InternationalCupid (March 2023)

At first glance, InternationalCupid looks like it might be a good place to find Europeans… the ones that aren’t covered by the other CupidMedia (now part of Dating Group) sites. One of our reviewers, who had previous experience on UkraineDate and RussianCupid, joined the site for several months as a premium member and had a look at what was on offer.

All of the CupidMedia sites have a confusing misnomer for matches.
Instead of the word ‘Match’ being used to show when two people have mutually liked each-other, a ‘Match’ is merely an indication that you are the other person fit what each other is searching. The result of this misuse of ‘Match’ when compared to other dating apps is that you receive e-mails that declare you have a large number of new matches but in reality you have no likes or mutual likes – there are just users who meet your criteria.

One Member must be Premium to Communicate

The title says it all really. You can write messages and you will receive messages… but you cannot read a message if either you or the sender is a premium subscribing member. This limitation also causes the app to not meet our criteria for being able to build a relationship in the free version. 

African and Asian Presence

Overwhelmingly, the profiles on InternationalCupid belong to Asian and African users. And thousands of these appear to be spammers and scam artists trying to suck you in to sending money. The rest, for the most part, are just desperate to leave their country. That is OK if you are up for it… if you are happy to have a relationship based on you saving someone from their miserable life, go for it. They will mostly treat you very well.

Extensive Filters but Still Many Unwanted Messages

All of the CupidMedia sites have a very extensive filtering system, including the ‘willing to relocate’ filter, which we especially love – it’s essential for international daters.

Yet despite being able to filter out messages from members based on criteria you apply, you still get a lot of messages from people who are working around the filters. For example, if you have filtered out a certain race… where members haven’t entered their race, they come through to you in large numbers. This is something that could be improved on. It does get a little disheartening to see that you have several new messages only to discover that they are all from users that you wanted filtered.

Verdict from Our Reviewer

It’s a good site and the prices are fairly reasonable. The filters and search are great. But regardless of these features, qualified matches are easier to come by using Tinder in travel mode to countries of your choice.  It’s a shame there are so many spammers and scam artists on the site too. There is much potential but the CupidMedia sites need to have a design overhaul, the filters improved on and a web app built.

Features

Profile Creation

InternationalCupid (March 2023) features comprehensive profiles - that is, there are many fields that can be filled and filtered. This is great because the more information profiles can contain, the more likely you are able to filter and find a good match.

Profiles at InternationalCupid (March 2023) include tags. These give you the chance to show a few of your interests or a little about your lifestyle - or learn those of other daters.

Searching / Filtering

On InternationalCupid (March 2023), - depending on your membership type - you are to search through and filter profiles based on your own criteria. This is great because it means you are not limited to just seeing random profiles that you really may not be interested in anyway. The first filter you will likely use is the location filter. Even as a free user, you are able to edit the location that you want to match in.
Additionally, InternationalCupid (March 2023) includes the possibility to filter profiles to only those that are belong to someone who is willing to relocate. This is important for anyone searching for a partner on an international basis... there is no point finding someone who isn't interested in moving to your country.
InternationalCupid (March 2023) goes beyond basic filters, offering you comprehensive filters that can be applied to your search.

Once you have found the profiles you are interested in, you are able to view the photos of those members as a free user.

Sending / Receiving Likes

On InternationalCupid (March 2023), dependent on your membership type, you can message anyone. You do not have to make a match based on mutual likes to start a conversation.Sending likes is free. It is free to undo/rewind your like if you accidentally like someone unintentionally or you change your mind.

Matching Aides

InternationalCupid (March 2023) doesn't include any features to aide in matching, such as: Curated Matches, Compatibility Quizzes/Scores or a Question & Answer system.

Messaging

In InternationalCupid (March 2023), you can send messages to anyone on the app but you have to subscribe to read them. You don't even have to match with them first. Read receipts are not - or may not - be available.