We recently conducted a thorough evaluation of Chemistry in order to present this review. We are certain that you will be intrigued by what we found. Here is our Chemistry.com review.

— Pros and Cons of Chemistry.com —

Pros

• Robust and detailed profiles
• Active membership of over 13 million
• Backed by match.com
• Incredibly precise matchmaking engine

Cons

• Communication functions require a paid membership
• Initial sign-up can take over an hour
• No mobile app

— Full Chemistry.com Review—

The date — one of the most basic forms of social interaction in our modern world. It is often taken for granted to the point where we overlook how complex of a ritual it actually is. When you are serious about meeting someone for a long-term relationship, you will inevitably become aware of this fact. Everything develops a greater degree of importance. Where can you meet compatible partners? How can you know if they are genuine? Do they share your goals and values? Do they want the same things out of life as you do? Honestly, the list of questions is endless. So too are the insecurities.

The majority of singles look at online dating sites merely as tools to meet people superficially. Others are incredulous to the potential that dating sites have to offer in terms of finding a serious relationship — they view them strictly in terms of casual hookups.

The reality is that there are dating sites that go well beyond the generalized perception that the public has of them. Sites, such as Chemistry.com, combine human behavioral science and technology to hone and perfect the modern human mating ritual — the date.

— What Sets Chemistry.com Apart —

Everything about Chemistry.com is designed with assurance and stability in mind. Even its welcome page is formatted to give new visitors transparency in their process. Chemistry.com focuses on the fine nuance that exists in human attraction. Through the use of detailed questionnaires aimed at developing in-depth profiles of each of its members, Chemistry literally takes into account those hormone-based and emotionally-based drivers that lead to attraction. Effectively, what Chemistry.com is doing is walking you through the first layer of buffers that appear when the attraction process is barely getting underway.

These buffers may be intuitive — nature’s way of protecting you from a bad match. Others may be self-imposed and act more like barriers and inhibitors to meeting the right person. By using a comprehensive set of profile-sensitive algorithms, Chemistry is able to get beyond the buffer zone and bring two highly compatible people together. This is likely what gave rise to one of the tag lines used by Chemistry, “making your first date seem like your second.” In other words, Chemistry is designed not just to find compatible partners, but also to “fast-track” the romantic bonding.

While this may sound complex — and in a way it is — it doesn’t mean that it’s an errant system. Quite the contrary. The Chemistry.com method of matchmaking was created by an acclaimed anthropologist and human behavior expert, Dr. Helen Fisher. With more than 30 years of study and research in the wonders of romantic attraction, her architecture for the matchmaking engine in Chemistry.com is impressive.

— Registration Process —

One thing that you should prepare yourself for when registering on Chemistry is that it is time intensive. The basics of setting up an account are simple enough — gender, age, location, valid email, etc — however, building your profile and responding to the questionnaires will take time. In our case, it took us just shy of an hour. While tedious, in our opinion it is worth the effort.

— The Chemistry.com Questionnaires —

The profile building phase is divided into four sections. The first part is called “My Personality.” It consists of a mixture of multiple choice questions and image matching slides. We won’t lie, at moments it does make you feel as if you were undergoing a psychological evaluation. Perhaps, in a way, you are — but the effort pays off.

The second part is labeled as “About Me.” This section is not as arduous as the first. It involves providing information about your physical attributes and background. Some of you might find some of the questions “nosy,” but we found that by being as honest as possible in this section, the match results will be greatly improved.

The third section is known as “About My Match.” This allows you to create a detailed image of the person that you are seeking. In practical terms, it is the “About Me” section focused on your ideal partner. The final section is called “In My Own Words. This is a freestyle text section. You must write something about yourself, your outlook on life or what you seek in life. It must be at least 200-characters in length, but not longer than 2,000-characters.

When you finish with the questionnaires, the Chemistry.com system will assign you one of four personality types. This will appear on your official profile page. The four possible descriptors are: explorer, director, negotiator, and builder. You also receive a detailed analysis of your dating personality explaining to you what other personalities you are compatible with and why. We found this level of reporting highly insightful — useful even beyond the sphere of the website.

— Chemistry.com User Experience and Features —

Free members on the site can use the vast majority of the site’s functionality with the exception of the communication modules. While this will prevent you from engaging directly with other members, it does allow you to build your profile and gauge the power of the matchmaking engine. Even before paying for a membership we were impressed with the quality of the matches that we were receiving on our profile page. The matches were all people that we would genuinely be interested in.

The user interface itself is not the most modern-looking, but it is intuitive to use, easy to navigate and surprisingly fast. If any of you are familiar with Match.com, you will find the Chemistry user interface to be quite similar. This should not come as a surprise, considering that Chemistry is owned and operated by Match.

One of the coolest set of features on Chemistry.com are the “Chemistry Starters.” These are designed to function as ice breakers with your matches. A good example is the fortune cookie. This shows the both of you a fortune. You are then meant to describe how the fortune applies to you and compare answers. Trust us, it can create for some very detailed and profound conversations.

— Paid Membership on Chemistry.com —

After exploring the powerful matchmaking engine and the effectivenesses of its results, you will undoubtedly want to upgrade to a paid membership so that you can start communicating with your matches. A monthly membership for Chemistry will cost you $13.99. If you purchase six months in advance, you only pay a total of $38.94.

On some sites, we recommend that you start off with a single-month plan. In the case of Chemistry, however, we are confident that you will find it to be such a useful tool, that paying for the six months and banking the savings is the course of action that we recommend.