By 2018-09-07 09:00:00 UTC Let's just cut the mushy bullshit and get straight to the point: Online dating can truly suck. Don't get me wrong — the help is seriously great when you start to feel like you're ForeverAlone, but the entire process of creating a dating profile and dealing with less than ideal matches can be cumbersome. Here's the thing though: is about to be your new best friend. SEE ALSO: Everyone knows the name, but what tons of people especially young people may not realize is that it's not just another or. It's ideal for people who don't want anything to do with hookup-crazed swiping apps, but who also don't want to feel like they're desperately looking for marriage. With , it's obvious that you're not the only one who was itching for some sort of middle ground. Plus, since it's one of the OG dating sites it debuted in 2004 , its trusted name brings along an impressively robust user base. OkCupid's matching strategies are based on non-traditional questions and push for lasting connections. They accomplish this by diving into both the shallow and deep aspects of a relationship without forcing people to self-evaluate. The entire site's , and it's nice to know they can actually back up their algorithms. OkCupid's advertising is outstanding. They deserve endless applause just for that, but I realize many people on dating apps care about more than the aesthetics or the branding. Good thing OkCupid is so much more than that, taking compatibility factors into account that other sites haven't even thought of. OkCupid genuinely wants dating to be a good experience for you, and their multi-faceted matchmaking and modern vibe help you steer clear of feeling like a loser talking to people online. Making a profile: It's actually not a pain in the ass Please appreciate the cuteness of this login page. Image: okcupid Before you even sign up, please appreciate. It is adorable and feels super low-pressure. OkCupid recently went through a pretty major rebranding, and their new advertising is incredible. I am obsessed, guys. The entire campaign is fresh and inviting and does a great job of making online dating feel cool and not lame. Another way OkCupid is a true game changer lies in their inclusive gender selection: The site offers 12 gender identities and 20 sexual orientations, so no one is forced to choose a pronoun they're not comfortable with. OkCupid is the only site out there that can truly say it's for everyone, and I applaud them endlessly for that. Okay, well maybe not everyone — ultra right-wing conservatives may not have the best time here. You'll find out why later. If you've tried online dating elsewhere in the past Tinder doesn't count , you've probably noticed that filling out the questionnaires is THE WORST. The questions get way too fake deep for my liking, and honestly, are just begging for people to lie. Do you think the world's most sensitive, quick-tempered crybaby raises hand wants to admit to constantly picking fights? There's no question that that stuff is important, but I just don't think this method will produce the most accurate information on how someone really acts in a relationship. Good news: Building a profile on OkCupid is genuinely fun. You'll also answer the basics about smoking, drinking, political preferences, religion, and all that good stuff. Image: okcupid And that's just to start. After answering those and getting your profile open for business, they also have tons of questions to answer directly on your profile if you want to get even more specific with preference. You're really able to showcase all aspects of your dynamic as a partner without feeling the need to lie. There are also spaces for you to answer prompts about the last shows you binged, your favorite music artists, your talents, etc. The required set of questions only takes about five minutes to complete, and then you're ready to start playing Bachelor or Bachelorette. You're not bombarded with notifications or emails, which I was extremely thankful for. The top nav is extremely clean and only gives notifications for likes and messages — unlike other sites where people can like you in general, like your photo, send a wink, send a smiley face, send a gift, and whatever TF else these sites think is necessary. I'm big on aesthetics and design when it comes to dating sites I completely , and OkCupid is exactly what I want: organized, minimalistic, with all features obvious and labeled so that you don't have to click around to see what the options are. OkCupid gets major points for how user-friendly it is. Woke level: 100 The same-sex ads were probably an obvious giveaway, but. Finding a hottie only to find out you disagree on everything is the most awkward bummer ever. Other sites only ask one question about that stuff, which just isn't enough. If you're woke, liberal, and horrified by the dumpster fire that is our current political climate, this is the site for you. Right wingers, you should just exit now and sign up for — it has history of being pretty conservative. With OkCupid's recent makeover came a ton of as a way to weed out the not-so-progressive users. They want to know your opinion on issues such as abortion, immigration, guns, and more to make sure you and your potential partners have political views that are aligned. Image: okcupid OkCupid will use these answers to tell potential matches how liberal you are and vice versa, and it's always great to avoid heated arguments down the road. Thank you for adding to the vibrancy of the OkCupid community. Unfortunately, a lot of OkCupid's competitors have some growing up to do. Finding a match If you're feeling hopeless about finding love at all, you won't be after being on OkCupid. I literally had 607 likes after having my profile up for two days. OkCupid has such a massive user base with such a wide variety of people, there's no way you're not gonna find a ton of people who find you exactly their type. You see one profile at a time and swipe right or left depending on whether or not you're interested, with random profile-building questions thrown in at times to narrow down your pickings even more. If you want more freedom to peruse the dating pool, the discover section is also available like it is on the desktop version. See what potential matches are talking about, search for names, or even type in a hobby, musical artist, or show to see which users near you mentioned the same thing. It's chill and simple enough to do while you're waiting in line at the store or sitting on the train, all while feeling more sincere than Tinder. Messaging: None from randoms, but it slows the process OkCupid recently removed open messaging, meaning randoms can no longer message you before you two have matched. This can be good or bad depending on how you prefer the conversation to start: I personally enjoy it, as one main problem with online dating in general is that ladies get harassed by men who flood their inboxes. It's genuinely overwhelming and I'd prefer to only be messaged by people I already gave the go-ahead to. Like me, some people were stoked on this. I send fewer messages and I receive higher quality responses. I believe this is all because of the requirement to match before messaging. Now women are required to seek out desirable profiles in order to interact with users on the site - just like the men. I also really like how doubletake has shown me interesting profiles that I wouldn't have found with browsing. The only downside is the low population compared to Tinder. I was doing just fine having the block feature, or simply not responding to people who weren't worth my time. Luckily, OkCupid's DoubleTake profile allows you to see a good amount of info on a person before you swipe, so you're not about to match with people blindly more on that later. If the closed messaging is the most annoying thing on the site, that's pretty good. If you're not getting the attention and messages you think you deserve, there's an option to boost your profile to get you a full day's worth of activity in just 15 minutes. The is actually huge on OkCupid, and while all dating sites receive their fair share of shit Redditors do not hold back on giving their opinions , I genuinely feel like OkCupid has the most nice things said about it. Or the least mean things. Most dating sites make you pay to do literally anything besides signing up. Those prices won't set you back nearly as much as another site would, and I like that you're able to test out the site for free before deciding to go all in. You'll have to subscribe to the A-List for more in-depth features, but the fee isn't steep at all. One bomb free feature is. Released in 2017, Double Take acts as a kind of insurance. It uses and tries to send you new people that they think match up with your ideal boo. It's a clutch way to discover profiles you wouldn't have found just by browsing, and it gives more info and more pictures than regular matches show to give you an extra deep look into what they have to offer. Check it out: On the other hand, paying for an account can get rid of ads, allow you to see people who have liked you before you like them, see read receipts, get automatic boosts, and more. A-List is 100% worth the price, and you won't lose anything but not upgrading all the way to Premium. You can see the full list of A-List and A-List Premium features. Good for: Liberal people who want a relationship This is the place for pretty much everyone who takes dating seriously, but still wants to have fun. OkCupid is the best place to find people who want a partnership to truly be equal. It might take some time and genuine effort to make a profile, but that's what you want if you're looking for something real. You'll fill out a questionnaire with your answers as well as what you would like your ideal match to answer. This makes the application-building process a lot more fun than other apps, making it feel like an online quiz. It asks a range of questions, from simple stuff to whether you smoke and drink to more intimate things like how many dates you typically wait before sleeping with someone. Pro tip: The app says that the more questions you answer, the better your matches will be. The deeper you go, the more accurate your profile is. In turn, will have a way easier time finding matches for you. Like we said in our , just because you're bored with Tinder doesn't mean eharmony or a site with the same expectation to settle down is the next step. A lot of those users are older, divorced, and have kids, and there's a much slimmer selection of young people in that gray area. OkCupid seems ideal for the person who's trying to marry the next person they date, even if they idea of marriage and kids makes them slightly nauseated. The LGBTQ community finally has a safe space in the online dating world that is, one that's not a super niche lesbian or gay-only app , and those who usually vote liberally can make sure they're not going on a date with someone whom they'd want to fight on Facebook. I'd go as far as to say that is the best place to find people who want a partnership to truly be equal — where women won't be shamed for being breadwinners and where men won't insist that cleaning is the woman's job. Get with the times, people. OkCupid also has a where they discuss social issues, success stories, local events, showcase statistics from their users, and more. It's a great way for the makers behind the screen to get connected with the people using their site, and makes OkCupid feel less like just another dating app that wants to make money. Bad for: Right-wing conservatives and those in a rush to marry While browsing through the potential matches in my feed, I didn't get the vibe that people were 100% ready to settle down — which is fine if you feel the same way, but worrisome if you're past that phase. Some people seem to be using OkCupid like Tinder and were only visiting, while most will specify exactly what they're looking for in their bios, so confusion about intentions should be minimal. This isn't to say that it's not possible to find your future spouse on here — these prove that you can — just don't go into it expecting that. It's serious, but not serious. And then there's the political aspect of it. While most dating sites refuse to take sides, OkCupid has made it clear that they care about social justice issues. People who align strongly with the Republican party, are Trump fans, or have religion-backed values or political views may feel a bit out of place here — you'll probably feel like many of the questions are irrelevant to a relationship, and you probably won't see a high number of matches with whom you align politically. That's not to say that it's not worth a shot, but if you're trying to cast your net as wide as possible, another site where these issues aren't highlighted may give you better luck. Downsides As with any dating site, there will be the one-star ratings, enthusiastically negative reviews, and complaints from people about things that the site itself has no control over. No, Karen, it is not OkCupid's fault that John ghosted you. Dead profiles, catfishing, and getting abruptly suspended is annoying. OkCupid has its fair share of each, but unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to guarantee that a site is completely free of flaws. OkCupid does try to combat fake profiles by having users connect an Instagram account, which is way harder to fake than an online dating profile. Cities are overflowing with users, but less populated areas see a huge drop in potential matches. One thing that is a legitimate issue is the user base in less-populated areas. Cities like NYC, where I live are overflowing with potential boos, but I guarantee that if I logged on in my middle-of-nowhere hometown, my number of matches within a 10-mile mile radius would drop an alarming amount. We've seen a ton of complaints about this, but again — that's not an OkCupid problem, it's an every site problem. For those who have been using the site for years, they've noticed a significant slowdown with finding people to talk to, as you can't see who's messaged you until you like them back, and going through all of the possible people already takes forever. It's easier to just block people if you don't want their messages instead of almost never being messaged at all, you know? OkCupid doesn't have to re-open messages completely, because some people do like their privacy — but it would be great if they had an option to toggle it on if you don't mind being hit up by strangers. Alternatives OkCupid falls under both the classic dating site category and the swiping app category, which also means that they have way more competition than most one-or-the-other platforms do. When it comes to swiping apps, Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge are the obvious top three competitors. None of them want to be known as as hookup app, and it's definitely possible to find a long-term relationship on any of them, but Tinder and Bumble provide so little information that user intentions are easy to surmise. Where Hinge may fall short is the fact that it pretty much caters to young people only, while OkCupid is more wide-ranging. When it comes to more traditional sites, OkCupid's obvious competitors are , , and. It's also an OG player in the online dating game, and it's always nice to have the reassurance that there are veteran masterminds behind the matchmaking process. Match has numerous unique features to meet new people that no other site has even come close to. I was obsessed with their eagerness to get people together IRL read more in our review. It's a little less trendy and millennial than OkCupid, and maneuvering through the dating pool is pretty much a free-for-all. The way that OkCupid breaks suggestions down by categories makes everything significantly more organized and helps to give an idea of what might or might not work with a person right off the bat, which I found to be an extreme leg up. If you're looking to settle down ASAP and want to meet others who aren't down to clown either, eharmony may be more up your alley. This isn't to say that OkCupid isn't serious, because it is — it just gives a little more leeway when it comes to people's intentions. If you're looking to settle down ASAP and want to ensure that other users aren't down to clown either, eharmony may be more up your alley. OkCupid is clearly the winner there. IMO, there's nothing super standout about or. Both are user friendly enough, except POF looks like it hasn't been updated since 2005 and neither are nearly as aesthetically pleasing as OkCupid. POF is super into the chemistry stuff and their questionnaires are intense, so if you're looking for something serious and aren't trying to pay a lot, it's a great alternative to eharmony. It's a great feature for people who don't know what they want, and OkCupid's number of ways to discover new people might get overwhelming for those who aren't confident in their partner-choosing abilities. Final verdict As far as online dating goes, rules. When you're over swiping apps but are not desperately looking for marriage, this is happy medium. You can find commitment but still feel hip and have fun. It has gained a trusted rep by being one of the first dating sites ever 2004 to be exact , leading OkCupid to win the hearts of millions of singles. Their ads as well as their recent redesign and the addition of numerous gender identities and orientations showcase the importance they place on inclusivity and social justice, which is a giant breath of fresh air for anyone tired of regular heteronormative sites.