Depending on your age, you may remember eharmony ads featuring a white-haired, bespectacled man. That was Dr. Neil Clark Warren, who started eharmony with his son way back in the late 1990’s

Believe it or not, eharmony is still going strong in 2022. So, you may be wondering: “Is eharmony a good option for online dating?”

Well, that depends on what you’re looking for. Keep reading to learn more about eharmony and find out whether it might be a good option for you!

Pros

User base of millions
#1 trusted dating app (2020 survey)
High success rate
High-quality dating pool
Equal balance between men and women
User-friendly site and app

Cons

Quite limited free trial
More costly than many dating sites
Not great for casual dating or hook ups
Intensive sign-up process

How Does eharmony Work?

eharmony was the very first dating site to leverage algorithms. The idea, which is now touted by all different dating sites and apps, was to use algorithms to help match people up. So, from the beginning, it’s been all about compatibility with eharmony (which also explains the name).

To get started, you’ll essentially have to provide eharmony with lots of information. This is so it can feed its algorithm and hopefully get you matched up with people who will be a good fit for you. 

If you are hoping to get going right away with a dating app, then eharmony is probably not for you. There sign-up process is rather intensive and will require some patience. There is an option that allows you to use your Facebook, which helps speed things along, but you may have privacy concerns about that.

Once your basic profile is complete, you’ll then take the eharmony compatibility quiz. It’s important that you take it seriously as this will be the primary way that the site matches you with others. If you take your time with it, it might take you up to a half an hour or so.

eharmony uses the compatibility quiz in order to give you a “compatibility score” when looking at other people on the site. Anything above 60 is considered decent, with anything above 100 considered ideal (especially above 110).

If you’re a bit of a nerd (like we are), the eharmony site is really cool because it gives you super in-depth results into your compatibility with others. This way you have specific information at your fingertips that you can use as part of the sorting you do.

What’s It Like Using eharmony For Free?

eharmony has a halfway decent free trial. On the weekends, you can actually use most the site’s features for free. This is pretty cool for checking out the site without shelling out a bunch of cash.

That said, if you start some conversations with people on the weekend, you may very well want to continue them during the week. This is, of course, exactly what eharmony is banking on. (All dating sites/apps use this strategy.)

If you aren’t subscribed, you can’t even view photos during the “free communication” weekends, which will definitely a letdown for many people. 

How Much Does eharmony Cost?

Over the years, eharmony has changed how they do memberships. There used to be different tiers, and these tiers would grant you different features. Now, all the memberships give you all the features, it’s just a matter of how long your membership lasts. The longer the membership, the better dollar-per-month value you’re getting.

Premium Light – 6 months (~$66 per month)
Premium Plus – 12 months (~$46 per month)
Premium Extra – 24 months (~$36 per month)

As you can see, you can save up to $30 per month by going for a 2-year subscription over a 6-month one.

That said, eharmony is well known for the quality of its matchmaking and success stories, so you should hopefully not need more than a 6- or 12-month membership.

Lastly, be sure to keep your eyes peeled because eharmony offers discounts fairly frequently throughout the year. 

Is eharmony Worth It?

eharmony is the oldest online dating site, and it has the success stories to help explain this longevity. Ultimately, any dating site is only “worth it” insofar as you feel you get good bang for your buck. While eharmony may cost you a few more bucks than other dating sites, it tends to have a higher quality dating pool and a top-notch system for matching. Seeing as these are arguably the two most important qualities for finding your soulmate, it’s probably worth spending the extra money. 

Ultimately, however, only time will tell if eharmony is worth it for you. And if you are looking for casual dating and hook ups only, then eharmony is probably not worth your time and money. (There’s always Tinder, after all.) 

Is eharmony Legit?

eharmony is 100% legit, even featuring an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau (many dating sites have an “F” grade). It’s the longest-running dating site for a reason and it also does a pretty good job combatting bots and scammers. You don’t really have too much to worry about using eharmony so long as you use common sense. 

Last Thoughts on eharmony

eharmony has serious longevity—over 25 years now. Given the number of success stories, it may be very well worth a shot. Plus, seeing as there’s a free trial, you don’t really have too much to lose!

If you’re looking for something serious, eharmony is definitely worth considering. But if you’re looking for something casual, then you should probably try Tinder or another more casual dating-focused app. 

FAQ

Does Anyone Still Use eharmony?

Yes! While eharmony has no doubt lost some of its user base to sites such as Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, it has had solid staying power. Thanks to its high-quality matching algorithms, many people have found dating success with eharmony. This likely explains why people continue to use it, given that word-of-mouth is an important source of customers for any business. 

Is eharmony Actually Good?

There’s a reason that eharmony has a strong reputation when it comes to dating sites. After all, it’s well known for successfully matching people up for serious, long-term relationships.

In any case, eharmony is also highly trusted, even coming in first place in a 2020 survey on the subject. Plus, eharmony has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau, far better than most dating sites and apps. 

What is eharmony Success Rate?

While it is hard to have exact numbers, eharmony itself has a report that gives some of these statistics. If you take them at their word, nearly 75% of people on eharmony have found their eventual spouse within one year of joining. That’s pretty remarkable. 

How Old Is The Average Person On eharmony?

As of 2021, here were the age statistics on eharmony:

Under 30 -> 25%
30-49 -> 48.6%
50+ -> 26.5%

As you can see, nearly half of eharmony members are between 30 and 50. This might help explain why eharmony tends to have a more serious and sophisticated feel to its community.

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Over the course of 24 years and nine full-length studio releases, drone-metal outfit Sunn O))) have cultivated a lofty mystique. In fact, their reputation often precedes them: you’ve probably heard the lore of their 120-decibel live shows, with their glacial cadences and bone-rattling soundscapes. But their first Chicago appearance since a 2019 stint at Rockefeller Chapel is the local debut of a new endeavor called Shoshin (初心) Duo. This project pares Sunn O))) down to its founding members, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, for a maximalist display of volume, harmonics, and distortion. Shoshin is the Buddhist concept of learning with a “beginner’s mind,” surrendering preconceived notions in favor of openness and radical zeal. This approach bears a natural kinship with the modus operandi of Sunn O))). They’ve explored the outer limits of what a guitar-amp-pedal rig can achieve, pushing listeners to reconsider what music can and should be. 

Buddhism has been a frequent theme in Sunn O)))’s work in recent years, and it’s a personal source of inspiration for O’Malley. On 2015’s Kannon, Sunn O))) used equally jolting and spellbinding compositions to explore the transformative power of suffering through the lens of the Buddhist goddess of mercy. When they began tracking 2019’s Life Metal at Chicago’s Electrical Audio, O’Malley and Anderson pursued a daily practice of setting aside 12 minutes at the beginning and/or end of each studio session to explore the limitations of a single modal drone. That methodical cultivation of calmness, akin to yoga or meditation, informed the contemplative, expansive music they released on the sister album to Life Metal, called Pyroclasts. However Shoshin Duo materialize, one thing is certain: it’ll be a full-body experience. Whether it leans more toward exorcism or meditation, only time will tell.

Sunn O))) Shoshin Duo Ready for Death and Deep Tunnel Project open. Tue 12/13, 9 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $32, VIP $77-$432, opera box (six tickets) $360, 17+

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I try not to lose myself in hyperbole, but I’m guessing Tom Whalley’s Jack Off the Beanstalk (a bawdy take on the classic British “panto”) is the only play this holiday season where the cow steals the show. 

Fist the Cow (Tyler Callahan), the bovine possession of the titular Jack Clapp (Joe Lewis)—whom Jack naively sells off for a proverbial “fuckton of gold pieces”—makes their rousing entrance several minutes into the show. Their (Fist’s pronouns suggested they are nonbinary) dialogue consists of moos but their facial expressions—ranging from the confused to the imperious—and provocative dancing make them the real Greek chorus. 

Jack Off the Beanstalk Through 12/18: Wed-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, PrideArts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, 773-857-0222, pridearts.org, $35 ($30 students/seniors), recommended 18+

PrideArts, after kicking off this season with the lovely musical drama Girlfriend (also featuring Lewis), does a real 180-degree turn with the ribald story of Jack’s attempts to save his farm and village from the Vagiant and its villainous henchman, Fleshlight (Neill Kelly), wooing Princess Jill (Anna Seibert) along the way.

The plot is threadbare, but the spirited cast, under the direction of Bryan McCaffrey, is having fun. Jack Off the Beanstalk is sturdy enough to string together 100 minutes of vulgar jokes, bad puns, musical numbers, and rude props—the creators get more use out of a double-headed sex toy than anyone in the audience would have ever thought possible. The audience participation contest is in refreshingly bad taste too. 

With no room for sentimentality and only a few Christmas carols shoehorned in, Scrooges will love the lack of holiday treacle. Still, the show includes a sing-along to the best version of “Jingle Bells” ever, with new R-rated lyrics suggested for the relatives you hate, which alone is worth the price of admission.

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Last night A Magical Cirque Christmas opened at CIBC Theatre (18 W. Monroe), starring magician Lucy Darling (aka Carisa Hendrix) as hostess. Hendrix’s alter ego is a 1920s-style screwball dipsomaniac with a special talent for making bottles of booze and cocktails appear and disappear. She’ll be joining a lineup of circus artists in this family-friendly show, which also features a playlist of favorite holiday songs. It runs through 12/11 (Wed 2 and 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM); tickets are $16-$96 at broadwayinchicago.com. (KR)

Here’s some music options for tonight, with links to coverage from our music writers:

Third Coast Percussion brings Rituals and Meditations, a program featuring three world premiere compositions by contemporary composers, to DePaul University’s Holtschneider Performance Center tonight. The concert opens with a performance of Triple Point, a work created by Chicago composer and bandleader Ayanna Woods in 2017 when Woods participated in the ensemble’s Currents Creative Partnership program. (7:30 PM, 2330 N. Halsted, $27-$52 with discounts for members and students with valid ID, all-ages, tickets at DePaul’s box office site)
Post-punk and darkwave band the Soft Moon, led by California singer-songwriter Luis Vasquez, plays the Metro tonight, and Reader contributor Noah Berlatsky previewed the show and the Soft Moon’s latest album, Exister, for our latest issue. Nuovo Testamento and DJ Scary Lady Sarah open. (8 PM, 3730 N. Clark, $26, 18+, tickets at Etix)
Blind Boys of Alabama bring their Christmas Show to City Winery tonight. The living legends of gospel music have collaborated with artists from multiple genres throughout their careers, and were nominated for a Grammy this year for their single with banjo player Béla Fleck, an interpretation of the Civil Rights Movement anthem “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” originally popularized by Nina Simone. (8 PM, 1200 W. Randolph, $45-$68, all-ages, tickets at the venue’s website)
DJs Ron Carroll and Alan King bring Afro Disco night to Celeste in River North; expect deep house in a cocktail lounge atmosphere. (9 PM, 111 W. Hubbard, no cover but food or drink purchase is expected, 21+) (SCJ)

Feeling misaligned and unready for the end of the year? A sound bath meditation session might be in order. It’s a sonic immersion into the sounds of drums, gongs, crystal singing bowls, and other instruments which create a wall of vibration that many feel help center their energy. You can just do this at home by turning the stereo up, to some extent, but the people of Mecca Elevated are offering a fancier sound bath experience tonight at Cerise, the rooftop bar at Virgin Hotel Chicago (203 N. Wabash). A $40 entry fee gets you a fully guided meditation experience (bring your own yoga mat and/or blanket to lie down on) along with a post-sound bath complimentary cocktail. Tickets for this 6:30 PM event are available at Eventbrite, and there’s a second session scheduled for Wed 12/21 if the stars don’t align for you tonight. (SCJ)

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Shakespeare was queering the narrative before that term even existed. So it makes sense that Midsommer Flight’s seventh annual production of Twelfth Night at the Lincoln Park Conservatory goes all-in on genderqueer playfulness this year—especially with queerness under attack from so many quarters. 

Bex Ehrmann’s staging amid the purple-and-lavender Nutcracker-themed decorations in the conservatory’s Show House Room features a cast with several trans and nonbinary performers. It’s also a streamlined and smart take on the story of Viola, a survivor of a shipwreck that she believes took the life of her twin, Sebastian. Upon arriving on the coast of Illyria, she disguises herself as Cesario, a boy servant in the home of lovelorn Duke Orsino, who seeks the hand of Olivia, who is also mourning the death of a brother and wants none of the duke’s expressions of ardor. 

Twelfth Night Through 12/18: Thu-Sun 7:30 PM, Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 Stockton Dr., midsommerflight.com, pay what you can

But she does find herself drawn to Cesario, and in Ehrmann’s telling, Viola (Maddy Shilts) is also more intrigued by her anagrammatic double, Olivia (Ebby Offord), than by the somewhat stuffy and presumptuous Orsino (John Drea). “Tell me what you thinkst of me,” Offord’s Olivia asks Shilts’s Viola, to which the latter replies, “That you do think you are not what you are.” It applies just as well to Viola herself.

Amid the growing awareness of their attraction for each other, the show also features the delightful comic plotting of Reginald Hemphill’s aptly named Sir Toby Belch and Travis Shanahan’s hapless Sir Andrew Aguecheek against Rusty Allen’s stuffed shirt Malvolio, manservant to Olivia, and the comic and musical stylings of North Rory Homewood’s observant jester, Feste. A preshow songfest, featuring quirky numbers like Sandi Thom’s “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair”) lets the entire ensemble show off their musical skills.

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There are two Christmas pantomimes based upon 19th-century fables currently playing on Chicago stages, and unless Mary Zimmerman has been up to some dramatic retooling, it’s safe to assume this is the only one that features crotch sparks. Producer Jaq Seifert’s cheeky, irreverent holiday-themed burlesque revue returns for its sixth edition and first back from a two-year pandemic hiatus, this round in a nightclub-styled space upstairs at the Greenhouse Theater Center.

The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque Through 12/31: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Sat 12/31 9 PM, no performances Sat-Sun 12/24-12/25; Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-404-7336, thebuttcrackerburlesque.com or greenhousetheater.org, $30-$50 general admission (industry and SRO $20, VIP $75-$100, which includes stageside table, private VIP bar, meet and greet with artists, and show merchandise); NYE $60-$100 general admission, $150-$200 VIP. 18+ (21+ to drink)

If a glitzy, rouged, politely horny retelling of Tchaikovsky’s ballet seems like an odd bird of a holiday theater offering, knowing its debut home—the defunct Uptown Underground space, operating today as The Baton Show Lounge—may help contextualize it as the high-energy, campy cabaret offering that it is. This year’s iteration, featuring set design by Gabrielle Strong and lighting by Samuel Stephen, does a remarkable job of transferring that essential lounge bar vibe to what is otherwise a traditional theater black box venue.

Director Miguel Long’s production, with choreography by Dylan Kerr, works hard to earn a spot on the naughty list, but there’s no denying it runs off a heart of gold, serving up pasties and feather fans and risquéness without raunch. Long’s Buttcracker is an inviting and joyfully queer experience that celebrates beards and heels and tits and bellies and butts in any and all combinations, then decks them in holly. Elena Avila (Clara), Olivia Lindsay (Buttcracker), and Claire Francescon (Drosselmeyer) make for charismatic guides, and the show’s lineup promises a rotating billing of magicians and circus acts and dancers.

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Playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon wrap up their Pride and Prejudice fan fiction trilogy with Georgiana and Kitty, once more bringing to the center of the action characters peripheral in Jane Austen’s book. In this case, we’re dealing with the sister of Mr. Darcy and the youngest of the Bennet sisters. Naturally, the story is a romance, but it’s also something of a feminist tract as it focuses on Georgiana’s musical gifts and her determination that they not be dismissed just because she’s a woman. And naturally, Darcy (fiercely embodied by Yousof Sultani) can be counted on to interfere with her happiness, whether personal or professional.  

Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley Through 12/24: Wed 1 and 7:30 PM, Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2:30 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 PM; also Tue 12/20 7:30 PM and Fri 12/23 2:30 PM, Sat 12/24 2:30 PM only; open captions and ASL interpretation Fri 12/16, open captions and audio description Sat 12/17 2:30 PM; North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-673-6300, northlight.org, $30-$89 ($15 students pending availability)

As with every rom-com, the plot is not the point, and the only longueurs occur when our heroines insist on attention to their project rather than their relationships. This is particularly the case with Georgiana (the adorable Janyce Caraballo) and her painfully shy beau Henry Gray (Erik Hellman, so delightfully awkward that it’s easy to imagine the audience feeling as smitten as Georgiana). When Henry disappears for most of act two and the Women’s Music Society takes his place, even devout feminists might miss him. And the wooing of Kitty (Samantha Newcomb, charming and suitably bossy) by Thomas O’Brien (Nate Santana, just as charming and cheerfully feckless) goes from flirtation to marriage during intermission, which seems like a false economy.

But these quibbles are beside the point, as the play is a thoroughly finished product co-commissioned by Northlight and theater companies in Minneapolis and California and enjoying a rolling world premiere at each of them. Marti Lyons’s production, particularly the music by Christopher Kriz which holds such a central role in the love story, is impeccable. You don’t need to have seen the other plays to enjoy this one, though if you have you’ll enjoy the notion that the others are taking place simultaneously, just offstage. That makes Christmas at Pemberley a sort of dramaturgical layer cake—a delicious one.

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