Can You Count on SilverSingles for Good Online Matches? My Honest Take

As a 58-year-old single woman looking for love, I've had a front-row seat to the world of online dating. Once drowning in stigma, dating apps and websites are now one of the most common ways for people of all ages to meet—and it's for good reason. Why wait for a chance encounter that may never happen? Instead, a dating site significantly increases your chances of finding a match by helping you find like-minded singles.

Over the past five years, I've tested out countless apps in the quest for connection: Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, Match, and even Facebook Dating. But it wasn't until I downloaded SilverSingles that I experimented with a dating site specifically geared to those who are 50 and older.

Owned by Spark Networks, SilverSingles is a dating app and website targeted at those who are 50+. Launched in 2002, it has undergone several iterations since launching but has always focused on an older audience.

And while many of us might not like admitting we fall into the "silver" demographic, Spark Networks bet correctly that we want to find a way to make connections when the chance of a meet-cute seems to be higher in a doctor's office than at the grocery store or a dance bar.

While SilverSingles isn't the only dating app catered to those over 50—there's also Our Time–it stands out from competitors by leaning into compatibility scores for matching rather than allowing users to endlessly swipe.

When you sign up for SilverSingles, you fill out an extensive questionnaire (more on that below) and answer questions about your dating goals. These personality profiles lend SilverSingles a closer resemblance to eHarmony than more superficial apps like Tinder or Bumble.

This information is used to curate a new batch of matches every day based on compatibility scores, and you can message anyone who catches your eye from these recommendations. You don't have to wait to be matched with a person before reaching out; if you see a profile, you can message it!

SilverSingles goes out of its way to get to know its clients on a personal level. Users should set aside at least 20 minutes to fill out the personality questionnaire, which asks for answers to a number of getting-to-know-you questions that range from "things that are important to me in a relationship" to "Is chatting with new people easy for you?"

The first type of question is answered with multiple-choice options. Choosing more than one option—from the about 20 answers listed—is encouraged. The second type of question asks you to choose from a range of answers from "difficult" to "comes naturally" and includes middle ground like "depends on the circumstances."

Building out my profile took me about 25 minutes, and though sometimes I wished the questions would stop coming, I deeply appreciated seeing how my fellow singles answered when it came time to connect.

However, sometimes the questions seemed to overlap. For example, after stating what I liked to do in my free time, I was later asked to pick from multiple answers about what I did in my free time and the hobbies I enjoyed.

When it comes to finding a relationship that holds the potential to bring happiness and contentment to a shared life, the extensive profile prompts seem worthwhile. Some may find the continued prompts cumbersome if they just want to get started or to browse potential matches, but they're likely not in it for the long haul.

After filling out the personality questions, you're asked to upload photos. You can't see others' profiles before you begin, so I was afraid SilverSingles might not include images. You can include as many or as few as you'd like, though I'd wager the most successful daters have at least one photo associated with their account. The average number I saw appeared to be around three.

Depending on how thorough you want to be—and really, the more thorough the better—you'll want to set aside close to half an hour to fill out the profile. Once you complete the sign-up process, SilverSingles takes over to curate potential matches.

The algorithm is based on the Five Factor Model of personality. This groups personality traits into five dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Happier matches will be with people whose personality traits closely resemble yours, so the SilverSingles thinking goes.

When you've completed your profile, you'll be shown "your first 10 matches" based on your compatibility score. Each one notes how far away the match is from you. SilverSingles did match me with people outside the range I'd selected. I didn't mind, but others very well could.

Once you see your daily matches, you can click on their pictures to learn more, then choose to write a note to any that appeal. The answers my matches gave really did help me feel I knew them, at least a little bit, and was not "walking in cold" when I matched with them. 

While there is a basic free version, it's a fairly bare-bones package. With it, you can complete the personality test and view basic profiles and receive recommended profiles but will have limited ability to communicate with other members. I think of the free version as a way to get a feel for SilverSingles and to determine if you'd like to continue.

The fee is on par with other dating apps, but I liked that SilverSingles doesn't offer tiered memberships. What you see is what you get, which can be refreshing compared to what's currently on the market—like trying to determine if you should get Bumble Premium or Boost or simply buy a Bumble Coin.

Like other dating sites, the fee drops if you purchase a six-month or annual subscription rather than pay the monthly—or, in some apps' case, weekly—fee.

Cancellation Policy

I appreciated the personality test. It resulted in "compatibility scores" that rated how much I had in common with male users in my geographical area. And the men I was matched with did seem to have a great deal in common with me. That said, once the "compatibility scores" got into around the 80% range, they didn't seem to matter much; around this range of compatibility, I wasn't blown away by the amount we had in common.

To be fair, I only felt a "zing" of commonality with a few people, which mirrors real life. I appreciated that members who are active on the platform are rewarded with the best-quality matches, as this helps ensure I won't be sending notes into a black hole.

Eventually, I stopped looking at the "percent in common" scores and relied on my own insights after reading their profiles. The extensive profiles provided a ton of information, and I appreciated knowing more about my connections than I did on other apps. 

I would reply with a resounding yes to this. Keep in mind, I am a female looking for a male, so I may not get as many scammers or bots as I've heard that men do when online dating (but I've had them on other sites!).

Because SilverSingles requires users to fill out its personality test, I feel it's easy to see how committed people are to using the site. It was relatively easy, I felt, to tell who had spent time carefully considering answers, and they were appreciated. The extensive test really helped understand how much in common you'd have with a potential match and how serious they were about finding love.