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Best Dating Sites
Zoosk Review
Pros and Cons
Zoosk offers members access to an extremely large pool of over 40 million users, helping them find anything from real relationships to quick hookups. Unfortunately, taking full advantage of the site will require whipping out your credit card.
Multiple methods of finding matches
Easy-to-use interface
An old and well-established dating platform
Messaging requires a premium membership
Some profiles are fake
Not many safety features
About Zoosk
Zoosk has grown into one of the more popular dating services over the 13 years it’s been around. Although it doesn’t offer any special features or discounts for females (like you might find on other female dating sites ), Zoosk still maintains a nearly even split between the two genders, giving most members the chance to find a match.
Membership Base
Although Zoosk has members of all ages, the service appears to be most popular with singles between the ages of 25 and 34. Out of the 40+ million users on the platform, over 20 million of them come from the US, making Zoosk.com a great option for online dating if you live within the States.
The service doesn’t cater to any particular dating goal, so you can find anything from a hookup to a relationship on the site, but most users seem to be interested in what can be called casual dating. While there are multiple search filters you can use, unfortunately, “relationship goals” are not one of them.
Zoosk App
We mainly used the desktop version of Zoosk.com, but we figured it was important to also include a Zoosk dating app review as well. Overall, the app (which is available on both iOS and Android devices) works very well. Being optimized for mobile, you can easily navigate the service & use all of the major features just like you would on the desktop version.
However, the
The “Dating Insights” feature isn’t available on the mobile version, and, unfortunately, free members who use the app will occasionally see ads, which is somewhat annoying.
Costs and Prices
Like most services, Zoosk offers a small variety of membership plans for its members. Although the plans vary in duration, the advanced features you get access to remain the same across all plans, and (as usual) the monthly cost gets lower with extended plans.
| Plans | Per-Month | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $29.95 | $29.95 |
| Three-month | $19.98 | $59.95 |
| Six-month | $11.00 | $65.99 |
| Twelve-month | $8.33 | $99.99 |
Zoosk Special Features
Zoosk.com has a special matchmaking feature called “SmartPick,” which presents you with matches based on your activities and behavior on the site. The site’s UI keeps track of actions as you view, like, “X,” and message other users, then use this information to make educated guesses on members you may be interested in.
Safety
Member verification is an important part of Zoosk.com. All new accounts are required to verify their accounts, which helps prevent fake accounts from being created on the service. The initial verification is performed using a phone number, but you can verify your account further by linking it to your social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook.
Our Experience on Zoosk
Sign Up Process
Similar to many other popular dating services, signing up for Zoosk.com is a process that takes only minutes. Joining the website using your Gmail or Facebook account is the quickest way to create an account, but you can also join using an email address as well.
After providing some basic information, a verification link will be sent to the provided email address. Once opened, you’ll be able to access the website, but you’ll need to verify your phone number as well before you can use all of the site’s features.
Profile Creation
Each Zoosk member is given a lot of different options they can fill in on their user profile, although it appears the vast majority of them don’t complete all of the available forms. Besides providing your basic information and uploading photos (which meets the requirement for photo verification), users can also write a custom story, describe their perfect match, describe their ideal date, and add personal interests to their profiles.
Searching and Matchmaking
Matchmaking options are where this site really shines. You have basic matchmaking via “Carousel,” their matchmaking game that allows you to “X,” “✔,” or “⭐” someone. You can also find nearby matches using the search option, which shows other matches based on their location, or by looking in the “Online Now” section.
Lastly, Zoosk also offers their SmartPick feature, which provides you with potential matches based on your activity on the site (rather than personality).
Contacting Other Members
As mentioned above, messaging other members is a premium feature on this matchmaking platform, so you will need to purchase a membership if you plan on using this platform for making any meaningful connections. With a membership, you can send either messages or virtual gifts to other members, although the virtual gifts must be purchased separately.
While this isn’t the best messaging system out there, it should be more than adequate for most people to get the other person’s phone number and migrate over to a superior messaging system.
Experts Conclusion
Overall, we were satisfied throughout this Zoosk dating site review, but that doesn’t mean we were impressed. The site does offer some unique features not found on other websites (most notably the SmartPick feature), but without any more interactive features like video calling, Zoosk feels much like any other dating platform.
That said, this website does have over 40 million members spread throughout the world, so although it may not offer anything particularly new, it does provide you with a pretty good chance at easily finding a new partner online.
FAQ
Is Zoosk legit?
Yes, it is a legitimate service that has been around since 2009.
Can you chat for free on Zoosk?
No, you will need to purchase a premium membership before you can message other users. Free members can only send “Smiles” and “Hearts.”
Is Zoosk safe?
This service takes an active stance against fake accounts by requiring all new accounts to be verified before being allowed full access to the site. However, like any other dating site, you may run into inactive accounts.