Hinge vs eHarmony: Which Is Better for Guys?

Hinge is the better choice for a man who wants to meet women quickly and can write a few short answers that sound like him. eHarmony is the better choice for a man who knows he wants something serious and is willing to answer a long quiz so the site does the sorting. When people ask how eHarmony compares to Hinge, the real difference is the way each one starts matches and messages. Hinge starts from one thing she wrote, and eHarmony starts from a score. Neither publishes a figure for how many men get dates, so test both.

Hinge shows you women, and a match starts when someone likes or comments on a specific part of a page. It happens when she accepts the Like or Rose you sent, or when you accept a like from your Likes You tab. After that you can chat.

Hinge says a man gets to know a woman through her answers to prompts and personal details such as religion, height and politics. You read something she wrote before you decide, and your like points at it.

eHarmony works the other way round. Every new member takes its Compatibility Quiz. The answers build a Personality Profile and give you a Compatibility Score with every other member. Your Discover list shows members who fit your search preferences, with the score beside each name.

So on Hinge you react to a person. On eHarmony you look at a list and a number first.

At sign-up eHarmony asks what kind of relationship you want, with Casual, Serious or Not sure as the choices. It describes itself as a site for people who know they want a meaningful relationship. A woman who has picked Serious has told you something before you write a word.

Hinge calls itself the dating app designed to be deleted. Its filter by dating intentions is for paid subscribers. On the free version you say it in what you write, and she has to believe it.

Hinge's regular version is free on iOS and Android. Hinge+ and HingeX are optional, and Boosts and Roses can be bought. Free members can send only a limited number of likes each day and see incoming likes one at a time. Hinge+ and HingeX members can send unlimited likes and see all incoming likes at once.

eHarmony starts free with a Basic membership. On its homepage FAQ, a Basic member can take the quiz, view profiles, send and receive initial likes and first messages, and see who visited his page. Premium adds unlimited messaging, all members' photos and the complete Personality Profile. What a package includes depends on the one you choose in the app, so read the screen before you pay.

The practical difference is where you hit the wall. On eHarmony it is messaging and photos. On Hinge it is how many likes you can send in a day.

Hinge limits how many chats can wait on your reply. It calls the rule Your Turn Limits. If too many people are waiting, Hinge stops you sending or receiving likes until you answer one of those chats or end it. Subscribers get the same rule, and Hinge says the point is fewer unanswered messages.

For a man who collects matches and answers none, this is a real problem. For a man who answers every woman within a day, it never matters.

Hinge suits a man with a few specific, interesting things to put on his page. Every match starts from something she liked, so a man who gives her two or three real details has more ways to be liked than a man with one good photo.

eHarmony suits a man who is patient and clear about his goal. A long quiz is a filter on you as well. It rewards a man who will sit down and answer honestly, and it gives a man who hates writing about himself less to do afterward.

It does not suit a man who wants to try ten women in an evening. That is a swipe-app habit, and a score list is built for the opposite.

a dating coach says the biggest decision on any app is how you write your page. A page written like a man after a hookup gets hookups. One that says he wants something long-term gets that. Our view is that your photos carry the same message, and that either site only amplifies it.

a dating coach's rule for choosing an app is that your results depend on whether the women on it are really looking to date. He says that in the US Hinge tends to do better than Tinder, especially in major cities. He does not rank eHarmony against Hinge, so we will not.

What you can do is look. On eHarmony, check whether your Discover list shows women near you with recent photos. On Hinge, see how many women in your age range appear in an evening and whether their answers read as written by a person.

Give each one two weeks with the same photos. Count the women you liked, the conversations that started, the plans you made and the dates you went on.

If Hinge gives you chats and eHarmony gives you fewer but more serious ones, that tells you which kind of man you are being read as. If neither answers, fix your first photo before you change sites. Both let you start without paying, so get the photos and answers right on the free version first.