Are you looking for a dating site where you can find love and romance with black singles without worrying about getting a lot of non-black match suggestions? You should use BlackCupid, a dedicated dating site from Cupid Media where most members are ebony singles or people of color.
- Overall Rating
- Pros and Cons
- Premium Member Benefits
- Membership Plans & Pricing
- Is BlackCupid Worth It?
- How to Sign Up
- BlackCupid Alternatives
- Frequently Asked Questions
Our BlackCupid review will give you an honest look at the site, everything from its membership features and pricing to the sign-up process and matching algorithm. While it’s relatively small compared to other niche dating sites of its type, BlackCupid is a good platform for finding meaningful, profound connections with black singles who fit all your dating parameters.
Read our review of BlackCupid to decide if it’s the best online dating site to help you find love, romance, and black dating!
Overview of BlackCupid
Check out basic key information on the BlackCupid dating site that will give you an idea of what the platform is like and what kind of relationships they help to facilitate between its members.
| Key Facts | Details |
|---|---|
Site Name | |
Key Info |
|
Membership Cost | Starting at $3.83/month |
Sign-Up Time | 10 Minutes |
The Purpose of Our Reviews
We present the facts about BlackCupid, and then we let you decide if the site is a good fit for you. That’s the purpose of this BlackCupid review. We’re not here to say BlackCupid is the perfect dating site and that you need to sign up for a new account. We feel it’s a great option for finding black singles, but it might not be the best for everyone. In our review of BlackCupid, we lay out the major pros and cons and let you decide if it’s a platform that’s right for you.
Our BlackCupid Dating Site Rating
We pride ourselves on our honest and unbiased reviews, including our appraisal of BlackCupid. To present a review that looks at both sides of the coin, we examine six primary categories, each of which gets its separate rating. We come to this number by examining all the pros and cons we found during our review. Then we pull the average of these six scores, and that’s how we arrive at the final score for BlackCupid: 3.6/5 stars.
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
Website Design | 3.5 |
Features | 4.2 |
Cost | 3.9 |
Usability | 4.5 |
Quality Matches | 2.8 |
Active Users | 2.9 |
Overall Rating | 3.6 |
Although this is a great dating site for finding love with Black singles, there are some significant drawbacks to using the platform, namely its super small dating pool of active members. These spells limit matching opportunities. Still, it’s a place where you’re guaranteed to meet black or ebony singles, so it’s one that we still recommend overall for anyone interested in these pursuits.
Site-Specific Features
Cupid Media is well-known for dating sites that combine powerful communication features with robust member profiles and a comprehensive matching system. The result is that premium subscribers can find an excellent pool of match possibilities that align with their personal dating preferences and parameters.
Note:It’s important to remember that BlackCupid has a small group of active members (250 daily logins and 3,000 registered accounts), so while the matching system and profiles are great aspects of the site, the results are less than ideal because members are super limited in who they can find relationships with.
Unique Matching System
An excellent matching system is imperative to find matches that align with your tastes and preferences. And this is one of the major pieces of the matching process at BlackCupid, along with good member profiles and communication tools. Members can search for matches (under the “Search” tab) using the site’s complete filter system, where they can perform searches along the following criteria:
Basics
- Gender
- Age
- Location
- Distance
- Activity on the site
- Type of relationships
Basics
- Height/weight
- BMI/ body type
- Ethnicity
- Hair/eye color
- Body art
Basics
- Drinking/smoking habits
- Willingness to relocate
- Children
- Marital status
- Occupation
- Employment
- Income
- Living situation
Basics
- Nationality
- Education
- Languages spoken
- Religion
- Star sign
Matches will generate under the “Matches” tab once you’ve entered your search terms and hit the “Submit” button. Free members can only view their profile suggestions and send “likes,” while paying members are allowed to send messages (without any limits).
Communication Tools
BlackCupid comes with a terrific set of communication tools that help members connect and foster meaningful relationships. All premium members can enjoy unlimited messaging with any of their matches, the biggest perk of paying for a premium subscription. But there are a ton of other communication features that you can enjoy, and they’ll change based on how high up you’re in the membership tiers.
Gold-Tier Features
- Unlock messages
- No ad interruptions
- Privacy controls
Platinum-Tier Features
- Unlock messages
- No ad interruptions
- Privacy controls
- Double your profile space
- Unlock exclusive search filters
- Get better daily matches
- Instant message translators
- Rank above Gold-Tier members
Diamond-Tier Features
- Unlock messages
- No ad interruptions
- Privacy controls
- Double your profile space
- Unlock exclusive search filters
- Get better daily matches
- Instant message translators
- Rank above Gold- and Platinum-Tier members
- Profile highlights
- Premium customer support
- Priority messages
As you progress upward through the membership tiers, you continue to add more features to your account, which allows you to communicate much more effectively with your matches. Some of the more valuable features include priority messaging, better placements in the searches, profile highlights, and instant message translation for international dating.
Profile Quality and Verification
If you look at the list of search terms for finding matches at BlackCupid, you’ll soon discover that these terms are the basis for each member’s profile page. Not all profiles will be filled out entirely because many people opt to omit certain information, but the point is that Black Cupid has well-rounded member profiles that help you get to know your matches well before sending that first message.
Something else that’s worth noting (something that we liked quite a bit) is that members can have their profiles officially verified by BlackCupid by providing their ID. BlackCupid matches this against your profile bio info and photos to confirm your identity. And then, they assign each member who’s undergone the process a verification badge for their matches to see. It shows that they have a legit account that’s safe to interact and connect with.
BlackCupid Free Memberships
When you first join BlackCupid, you start as a free member. You can create a profile, enter search terms, view profiles that come up under “Matches,” and send “likes” to your favorites. Now this sounds like a position where you can make a lot happen and do so without spending a lot of money. But the fact of the matter is that the free membership is limited when it comes to connecting with your matches.
But you cannot send messages. And this is mainly because the free membership doesn’t allow you to contact your matches in any meaningful way. And that’s one of the primary reasons we feel that the BlackCupid free membership is perfect for testing out the platform but is no viable substitution for a paid subscription plan.
Creating a Profile
You can create and develop an entire BlackCupid profile without having to pay. You can add any bio information or self-authored sections describing yourself and your ideal match in better detail. This is one of the better aspects of the free membership at BlackCupid.
You can fill out as many informational fields as you choose to make your profile as robust as it needs to be. By getting all your dating and relationship information out there for your matches to see, you can be setting the groundwork for a great future relationship and doing so without having to pay!
Browsing and Searching
Your free membership at BlackCupid also allows you to test out the search filters and see what matches you can find based on your dating criteria and parameters.
Enter your search terms under “Search,” and your matches will appear under the “Matches” section once you’ve hit the “Submit” button. Several condensed profiles will appear at one time on the page, and you can click on the ones that catch your eye so you can see the entire profile page.
Sending Likes
Free members cannot send messages to their matches, but they can send “likes” to show that they’re interested in or attracted to certain members of the site.
Each profile comes with two icons: a heart and a speech bubble. The speech bubble is for sending messages and is disabled if you’re a free member. The heart icon, on the other hand, is for sending “likes” to that profile.
Limitations of Free Membership
The free membership can be used to find out if BlackCupid is right for you and to scope out the site itself to see how it works and the potential matches you can find using the platform. Free members can get established at the site with a profile page which makes other members aware that they might be coming onboard.
The major limitation of the BlackCupid free membership is that you cannot message your matches. You cannot get far in connecting with your matches if you can’t chat with them or communicate via messaging. This has been and always will be our best reason for considering a paid membership plan. To use BlackCupid as intended, you need to ditch the free membership and become a paid subscriber.
Premium Member Benefits
All premium membership features are scattered across three membership tiers. If you fall on the lower end of the tier system, you’ll have access to fewer features, so becoming a Diamond member might be the best option to find the quality you’re seeking.
Communicating Effectively
All premium members can contact their matches using the unlimited messaging feature. You can contact whomever you wish! You don’t have to wait for a mutual match to occur as a requirement to reach out to one of your match suggestions.
Several other communication features members can enjoy including:
- Appear higher in the search results based on your tier.
- Priority messages appear at the top of your matches’ inbox.
- Profile highlights let your page stand out against other members.
- Double space for your condensed profile grabs viewers’ attention.
- Instant message translation for international dating overcomes language barriers.
Advanced Search Options
Premium members who have Platinum membership plans and above can search for their matches using additional criteria and parameters. This results in a better batch of daily matches that are a better fit!
Incognito Mode and Other Perks
All premium members can enjoy privacy controls where they can manage who sees their profile and who cannot. The privacy controls also contain a cool feature called incognito mode, where members can browse profiles without their matches knowing their profile was viewed.
- No ad interruptions
- Premium customer service and support
- Unlock any message you missed as a free member
Is It Worth Upgrading to Premium?
By now, we prefer the premium subscription plan over the free membership. You get to enjoy so many more features and benefits once you’ve paid for a membership plan compared to using the site for free.
Comparing Free vs. Premium Features
Once you see the difference between the free and paid membership features, it’ll become clear why a premium subscription will allow you to experience better success with your matches and relationships.
Here’s a detailed rundown of the free and paid feature you’ll discover using BlackCupid:
Free Features
- Design and develop a profile
- Enter search terms
- View your match’s profile and photos
- Send “likes” to your favorite profiles
- Respond to paying members’ messages
Paid Features
- Unlimited communications with your matches
- Unlock messages
- No ad interruptions
- Privacy controls
- Double your profile space
- Unlock exclusive search filters
- Get better daily matches
- Instant message translators
- Rank above Gold- and Platinum-Tier members
- Profile highlights
- Premium customer support
- Priority messages
Assessing the Value for Your Needs
It’s important to choose a subscription with the suitable communication features you need to hit your dating goals at BlackCupid. You also want to choose a plan that comes to the right place. We highly encourage you to check out the various memberships available at the site (Cost and Payment Options) to find out how much you are willing to pay and what kind of value you can experience based on the features you purchase.
Signing up for BlackCupid Account
BlackCupid is a dating site with a simple, easy sign-up process and is just as easy to use and navigate! It only takes ten minutes or less to become a paid member of the BlackCupid dating site. And joining as a free member takes less than two minutes.
Follow the steps below to join as a free member, develop your new account, and then upgrade to a premium subscription plan.
Step 1: Head Over to the BlackCupid Website
Visit www.BlackCupid.com or click on the image to the left (the BlackCupid website’s homepage). Click on “View Singles Now” to continue to the next step. Android users can also join by downloading the mobile app from Google Play and following the same set of instructions for joining.
Step 2: Enter Login Terms
The next screen will have you entering your login information so you can access your new BlackCupid account securely. Create a username and password. Be sure to enter your email address, gender, and age as well.
Once you’ve agreed to the site’s Terms of Use and the Privacy Statement, click “View Singles” to access the platform as a new free member.
Step 3: Upload a Profile Photo
Upload a good, clear photo of yourself to serve as your profile picture. You’re not required to upload one right away, though. You can skip this step for the time, but it’s best to upload at least one so that your matches know what you look like.
Suppose you choose to skip uploading a profile photo. If you decide to include a picture or image, click on “Photos,” and you can add as many as five complimentary photos.
Step 4: Work on Your Profile
At this point in the sign-up process, you can begin looking for matches using the search filter and look around the site to see where things are located. While it’s good to familiarize yourself with the BlackCupid platform, we recommend working on your profile so it’s ready for your matches to view.
- Edit Profile: Click on “Edit Profile” to begin working on your profile page. Add as many bits of information as you see fit, including some self-authored sections where you can describe more about your personality, dreams, and goals.
- View Profile: Click on “View Profile” to see how your profile will look once you’ve developed each section. It’s an excellent way to see how changes and edits to your profile will look to other members viewing your page.
- Hobbies and Interests: Go under the “Hobbies and Interests” section to find an extensive list of options to add to your profile. Adding hobbies and interests can fill in a lot of the gaps that the basic profile information might not capture.
- Personality Questions: There’s even an entire section where you can provide answers to twelve personality questions. Any responses will be posted to your profile page for other members to see.
Step 5: Profile Verification
BlackCupid does have some illegitimate profiles that creep onto the platform. Although BlackCupid is good about cleaning them up when they discover them, it’s always a good idea to get your profile verified by the site to ensure other members that you’re a legit account.
Go under the “Verify Profile” section, where you’ll be asked to provide some form of ID. This can be a driver’s license, a passport, or a national ID card. Once BlackCupid confirms your identity by comparing your ID with your profile photos and bio information, you get a verification badge showing your matches that you’re someone who can be trusted.
Step 6: Input Your Search Terms
To begin searching for suitable matches, enter your search terms and dating parameters into the site’s filters under “Search.”
Your match results will appear on the “Matches” page once you’ve submitted your search. You can view several condensed profiles at one time and send “likes” to the ones you’re interested in connecting with.
Click on the condensed profile to redirect to that member’s main profile page. If you want to send messages and enjoy unlimited communications, you’ll have to upgrade your free membership to a paid plan.
Step 7: Become a Premium Membership
Upgrade your membership by clicking on “Upgrade Membership.” It’s a green button in the top right-hand corner of the home screen.
The membership tier menu sits at the top of the page. Once you’ve clicked on the tier that best fits your needs, you can choose a membership plan of suitable length and price. Choose your payment method and input your banking info. Then hit “Upgrade Now.”
Costs and Payment Options
If you’re interested in becoming a paid subscriber of the BlackCupid dating site, go over all the membership plans so you’re aware of your options. You need to find something that fits your budget and your need for useful communication features (due to the membership tiers which spread the perks and benefits out, so you must pay more to experience more).
Membership Plans
Like most Cupid Media dating sites, BlackCupid comes with twelve membership plans. These subscriptions span three membership tiers: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. There are four plans per tier, and each set of plans within one tier will have the same membership features but differ in length. The number of features grows the further you climb toward Diamond membership.
Gold Plans
| Membership Plan | Cost Per Month | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|
1 Week Membership | $21.96 | $5.49 |
1 Month Membership | $10.99 | $10.99 |
3 Month Membership | $7.66 | $22.98 |
12 Month Membership | $3.83 | $45.99 |
Platinum Plans
| Membership Plan | Cost Per Month | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|
1 Week Membership | $29.96 | $7.49 |
1 Month Membership | $14.99 | $14.99 |
3 Month Membership | $9.99 | $29.98 |
12 Month Membership | $5.00 | $59.99 |
Diamond Plans
| Membership Plan | Cost Per Month | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|
1 Week Membership | $60.00 | $15.00 |
1 Month Membership | $29.98 | $29.98 |
3 Month Membership | $19.99 | $59.97 |
12 Month Membership | $10.00 | $119.98 |
Payment Methods and Security
All membership purchases must be paid in full. This means they must be paid at once and in a single lump sum. There are no payment plans or monthly installments you can make to cover your membership costs. You can only begin enjoying your subscription plan once you’re completely paid up.
BlackCupid extends to its customers five payment options which include the following:
- Credit or debit cards
- Google Pay
- Paysafecard
- Bank Transfers
- Skrill
Credit and debit card options include American Express, Discover, Visa, Mastercard, and Diners Club.
Note:Any payment information you share with BlackCupid is kept private and secure thanks to the site and its safety protocols, including an SSL-encrypted connection. This means that you can enter any kind of payment information and know that you don’t have to worry about it getting into the wrong hands. There are no prior instances of BlackCupid selling its customers’ private data for marketing purposes.
Pros and Cons
Let’s look at the significant advantages and disadvantages of using BlackCupid for finding love or romance with black singles. To develop an honest and transparent review of the BlackCupid dating site, we had to create a list of major pros and cons to show the good and bad sides of the platform.
Advantages of BlackCupid
- BlackCupid is a long-standing name in the online dating market (since 2000).
- Most people using the site are black singles and people of color.
- There are over 50,000 visits to the site each month.
- The overall layout and design are easy to learn and use as a free or premium member.
- Sign-up only takes around ten minutes (less than two minutes for free members).
- Membership fees range from $3.83 to $29.98 per month, making BlackCupid an affordable dating site.
- Robust matching and member profiles make for an excellent matching experience.
- All matches’ profiles come with a handy compatibility score to show the areas where you’re most alike.
- BlackCupid is a mobile-friendly dating site that can be used on the go.
Drawbacks to Consider
- There are only 250 daily logins out of 3,000 registered members (limited dating pool).
- You’re forced to pay more for the better membership features because of the three-membership tier scheme.
- There are far more men using BlackCupid than women (the gender ratio is 81% men to 19% women).
- Black Cupid is not suitable for those who aren’t interested in dating black singles. It’s also not a great place to find casual dating or romance.
- All membership plans are set to renew themselves at the end of the billing cycle automatically.
Users Reviews and Testimonials
You might be interested in seeing what real people are saying about BlackCupid, those who’ve used the site for themselves to find love with black singles. In this section of our BlackCupid review, we’ve included a batch of positive and negative feedback from real customers that we found on sites like Trustpilot and SiteJabber.
Success Stories
Success stories and positive reviews seem to be in the minority when looking at all reviews posted to SiteJabber or Trustpilot. This is because people typically post more about bad experiences than good ones. There was limited feedback about BlackCupid on these sites, to begin with, but we were able to find one success story, even if it was posted over five years ago.
SiteJabber Review (Dated September 30, 2016)
“I’d rank this as one of the best black dating sites together with BlackSingles4u.com and BlackpeopleMeet.com. Absolutely legit. Worth checking out!”
-Stannis L.
Common Concerns and Complaints
People mostly post about their negative experiences with BlackCupid, so it’s no surprise that most of the feedback portrays the site in a poor light. We don’t take these reviews as every person’s experience, though. We realized that people all have a unique experience with the site. Most of these negative posts had to do with illegitimate accounts that customers encountered during their time on Black Cupid.
SiteJabber Review (Dated December 29, 2021)
“I signed up and quickly realized that didn’t have much of section unless your only looking for international people. I asked for my refund and was denied, please don’t waste your money or time on this bogus site! And they deserve zero stars.”
-Jacqueline V.
Trustpilot Review (Dated December 6, 2021)
“I have tried a few Cupid Media sites, including Dominican Cupid, Latin American Cupid, Black Cupid, and Caribbean Cupid. I live in the US. I have met some real people on some of these sites, but I had to leave my country to meet them. No woman on Dominican Cupid or Latin American Cupid, who also lived in the US, ever answered my messages. Many of those outside the US answered or wrote to me, but many were young, with no Cupid memberships and no travel documents.-just WhatsApp numbers. After two conversations, many, not all, wanted me to send money, which I did not. The one’s on Black and Caribbean Cupid were always spammers from Ghana
My conclusion is there are real people on some of these sites, but you will probably have to leave your home country to meet them
. In all fairness, I did actually marry one who came to my country after communicating on International Cupid. What a disaster that turned out to be!!”
-Robert
Alternative Sites and Competitors
Looking for a good dating site for finding black singles, but something with a larger dating pool than BlackCupid? Check out our top picks for niche and mainstream alternative dating sites and mobile apps that can help you enjoy a broader range of match options.
Do you still want to stick with a dating site composed mainly of black and ebony members? These are the best niche alternatives to BlackCupid, but they still come with limited dating pools and fewer opportunities than mainstream black dating sites.
- AfroIntroductions: The largest African dating site with over 4.5 million members worldwide (a product of Cupid Media).
- BlackPeopleMeet: Best for finding a black marriage partner.
- BLK Dating App: Best for meaningful, profound relationships with black singles that lead to marriages or long-term commitments.
- Real Black Love: Best for finding relationships with black singles centered on compatibility.
- Bae Chat: Best for free black dating on the go (courtesy of Google Play).
General Dating Site Alternatives
Sometimes you’ll find better results using a mainstream dating site and its larger dating pools, even if it means you still must sift through a lot of non-black matches. Use the handy search filters for ethnicity and appearance to find black singles who want to experience true love, romance, or quality dates!
- Best for: Find black singles who desire serious relationships and profound connections
- Active Users: 16+ million
- Gender Ratio: 48% men to 52% women
- Free Trial: Yes (limited)
- Pricing: Begins at $35.90 per month
- Matchmaking: 32 Dimensions of Compatibility
- More Info: eHarmony Review
⬅️ Click the logo to sign up today!
- Best for: Finding highly educated and successful black singles
- Active Users: 2+ million
- Gender Ratio: 44% men to 56% women
- Free Trial: Yes (limited)
- Pricing: Begins at $27.95 per month
- Matchmaking: Five Factor Model theory of personality traits
- More Info: Elite Singles Review
⬅️ Click the logo to sign up today!
- Best for: Finding black singles who hold Christian values and want God-centered relationships
- Active Users: 16 million
- Gender Ratio: 44% men and 56% women
- Free Trial: Yes (limited)
- Pricing: Begins at $24.99 per month
- Matchmaking: Personality and compatibility testing; Christian Mingle hones its recommendation based on preferences for the LookBook
- More Info: Christian Mingle Review
⬅️ Click the logo to sign up today!
Frequently Asked Questions
See what our customers and readers have been asking us lately about BlackCupid and its mission. These are common questions about the BlackCupid dating site asked by real people!
Do I Need to Be Black to Use BlackCupid?
You don’t have to be black to use BlackCupid. You only need to be 18 years old to use the site. There are plenty of non-black people looking for love with black singles, so BlackCupid caters to interracial relationships as well as black relationships and dating.
What Kind of Relationships Can I Find Using BlackCupid?
Most members at BlackCupid are looking for serious, meaningful relationships that wind up in marriage or long-term commitments and connections. Some members are looking for short-term romance or casual dates, but it’s less common.
Is It Better to Use a Mainstream Dating Site?
While BlackCupid is a nice little dating site that guarantees you meet black singles, it has a super small dating pool which results in limited matches. You’ll have much better success using a mainstream dating site and filtering your search for black singles using search terms based on ethnicity and appearance.
Are There Any Major Downsides to Using BlackCupid?
The major cons of using BlackCupid are the active membership base of 250 daily logins and the fact that 81% of the members are men. There are limited options for finding black women using BlackCupid.
How Old Are Singles at BlackCupid?
Members of BlackCupid are between the ages of 34 and 42, on average.
What Countries Does BlackCupid Serve?
Most people using BlackCupid hail from Algeria (29.54%) and the UK (20.43%), but the site is also available for use in the US, Portugal, and South Africa.
Will My Membership Automatically Renew?
Yes, there’s an auto-renewal feature that comes with all membership plans, but it can be turned off under your billing preferences. This is how you can cancel your membership, but your service will end the next billing cycle.
Can I Find International Dating Experiences?
Yes, you can find love with black singles in other countries like the United Kingdom and South Africa. There are even a few helpful communication features for international love, like instant message translators, which can help overcome possible language barriers.