Jdate Review
- by
- Matt Marino
- | Updated:
- February 2, 2023
If you’re a Jewish single (or hoping to start a relationship with one), you’ll be glad to know that we’ve discovered a dating app dedicated to making your romantic dreams come true: Jdate.
This Jdate review will take an in-depth look at Sparks Networks’ number one demographically based dating service. The Jewish matchmaker is the most popular niche brand in the online dating conglomerate’s portfolio, a collection of apps that includes Christian Mingle (Christians), Elite Singles (Educated/Successful), and Silver Singles (Seniors).
Jdate is also the top dating service for Jewish singles overall, joined by over 240,000 users in the United States. Its premium membership base falls mostly into the 25-34 and 55+ age groups, skewing slightly older on average than most online dating platforms – especially when they don’t cater to a specific group. But we’ll talk more about Jdate’s members later.
First, our Jdate review will rate the dating app in five different categories and discuss what the service does well and where it could improve. Then we will share a step-by-step guide to becoming a member, from signing up for Jdate, to creating a profile, browsing matches, and communicating with other singles.
Our Jdate review also compares the customer experience before and after upgrading to a premium membership – as well as which features are available for free and which require a paid subscription. You’ll also find detailed descriptions of each of their functions.
Make sure you also check out the selection of Jdate reviews provided by recent customers, so you’ll have a variety of opinions to consider when deciding whether to use the dating app. Finally, at the bottom of the page is some answers to a handful of frequently asked questions. Everything you could ever want to know about the premier online dating platform for Jewish singles is on this page!
So, enough with the introductions — it’s time to figure out if Jdate is worth your time!
Our Jdate App Rating
Jdate is nearly identical to Spark Networks’ other religion-based dating service: Christian Mingle. Signing up and creating a profile is the same. Neither app requires users to answer a lengthy compatibility quiz before receiving their matches, which significantly cuts down on setup time. From the time you enter your email address and password to when you’re browsing Jewish singles in your area takes about five minutes.
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Features | 3.0 |
| Ease of Use | 4.9 |
| Match Quality | 4.5 |
| Cost | 3.2 |
| Active User Base | 4.5 |
Regardless of how you access Jdate, whether it be the website or dating app, the service is extremely simple to use. Both platforms are well-designed and easy to navigate. You’ll immediately know how to browse your matches and communicate. It’s as simple as clicking on pictures of Jewish singles, reading their profiles, and either sending Smiles or messages to the people you like.
Reasons to Join
- High success rate – Jdate is responsible for 52% of Jewish marriages that began online
- Caters to Jewish singles looking for long-term relationships/marriage
- Active membership base of motivated singles
- Offers on- and offline events for members
Reasons Not to Join
- Not for casual hookups and dating
- Demographic focus limits the size of the dating pool
- Must buy a premium subscription to communicate with other members
- Doesn’t use a sophisticated algorithm to determine matches
However, while they’re mostly the same in terms of appearance and features, Jdate scored higher in our ratings.
While the premium membership costs a bit more, the quality of the matches is better, and the user base is more active. During our Jdate review, we met several attractive singles who were communicative and open to going on a date.
Who Is Jdate For?
Jdate is for straight, gay, and lesbian singles looking to make connections with friends or romantic partners. Members can specify that they’re seeking the following relationship types in their search preferences: Friend, Dating, Long Term Relationship, Marriage, Marriage & Kids.
The dating app is marketed toward Jewish singles, but you don’t have to be a member of the tribe to create an account. If you’re not part of the religion, you can also use Jdate to help find a Jewish mate.
The online dating service is also for singles who speak one of the five languages in which Jdate is available: English, Hebrew, French, German and Spanish.
Overview of Jdate
To conduct a thorough Jdate review, we created a profile, uploaded pictures, and wrote a short summary about ourselves – every step required to bring the profile to 100% completion according to the app.
First, we got as much out of the service as possible while using a free membership. We tried a few different search queries, browsed compatible profiles, and sent smiles to some of our matches.
Once we’d tried every feature available without paying, we bought a premium subscription. That unlocked several new benefits and made it possible to exchange messages with other members. We’ll look at each of the membership packages and what they cost below.
Our Jdate review also involved researching the dating app’s membership base. After all, it’s important to know what kind of dating pool you’re joining!
At this point, it’s safe to say we’ve experienced everything Jdate has to offer!
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Site Name | Jdate.com |
| Key Info | • 240,000+ active members • Available in 5 languages • Responsible for over half (52%) of all Jewish marriages that began online • Premium subscribers can send and receive messages with free and paid members alike |
| Cost of Membership | Jdate Cost - Starting at $29.99 a month |
| Free Trial | Start Your Jdate Free Trial Today! |
| Sign Up Time | Profile creation takes roughly 5 minutes |
Free Trial
Most of the Jdate reviews on other sites claim that the Jewish dating app offers free trials. This is incorrect. A real free trial is when a prospective subscriber is given access to premium membership for a short period of time. But first, they provide payment information because if the trial user doesn’t cancel the service before the end of the trial, it’s automatically renewed as a paid subscription.
Jdate allows customers to sign up and create a profile for free, but with significant restrictions. You can find your matches, see their main photo, and read their profiles, but you can’t do much to communicate otherwise.
Free Jdate members can do the following:
- Upload up to 6 photos
- Search the member database
- View daily matches
- Read full profiles
- Only see members’ first picture
- Read and reply to messages sent by paid subscribers
- Send a Smile
- Like LookBook matches
- View your Activity lists (I Viewed, My Likes, Mutual Likes)
Cost of Jdate Membership
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
Jdate sells three premium membership plans. They come in 1-, 3-, and 6-month long packages. The duration of the subscriptions is the only thing that sets the three memberships apart. The premium features are the same regardless of the length.
However, the longer-term plans reduce the cost per month. The only catch is that you must pay the entire membership total upfront. There are no installment plans available.
Still, it’s worth paying for the full six months if you can afford it. Doing so saves you $30 per month compared to renewing your subscription monthly at $59.99.
Auto-Renewal
Heads up! Jdate memberships are automatically renewed when they expire unless you cancel your subscription first. When your plan is renewed, it will be for the same length of time as your previous membership.
Cancel your subscription at any time by going to your Account Settings page on the Jdate website, then click Manage Subscription. Choose “stop your subscription” to turn off automatic renewal. Your plan will end once the current term expires.
If you’re using the Jdate app, you can manage your subscription in Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Jdate Features
To get the most out of Jdate, you need to upgrade to a premium membership. It wasn’t until we subscribed that our Jdate review felt like being a real customer using the service as it was intended. It drastically improved the overall experience of using the matchmaking service for Jewish singles.
Features included with a paid membership:
- All the features available to free users
- Unlimited messaging with paid subscribers
- Receive notifications when your messages are read
- Browse anonymously without notifying profiles you visit
- Hide online status
- Remove your profile from searches and matches
- See all of the other member’s photos
- See who liked your profile
- See who visited your profile
- *See who visited yoMessaging+
*Send messages that can be read and replied to by all Jdate users, even if they don’t have premium memberships
It’s especially important to buy a premium membership if you’re a guy since, more often than not, you’ll be the one sending the first message. Since premium members can send and receive messages with free users, women may be able to get away without upgrading their accounts and still attract plenty of attention from other singles.
Spotlight
| Duration | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 Day | $2.99 |
| 7 Days | $7.99 |
| 30 Days | $19.98 |
Spotlight is an additional feature that can be purchased by both premium and free members. It’s similar to the Boost function seen on other well-known dating apps.
Spotlight highlights your profile with a blue badge, helping it to stand out amongst other members and moving you to the top of people’s browse sections. The added visibility increases your chances of receiving attention from other singles.
Customer Service Information
| User Base | Average Age of Members | Number of Active Members | Visits Per Month | Gender Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight, Gay and Lesbian Singles | 30-50 years old | 240,000 | 180,000 | 53% Men | 47% Women |
Customer support can be found on the Jdate Help page. There you’ll find a database of articles dedicated to various issues related to Accounts, Matches, Messaging, and Profiles. You can either click on one of those four categories to find the article to address your problem or type your topic into the search bar.
If none of the existing articles help to address your issue, the Jdate Help page also features a “Contact Us” button. It will ask you to fill out a customer support form with your email address, the subject of your request, and a detailed description. You can also attach any screenshots or documents that may give the customer service agent a better understanding of your problem. You should receive a response to your ticket within the next business day.
Upon conducting our Jdate review, we were slightly disappointed that there weren’t other methods of contacting the company’s customer support staff. We’d love to see a 24/7 customer service hotline as an alternative to the request form.
Pros of Jdate Customer Service
- Lots of articles with answers to the most common problems.
- The customer request form allows users to submit tickets for topics not covered in the FAQ library.
- Most account issues can be managed on the Account Settings page without needing the involvement of customer support.
Cons of Jdate Customer Service
- No alternative methods of contacting customer service, such as a telephone number.
- Issues submitted via request form are only answered on business days.
- The FAQ section isn’t as robust as some competitors.
Signing Up with Jdate
Signing up with Jdate takes very little time to complete. You can finish your profile and start browsing singles within minutes of creating your account. The process is equally simple on the Jdate dating app and website.
To start, all you do is fill out two basic sign-up forms on the home page. Choose your gender, enter your email address, and set a password. On the next page, you’ll be asked for your name, birth date, and zip code.
After creating your account, Jdate asks you to upload pictures. You must upload at least one to continue with the profile creation process. You can either link your Facebook account and transfer some photos from there or upload them from your computer or mobile device.
Make sure your main photo was taken recently and that it features a clear shot of your face. Try to avoid having other people in the picture to avoid confusion. You can use your other photos to show more of your personality and maybe include some friends and family.
Next, you’re asked for some basic details. This information will be used to calculate your compatibility with other members. After deciding whether to use your first name or a username of your choosing on the dating app, you’ll enter your height, religion, occupation, whether you have and/or want children and your level of education.
Since Jdate caters to Jewish singles, the following options are listed under “Religion”:
- Conservadox
- Conservative
- Culturally Jewish
- Hasidic
- Modern Orthodox
- Orthodox (Baal Teshuva)
- Orthodox (Frum)
- Reconstructionist
- Reform
- Traditional
- Willing to Convert
- Other
You’ll also be asked about synagogue attendance. How frequently do you practice your religion? You can choose one of the following answers:
- Attend synagogue every Shabbat,
- Attend synagogue some Shabbats,
- Attend synagogue on High Holidays,
- Attend synagogue occasionally,
- I’ll tell you later about synagogue attendance, or
- Attend synagogue rarely or never
This section also asks about your adherence to eating Kosher. There are four options available:
- Kosher at home only,
- Kosher to some degree,
- Kosher at home and outside, or
- Not Kosher
Now it’s time to get a little creative! After you’ve filled out your basic details, it’s time to tell your future matches something about yourself. Write a brief summary of why you’re on Jdate and what you’re looking for. Are you searching for friendship or romance? What are you looking for in a partner?
If you get stumped, Jdate offers a link to an article with helpful tips for writing an effective profile summary. Check it out and get some inspiration, then let these singles know who you are!
Don’t worry; the next step is an easy one. All you have to do is choose some interests from a list of different topics and hobbies. The interests are divided into six categories: Sports and Fitness, Activities, Arts and Entertainment, Travel, Music, and Eats and Drinks.
You’re only required to choose one interest, but we recommend doing more. These answers will affect your compatibility ratings. Try to pick a handful of interests in several different categories.
Finally, it’s time to set your search parameters! This is where you decide which singles will appear on your browsing page. You can cast as wide or as narrow of a net as you please. Select the gender you’re seeking, an age range for potential partners, your desired relationship types, compatible religious backgrounds, and an acceptable distance they can live from your location.
You can either stop there or set advanced preferences for more refined matches. You can limit your search based on level of education, synagogue attendance, kosher, smoking and drinking habits, having or wanting kids, willingness to relocate, and marital status.
The pickier you are, the harder it’s going to be to find singles who match your criteria. So, we advise only setting preferences for qualities that are absolute deal breakers.
You’re all set up! At this point, you can either upgrade your membership or start using Jdate for free. If you’re serious about meeting Jewish singles and making connections, we suggest you subscribe first. Click the “Get All Features” link at the top right corner of the page and follow the steps to pay for your premium membership.
You’re officially on the market! All there is to do now is scroll through profiles and look for any singles that catch your eye. If you like their picture, click on them to open their profile page, where you can read more about them and see other photos.
Like what you see? Send them a smile or a personalized message to get the conversation going. This is where the fun begins! Good luck out there!
What People Are Saying About the Jdate
You’ve read what we have to say about the number-one dating app for Jewish single; now, check out some Jdate reviews written by some of the matchmaker’s recent customers. We pulled the following selection of customer reviews from two websites: SiteJabber.com and Trustpilot.com.
We tried to select a range of ratings and opinions that also represent the majority of Jdate’s reviews.
When reading these, keep one thing in mind: people are more motivated to leave reviews for a service or product when they have something negative to say. When everything works as expected, consumers often take it for granted and don’t bother sharing their experiences online. So, we can assume that online customer reviews will always skew negative overall.
Current Jdate Member Comments
Jdate Overall Scores at Customer Review Sites: 1.57 out of 5 on SiteJabber and 3.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot
“Shalom”
“Cons: All of the above are useless if they don’t have many paying members and worse, you have no way of knowing who is a paying member, and only paying members can respond to your letters.
“In my experience, the vast majority of profiles are from non-paying members who at one time paid for their membership but after the initial subscription expired, they decided not to renew. So when you initially do a free search there are seemingly so many profiles to choose from but in reality, there aren’t. You have no way of knowing who can actually read your letters and can respond to them and who can’t. “Furthermore, Jdate will not allow you to mention anywhere in your profile that you are not a paying member - they don’t want potential subscribers (suckers) to know the truth. This policy works well for Jdate as it gives the appearance that they have far more subscribers than they actually do. “So what usually happens is that people join, find people they might be interested in, and write a letter only to get no response because in many cases they contacted someone who can’t even read the letter let alone respond. After dozens of these experiences people choose not to renew but leave their profile up and periodically do a search to see if there are any new faces. What is happening is that many former Jdaters are joining Match which actually has more Jewish people in my area and only paying members can log on - for a lot less money BTW, so the odds of you getting a response are far better. OkCupid is free and also has a lot of Jewish people on it and frequently, I have found that people on Jdate are usually on one of the other two sites often with the same profile name and pictures and therefore easier to contact.
“So until Jdate changes their policy and has a symbol indicating who is an actual subscriber and who isn’t - SAVE YOUR MONEY and search elsewhere.”
Alternatives to Jdate
If you decide that Jdate isn’t the right fit, there are plenty of dating app alternatives worth trying. Here are some alternatives that most readers enjoy.
The online dating services below are all high-quality providers with proven track records of success and similar membership costs. Like Jdate, JWed and JSwipe both cater to Jewish singles.
- eHarmony
- JWed
- JSwipe
- Match.com
- Elite Singles
Jdate FAQ
No, you don’t. Jdate was created for Jewish singles, but there are no religious requirements to use the dating app. Some members aren’t Jewish themselves but desire a Jewish partner.
Of course! Jdate is available in five languages: English, French, German, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Yes, anonymous browsing is one of the many features included in the premium membership. You can also hide your online status and remove your profile from other members’ browsing pages if you so choose.
Yes, but with limited capabilities. You can create a profile, upload up to six pictures, and see your matches. You can read other members’ profiles but only see one of their pictures. Free users can also send smiles, but they can’t read or send messages unless they’re replying to a premium member using Messaging+.
Absolutely – more than most dating apps. 52% of married Jewish couples who met online found each other on Jdate.
Yes. Jdate has numerous safety measures in place, including reviewing every profile update and photo that’s uploaded.
Other members can see the pictures you’ve uploaded, the basic details you entered when setting up your profile, any interests you selected, and your written summary. To view your profile as it appears to other members, click the “Preview Profile” link on your profile page.
Any Jdate member can view your main photo. Only premium members can see any additional pictures you uploaded to your profile.
No, not in the traditional sense. However, Jdate does allow members to use their service for free with limited features. Free users can create a profile, upload pictures, browse members’ profiles, and send smiles.
Yes, you’ll find the Jdate app for free in every major app store.
No, Jdate doesn’t sell its customer’s data.
Definitely! Jdate is the leading dating app for Jewish singles. It boasts an active membership base and unmatched rate of success, responsible for 52% of Jewish marriages that originated online.