plenty of users on Elite Singles, but obviously not as many as on Tinder or Match, so finding someone you really connect with may take more than a few hours or days. For that reason, you may need some patience if you want to see your investment in Elite Singles pay off!
Real-Life Success And Reviews
Real-life reviews of Elite Singles confirm what its user stats imply. It’s the perfect site for people in their 30s to 50s who are very goal-oriented and done with the hit-and-miss nature of trying to find relationships through apps. While the price tag of the site may put some off, it seems like a lot of users appreciate that as a feature rather than a bug.
If you’re looking for people serious about dating, then barriers to entry work in your favor. Plus, as distasteful as it may be to some, many Elite Singles users are looking for financial as well as educational equals to date and for them a price that weeds out people who can’t pay subscriptions is a big plus.
]This is what Alan, a 39-year-old CFO had to say about the site:
I joined EliteSingles after deciding it was time to get serious and find someone that I would want to commit to. I had been very career-focused since my early 30’s and I didn’t really have time for a relationship, so I was just casually dating here and there. When I turned 38 I decided to check out various online dating sites, but on most, I found I wasn’t really connecting with the women. I really appreciate a sharp mind, so when I saw that EliteSingles had a high proportion of highly educated singles, I decided to give it a go. I matched with a number of women in the first few weeks and after chatting with a few, I realized one was very similar to me and we organized to meet up. On our first date, we chatted for 4 hours about anything and everything and really ‘clicked’. We’ve been dating for 18 months now and on our overseas holiday next month, I plan to propose.
Another positive review, this time by a female user, Anna, reads:
The questionnaire was straightforward and led to a higher percentage of matches who shared my interests. The matches could be filtered based on whether there was a photo or not, and I liked that the premium membership allowed me to see which members had also viewed my profile. The matches exceeded the location preferences that I set, but the quality of the matches seemed relatively higher than on other sites. I met someone I’m interested in during my first membership period.
Some users who have reviewed Elite Singles gripe about there not being a huge number of daily matches to choose from, but I would argue that this is intentional. Elite Singles is trying to provide a boutique experience and match you very specifically. Because they’re going on personality and not just basic likes and dislikes, you may find that your matches surprise you. If that’s the case, I’d urge you to trust the psychology and at least have a chat with your daily matches to see what you might have in common or how you might complement one another despite the surface-level differences you’re finding difficult!
Dude Hack Rating: 7/10
Customer Care
Elite Singles is a Berlin-based company, but they have an international phone number that you can call to reach customer care as well as a customer care email address. These are as follows:
+1 (646) 760-2453
Final Thoughts
For me personally, Elite Singles is a little expensive. But then, I might not be what they think of as ‘Elite’! If you can afford it, then this site fills a slim gap in the market and maybe just what you’re looking for.
The in-depth quiz and personality matching are actually pretty fun, and it also lends a scientific air to the process of finding matches. In fact, Elite Singles is aiming to fill a gap left by traditional matchmakers who work for high-powered, and highly educated, people who simply don’t have time to meet many people themselves. While it might not quite have the pizazz and personal touches to totally fill this niche, it does allow users to feel part of an elite club and that’s really half the battle.
Because of the psychological matching technology of Elite Singles, your matches may not be what you expect or who you’d usually date. That’s because it’s all about finding someone who will compliment your personality. It’s a bonus if they also have similar interests to you, but personality and to an extent work and life goals are number one on Elite Singles.
As with many dating sites, Elite Singles would be much improved by a more transparent pricing structure free of monthly prices that are actually paid all at once and introductory prices that then disappear. Not only would it make signing up easier, but it would make the site seem more legitimate. Because while Elite Singles is most certainly a legitimate dating site, its labyrinthine pricing structure might have you believing otherwise.
Elite Singles is a perfectly usable site, and maybe it’s designed with members in their 40s and 50s in mind. But as the oldest millennials are now 40, I’d suggest a little update to at least the site visuals. It has the distinct tang of the early 2000s about it — not that it’s clunky or even ugly exactly, just oddly corporate and in no way modern. Perhaps that’s an intentional decision to show that it’s for serious, educated singles. Either way, it’s a touch outdated!
Despite its flaws, though, Elite Singles is a quality site. It does something not many other dating sites do with its in-depth psychological analysis, and even if you have tried a few sites before and not had any success it might be worth trying because it really is a different approach. Of course, there is a slightly elitist (of course… ‘Elite’…) edge to Elite Singles, but not every single user has a high-flying job or a particularly impressive education. That’s its selling point, but it’s not exclusively for the ‘elite’ so you shouldn’t feel unwelcome if you don’t fit the stereotype of its ideal user.
Give Elite Singles a go if you’re looking for love and willing to pay for a decent dating site. It’s carving its own path compared to other dating sites, but that may well be a good thing! And it does have many features you’ll recognize, so don’t worry about working out how to use it.
