Zoosk.com Overview

Zoosk is one of the younger dating sites out there, having originally started out as a dating app on Facebook app and Myspace. Thanks in part to its social networking aspect, Zoosk has evolved into one of the largest and most rapidly growing online dating sites, now counting over 25 million registered users worldwide. Zoosk stands out from the pack by being the only truly cross-platform dating application, offering Facebook, iPhone, iPad, and Android apps in addition to the main website at Zoosk.com. In contrast to many other dating sites which require a long sign up and questionnaire process, Zoosk lets you sign up and start browsing profiles within minutes. Zoosk also features powerful search tools that let you customize every aspect of your singles search.

Zoosk’s ease of use, variety of features, cross-platform support, and large user base all combine to make it our top dating website pick for 2011.

Zoosk.com Features

The signup process for Zoosk is extremely simple, and you will ready to go in almost no time. Just provide the usual email address and your location. You can log into Facebook to create a Zoosk account, which will streamline the process. Otherwise, you will need a real phone number to receive a SMS text message validation, which is part of Zoosk’s anti-spam efforts (ensuring that members are real people). Don’t worry, your mobile number and Facebook info is kept completely confidential and secure, and only used for account validation.

As soon as you start using Zoosk, you will notice it is quite different from every other dating site; in fact, it takes a very fresh and unique approach to the whole dating process. Zoosk bills itself as a “romantic social network”, and indeed, it looks like a mini Facebook for dating and meeting people. This isn’t surprising given the site’s roots, as it originally started off as a Facebook app. Zoosk makes what can normally be an intimidating dating process into a fun and casual experience.

The Zoosk website features an attractive, almost “Web 2.0” style look with bright and friendly colors. Thanks to its simplistic design, the site is enjoyable to navigate, especially compared to some of the competing sites. On the main page, you’ll see a “newsfeed” feature, not unlike those of Facebook and other social media sites, which summarizes recent activity from singles in your area (e.g. profile update, photo uploads). It is a nice way to get engaged and see what is going on with the Zoosk community.

Even with a free account, you actually have access to a lot of the features on the site, compared to typical dating sites. Click on the “Search” tab and you will see results for singles right away. You can then refine your results with some additional criteria (age, location, ethnicity, etc), although there are not a ton of filtering options to overwhelm you. Zoosk seems to encourage you to just start browsing profiles and photos right away and interacting with people. A nice feature is that you can search/browse profiles with multiple views: a list view with quick summaries; a thumbnails view that lets you see many photos at once; and a “single-profile” view, which lets you step through one profile at a time.

Once you’ve found someone you’re interested in, you can send them a “wink” or a message, or just add the as a favorite. Note that you will need to submit a photo of yourself before you can do much. While free members can send messages, you will need a paying account to send more than one, or to reply to messages. Going along the social networking metaphor, you can create and accept “friend” requests and build connections with Zoosk members. Besides messages and winks, you can also download Zoosk Messenger to start instant chats or video chats with people you’ve met on Zoosk.

A unique aspect I found in Zoosk is that it makes the dating experience a bit of a game. For instance, in the search results, there is a “featured” section at the top, which promotes some people’s profiles before others. You can “Boost Up” your ranking in these search results and get into the featured profiles using Zoosk coins, which is Zoosk’s virtual currency. You can get coins with real money, but you can also earn them for free by inviting friends to join Zoosk, liking Zoosk on Facebook, or even just installing their iPhone/Android app. Coins are also useful for sending virtual gifts to members, special message delivery, and mail delivery confirmation (which lets you check if someone has viewed a message you sent them).

While you don’t have fill out a long questionnaire to start using the site (one reason it is so quick to get up and going), it is in your best interest to start fleshing out your profile. Click on the “Profile” tab and you can fill in details about yourself, such as your favorite movies, music, books and interests, and what kind of person you are looking for. Pro-tip: sign in with the Facebook app, and Zoosk will automatically fill in a lot of this information for you based on your Facebook “likes” and interests.

More importantly, you should check out the “Compatibility” section, which will prompt you to answer 27 or so compatibility questions. These include things like financial status, work/life balance, if you enjoy traveling, if you are punctual/tidy/romantic, etc. Each question also asks how important this element is to you, and also how you ideal partner should respond to same question. Once you’ve done (and you can skip questions too), you can actually keep answering more questions if you like.

Search/Matching System

The main purpose of answering these questions it that when you browse someone’s profile, you can compare how their answers to yours and get a better idea if you two might be a good match. Zoosk will also automatically calculate a Compatibility score for you. Answering more questions will make it easier to determine how compatible someone is with you. You can change or delete all of your questions at any time. A nice thing about this method is that Zoosk lets you decide which aspects are important to you for a match (in contrast to sites like Chemistry or PerfectMatch, which use their own automated personality-matching systems).

Apart from searching, Zoosk has what it calls a Zoosk Scientific Matchmaking Service (ZSMS). Basically, Zoosk will email you matches on a daily basis, and from your “yes/no” responses to them, the system will learn from your preferences to create better matches for you over time. Oddly enough it seems to be a parallel system from Zoosk Compatibility (you still need to answer some basic survey questions), but it seems like a simple and easy way to browse singles.

Users

Because Zoosk started out as a Facebook App and is well integrated across Facebook and Mobile, it can target a group of users that other dating sites might not have access to. Zoosk has a pretty wide userbase of  just over 25 million singles and is currently the fastest growing online dating website, adding tens of thousands of profiles every day.

Safety/Privacy

Like most other dating sites, Zoosk withholds all of your private information from other users (e.g. name, address, phone number, etc.), so you can rest assured that your personal info is safe and secure. Zoosk values your safety and offers a a page with tips on online dating safety. Just in case, you always have the option of blocking users who are contacting you.

Zoosk has implemented an anti-fraud program that keeps spammers and fake profiles out of the site. To fight spam, they have started requiring that every user verify they are a real person by sending a text message to a real phone number, or by connecting a Facebook account. This ensures that other users you interact with on the site are real people.

Pricing

You can join Zoosk.com for free and start browsing singles right away. You can post your profile (which others can see) and search for anyone on the site. You can send a message to anyone, but will need a subscription account to unlock unlimited messaging. Even though you need to pay a monthly fee to access all of Zoosk’s features, the fee is actually quite reasonable, especially if you choose a 3 month or 6 month subscription. The best value with Zoosk is a 6 month package at a low $12.49 per month, almost a 60% discount off the monthly subscription fee. Compared to the other top dating sites, Zoosk’s subscription fee is by far the lowest – $12.50 is about the cost of 2 drinks at a bar!

Subscription Plan	Total Cost	Cost Per Month	Savings
Month by Month	$29.95	$29.95	None
3 Months	$59.95	$19.98	33% Off
6 Months	$74.95	$12.49	58% Off

Bottom Line

Zoosk offers a refreshing approach to the dating process, by making it casual, fun and simple. We recommend it for people who just want to start browsing and meeting with people online in a low-pressure environment, akin to a social network.. It is very quick to get up and going, as you don’t have to answer profile questions until later, and you can actually access a good amount of features even with a free account. Rather than focusing on automated personality-matching, Zoosk encourages you to spend more time discovering and interacting with singles on the site.

Zoosk’s cross-platform integration, quick setup, numerous features, easy search, excellent privacy controls, large userbase, and great price points makes it one of our top recommendations. Join Zoosk for free and start browsing local singles today!