Lavalife Review

If you are looking for an online dating service that is aesthetic, modern, minimalistic in design, and filled with useful features, Lavalife is an excellent choice for you. Currently, this platform is serving over 1.7 million users across the US and Canada as one of the most wholesome and convenient dating services out there. It had its humble beginning in 1987 when it started as a basement project in Canada. Back then, it was a simple telephone dating service known as “Telepersonals.”

In 2001, it bought and rebranded an established dating site called “web personals,” and that is when Lavalife went online. Since then, it has continued to deliver a unique multi-platform dating service to all types and ages of individuals looking for different kinds of relationships, from casual friendship to love. Looking at over 700,000 messages exchanged on Lavalife every day, this company has satisfied its customers enough. As a result, it made revenue of up to a little under $100 million. It is actually packed with a lot of features that are totally worth your money.

How does it work?

Like on any other online dating and social media platform, you must register an account on Lavalife to use this site. The sign-in process might be a bit lengthier than most other sites, but this is done to ensure that no fake accounts or bots pass through. Lavalife is a multi-platform dating site. You can choose between 3 sections of dating categories: The Dating section, Relationship section, and Intimate encounter section. These sections make the matching process a little bit easier, and you can find someone with similar intentions as yours. After matching with someone, you must get a premium membership to get the conversation rolling (unless your match messages you first). This site also offers a few quirky interactive features that can break the ice and spice things up for you. The way it functions as a dating service combined with some social media platform elements is very admirable.

Sign-Up & Login Process

The sign-up process at Lavalife can prove to be a lot more time-consuming and tedious compared to other similar sites. You’ll need to put in the basics first. After that, you’ll be asked to answer a lot of personal questions related to your physique, occupation, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, and so on, based on which dating community you chose (Dating, Relationship, or Intimate Encounter). This can tire you out, but such an elaborate sign-up process keeps most fake accounts from polluting Lavalife’s ecosystem. After going through all these, you’ll be prompted to upload a real profile picture of yourself. It is essential to ensure that you’re a real person. Finally, after putting in a cool username, you can finish it all by securing your profile with a unique 8-digit password. And by the way, use a real email address when they ask for it because if you can’t verify your email within 24 hours, your account will be suspended. This process does require a tad bit of work, but it is completely reasonable to protect the site from unwanted fake accounts and bots. You’ll need to allocate at least 10 minutes of your life to start your journey with Lavalife.

Profile Interface

Just like the rest of Lavalife, its profile interface must be very minimal and convenient in terms of design and navigation. The information you put during signing up partially fills out your profile info. You’ll need to choose one of the three profile categories between Dating, Relationship, and Intimate Encounters while you sign up. The chosen profile category reflects differently on the profile, and only a paid member can have multiple profiles under the same account.

After registering, you can complete your profile by adding a few lines describing yourself, who you seek, and where you are most likely to be found. All necessary personal information can be found on users’ profiles, arranged in a tabulated manner. Besides that, any text paragraphs you’ve written will be displayed, too. On top of one mandatory profile picture, you can choose to upload more pictures to your public or private gallery. Other users can only view pictures in your personal gallery if you two have “liked” each other. Overall, Lavalife’s profile interface is very strong for its simplicity and convenient navigation.

Matches/Communication

Lavalife has packed in a decent amount of matchmaking and communication features that take online dating to a whole new level. Ideal matches will be suggested in the matchmaking department based on your preferences, immediately after you have finished registering an account. In terms of communication, various interactive options on this site make sure you use the full potential of online dating.

However, to even begin with communication, you need to be a paid member. Free members can only reply to messages sent to them from other paid members. Once you’ve got yourself a premium subscription, you can begin searching for the one meant for you. You can then contact them via mail messages, instant chat, video greetings, likes, and even phone calls that need to be authenticated by Lavalife.

Another interactive feature includes Lavalife parties, held five times a day. Basically, there are live events where users come in real-time and interact with each other, just like in a local pub. You can also share your opinions on different topics in the community forums. With so many communication tools at hand, you must find someone who will become your ideal partner.

Members structure and activities

Most Lavalife members are registered from the US and Canada, summing up to a whopping 1.7 million active people. This site handles over 700,000 messages every day, making it one of the most active sites in this particular niche. Most people who sign up on Lavalife are either single, divorced, or separated. They are looking for friendships, relationships, or casual encounters. Free members can sign up with one of the three categories of member profiles. Each profile functions under a separate platform where all other members have a similar goal in mind. This makes finding your preferred acquaintance so much more flexible and convenient.

Users Age

Lavalife users must be above 18 years of age to even sign up. It should come as no surprise since this is a site that matches dates, relationships, and hookups. Lavalife users are found to be more condensed in the 24 to 40-year-old range. Such age distribution is obvious for a site like Lavalife, as it’s focused on serious connections more than on anything else.

Sexual Preferences

Four categories of sexual preferences are allowed on Lavalife: Straight, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual. This site also allows registering profiles for same- and opposite-sex couples. It is reasonably flexible in terms of sexuality.

Race And Ethnicity

Since most Lavalife users are from the US and Canada, it is obvious that the racial and ethnic variety is quite diverse here. One can surely find their ideal partner from such a diverse community. Besides, search tools do allow filtering users by ethnicity.

Religious Orientation

Although religion is required to be filled while signing up on Lavalife and can be viewed on one’s profile interface, there is no apparent bias towards any specific religion on this platform. People of all religions are welcome aboard.

Lavalife dating website features

Lavalife is packed with many different interactive and standalone features to make your experience the ultimate best. It has a wide range of interactive and communicative means to give a whole new dimension to online dating. However, keep in mind that just like all other good things in life, these amazing features come with a price. Once you’ve paid for a premium membership on Lavalife, you’re all set to go.

Some of this site’s features include:

• looking up for users with useful search tools and filters,
• adding public pictures and videos to your profile,
• adding backstage pictures and videos that are exclusive for those you have liked,
• anonymously looking at others’ profiles,
• messaging users,
• mailing them,
• engaging in voice calls and instant chats,
• meeting people at Lavalife parties,
• sharing what’s on your mind on community forums,
• reading relevant blog posts that give tips and bits on love and relationships.

Again, it all comes with a price. And so, if you want to use all these amazing features to find the perfect date for you, then paying up wouldn’t be a regrettable decision.

Safety & Security

Lavalife has a good reputation in the field of safety and security. Its users’ information is well-protected and never revealed to any third party. You can browse and view other members’ profiles anonymously. This site’s lengthy registration process also keeps scammers and bots away from tainting its user-friendly environment.

In addition to these, there is a voice calling feature (Call Me) where members can call each other via a secure connection. This way, users’ real phone numbers remain blocked and are made untraceable. Users’ numbers are never revealed to any third party marketing lists without the user’s prompt. In terms of safety, there isn’t much to worry about on Lavalife.

Is Lavalife Legit or Scam Service?

Lavalife boasts a user base of over 1.7 million people across the US and Canada. About 700,000 messages are transferred through this site every day. Numerous people have happily paid for this website’s services, which resulted in a little under $100 million in revenue for Lavalife. Such big numbers in itself testify for Lavalife’s legitimacy. This site is definitely not a scam.

Subscription types and price

Lavalife doesn’t like to confuse its users with a lot of fancy multi-tiered subscription options, packages, tokens, credits, and whatnot. It is rather simple and straightforward. The payment scheme is also easily understandable. You get a premium membership for 1, 3, and 6 months duration, which are all billed in single payments. The prices are lower than on most other websites in this specific niche. The 1-month subscription costs $19.99, the 3-month subscription costs $49.99, and finally, the 6-month subscription costs $89.99.

Free Membership

Most of the features on Lavalife can be availed hands-on after signing up for free. With a free membership, you can:

• view other members’ profiles and their public pictures,
• search for members of your preferences using the advanced search tool and its filters,
• interact with the users by sending and receiving smiles,
• like others’ profiles,
• reply to paid members if they contact you first,
• join discussion rooms on various topics,
• read the Lavalife blog, which is filled with tips and tricks to enhance your love life.

With so many features at your disposal, you can do a lot with a free account. However, the most basic premise of dating, which happens to be initiating conversations, is restricted only to paid users. So, you can make the most out of Lavalife with a free account only if someone you like decides to message first.

Paid Membership

To make use of the full potential Lavalife offers, you can get yourself a premium membership for a very reasonable price. Though it’s true that the premium membership here doesn’t flood you with exciting features, it does, however, enable you to send unlimited messages to any other user on the platform. And what else could you have done to flourish your relationship without communication?

Other mentionable features that are released with the premium subscription include:

• seeing who has viewed your profile,
• initiation of communication with absolutely anyone,
• privileged attention from the customer support,
• a chance to create all three categories of profiles (Dating, Serious Relationship, and Intimate Encounter) under a single account.

Website design and usability

In terms of website design and usability, Lavalife is nothing less than fine. It is especially known for its aesthetic look and a minimal approach to its website design. The brand color scheme of bright red on white has a very welcoming and sensual vibe to it, something that adds to the user experience. The website not only excels in design but also in usability. In terms of this, it is very convenient and easy-to-use. You’ll find all the buttons placed right under your reach. Lavalife is a beautifully structured and organized site. None can ever get lost while navigating through it, even if one’s tech skills are far from great.

Mobile application

Fortunately, unlike most of the niche online dating platforms, Lavalife has an Android app as well as an iOS app. Both can be downloaded from the GooglePlay store and Apple’s App Store. The interface of the Lavalife app is more user-friendly and convenient than the website.

However, it does lack a few features, such as reading blog posts and taking part in community forums. To do that, a mobile version of the website must be accessed via your mobile browser. Even though the app lacks some features, it has added some additional ones to make it even.

A feature called the “LavaLounge” collects profile pictures of members near your location and stacks them in front of you to swipe through them. Of course, this feature is neither revolutionary nor even new, but it does ensure a great mobile experience. Another great thing about the app is that you can see the full version of nearby users’ profiles. All in all, the Lavalife app is pretty decent and lets you mingle as you walk.

Contact information

Company: First Media Group Incorporated/ Innovada

Address: 530 Kipling Ave Etobicoke, ON M8Z 5E3 Canada

Phone: 1 866 371 8906

Email: info@lavalife.com

Conclusion

Since its appearance in 2001, Lavalife has been providing the comfort of a well-established dating service without any failure. It is regularly updated and modified to keep up with the changing times when it comes to delivering its premium, user-friendly services. It has also maintained consistency in keeping its website simple and aesthetic. Marketed as a service that lets you engage in all sorts of relationships with all sorts of people, you can get on it and find your ideal relationship with the perfect person for you in less than 10 minutes.

Profiles are displayed in a manner that is similar to any regular social media site, ensuring an enhanced browsing experience. Lavalife also allows its premium users to create multiple separate profiles targeted at different relationship goals under a single account. This way, you don’t have to talk your way through and ask what sort of relationship you really want. With all these things in mind, there’s no apparent reason not to try Lavalife at least once. The prices are also much lower compared to other major players in the game, so Lavalife is definitely worth a shot. Besides, you can start with Lavalife for free. While a free Lavalife account will have some limitations, it is still functional and can give you a good preview of this service.