PositiveSingles Review

By Emily Thompson Updated on: February 12, 2024 Fact Checked by Aleksandra Gojkovic

For anyone living with an STD, it’s good news to hear that the dating site called PositiveSingles has resulted in over 60,000 success stories for users who live with positive diagnoses. Still, it takes a lot of courage to join an online community and share about a very private topic in your life.

To make the decision process easier for people with STDs, we took an in-depth look at PositiveSingles. Based on our feedback, you can determine if you’ll feel comfortable becoming a member and looking for dates. Of course, security features are vital, so you know data that may mention your diagnosis won’t ever become public without your approval. In addition, you deserve a dating site of the same quality and user-friendliness as other platforms that don’t cater to this demographic.

From a practical aspect to privacy features, PositiveSingles has many advantages. For one thing, it only allows users who have tested positive for STDs. Use the sections below to identify the best platform for you.

✅ What we Like

• HIV and STD-focused community only: The site is meant for people with STDs, so you become part of a community that understands what you’re going through after a positive diagnosis. This makes users feel more comfortable compared to using a general dating site.
• Blocks suspicious activity: The operators are quick to suspend accounts when they notice suspicious activity or if someone reports another member. This helps keep users safe and limits online bullying. 
• Discovery of possible matches: There are many ways you can discover new matches, so the platform caters to many users’ preferences. Some may prefer talking to anyone, while others want to connect with people in a certain location or would like to measure compatibility by comparing answers to fun games. Information like members’ blogs also helps users showcase themselves and increase the possibility of someone finding them interesting.  
• Be part of a supportive community: On positive dating sites like PositiveSingles, members are understanding of each other’s situations, so users feel welcome and comfortable sooner than on other dating platforms. On PositiveSingles you can even ask users to join you during day-to-day activities if others in your family or network can’t or aren’t willing to. With success stories published on the site, you also have a go-to page if you need some encouragement about whether you’ll ever meet your match.
• Access to information: PositiveSingles proudly claims to provide access to ‘the world’s most comprehensive list of STD care locations’. In addition, you can share additional information you’re aware of based on your treatment or experiences. The platform’s database covers only four countries though, namely the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia.
• Users are active: The need for HIV and STD-positive individuals to connect with like-minded people has resulted in a very active user base. Members publish blogs and regularly use features like first date suggestions, fun questions games, and more. You can also see when users have last been active. This helps you identify who the best possible candidates are, especially if you’re looking for quick responses to your Likes or messages.

❌ What we Didn’t Like

• Design: Many users may like the simple design, but the small text can be problematic. Certain users simply can’t read it on their PC or mobile screens without zooming in. And if you do zoom in to read, it affects how you experience other features on the page.
• Faulty features: Some buttons don’t function as promised or aren’t available at all times. This can affect customer support, privacy, and general user-friendliness.
• Database limitations: It’s very impressive what PositiveSingles has managed to put together in terms of STD-related clinics, treatment centers, and other information. However, those with positive diagnoses outside North America, the UK, and Australia will need to find resources in a different way, since PositiveSingles doesn’t yet offer data from around the globe.

💡 Features

💰  PositiveSingles Pricing

When you sign up for a Premium Membership Plan, you get access to 20 helpful features, including:

• Using search criteria on the ‘Discover’ page to set filters
• Seeing who has viewed and liked you – otherwise their images remain blocked
• Sending messages to anyone and being able to use auto-reply
• Adjusting the privacy settings on your profile
• Browsing by distance
• Having unlimited rewinds
• Customized privacy settings, including choosing who can see your profile
• Use of exclusive emojis
• No limits on Likes and Winks
• Username editing allowed
• Helpful features like the ‘Quick Exit’ button and 24/7 live support
• Chatroom and setting up chatrooms with specific topics

We were surprised though that despite being told during registration that you can change your username later on, we found this is only a paid option. This feels a bit like false advertising.

To help you manage your budget, PositiveSingles offers you three contract options:

• 1 month at $33.99
• 3-month contract at $23.33/month
• 6-month contract at $18.33/month

If other individuals in your network also face the challenge of dating while living with a positive status, you may find their referral program helpful. This enables your friends to get benefit from some days on the Premium package, without paying for it.

📱 PositiveSingles on Mobile

Rooted in Silicon Valley, which is synonymous with high-tech, the brand has clearly focused on creating a quality tech product.

Firstly, using the browser version on your mobile is extremely user-friendly thanks to responsive pages. Shortcuts are easy to reach, whether you’re using one hand or two.

Thanks to the very simple design, you can see a lot of information without scrolling too much.

They also offer apps for Android and iOS users. These have a similar feel to the website.

🤔 How to Use PositiveSingles

PositiveSingles uses technology to enhance security, and this starts even during new members’ registration processes. They monitor your choices, such as the photos you upload, and can prevent you from finalizing your account if they identify suspicious activity. The tips below should help you get your account ready without too many holdups.

Registration

You must register an account before you can view profiles on PositiveSingles. You can make it clear whether you’re joining for social (friendship purposes) only, or relationships too.

On the Home Page, you’ll see a search tool, but this will navigate to a registration page if you haven’t signed up or logged in yet.

The process is fairly simple:

• Sign up using your email address
• Create a password
• Follow the prompts to populate your profile with basic information, including the condition you’re living with

• Upload a photo

We appreciated how easy and almost fun the platform makes it to add your personal details. For example, stipulating your height is done with a slider, and it caters to all users, no matter which country. You don’t even have to switch between the metric and imperial system. Both are clearly showcased already.

Other details you can clarify with a few clicks are:

• Ethnicity
• Relationship status

Another standout feature is adding a profile headline, which is an effective tool to attract attention. It’s much more likely to be noticed than a long bio.

The signup process does force you to upload a photo, which helps make profiles more complete. We like that the upload tool allows you to crop, move, and rotate the picture, which isn’t the case on all dating sites.

The platform definitely wants to manage profile quality and prevent fake accounts because they closely monitor the registration process and upload of images. We were required to verify identity, which you can do with government-issued documentation or a selfie video.

Click on your preferred option, and you’ll be given a URL to use, and be guided through the verification steps.

While we appreciate PositiveSingles’ intent to help keep the platform free of fake profiles, it does complicate sign-up processes as it doesn’t work perfectly. Here is some feedback from our experience:

• The selfie video method doesn’t work well.
• We didn’t receive the verification email to help speed up the selfie video process.
• Verification of your photo can take 24 hours.
• It’s important to select and crop your photos carefully, or they may not be accepted.
• Users may inadvertently cause the system to identify red flags, without really doing anything wrong.
• The verification processes only work on mobile devices. If you’re registering via desktop, it’s bothersome to switch between PC and mobile.

Some of these issues can mean that you’re not allowed to use the platform yet, even though your profile registers. This then also complicates the process of deleting the profile if you don’t want to use PositiveSingles anymore.

If the verification email does reach your inbox, and you type in the correct code, nothing else is required and you can start matching.

Making Matches

It’s clear people on PositiveSingles are eager to engage with others because we received Likes even before we verified our account.

Ways to find potential matches are:

• Home: The Home page has a Facebook feel, as you can view people’s video content that they share. Scroll down and there may be a video that catches your attention as it shows similar interests. You can then like the content or send a comment to initiate interaction.
• Discover: Premium members can use various filters to obtain a list of users you may find interesting and compatible.

We enjoyed trying out the different ways to manage your preferences. They are all user-friendly and make the process fun.

Once you set a new parameter, we found the platform quickly populated your results, with very little lag.

• Flame: This page shows profiles, and you can click on a ‘Like’ heart icon if you’re interested or the ‘pass’ cross to discard. It’s similar to how Tinder works. The basic info, including ‘Living with’ helps you to quickly assess whether they’re relevant to your dating preferences.

• New members: Page through photographs of new signups. This helps long-time users to not miss out on people who join later on.
• ‘Likes You’, ‘Winked at You’, and ‘Viewed You’: You can confidently check out these profiles, as they already showed interest. You’ll find these links on your Home page.

Note that free members see the number of people who have shown interest, but no profile information.

Quick Search: On your Home page, you can use the Quick Search block after setting four basic parameters.

• My Event: Send a request to the community if you’re looking for a companion for a specific event. Even if you just want company while traveling in a new area, or you’re not in the mood to shop alone, let the PositiveSingles community come to your aid. It doesn’t have to be for romance, but you may just meet the love of your life this way.
• Moments and Videos: Create social media-type content to prompt responses from others. You can post text or videos and share them with the PositiveSingles community.

Communicating with Matches

The PositiveSingles has a ‘Messages’ page where you’ll see all your texts from other users. This is also where the platform itself updates you, such as letting you know when your photo has been verified. There are emojis to pick from and you can also attach images.

In addition, you can communicate via:

• Video chats
• Chat rooms, even some on certain topics
• Chat room as an anonymous user

When setting up your profile, Premium members can hide some of their uploaded pictures. If a profile you like has some of these, and you want to find out a bit more about them, request to see their private photos. Simply click on the hidden images on their profile.

Optimize Your PositiveSingles Experience

Throughout the PositiveSingles page designs, you’ll find helpful features to improve your search for a match. Look for these:

• Rewind: Activate a paid membership so you can ‘Undo’ if you accidentally click on ‘Pass’ instead of ‘Like’.
• # of Views and Reset: You’ll know if you’re getting any traction on PositiveSingles thanks to the number of views shown below your photo on your Home page. You can reset the number so you know how many views there have been in a specific period. If the number is low, make adjustments to your profile, like adding a different photo that will spark more attention.
• Notes: On any profile, you can use the ‘Add Private Note’ to type important information about the specific match. This is helpful if you’re chatting with multiple people and want to remember who you had valuable discussions with or who you’re not sure about. Over time, your notes will help reveal the best match for you. You can view these notes from your profile by navigating to ‘Private Notes’ on your ‘Settings’ page.

We also realized the value PositiveSingles brings to members who have faced a positive diagnosis when we saw these features:

• Success stories page: This brings hope to others still looking for their partners.
• Inspirational stories page: While you’re looking for your match, others’ words of encouragement and inspiration can help make the road a little easier.
• Members blogs: Members can learn from and support each other, which people without a positive diagnosis may not be able to do in the same, effective way.
• Care locations: You can find or suggest care centers.
• Advisors: You can ask for guidance on dating, emotional matters, or safety, from a knowledgeable advisor. Both live chat and email are available, but only if you’re a premium member.
• Treatment stories: Feel less isolated in your experiences with your condition, by reading about other people’s experiences of treatment.

👥 General User Experience

PositiveSingles uses a minimalistic design approach, with very little use of color or images, and the text is fairly small. Some people find this text too small to read, especially on mobile device screens.

This theme is quite different from other respected dating sites like eHarmony, but it does serve a purpose. Each page can display lots of information at once, without creating a cluttered feel, and you can focus on users’ images without anything distracting you.

Overall, the navigation is intuitive, and you reach features after only a few clicks. Do make peace with marketing material in the form of popups because they start appearing to free members as soon as you verify your account.

Luckily, they do make it easy to upgrade to a paid profile if you wish, and you’ll clearly see the benefits of doing so.

As mentioned above, there are various pages, from Success Stories to members’ blogs, that help users navigate the world of online dating while living with a positive diagnosis.

The ‘Quick Exit’ button is your safety net to use when you need to protect your privacy. Click the button at the top right of your page and your screen will instantly navigate to a different, random website. You can use it when someone walks past, and you don’t want them to see what’s on your PositiveSingles screen. This is only for Premium members, though. 

🔐 User Safety & Security

The way each profile is monitored, even from the sign-up process (see Registration section above), proved to us that PositiveSingles prioritizes its users’ safety. Furthermore, they’re clear about not selling any information to third-party role players.

As a service provider, PositiveSingles created an end-user service agreement that prohibits members from sharing certain information about other users. Legally, other members can’t publish certain details about you on platforms like social media. If someone does, you can take legal action.

You can keep yourself safe by only engaging with profiles that have verified information. This information is clearly displayed on their accounts.

To help others identify you as a trusted account, make sure your photo gets verified. The moment there’s confirmation of this, it will update the information on your profile.

Even when users share general information like treatment stories, there are safety elements built into the platform. For example, if someone writes about their treatments, but it contains a remedy that medical professionals haven’t verified, there will be a ‘false’ tag at the top of the story. You can still enjoy reading about people’s experiences, but you’ll have insight into whether that treatment has been proven to help or not.

Users may feel safer and more in control by managing who can see their profile information and photos. You can customize settings so that only specific groups, such as men, women, or individuals with the same STD, can access your information. You can even choose to browse anonymously. However, this is only available for Premium members, making the platform less secure for free members.

☎️ Customer Support

When you need some help, firstly, try out the many answers on the FAQ page. They cover a wide range of topics, and a keyword search bar makes it easy to find ones relevant to your current issue.

PositiveSingles displays all its contact methods on its website. One option is to click on ‘Help and FAQ’ or ‘Contact Us’ to navigate to the relevant pages. But we really liked the user-friendly, quick-navigation icons on the right-hand side of pages.

We found the online support very effective, with detailed information in reply to our questions. The feedback appeared within seconds and covered the topic well. However, this button doesn’t appear on every page.

For email responses, to ensure your email is handled quickly and efficiently, you can pick one of many topics for the ‘Subject’ line. Here we appreciated the option of adding attachments, as this makes your message more efficient, especially when reporting a problem.

You can also request live support, but only if you’re a Premium member.

They also share their postal address and just remember to include your email address and username, as this helps them tailor their replies to how you use the platform.

You can add up to four images to clarify your query, complaint, or question.

🎖️ How Does PositiveSingles Compare?

PositiveSingles highlights the value of using an online dating platform that aligns with your specific needs. A platform like eHarmony is ideal for many users, as it offers efficient features to increase the possibility of compatible matches. This takes place by incorporating a personality quiz in the registration process and using the data to suggest compatible matches.

Yes, eHarmony can work for many demographics, including being one of the best sites for the LGBTQ+ community. However, they don’t have features that cater to people living with STDs.

With PositiveSingles you may not have a compatibility quiz, but profiles are information-rich, so you can get a good idea of who you’re starting a conversation with. The many ways you can interact with others, from question games to sharing videos, increase the possibility of engagement with others and meeting someone you want to spend more time with.

Be Positive – Be Happy in Love

Visit PositiveSingles

PositiveSingles Review

Enjoy Compatible Matches, even on Free Membership

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eHarmony Review

🏆 Final Verdict: Is PositiveSingles Right for You?

It’s important to understand that PositiveSingles was created for and caters to a relatively small group of people, especially when compared to platforms like Tinder or eHarmony. However, it has done an impressive job of creating a relevant and safe platform for anyone with an STD. You can also use it whether you’re after friendship or a more serious connection.

For a wider dating pool, you can consider sites with bigger member numbers, such as BiCupid or eHarmony. Just remember that you carry the responsibility of being honest about your diagnosis. The bonus of using PositiveSingles is that you’ll feel more comfortable talking about it since everyone else also understands the challenges of living with such a condition.

Although there are limitations to the free version, it’s worth signing up and checking out PositiveSingles. The supportive community is one feature you won’t easily find anywhere else. 

❓ FAQ