Founded in 2008 by David Khalil, the Elite Singles dating site has almost cornered the market in online dating for highly educated professionals. It’s aimed at those who are looking for lasting, long-term relationships and takes steps to ensure that that’s what its users get.
A matchmaking algorithm is used to match users with those that most closely fit their personality types and criteria. If you’re looking for love or a serious relationship, Elite Singles helps you invest the right time in the right details to make your searches and connections meaningful.
From its opening personality test to superb customer care, there aren’t many details you could consider as being overlooked. This isn’t for fly-by-night encounters or the casual arrangements offered by other dating sites. Elite Singles’ users are unashamedly looking for something long lasting.
While education is an important factor in the matchmaking process, there are people of all ages, classes and cultures here. You’ll find members looking for Asian dating and Christian dating opportunities, alongside those pursuing mature dating and gay dating.
With around 65,000 new sign-ups and 2million interactions each month, Elite Singles is one of the more popular internet dating sites. However, do you need a degree to use it and is it as inclusive as it sounds? Our own in-depth Elite Singles review puts it to the test.
In case you are interested in more, be sure to check out our ranking table for the best elite professional dating sites!
Our Summary
Elite Singles does seem to attract people from all walks of life, although the common denominator is that they all appear to have achieved a good standard of education. Education is an important part of the personality test, and it can have some bearing on who contacts you and who doesn’t.
However, during the opening questionnaire you can always specify that the levels of education of your potential matches are unimportant. While you might be a highly educated professional, you can leave the doors open to those with fewer qualifications if you wish.
It might sound like barely-concealed snobbery, but Elite Singles doesn’t sell itself as anything other than what it is. This is a site for those in serious online dating, and for whom compatibility is an important consideration.
While this site might advertise itself as an online dating service, it’s probably got more in common with matchmaking sites than anything else. Instead of searching out and contacting other users, you wait for potential matches and profile pictures to be sent to your inbox.
This might put some people off, but for those who are looking for love, letting the matchmaking algorithm do all the work shouldn’t be too much of a problem. In addition, it saves you from going ‘profile-blind’ by spending endless hours poring through profiles.
🆓 Free services and paid-for services
Elite Singles is free to join, but membership brings a better and more comprehensive service. As a guest or free member, you can view the profiles of suggested matches, although you won’t be able to see their profile pictures. These remain blurred until you sign up for a paid subscription plan.
In addition, you’ll get alerts when someone views your profile page, and you have the facility to ‘like’ other users.
On top of that, you can complete and personalise your own profile, all at no extra cost. However, when you subscribe, the services on offer provide you with greater potential to find a compatible match.
As a paying member, you can:
- See profile pictures
- See who has visited your page
- Send messages and receive notifications to let you know when they have been read
- Get 20 ‘Wild Card’ matches each day.
💰 Prices
How much is Elite Singles to join?
While there are plenty of users who take advantage of the free facilities, if you’re serious about finding yourself a long-term partner, subscribing is the only way to go. There are three levels of subscription and, while Elite Singles might cost a little more than other dating sites, it can be worth it. Check out our extensive Elite Singles pricing article for more information!
| Package | Monthly price | Total |
| 3 months – Premium Light | 59.95 NZD / Month | 179.85 NZD |
| 6 months – Premium Classic | 34.95 NZD / Month | 209.70 NZD |
| 1 year – Premium Comfort | 29.95 NZD / Month | 359.40 NZD |
Elite Singles – the Wild Card
Also known as ‘Have You Met?’, the Wild Card function helps you cast your net a little wider. While the majority of Elite Singles’ matches are governed by your personality test, there’s nothing wrong with mixing it up a bit.
As a paid member, Elite Singles will send you between seven and ten ‘wild cards’ a day. These are people who perhaps didn’t quite fit the bill in one or two minor ways. You can then send them a message or a wink and let them know that you’re interested in their profile.
However, if you’re not interested, then press the ‘X’ icon and their profile will be deleted. In addition to the wild cards that Elite Singles will send you, there’s also the opportunity to see up to 20 more.
While they might not be the singles the matchmaking algorithm might have immediately paired you with, there’s no harm in browsing other profiles, just in case Mr or Mrs Right is hidden in the pile.
Your profile
Something that gives Elite Singles the extra edge is the way that your personality profile is presented. All that information you supplied in the personality test isn’t just to feed the matchmaking algorithm.
The results of the test are compiled and put into an at-a-glance profile, which will tell you a little bit about certain aspects of your personality, such as how extrovert or introvert you are and your levels of conscientiousness.
While this information is for your eyes only, it’s a great way to understand a little more about yourself and the way you present yourself to others.
How to pay?
Elite Singles offers three methods for payment: credit card, debit card and PayPal. However, if we’ve got one niggle, it’s to do with the way the subscriptions are charged.
The site gives you a neat breakdown of how much each level of membership will cost per month. Unfortunately, this isn’t how it’s charged, though. Instead of per month, you’ll pay the whole price of the subscription in one upfront payment, which can be a bit of a surprise.
The other thing to watch out for is the auto-renewal process. Towards the end of your subscription period, your membership will automatically renew at the same level, unless you cancel it.
💡 How to reduce costs at Elite Singles?
Services at Elite Singles are either free or they’re not, so there are no hidden extras to think about. The only real way to reduce the Elite Singles cost is to subscribe to one of the longer-term packages. Yes, you’ll pay more in the short term, but you’ll save in the long-term.
📊 Membership structure
You get out what you put in
Elite Singles is aimed at people who want to be matched with others of a similar level of education and who are financially independent. While it can be used by anyone from the age of 18 to seniors looking for mature dating opportunities, the majority of users are between 30 and 50.
The personality test is a possible stumbling point, as it requires absolute honesty to work its magic. The temptation is for new sign-ups to only highlight the better aspects of their personalities, education and finances, which could lead to disappointment should an actual date materialise.
You can specify just how far you’re prepared to travel in your pursuit of a date, which enables you to tailor the distance to within 50 miles of your location or as far as the other end of the country.
Unlike most dating sites, the spread between male and female users is fairly even.
International reach
Diversity isn’t a problem, as Elite Singles has users from around the world, from a variety of backgrounds and countries, including New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. However, the biggest take-up is by users from the United States, Canada and UK.
For those who are more comfortable interacting with a specific ethnicity or are looking for someone from a particular religious belief, age-bracket, or sexual identity, there are options to ensure that you only get profiles from people who match those criteria.
By being honest during the personality test, you can focus on Christian dating, Asian dating, gay dating or mature dating. The test is the key to you finding exactly what you want from your online dating experience.
✍️ Registration
Time needed: 10 minutes.
Because Elite Singles prides itself on matchmaking people with similar intellectual and financial backgrounds, the registration process is much lengthier than for other dating sites. Set aside between 15 and 20 minutes to see it through.
- Signing Up
Go to the website’s homepage
- Basic information about you
Select your gender and the gender of the match you’re looking for, before hitting ‘Get Started’
- Building Your Profile
Next, enter your email address and create a password. Once again, hit ‘Get Started’.
- Matchmaking Personality Survey
You’ll now be taken to the personality test, which is where the work begins. You’ll be asked around 200 questions, some of which are fact-dependent and some of which require you to think outside the box. This can take a while but is an essential part of the matchmaking process.
- Email Verification
Finally, you’ll be asked to verify your email. Once this is done, you can log-in and explore the site.
A huge part of the registration process relies on your honesty. All your answers will be fed into the matchmaking algorithm and will impact on the kind of people you are matched with. Other users don’t see your answers; they are used to find matches that best complement your personality.
📱 User-friendliness and the app
When we decided to conduct our in-depth Elite Singles review, user-friendliness was high on the list of things to test. While many of its users might be highly educated, they might not be tech-savvy and a good online dating site will bear that in mind.
We’re glad to say that the desktop site is easy to use. The navigation bar offers clear routes to things like your profile, inbox and match filters.
Unfortunately, the app doesn’t stand up as strongly. While it’s convenient for on-the-go matchmaking, it lacks the prompts and tips that make the desktop version so easy to use, particularly for first-timers. As a plus, it doesn’t put a strain on your battery, unlike other dating apps.
✉️ Contacting users
Elite Singles was designed with long-term romance in mind and, in some respects, the site mimics the tentative approach to dating offered by the ‘real’ world. Free membership only allows you to send virtual winks to the users of your choice.
Paid-up members have far greater options when it comes to communication. As a subscriber, you can send and receive messages, although guests cannot reply to you, as you can only be replied to by other subscribing members.
The ‘Have You Met?’ feature is another that’s only available to paying users. The matchmaking algorithm will present you with profiles that might not sit entirely within your criteria and you can either send them a wink or delete them from your list.
👍 Pros and cons 👎
What we like
- You can choose between a free membership or good subscription packages
- The in-depth personality test provides intelligent matchmaking services
- Good online safety tools
- The Customer Care team can be reached by either phone, email, or online form
- The app is convenient for on-the-go connections
- Blogs offer expert advice to significantly improve users’ chances of meeting the right person
- Elite Singles has been instrumental in helping to forge around 2,000 serious relationship opportunities each month
What we don’t like
- Not a site for the casual dater
- The personality test is lengthy and can take up to 45 minutes to complete
- The app doesn’t offer the same user-friendly experience as the web-based site, which is a big issue in the age of on-the-go online access
- Unlimited communication is restricted to Premium Members.
🙋 FAQs
Cancelling your subscription is easy, although you must do it before your subscription period runs out. There are four steps you can follow to cancel yours:
Head to ‘My Account’ and hit the ‘Membership’ button
Select the ‘Cancel’ button
Enter a reason for your cancellation, before selecting ‘Continue’
Enter your password and confirm your cancellation, with the ‘Confirm’ button.
Most users are between 30 and 50.
Profile pictures are only blurred for those using the free service. Once you’ve subscribed to aPremium package, the pictures are fully revealed.
If someone is tagged as ‘active’, it means that they are currently online. If they are a Premium Member, this means that they can be messaged, or you can send them a wink. If they are a free member and you are fully paid-up, you can still message them but they cannot reply.
Elite Singles was founded by David Khalil, in 2008. It was originally a subsidiary of his first company, Affinitas. The dating site was launched in New Zealand in 2013 and in 2017 Affinitas merged with Spark Networks, which has increased its reach across 29 countries.
This depends entirely on what you’re looking for. If it’s casual dating and quick hook-ups, then Elite Singles is definitely not for you. However, if you’re interested in finding a serious, long-term relationship, then this is the place to be.
The registration process might be lengthy, and the site might lack the ‘fire’ of other online dating sites, but it’s designed for people who care about personality and intellectual and financial compatibility over looks and one-night stands.
ℹ️ Company information
Website: www.elitesingles.com
Company headquarters:
Spark Networks Services GmbH
Kohlfurter Strasse 41/43
10999 Berlin
Germany
Founder: David Khalil
Telephone: +49 1805 102 147
Email: [email protected]
