True.com Reviews

True.com markets itself as the safest and most trustworthy dating website around. It performs background checks on people who claim to be unmarried, or to see whether members have a criminal offense (if criminals do access the site then True claims they’ll “be sorry if they do” – chilling). Combine this with the series of personality and sexuality tests that tell you exactly who your ideal dates are and you’ve got something that George Orwell would be afraid to log in to.

There’s a point where truth simply becomes intrusion and it’s up to you whether or not you feel True.com crosses the line. Forbidding anyone with a criminal record seems inhumane, whilst checking on whether or not people are married is probably irrelevant as their marriage is unlikely to be a great success if they’re on a dating website. There are many who might say that truth comes from knowing a person intimately, not spying on them.

Of course, it's quite possible that you are someone who is interested in only meeting singles without a criminal record and a site that uses these kinds of background checks may be a good way to filter out some undesirables. If so, then what can True.com offer you?

You'll find a database of 11 million members to choose from. Profiles are fairly standard, though the quality of photos you can upload is very high. The most positive elements of this site are found in the variety of its features, which allow paying members to email, send instant messages, chat on web cams or even go on virtual dates in which you choose an avatar and meet other avatars in bars, restaurants, night clubs and so on. It’s a unique approach and certainly adds a sense of adventure to proceedings.

We have some reservations, however. Firstly, we are not convinced that the membership options offer good value for money. Payment packages range from very expensive (for one month) to relatively cheap (6 months), but it does feel as though they're forcing you into a corner, particularly given that you can’t really do much at all without at least taking up the 3-day trial package. Beware also as you will be charged for 1 month if you fail to cancel in time. It seems a little harsh.

Our second reservation is the fact that, even if you're a paid-up member and you email a 3-day trial member, that member can't respond to you unless he/she becomes a paid-up member. This is in contrast to the top ranking dating sites, such as Match.com and FriendFinder.com, which allow free members to reply to emails sent by paid members. Those sites prevent free members from initiating contact with anyone but allow them to reply, thereby satisfying members who have already paid up for unrestricted access.

Our third and biggest reservation is that you can't see when other members were last online, meaning that you have no idea how active a particular member is on the site. You might just end up wasting your time emailing someone who hasn't logged on in 6 months, meaning that you'd be very unlikely to get a reply.

So what are your chances of finding that ‘special someone’ on True.com? Well, potentially better in some locations than others. Our search didn’t offer too many results, and a great number of them didn’t have photos. But look elsewhere and things are more exciting. We would recommend performing a few searches before you decide to part the purse strings.  

Truth is in the eye of the beholder, but we weren’t impressed with the undercover research and tricksy payment hijacks set in place. That said, you might well find someone you’re keen on, True.com's membership numbers aren’t bad, standing at 11 million, and there are plenty of interesting features to keep you going.

Check out our #1 rated site instead! Why not check out Match.com, our top rated Online Dating Site and winner of our prestigious Gold Award! You can also check out our Top 10 Online Dating Sites here!

Please note that True.com has now been discontinued.