Today, as soon as you sign-up on an online dating app, you’re bombarded with profile suggestions, displaying ASLs’ of a jillion user. Opening lines have to now be more creative. That said, it has become incredibly easy and fast to find a date, hook-up, or seek a long-term relationship partner. The tricky part is that there are way too many options. And if you’re just starting out, finding the right dating app for you may seem a little overwhelming. But don’t fret! Our site has a bunch of reviews on several dating apps to tackle this very issue. In today’s article, we’ll tell you all about the much popular service, OkCupid.
What is OkCupid?
OkCupid, commonly referred to as OKC, is a highly rated dating app to have originated in the U.S. and featured in Time’s Magazine “Top 10 Dating Websites” of 2007. Later in 2011, the site was taken over by Match.com (IAC) The service hinges on the ideology that people are much more than just a digital image of themselves. The creators believe that potential matches are those who have stuff in common – things like passions, interests, outlook, and goals. When seeking a date, the results are way better when one’s personality is more seeable rather than their photo. And this is definitely a welcome change from the “hot or not” model of online dating. What I personally love about OkCupid is their dedication towards finding you the most suitable match. And for this, they do some serious math. All the algorithms, formulae, and heuristics help you to connect with your potential match better. For this, OKC uses a multiple-choice questionnaire with questions ranging from ordinary to absolutely bizarre. Currently, the app boasts of over 30 million active users with about 1 million daily users. So the number of profile suggestions would be endless. Plus, it has a pretty good rating on mobile app stores, with a 4.1 and a 4.4-star rating on the Play Store and App Store respectively.
Who Is It For?
OkCupid is for practically all types of individuals, so long as they’re an adult. You can use it to seek a meaningful relationship, have a casual affair, or even make friends with benefits. Also, unlike many other dating apps, OKC caters to not only heterosexuals but also to the LGBTQ people. And thanks to its grilling question-answer session covering fairly kinky topics, you’ll also find people with a sexual appetite of your liking.
Pricing & Features:
OkCupid is totally free to download and use. You can add up to 6 photos, answer match questions, browse countless profiles, like or dislike them, send and receive texts only from people you have “liked”, and chalk out plans to meet them. You can also block users in case they harass you or you simply don’t like them. But (there’s always a but), OkCupid does offer a few advanced features and to access those features, you’ll have to shell out some money. You can choose from either of the two plans:
A List Basic – Starts at $9.95/month with options of paying upfront for either 3 months ($7.95/mo) or 6 months ($4.95/mo). With this plan, users can check if their messages have been read, enjoy OKC without ad-interruption, see who has liked their profile without a mutual match, and set preferences to narrow search using advanced filters such as profile rating, and body type. A List Premium – Starts at $24.90/month with options of paying upfront for either 3 months ($22.90/mo) or 6 months ($.19.90/mo). With this plan, users can get noticed faster by attractive potential matches, see what other users have answered (to public questions) before they answer, get 1 free profile boost during peak hours, plus all the features that you get with the A List Basic Plan. Boost – You can also purchase boosts without subscribing to a premium membership. A single boost costs $2 whereas a five boost and ten boost will cost $1.90/boost and $1.70 boost respectively.
Note that opting for either a 3-month of 6-month payment plan would save you a signification sum of money as the ‘per month’ cost is discounted. If you wish to discontinue the paid membership, you’ll have to cancel auto-renewal from settings. When you compare the features to a service like Tinder or eHarmony, you’ll notice that the features aren’t as many. However, its important to bear in mind that the membership cost is also quite cheaper. So overall, you get enough for what you pay. Here are a few of OKC’s other key features –
Interface & Design –
OkCupid has one of the perkiest interfaces that I’ve ever come across on a dating app. The design is uncluttered, yet colorful. Moreover, the app is quite interactive in that whenever you fill out information about yourself or answer a question, OkCupid flashes a tongue-in-cheek response. For example, the Instagram integration section has a prompt saying “Why wait? Connect now, all the cool kids are doing it”. Another example – OKC’s prompt under the “I could beat you at” section reads “Go ahead and brag a little, champ”. This adds to the overall experience by making it 10x more fun to use. As far as ease-of-use is concerned, OkCupid is as simple as ABC, with minimum frills. Furthermore, the matching algorithm is very effective since users are asked all types of questions that bring out their traits, interests, and psyche. For the most part, this is amazing. But the one thing I wish OkC did was set a few rules with r espect to setting up a profile. For example, the app has a total of 8 open-ended questions with questions like, “What are you doing with your life”. Now, if they had a character limitation, it would be much easier to write an appropriate answer. As of now, there’s no way to find out whether your answer is too much, or too little. Plus, these are the kind of questions that take you away from date-thoughts to life-thoughts. There are no prompts or boxes to tick here. Some users have also complained of lack of support. If something goes wrong, the support team is not efficient enough to help you fix it. Having said that, OkCupid boasts of an excellent functionality with a snappy UI so you’ll seldom have issues. Once signed-in, OkCupid displays all profile suggestions at the top with an option to adjust your preferences. As you scroll down, you’ll see more potential matches that you can discover based on ‘shared interests’. It also displays a “top matches” section with people who share a higher match-percentage with you. You can also scroll all the way down to answer more questions or continue to browse. There’s a “Double Take”, “Discover”, “Likes”, “Messages”, and “Profile Edit” tabs at the bottom of the screen so it is safe to say that OKC is a lot more organized compared to other dating apps.
Availability & Device Support:
Currently, you can access OkCupid from various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the U.S, Central America, and South America. It is available in several languages too! OKC works across platforms including iOS, Android, and web interface.
Download links:
For iOS – For Android –
Sign-up Process:
OkCupid is extremely easy and free to sign-up on. Here’s what you need to do –
Download, install, and launch the OkCupid app on your device. Join OKC using either your Facebook account or email address. Enter your basic information such as name, birthdate, gender preference, etc. Add a photo (up to 6 photos) Answer 15 multiple-choice questions (you can answer more questions later to get more accurate match suggestions) Fill in the “About me” section (you can fill up other open-ended questions later)
And that’s it!
How Does It Work?
Once you have signed-up, you can immediately start discovering other users nearby you. You may use filters to narrow your search or head over to the “Discovery” section to browse profiles as per match-percentage or shared interests. Liking or disliking a profile is quite similar to Tinder. If you like someone, they will be notified instantly, unless you choose to go invisible from settings. You can send messages to users you like without having to wait. However, if they dislike your profile, your messages will remain unsent. Similarly, if you dislike somebody, OKC will make sure that you remained unbothered by their messages. OkCupid also has other useful sections like Snapshots where you can get a glimpse of their Instagram profile; and Q&A, where you can see what other users have answered to certain questions.
Pros:
Most features are free to use Large membership base In-depth matching algorithm for greater accuracy Maximum security, thanks to features like “incognito mode” Simple to use Great value for money Fun and interactive UI Excellent device support
Cons:
Higher number of spam-bots Time-consuming profile set-up Premium subscription for advanced features Doesn’t work well in suburban areas
Our Verdict:
OkCupid is quite a balanced dating app. It can be used by people who want to have fun as well as those who want something more serious. It caters to people with various sexual orientations, thereby inviting pretty much everyone to join. Plus, the questionnaire comes very handy to know someone and find an ideal match. That said, this algorithm may not always work. You may come across all sorts of weird people with weird quirks and preferences. Also, since it is largely free, there are plenty of low-quality users and spam-bots to beware of. But, based on feedback from my friends, I can tell you that the match success rate is quite high.
