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Features | |
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Features
CatholicMatch is aimed at singles that are serious about their Catholic beliefs and takes great care to guarantee that only those of faith are able to sign up and talk to other members. It is also very careful in making sure the content posted by its user-base is appropriate for and does not conflict with, or go against, the church’s teachings or the Catholic way.
Getting Started
Before signing up, you can see a preview of the kind of members available in your area. If you like what you see, you can go ahead and sign up. All you have to do is enter some personal details. It also requests information on your background – for example your upbringing, family, children, work and education – as well as extensive details regarding your Catholic faith, like how much you practice your faith, how often you attend mass and which of the church’s doctrine and teachings you accept. Though it is somewhat more demanding than the majority of dating sites, these specificities not only help make the site a safe place for genuine Catholics only, but will also help CatholicMatch to find you the best matches and save you from wasting time on people you are not fundamentally compatible with.
Matching System
Matchmaking is a strong point for CatholicMatch, who established a strong user base over the years. All the faith-related questions you’ve answered during the registration come in play later, when people are checking out your profile. Your similarities in belief and lifestyle can be a strong link between two people. As well as your profile picture. Interestingly, the system limits your options when watching other users’ images, until you upload your own. CatholicMatch notifies you every time someone visits your profile page, so you can pay a visit as well. Although the site presents you a list of possible partners, you can start a manual search too.
The service boasts three interesting features exclusive to CatholicMatch only. The first is the Match Portrait, which works similarly to a personality test. It evaluates your answers, and compares them to your partner’s. The second feature is called the Personal Interview. Here you can create multiple-answer questions that will be shown to the others. Their answers then help you decide whether you are a match or not. The third feature is another test, called the Temperament Test. It evaluates your natural tendencies and habits.
Communication
CatholicMatch allows Christian users to meet online and share their thoughts on multiple levels. The basic way of communicating with your partner is done through email messages, but you are allowed to start chatting as well, if you feel yourself ready. Besides these two options, you can also partake in some group conversations. CatholicMatch has an active blog section where people share their ideas and opinions on different topics. You also find some pages dedicated to helping newcomers. Even better, the site sports three different chat rooms, where up to 20 slots are open for people. Unfortunately, you need to be a premium member to enjoy these benefits.
Mobile
Currently CatholicMatch lacks proper smartphone support. They only enabled a mobile-compatible version of their website, while an actual app for Android and iOS systems is still pending. Luckily, the mobile friendly website is compensative enough. You basically get the same website, with the general look and design carried over, only with some tweaks here and there to make things easier with a touchscreen. Your profile holds all the information you set up from your desktop, and you can find all the major features as well. Even though accessing the site from a mobile’s browser comes with connectivity issues and lengthy loading times, this is your only option at the moment. Which is a shame, as a strong mobile app adds to the value of a dating site, because people can easily check on their mails while sitting on the bus or having a lunch break.
Pricing
CatholicMatch offers its services for an affordable price. Keep in mind that your account remains free as long as you wish, but your options are restricted this way. In case you don’t feel committed enough, you can start with one month, although it’s more expensive this way. One month of subscription costs you $29.95, but it can be renewed or upgraded. The 3-month plan comes for a friendlier price, as they bill you $19.95 per month (in one easy payment). The semi-annual plan is not only the most budget-friendly option, but it also gives you a unique protection. The CatholicMatch Guarantee ensures your best chance to find a partner. If you fail to get in a relationship during the initial 6 months, the system automatically renews you for another 6 months for free! This plan costs $12.49 each month.
Customer Service
Given the nature of the site and its user base, CatholicMatch.com has strict profile guidelines to which you must adhere to get accepted. There are also strict rules you have to accept and follow before using various features of the site, such as the chat rooms. The system eliminates any user who shows improper behavior or shows signs of a fake account. In case you face a problem, need an advice or want to report someone, you can do so by sending the customer service an email or by visiting the community forum. The site also maintains an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Bottom Line
CatholicMatch was a pleasant surprise for us. Besides having a solid matchmaking service that caters to people who value their faith in their relationship, the site has many minor extras that make your membership a group experience. You can send messages, chat, or join one of the three chat rooms and talk to others. CatholicMatch also allows you to express yourself in forums and blog sections, or partake in an interesting poll. Even though the site locked all communication functions behind a paywall, they make up for it with the three extra matchmaking features and the matchmaking guarantee. In case you long to be part of a Catholic community where you not only find love but friends as well, CatholicMatch is perfect for you.
Positives
- Matchmaking guarantee
- Discussion forums
- Blogs and polls
- Personal interview and temperament test
Negatives
- Lackluster design
- No smartphone app
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Matt says
The customer service on the site told me once that you have to be patient and just keep trying and playing the numbers. On over 3 years on the site I messaged over 150 women, running the numbers less than 10 percent responded. 3 lead to in person meetings (including one where I traveled across the country), each meeting the women made absolutely no effort and then dismissed me in less than an hour. If you read the articles on this site you will find the inspiration for this dismissive attitude. If you are looking for a good woman, look elsewhere.
Caroline Conklin says
They don’t use user names and in fact I don’t like because it invades privacy and defeats the point of introduction .And I don’t like having my name on their if I don’t want to it makes me feel uncomfortable . Privacy should be enforced and respecting customers privacy highly important . If customer asks to use a user name let them . It’s their choice . After all making them feel safe is # 1 and this site fails in that dept . I also think it’s all about them ( Catholic match) not the customers experience . This is one of least favorite sites at least the other site respect privacy ! This site is not in good with me 👎🏼
Stan Britt says
I never became a paying member. I sent at least 40 “unsubscribe” messages to cease the daily receipt of pictures of women to whom I can’t respond without being a member. They don’t even acknowledge the messages. Go to this site only if you need more unwanted mail.
Lyn says
I was at my wit’s end when I tried out this site after trying out several sites.
Giddy, giddy when I finally see the matches but when I found out I needed to be a paying member to even send a message, I was disheartened and my depression peaked.
Well, so much for finding a match.
Merry says
It would be nice if CatholicMatch could be sort of like J-Date–a good way to bring people of the same faith together who are actually serious about starting life-long relationships. Instead, the site is obsessed with fostering divisive attitudes among Catholics. It makes you fill out a religious litmus test in order to have a profile. I’m a very devout Catholic, but I firmly believe that forcing people answer “yes” or “no” to questions of papal infallibility or birth control or the immaculate conception is counterproductive for a dating site. First of all, these matters are often private–things to be discussed with a priest or other religious authority, not blabbed on a profile. Second of all, the answers that people have to these questions are rarely so black-and-white (nor should they be). Third, forcing people to divulge how they stand on such personal questions leads to serious problems with the way certain members are perceived. In the forums, you will regularly see people refer to other site members as “5/7”–shorthand for a member who doesn’t agree with the church’s teachings on premarital sex or birth control. (It rarely occurs to anyone that someone could be a “5/7” by disagreeing with the church’s stance on not allowing priests to marry or papal infallibility–no, a “5/7” is always shorthand for a member who is promiscuous.) It’s sad that a Catholic site invites such judgmental attitudes on the part of its members.
Additionally, this religious “litmus test” scares away people who are more moderate and less dogmatic in their beliefs. I have friends who were so turned off by having to divulge their beliefs about birth control or gays that they decided to boycott the site altogether. I have another friend who, having ticked “no” to the papal infallibility question, received a long, strident piece of hate mail from a member who called her “unfit for the faith” and “living in a state of mortal sin.” All because she doesn’t believe the pope is infallible!
I’m sure that many Catholics would read this review and tell me that only good Catholics need apply and cafeteria Catholics aren’t welcome. Well, whatever. CM still allows divorced members to join–for the money, I assume. Yet no one raises an eyebrow at this. They’re too busy bashing members who ticked “no” on birth control or holy orders or something.
Since moderate Catholics are scared away, CM is an echo chamber for people who hold far-right political views and spout intolerant ideology. Basically, it can be a scary place if you’re not a white Catholic male. In the past few months, I’ve seen the following things take place in the message boards and at the Institute:
-One man mocked women who use birth control for medical reasons, implying that they are whores;
-One person said that selfish Catholic women who aren’t married are at fault for ISIS, since Islamic countries force women to have children and are therefore “outbreeding” us;
-One non-Catholic person, who was on the site trying to figure out if she wanted to be Catholic, admitted that she didn’t quite agree with the church’s stance on birth control, and she was harassed out of the forums and ended up leaving the site (she wasn’t even Catholic yet!);
-Several men have voiced concerns that women on the site are “too educated” and therefore not open to God’s plans for women (because apparently God doesn’t want women to be educated);
-Men and women alike consistently blame feminism for why they aren’t married yet;
-People have made not-so-thinly-veiled racist comments about Obama;
-Some members have actually used very egregious hate speech against Muslims, which almost always goes undeleted/ignored by administrators;
So anyway, if that’s your cup of tea, then the site is for you. If it’s not your cup of tea … well, sometimes you can still find someone on CatholicMatch, but you have to do a ton of sifting through profiles, and it can get disheartening to read the very entitled things that men write on their profiles (i.e. don’t contact me if you’re fat, over 30 and not a virgin, etc.). I have made some valuable connections on CM, and had some nice dates, but I feel that I have grown cynical toward my fellow Catholics, and I wonder if CM is at all worth it. I feel like it’s taken something from me, and I wish I could go back to being ignorant about the repugnant views that Catholics hold, and the things they say when they think they’re in an all-Catholic space. It’s a site that fosters hate and loves ignorance, and I truly don’t think it’s a good representative of Catholics in general.
dave says
obviously this site isn’t for you…move on
Greg says
Or maybe she has a point and people need to be more considerate of differing positions and people’s personal understandings of what they know or are confused about in the faith. Trust me, no one just rolls up one day and comes to the conclusion that Mary must have been conceived without original sin and that she lived a sinless life. It takes time, contemplation, reflection on what one understands about the Church and Christ’s message, and the guidance from charitable-hearted people.
Be charitable and speak as to edify.
Derrick says
I am scouting around reviews of CM to see if I should join. Bottom line: your review cracked me up. I know this was not your intention but to read what some ‘Catholics’ were saying, made me think that they are not so Catholic. I mean, some of things they said were terrible. I am a Catholic and I don’t understand how some Catholics think and would never write such nonsense and I am sorry you had to read such nonsense. It sounds like a very critical lot! Some comments people said were just plain rude. Okay, and maybe people don’t agree with all the doctrines but rather than be critical, I would like to inspire to share the Church’s teachings in a positive light, not a critical one. I used to be a not-so-nice person in my younger years for reasons of being mistreated myself. But after years of reflection, maturity, lessons learnt, forgiveness, situation analysis and having a clearer head, I now am more compassionate and understanding towards people. My personal view is that I look at the log of my own eye. I am a great believer that we are all sinners in the Lord’s eyes and a Catholic person is the last person who should be critical of others. I used to be a disability worker for six years and saw Jesus in those who suffered. I see the world yearn for love and truth and the world is running out of this as avarice, egoism, selfishness and basically, using people as commodities for gain, is rampant. May God bless you and Catholics, please be nice and hold up your faith properly.
Jill says
I tried Christian Mingle with no luck. Since I am Catholic I decided to see if there were any Catholic dating sites out there. After a little searching, I found Catholic Match.
I chatted with a few guys, one of them in particular I was very interested in. We lived in the same area and had similar backgrounds. We have now been together 16 months. I can honestly say that I am the happiest I have ever been. He is my best friend and the love of my life! We are planning our future together and I am super excited. Maybe I just got lucky, but Catholic Match led me to the healthiest relationship I have ever had.
Bea says
I do not consider CM as a safety web; they do not have people in my area, customer’s services never respond to my email. It seen that they have old peoples profiles siting and the web for years. IF YOU REALLY WANT GET MARY DOTN USE THIS WEB.
Kaye says
I am new to website so can’t really comment yet on it. I asked a question of customer service and it was answered in a few hours. I don’t really understand the entire website yet but, if nothing else, the forums are interesting. I don’t necessarily have to meet someone on site. If it happens, it happens. Forums tell me what others in my similar situation are thinking and feeling and are interesting.
Richard says
Catholicmatch.com
Not what it once was. The women here are downright rude and will not even respond out of common courtesy. I was a paying member twice. The profiles in my area are the same within a 3 year span. Same photos, same profile, ugly attitudes. Majority of the women are looking for a perfect guy with lots of money. Stay away from this site.
FS says
Joined because I wanted to give it a shot, looking for a fresh way to meet new people. None of the women I reached out to replied to my messages, and everyone that offered me advice would say things like “it’s a numbers game, you just have to be more patient and reach out to more people.” It’s not a game, it’s dating. People aren’t commodities, and it quickly felt like a business just looking to make a profit. After nothing for a couple months, it was pretty clear that It wasn’t for me. If you want to meet people for free, no message limit, just use facebook.
KB says
Joined this site twice….once in 2012 and 2015, and have since cancelled my account. The site’s good as far as being able to filter through accounts and be matched up based on faith compatability. I don’t recconend this site because during the first time around I got about 5-6 dates in six months, all but one were either came off as being not as faithful as they said they were, had too high expectations or just plain odd. Second time I saw too many if the same people from 2012 or a lot of not paying members in my area or no response…the very few people that did contact me either came off as odd or they stopped responding with no explanation. Only heard of a few acquaintances who met people on here, but they had to travel far…so only reccomend to those who want long distance relationships .
CatholicMatch Customer Support says
Hi KB! We would love to work with you on your search and matching results to see if we can get you some better results. It might just be a matter of updating your profile which will get you in front of more members, especially our newest members! We do have a lot of long distance success on the site, but we have have tons of local matches as well. We find that the most important thing is to just remain as open to as many opportunities as you feel comfortable. Shoot our support team an email and we will be happy to help you in any way that we can. (We do not monitor this thread, so we will not see responses here).
JESSE says
DON’T JOIN THIS WEBSITE!!!!! THE ASSHOLE ADMINISTRATORS READ EVERY COMMENT YOU MAKE, LIMIT YOUR MESSAGES, THEN DECIDE WHEN IT’S TIME TO END YOUR ACCOUNT OUT OF THE BLUE WITHOUT EXPLANATION!!! FFFFFFFFFFFFUCK THESE PIECE OF SHIT MOTHERFUCKING THEIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Customer says
Jesse – We are very sorry that you had such a negative experience, but to clear things up a bit, we do not read every piece of communication on the website. We only have 3 customer support reps, and hundreds of thousands of members, so we would never have the time to do that. We do have strict security measures (for the protection of our members). Based on your comment here I can tell you that our security features would pick up on that language and we would remove you from the site for using profanity. If you feel like we removed you in error, please feel free to contact our support team and we will review the situation again. We really do wish you the best of luck in the future. God bless!
Greg says
Arthur, I’ve noticed that myself. How can anyone have a valid active profile for that long? I also noticed 99 % of the women are big travelers. Nothing wrong with traveling but these women go to extremes. Just look at their profiles, they traveled to every nook on earth. Big spenders. If they like traveling that much, I would have to ask what is wrong with their life. Probably in debt up to their eyeballs. Delusional, diluded, living in a expensive fantasy world.
JESSE says
DON’T JOIN THIS WEBSITE!!!!! THE ASSHOLE ADMINISTRATORS READ EVERY COMMENT YOU MAKE AND LIMIT YOUR MESSAGES, THEN DECIDE WHEN IT’S TIME TO END YOUR ACCOUNT OUT OF THE BLUE WITHOUT EXPLANATION!!! FUCK THEM!!!
Laura says
In reponse to ‘Greg’s Comments’… I have travelled to 48 countries. It was a combination of my career, and my international volunteering that brought me extensively around the globe. I have no debt; as Greg falsely surmised. And where I spent most of my time it was not a expensive fantasy world as he suggested. I mostly was the 3rd World or in challenging living conditions. I just am bewildered where all this jaded, and negative energy comes from towards Catholic Match women who travelled expensively. I met approximately 10 men now on the site. Everyone was very nice. Just because someone doesn’t choose you, or likewise; you don’t choose them- doesn’t make them a bad person! Everyone deserves respect. Please just take time to think about weight of the words you say before you miss out on the opportunities to allow new people and experiences into your life.
Arthur says
Tried it twice.When I go to this site it sort of reminds me of dusty furniture. Same profiles and same pictures from 5 yrs ago. You can meet some quality people from this site. After a few conversations you find out something is wrong with them. Woman hide with they don’t want you to see. Horrible attitudes, pool of low self esteem with no intentions of dating. Just looking for attention. That’s why they’re there for 7 yrs., simply because they are odd.
Susan says
They recycle old profiles of people who have not been active on the site for over 3 years. A friend of mine who is married now showed up as an active candidate. Customer service at Catholic Match could not understand the problem with this.
richard says
ALL online dating sites that means Catholic match included use false advertising to survive. The only way to attract people to sign up is to present hundreds of members (99%t aren’t even REAL members of the site). Sometimes they use old profiles or even hack profiles and photos elsewhere to add to their site. Because If they don’t have enough members no one will be attracted to sign up and the business will fold up. That is also the reason why the people you send message to do not respond. Most likely they are just profiles for display. They are not real. Only those who have been here for long can conclude that. And you may definitely wonder people you’ve seen 5 yrs ago are still on the site. The GHOST members.
CatholicMatch Customer Support says
Hi Richard! That accusation is absolutely false. We would never ever post fake profiles, and we do have members who have been on the site for years. We have a stellar reputation within the Catholic community. Check out our success stories and you will see members who share that they were active on and off for 5+ years before meeting their spouse. That is just the nature of online dating. People need a break sometimes. If you ever suspect that a profile is dishonest or fake, please write our support staff immediately and we will investigate the issue.
*We will not see replies to this comment, as we do not monitor this site so make sure to contact us directly.
Thank you so much!
Clinton says
If I am a paid member and I write to non paid member, of your dating site, can the non paid member be able to read and reply to my message…
Bea says
“If you want to have a nice experience of Halloween you have to be member of Catholic Match. Some profiles looks like GHOSTS….
CatholicMatch Customer Support says
Hello Susan! I’m truly sorry that you were not satisfied with your interaction with our customer support staff. It is nearly impossible to tell why your friend’s account may have been shown as Active. They may have signed on just to see if their account was still there. Please tell your friend that is very easy to remove your profile from the site through the account menu, and if they have any trouble at all, they can write into customer support and we will be happy to do it for them. Ultimately, we do expect people to remove their own profiles from the site, like any other dating/social media service.
If you are having trouble reaching members, please write in to our support and let them know that you would like some help. We would be happy to help you out! We do it all of the time! (This page is not monitored by support, and we will no get your reply if you respond on this site).
Thank you so much for being a member!
Marie lutz says
I felt like I had been taken by Catholic Match. Mostly they sent me contacts from Maine to PA. I had requested someone less than 25 miles away and believe I was sent 4 or 5 contacts in 6 months that fit that demographic. I think 2or 3 fit my age range. I thought this site had connection with Catholic Church but it is just a business using Catholic as its ID. This is the worst dating sirte I have used.
CatholicMatch Customer Support says
Hi Marie! It sounds like you just need to adjust to search or matching settings. Customers get those confused sometimes, but don’t worry, because we would love to help you get your settings right! Just send an email to support, and we will be happy to fix your settings for you.
Thank you and God bless!
Kathy corwin says
They cancelled my subscription before it was due to be cancelled. There were important messages waiting for me. I am during them for emotional distress.
JESSE says
SUE THE FUCK OUT OF THESE PIECE OF SHIT MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!
Jean says
Pros:
-Message system pretty standard.
-Forums somewhat entertaining.
-Personality test fun (though some members give the test results waaay too much weight.)
-While some of the members are downright odd, the men usually aren’t sleazy.
Cons:
-A lot of people join only to find that there are practically no active members in their area. You can’t tell which members are active even as a paying member, so before you join it seems like there are way more people than there actually are. It’s only when you write and people can’t or don’t write back that you realize you spent your money to have the opportunity to meet people long distance or not at all, essentially.
-People occasionally booted from the forums or from the site with no warning. They say they warn people three times (and perhaps they sometimes do) but they also fail to do so.
-Customer service says they get back to paying members within 24 hours and non-paying members within 48 hours, but I submitted a help request more than a week and a half ago and I still haven’t heard from them. Instead of replying to my second request for help they sent me an impersonal message saying they were “joining” the second request to the first, but they still haven’t replied.
-Their blogs about dating are rarely insightful or helpful and you don’t have to join to read them.
-They certainly won’t refund your money if they suddenly withdraw service without warning. In fact, they probably won’t even reply to any of your messages. Believe me, any negative review of their customer service has been earned. Customer service? What customer service?
JESSE says
DON’T JOIN THIS WEBSITE!!!!! THE ASSHOLE ADMINISTRATORS READ EVERY COMMENT YOU MAKE, LIMIT YOUR MESSAGES, THEN DECIDE WHEN IT’S TIME TO END YOUR ACCOUNT OUT OF THE BLUE WITHOUT EXPLANATION!!! FFFFFFFFFFFFUCK THEM!!! THEIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Kelly says
Hi,
The crux of the matter for me was the forum where you could communicate with others right away. I met a lady on there through the forums as opposed to responding to the profiles and I’m concentrating on her now.
This mechanism gives Catholicmatch.com a big advantage over other dating sites in my books.
Regards,
Michael
JESSE says
DON’T JOIN THIS WEBSITE!!!!! THE ASSHOLE ADMINISTRATORS READ EVERY COMMENT YOU MAKE, LIMIT YOUR MESSAGES, THEN DECIDE WHEN IT’S TIME TO END YOUR ACCOUNT OUT OF THE BLUE WITHOUT EXPLANATION!!! FFFFFFFFFFFFUCK THEM!!! THEIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael says
CM.com can work, but I’m 58 and not looking for a marriage partner. I’m too old for marriage, and all the women they matched me with were either widows, divorcees who needed to get annulments, or a few single women. I did not see one profile in the hundreds I reviewed that attracted me. Frankly the quality of the prospect pool for my age range was dismal. I’m not surprised. 50 plus members will have a very hard time out there on any dating website because you’re dealing with leftovers. Hate to say it like that, but all I found were people nobody out there wants. I was shocked how many women had only high school educations, limited or no career history, and had children or grandkids, and yet they demanded a lot from any potential prospect. It’s simple math, the older you are the less likely you will meet anyone worth your time. The winners have a partner, and the rest well…nice folks who have no value in the dating world. Moral–get married before 40 if you can, after that you won’t find much if anyone worth your time. CM.com is trying to get people married, if that is not your goal, then don’t join.
LondonIrish says
I bitterly regret going on this website, some of the things written on profiles concerned me immensely. Helpdesk staff replies made me wonder if they read the original question and if they actually cared about female users. It actually made me question my faith.
Aurelina Goulart says
Olá, boa noite eu gostaria de saber porque eu não consigo efetivar, a o cadastro com os senhores! toda vezes tento entra no site, vem uma mensagem de que minha senha está errada, obrigada!
Henrietta says
for my review money should not come up at the first stage of the matching, because if after paying and does not get to meet His/Her match hat will be very bad and discouraging. I think is better if at the end of the day one gets his/her match they can out of their own free will donate of pay something. am rather been discourage about this payment of a thing.
Thanks