What the Signup Process & Profile Creation is Like

The signup process is extremely easy, you simply either connect with your Facebook account or fill out a short form where you select your gender, what you are seeking, the age range you are interested in, your country of residence, and your postal code. To jump into the matching process, you will need to provide your location, age, and relationship status and then start searching but if you want to completely fill out your profile, you can answer categories like Least Favorite Things, Favorite Things, and What I’m Looking For.

You are able to upload multiple photos to your profile, record a voice message for your matches, add some basic information about your race, religion, education, alcohol preference, and horoscope sign as well as things like occupation, eye color, and hair color. Honestly, there is nothing complicated about signing up or creating your profile as you have complete customization on what type of information you want to include.

Top Features:

• Matches are based on compatible information found in your profiles. You can skip, hit no, or hit yes on potential matches and the system will let you know if there is a mutual attraction present.
• The filter system has basic and advanced features like occupation, lifestyle, background, online status, photos, age, and location.
• Mate1 has a mobile app that has integrated instant messaging
• You can add your favorite matches to your hotlist. You can see who has hotlisted you, viewed your profile, and who is online.
• You can flirt with matches by clicking the flirt button and sending a pre-written message.
• There is a live chat option.
• You can check out someone’s recent activity.
• You can add a voice recording to your profile.
• Large dating pool of 46,000,000+ people.

Pros and Cons:

Pros

1. Female members receive full free membership.
2. Men can receive a trial membership.
3. Utilizes cutting-edge mobile capabilities if mobile applications are more of your style.
4. There is a vast and diverse user-base.
5. You are able to block members by country, making it easier to stop spam messages before they occur.
6. You can search by last online and by profile completeness.
7. Uses scientific matching tools.
8. Multiple communication methods to site owners: snail mail, FAQ, contact form in Canada, UK, and the United States.

Cons

1. The website’s text font can be a bit hard to read at times due to its small size.
2. The cost for membership is pricey compared to competitor sites.
3. You cannot read messages until you have committed to a paid membership. This is frustrating for males you are a guest member and haven’t signed up for membership yet.
4. Comes with a stripped-down user-interface which can get boring to look at and use.
5. No upgrades or premium options available for female account holders.
6. A lack of compatibility tests when you sign up. This makes it more suitable for those who are casually looking to date.
7. No verification on profiles although Mate1 does monitor the site.

Privacy Policy:

Like most privacy policies online, the information that you choose to part with during the sign-up process is never revealed to any other users using Mate1 unless you choose to reveal it to them. This information includes your e-mail address, your name, and any other contact information provided. If you want to be anonymous on Mate1, it is recommended that you do not include any personal information about yourself like e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, your real name, or messenger aliases when corresponding with other users.

What you do need to be careful of is members who are trying to scam you on the site. Since Mate1 does offer free membership, there tend to be a lot of profiles that are fake or that are of people who are on the site for nefarious reasons. You do have the ability to block other users, restrict access, and narrow down your potential matches.

Ease of Use

While the user-interface isn’t flashy, modern, or showy in its layout, it is clean and organized. It has all of the necessities that you need for finding matches without any bloated or unnecessary menus or buttons. Your dashboard lists off the site navigation, including your updates menu, home, and your account while the sidebar area has the activities you can participate in. Activities include things like searching, getting access to your messages, and finding your hotlist.

Costs:

• 3-Day Trial: $1.95
• 1 Month Membership: $44.95
• 3 Months Membership: $74.97
• 6 Months Membership: $119.94

Editor’s Verdict

If you are looking for a straightforward and casual online dating site that has a large variety of members and a ton of unique features, Mate1 is definitely an excellent option to try out. While the website isn’t flashy and doesn’t have an in-depth user-interface, it does have a genuine quality about it and is incredibly easy to use. Just make sure to practice safe online dating principles as this will protect you from scams, fake profiles, and cat-fishers.