OurTime Review

By Emily Thompson Updated on: March 14, 2024 Fact Checked by Jonathan Hartley

OurTime is a dating platform that aims to help older people worldwide meet partners for love, friendship, and companionship. More than 10 million users are registered here, and around 8.9 million of them use this service monthly. Many older individuals can feel isolated and lonely, often after losing their life partners. This dating platform aims to help remedy this challenge.

We have decided to test its functionality, free and paid membership, matchmaking algorithms, and other features. The story of the platform began in 2011, and we can’t say it is outdated because its developers make changes and improvements regularly to keep up with the times.

This comprehensive review will assist you in deciding whether OurTime is what you need to find love later in life.

✅ What We Like

• Plenty of matches: OurTime has the biggest audience compared to the other senior dating platforms, such as SeniorMatch and SilverSingles. Around 180,000 users log in to their profiles every day, so the website and the app are active, and the chances of finding perfect matches are high.
• Fast registration: The onboarding process takes just 5–7 minutes. Most questions offer several answer options, and you can choose to skip some, accelerating the process. Given that older users may find long questionnaires tiresome, the quick sign-up process reflects the platform’s user-friendliness.
• Plenty of search options: You can customize your search to meet many criteria. Besides basic parameters like age, location, appearance, or marital status, you can edit settings to view the members who are online, have photos in their profiles, or are seeking someone like you.
• Top Picks: It is a swipe-style feature that helps to find perfect matches around. We like Tinder for this principle, so we were glad to see it on OurTime.

• Convenient mobile app: Thanks to a simpler design and larger elements, the OurTime mobile app is very user-friendly, even for those with visual impairments.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• A few free features: If you don’t want to pay, the platform restricts your matching opportunities to a minimum. You can only view profiles, like users, message your Top Picks, and reply to emails from the users who are eager to pay for it. Therefore, be prepared to spend some money if you want to enjoy a full-scale dating experience on OurTime. It can be a good investment in your love life.
• No helpful contacts: The only way for users to obtain assistance is to submit an email request via the contact form.
• Not so safe: We expected stronger safety measures for seniors than just email and phone number verification.

💡 Features

💰 OurTime Pricing

OurTime is more of a paid platform than a free one, but you can still search for matches without buying a subscription. Unlike some other dating sites and apps, such as eHarmony or SilverSingles, you can view clear photos here instead of blurry ones. This allows you to make a more informed decision about whether to purchase a subscription for additional features. Additionally, you can:

• Register, upload photos, and edit your profile
• Respond to emails sent by paid members via the Reply for Free feature
• Receive up to 12 Top Picks daily
• Send unlimited Likes (although you can’t see who liked your profile)
• View Super Likes from other members

The list of free options is limited, so upgrading your subscription is a good idea. Before purchasing, compare the features available to free, standard, and premium users.

See the current cost of membership plans in the table below.

To purchase your membership, you can pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club, Discover, or PayPal.

Your subscription will auto-renew if you opt for this feature while subscribing. You can cancel the paid membership at any time in your account settings.

📱 OurTime on Mobile

OurTime desktop version is very easy to navigate, and it is a benefit for seniors who may not be very tech-savvy. Additionally, the platform has its official mobile app available at the App Store and on Google Play. You can use it on any mobile device.

The interfaces on the PC and in the OurTime mobile app are similar, but the developers made some changes to the setup to make usage more comfortable. The design is simpler and more linear, the menus are adjusted to a smaller screen, and the fonts, icons, and texts are larger. So, all the information is clearly visible to the users.

🤔 How to Use OurTime

OurTime is rich in matchmaking options and communication features. All of them are clear and understandable. To access all functions, you need to register. Now, we will tell you how to join the community and look for matches.

Registration

We liked the quick onboarding on the OurTime website. It took us about 5–7 minutes to sign up because it didn’t require lengthy quizzes or much writing.

The registration needs just eight basic steps:

• On the main page, choose who you are looking for (a man, a woman, or more options).

• Set the age brackets of your future matches.
• Insert your birthdate.

• Write your name.

• Type your username. The system allows hyphens and apostrophes, so you don’t need to compromise if your name is unusual, or you want to appear in OurTime under a nickname.
• Enter your email address and confirm your agreement with the platform’s terms and conditions.

• Create your password using letters, numbers, and underscores.
• Define where you heard about OurTime. The platform collects the data for statistics and their marketing strategy.

After all the formalities are over, OurTime newcomers provide some facts about themselves. The steps are the following:

• Specify your height and body type.

• Mark your relationship status. There are just four options: definitely single, separated, divorced, and widowed. The platform promotes sincere relationships, so there is a warning: “No “it’s complicated” allowed”.
• Define if you have kids or not.
• Choose the right option for your education.
• Mark your attitude toward drinking and smoking.
• State the option describing your ethnicity.
• Define your attitude toward religion.
• Point out the types of relationships you are looking for. You can choose several options or tick the Any box if all kinds of interactions are interesting to you.

• Choose some options to describe your perfect partner. You can specify their age, appearance, attitude toward religion, having kids, habits, and marital status.
• Select three topics to respond to. There are some short and funny sayings you have to complete. It helps to show your sense of humor, views, and character.

• Upload your photo and add a caption to it if you like. The system allows you to add between one and three images.

Then, OurTime will offer you the option to purchase a premium subscription or continue as a free user.

The last step is verification of your account with a phone number. After that, you get access to the OurTime user base and all the features according to your membership plan.

Making Matches

To find a person who meets your goals and preferences, you can utilize several matchmaking methods. The process starts with setting your search criteria. You can see them on the left side of the screen, and you can leave the parameters you specified at the moment of registration or change them. For this, click the Edit link in the search section where you want to make changes. When the options appear, make your choice, click Apply, and see if your results are modified.

When you specify your match preferences, try these search options:

• Members who are online: There is an Online Now box next to your search form. Click on it to see the members who match your criteria and are currently on the site. You’re guaranteed that a person is online, thanks to the big green dot next to their profile. This feature is ideal if you want to chat with somebody right now.
• With Photos Only: The option is helpful if you would like to see the members who match your criteria and have pictures in their profiles. To activate it, click your main photo thumbnail, pass over to the pencil icon at the top of the About section, mark the “Only show matches with the photos” box, and confirm your settings by clicking on the Apply button.
• Quick Search: If you have general criteria and want to start browsing profiles immediately, this option is suitable. You can find it on the right side of your profile page. Click on it, enter some general criteria like age or ethnicity depending on what you deem a priority, and access the appropriate profiles within seconds.
• Mutual Match: The option helps you see searched results based on your search criteria and the information about you. All you need to get access to the members for perfect pairing is to click on Mutual Match on your Search page. You can also ask to send these matches to your personal email address. Please note that the number of them may differ depending on how specific your criteria are.
• Reverse Search: This feature will show you users whose preferences you match. The more you tell about yourself in your profile, the more matches the system can find.
• Top Picks: Top Picks or Recommended profiles are the OurTime users who meet most of your preferences and live or stay in your area. Top Picks also analyzes your Likes and Messages to figure out the key features of users who attract you. Recommended profiles appear one by one on the page, and you can like them by clicking on the Heart icon or skip a profile you are not interested in by clicking on X. This swipe-style feature is similar to the trendy matchmaking options offered by international dating websites like Tinder or Bumble.

Communicating with Matches

OurTime members can communicate with each other in different ways, for example:

• Likes: It is the simplest way to show your interest, and both free and paid members can send and receive them. OurTime shows the likes you receive in the upper menu. Please note that you need a paid subscription to see who sends a like to you.
• Photo Likes and Comments: You can leave a like and add a pleasing comment under any photo in a user’s profile. This activity gives more chances to get courtesy in return and start the conversation. You must be an active user with a paid membership to like and comment on photos.
• Super Likes: It is a feature that helps you show your admiration to another member. A Super Like sets you high in the user’s Recommended Matches, and it will never expire. However, it is an exclusive feature for subscribers.
• Messages: Starting a chat on OurTime is simple; just click Message from the user’s profile and write something good.
• Reply for Free: OurTime users can’t message others until they are paid members. However, if you want to correspond with a free user, activate the Reply for Free option. Upon payment, you can send an email to a free member, and they can respond to it. If you are a free user, a Reply for Free folder will appear on your Home and Messages screen, and you can communicate via email with the user who paid for your connection.

Optimize Your OurTime Experience

OurTime provides options to make matching and communication with other members more diverse. Some of them are available with a subscription, while others are just paid power-ups that both free and paid members can purchase. To optimize your OurTime experience, try these features:

• Boost: If you want your profile to show up more in search lists, you can pay for Boost, and the system lifts your profile to the top for 60 minutes. After the session, you can Boost once again or purchase Boost Multipacks for 5 or 10 sessions. If you don’t use your multipack within 90 days, it will expire.
• Who’s Viewed Me: As you may guess, the feature helps to see who shows interest in your profile and makes you feel more daring to initiate a conversation. The indicator Who Viewed Me is a pink dot on the left of your photo, which appears every time somebody looks through your profile. You must purchase a subscription to get access to the feature.
• Private Mode: If the mode is on, your profile is visible only to the users you had chats with. You can figure out who can view it by saying “They can see you” or “They can’t see you” on the other users’ profiles.
• My Matches: These are emails containing your potential matches. The system selects them according to your search criteria and sends the results to your personal email. To receive My Matches, move to your Settings, choose the My Account section, and edit your email alerts by switching the My Match option on.
• Activity Status: The feature helps to see if a user you like is an active member or hasn’t been there for some time. Also, it helps to understand that he or she is away and hasn’t seen your message yet. Different signs clarify the status; a big green dot means the user is online, and an empty green circle confirms that the member was active between 46 minutes and 24 hours ago. If the user’s last activity was 24–72 hours ago, you will see a yellow circle, and no dot or circle means the member has been offline for more than three days. The system also specifies information for green and yellow circles; you may see notifications like “Active 1 hour ago” or “Active yesterday”.

👥 General User Experience

In our view, OurTime is a user-friendly and modern dating platform where mature users may feel very comfortable. We appreciate the soothing pink palette, large icons, easy navigation, and understandable menus. Unlike platforms such as OkCupid or Match.com, there are no ads or flashy elements that can irritate or distract, making the interface welcoming.

However, we acknowledge that the platform is rich in features, which may be overwhelming for older users who are not extremely computer-savvy. Nevertheless, this is not overly critical, as the key functions are clearly visible and a detailed FAQ section provides information on all add-ons.

🔐 User Safety & Security

OurTime provides up-to-date security measures such as two-factor authentication and phone number verification. Additionally, the platform utilizes a combination of human experience and automated tools to detect VPNs, fake profiles, or harmful behavior. Further, users can report any concerning actions by clicking on the ‘Report a Concern’ link in the user’s profile or at the bottom of the email.

The platform’s team also provides helpful safety tips for real-life and online daters. Given that older people may sometimes be too trusting, these recommendations are valuable in helping to avoid hazards like fraud and phishing.

☎️ Customer Support

We can evaluate OurTime customer support as rather poor. The platform suggests exploring FAQs first, which is convenient to a certain extent, as several themes cover all the main questions users may have.

However, if your issue is more specific, you can only contact the Customer Care Team by email via the request form.

Given that older people may experience difficulties with online dating, we believe it would be beneficial to have more support options available, such as live chat or a hotline.

🎖️ How Does OurTime Compare?

OurTime is a niche dating platform for 50+ users, and to identify its value, we compared it with a similar service. This time, we chose SilverSingles, a dating website that is also geared towards mature adults seeking friends, companions, or marriages.

Our first comparison point was the size of the dating pool. SilverSingles has a smaller community, with over 800,000 members, while OurTime can boast a much larger user base of around 10 million.

Additionally, there are some other notable differences:

• Availability: SilverSingles is available in only 20 countries, whereas OurTime welcomes singles from 80 countries.
• Match selections: If you are an OurTime user, you can adjust your preferences at any time to let the system offer the best matches for you. On SilverSingles, you can only see the profiles chosen for you according to an analysis of a lengthy personality quiz you complete at the beginning.
• Age of members: The SilverSingles users are generally older; 67% of them are 50+. Though OurTime is also for 50+ singles, its members are typically a bit younger, with most being over 40.
• Subscription: OurTime offers several membership plans, while on SilverSingles, you can sign up as a premium member only.

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🏆 Final Verdict: Is OurTime Right for You?

Our verdict is that OurTime is a quality dating platform for older singles that has all the needed features and a wide range of search options to find matches based on user preferences. Here, you can try traditional browsing through the profiles according to your search settings and Top Picks, a trendy swipe-style feature.

Both the desktop version and mobile app have intuitive navigation, and the interface is pleasing to the eye. This may be helpful for users over 50, and even those in their 40s, who are not interested in sophisticated design, yet dream of meaningful relationships.

❓ FAQ