Zoosk Review

By Jonathan Hartley Updated on: February 8, 2024 Fact Checked by Emily Thompson

Zoosk is one of the world’s largest and most widely utilized online dating platforms, with an impressive 35 million users spanning 85 countries, and it’s accessible in 25 languages. It caters to a diverse audience, ranging from individuals seeking casual relationships and short-term dating to those interested in forging friendships or simply hanging out.

Zoosk claims to be the “#1 grossing online dating app” in the Apple App Store and has many awards. According to numerous user testimonials, more than 2 million couples owe Zoosk their happy love story. All these factors inspired us to explore this dating service to find out if the claims are true.

To help you determine if it’s a dating site to try, we tested both desktop and mobile versions. We looked at user-friendliness, sign-up processes, and security to give you detailed feedback. Read our review and decide if Zoosk is what you need to find your soulmate or friends!

✅ What We Like

• Extensive audience: Zoosk is a meeting place for over 45 million singles from 80 countries. About 580,000 users are online every day, sending over 3 million messages. We like the impressive number of users, as the chances of finding a perfect match are very high.
• Matches to every taste: Whether you prefer the traditional approach of browsing profiles or the swipe-based experience akin to Tinder or Bumble, Zoosk caters to diverse preferences.
• Swift registration: Users don’t need to complete lengthy questionnaires to log in and start matching. It took us about 7 minutes to insert verification data and fill out profiles.
• Low prices: Zoosk offers four ways to pay for membership, and none of them is costly. For example, you can subscribe for 6 months or a year and pay just $13.35 per month.
• Unique algorithm. The system observes your behavior, likes, and dislikes to present profiles that align with your preferences.

❌ What We Didn’t Like

• Minimal features are available for free: We signed up for Zoosk for free and were disappointed to see that we couldn’t communicate with anyone except by sending pre-written messages. All you can do as a free user is send likes at random and enhance your profile until a premium member sees you and starts a chat.
• Abandoned profiles: Zoosk’s moderators are persistent in the suspension of fake and suspicious accounts. However, there seems to be a lack of attention to inactive profiles. You may like someone or send them a message and not receive any response. More often than not, the reason for being ignored is not you, but the fact that the user has stopped using the platform long ago.

💡 Features

💰 Zoosk Pricing

Though you can browse profiles of users in your area, the limitations of key options may hamper finding perfect matches. Overall, the platform’s free users get access to the following features:

• Profile updates
• Picture uploads
• Liking users’ profiles
• Zoosk Live (for app users only)
• Coin purchasing to unlock some premium functions

Our testing showed that the Zoosk free version is enough only to preview the site and see other members. You can’t send messages or connect with SmartPick™ introductions. All the options become available when you sign up for a paid membership plan.

There is a Premium Membership, which provides access to all of Zoosk’s functions. You can choose a subscription for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months. We noticed that a 6-month membership is more lucrative, as it brings you 58% savings compared to the other plans. The cost of your Zoosk monthly subscription changes periodically. Here’s the current pricing information for February 2024:

You may also want to buy Zoosk Coins to add some boosters to your profile. Coins are the virtual currency that opens your way to some premium features, for example:

• Boosting your account in search results
• Checking if someone you like has read your messages
• Hiding your profile for 30 minutes
• Sending virtual gifts

The 2024 prices are listed in the table below.

You can purchase coins and pay for your membership with your Visa, Mastercard, or AmEx, or PayPal.

📱 Zoosk on Mobile

Zoosk is a state-of-the-art service, and having an app is to be expected. The application is available on both iOS and Android, and we tested it on various devices.

The navigation is intuitive, and the layout is user-friendly. Desktop users should feel comfortable when they switch to mobile applications, as the interface is similar. The app grants access to all desktop features, including SmartPick™, with real-time data synchronization. The more frequently you use the platform, whether it’s through the app or the official website, the better your matches will be.

🤔 How to Use Zoosk

Signing up for Zoosk is a breeze, and the platform is user-friendly. We noticed that the platform prioritizes a user’s personality rather than their appearance in terms of profile creation. We tell you about the process in detail.

Registration

You can start to set your dating goals the moment you sign up. Provide your gender, the gender of your match-to-be, your date of birth, e-mail, and password. Also, you can onboard at once via your Facebook or Google account.

The next steps are the following:

• Provide your city or a ZIP code. Zoosk needs it to verify your location and never shows this data to other users.

• Download your photo from your device or your Facebook account.

• Specify if you have kids.

• Detail the key personal aspects, including your appearance, ethnicity, and education level.

• Wait until Zoosk sends you an activation link and completes the registration.

When you log in successfully, you may complete the other sections of your profile. Zoosk offers you the opportunity to tell other users about yourself, express your interests, describe your perfect match, and write some words about your dream date.

Now, your profile is ready. You can look through the profiles of the other daters and hope someone special shows interest.

Making Matches

Zoosk users can search for a partner by setting criteria, including body type, length, age, location, etc. The platform offers three key methods that can provide success:

• Behavioral Matchmaking: It is a unique technology, also known as SmartPick™, that allows you to apply machine learning principles to the dating sphere. Zoosk collects and analyzes your likes and dislikes and gradually refines its match suggestions. You’ll receive one potential match daily, and you can accept or decline it.

• Manual Browsing: The entire user pool is available to you on Zoosk, so you can search for matches manually. The system displays daters’ photos along with their age and location, allowing you to decide whether to skip or take a closer look at a profile.

• Carousel: It is a swipe-style feature. Zoosk will show you profile pictures in turn, and it’s up to you how to react. You can give the photo a green checkmark if you like it, a red cross if you don’t, and even a gold star if you find the profile very appealing. If two users mark each other with a green checkmark, Zoosk sends them notifications. That’s a good reason to start chatting.

Communicating with Matches

Before writing to anyone on Zoosk, you can check if they are online or have been there recently. A green dot appears next to the profile when a user is logged in, and it turns blue when the user is not logged in.

Likes and messages are often the quickest way to show interest on the best dating sites and apps and it’s similar with Zoosk. Additionally, Zoosk offers more options to make your communication with other members more interesting:

• Zoosk Live: It allows users to join streams, send messages, join communities, and gain followers.
• Boost: This option lets you rise above other Zoosk users on profile pages. Your profile will appear at the top of the search results and Carousel. You need Coins to boost your profile.

• Gifts: You can send a virtual gift to someone special if you feel that it deserves the cost of your valuable Coins.

• Hide & Seek: The paid feature allows three levels of your profile visibility. ‘Hide’ means that only the users you write to will see it. ‘Seek’ is for complete visibility. ‘Sneak’ level means that your profile is visible, but other users don’t see that you view them.

• Super Send: This paid feature allows you to introduce yourself to multiple singles at once. You can select a message to break the ice, and Zoosk will send it to other members on your behalf. If someone is interested in getting to know you better, they can reply to your message, and you can start a conversation.

• Instant Crush: It is a special Carousel option that helps to show interest. There is an Undo feature that allows you to wind back and say ‘yes’ to a user you said ‘no’ to before.

Optimize Your Zoosk Experience

There are minimal but effective ways to draw more attention to your Zoosk profile:

1. Upgrade your profile: Take the time to provide detailed information about yourself. Information is often the best way to make somebody feel interested.
2. Add quality photos: Zoosk provides strict image guidelines and favors clear, bright, and full-body pictures. Try to follow them to have fewer issues with their approval. Once they’re up, they’ll draw more eyes to your profile.
3. Try Zoosk Coins: Zoosk offers many features like ‘Boost’ or ‘Hide & Seek’ for its virtual currency. They don’t cost much, so spend a little from time to time to make your search more engaging.

👥 General User Experience

We liked both the desktop and mobile versions of Zoosk. They are clear, all the elements are clearly visible, and the matchmaking options are easy to use. However, the app design seemed slightly outdated, but it’s not a problem, as the user-friendliness is impressive.

We also found the combination of traditional browsing and trendy swipe-style methods offered in Carousel very appealing.

🔐 User Safety & Security

User safety is a strength of Zoosk. The platform employs several security measures to protect users against fake profiles and scams. For example, there are four ways of verification:

1. Social Media Pages: You may provide your Facebook or Twitter account when you are signing up. Zoosk connects to it and checks if you are who you say you are.
2. Phone number: The system asks a user to provide their phone number for mobile onboarding. You can enter the app by inserting the SMS code Zoosk will send you.
3. Email verification: Check your mailbox after you provide the sought-after personal details. The system will send an activation link for access to the website if your profile is trustworthy, according to Zoosk algorithms.
4. Photo verification: We found this measure a little challenging, yet it is reliable. There is a Verify Photos section in both desktop and mobile versions of Zoosk. If you opt for it, the system will ask you to record a short video of yourself and submit it. Then, your video goes to Zoosk’s moderators, who review and verify it. If you do everything properly, you will receive an appropriate email, and a green Photo Verified badge will appear next to your photo. So, other users can see that you are a reliable dater, which increases the chances of receiving likes and messages.

☎️ Customer Support

There are two ways to get assistance from Zoosk:

• A contact form where you can write about the issue and ask for support or advice. This option provides direct contact with Zoosk Customer Care. We saw some testimonials describing Zoosk’s customer support as unresponsive. However, our experience showed that it was rather quick and effective because we got an answer to our question in 10 minutes.
• FAQ section. The platform collects obvious, the most popular, and even obscure questions, divided into thematic sections. You need just a few seconds to find what you need. Just utilize the search field to find the answer, or look through the main topics that address basic user questions.

There is no phone number, mail, or live chat on Zoosk. However, we liked the contact form and believe it’s sufficient.

🎖️ How Does Zoosk Compare?

Zoosk is a dating app that caters to various types of dating. However, as we noticed when browsing Zoosk’s profiles, most of the users seek strong and committed relationships. From this point of view, we think it would be interesting to compare it to eHarmony, a well-known site for singles wanting serious relationships, and see the differences.

The main matchmaking target is what usually differentiates dating sites from each other.  eHarmony is designed as a platform for those who are looking for long-term relationships, while Zoosk offers a little bit of everything – casual dating, friendship, and more. So, we believe eHarmony meets your wants and needs if you desire to build strong relationships.  If your choice is “don’t know yet” or “nothing serious,” Zoosk is an option.

The other obvious differences include:

• Matchmaking algorithms: The eHarmony members are to complete a comprehensive quiz. It consists of 150 questions about your personality, hobbies, values, passions, and dating goals to help the algorithm select appropriate matches for you. Zoosk doesn’t provide any extensive questionnaires for daters. You rely on SmartPick™ and your intuition when browsing multiple profiles.
• User experience: eHarmony users complete a 20-minute quiz, set a membership plan, and the platform sends them the most compatible matches, selected according to the results, every day. In Zoosk, you scroll through profiles on your own. Your matches are related to your personal perspective, as SmartPick™ focuses on your preferences.
• Background check: eHarmony provides human verification to protect its members from spam, catfishing, or indecent behavior. Zoosk doesn’t have this feature, but its safety algorithms help to detect and suspend suspicious accounts instantly.
• Pricing: Zoosk paid membership is cheaper than what eHarmony offers. However, its users require more time and effort to find a perfect match.

Smart Dating, Discover Your Perfect Match

Visit Zoosk

Zoosk Review

Enjoy Compatible Matches, even on Free Membership

Visit eHarmony

eHarmony Review

🏆 Final Verdict: Is Zoosk Right for You?

From our perspective, Zoosk stands out as a contemporary platform with a clear and modern interface, innovative features, and a large user base. SmartPick Technology uses your preferences to find profiles you’ll like, increasing your chances of finding compatible matches.

Both Zoosk’s desktop and mobile versions are flexible and user-friendly. As the platform prioritizes safety through various verification methods, its members can feel safe and enjoy their dating experience. We still find considerable restrictions for free users. However, it doesn’t diminish the efficiency of the service, as it has assisted millions of users already.

To sum up, Zoosk is a viable choice for both seasoned online daters and newcomers. You sign up and make your dating choices on your own, and then SmartPick Technology helps you find great matches. Whether you’re seeking a lifelong partner or casual fun, the platform provides comprehensive assistance.

❓ FAQ