Founded by Anupam Mittal in 1996, Shaadi.com was created with the aim of delivering a premium matrimonial service to Indians all over the world. Its user-friendly design, innovative features and global appeal have turned the way people traditionally look for marriage on its head.
Now more of an online wedding service and less of a social networking site, it has redefined the way modern Indian brides and grooms meet. The site uses an extensive registration process to match potential partners by mother tongue, by religion, and even by community, to make sure a relationship lasts long-term.
We know it’s one of India’s best-known matrimonial websites, but are there any downsides to looking for a serious relationship on the site? In this Shaadi.com review, we’ve taken a closer look at whether it’s worth signing up or not.
If you are eagerly looking for a marriage dating site, be sure to check to check out our ranking table to find out more!
Our Summary
As the largest Indian matrimonial website and with a user base of over 35million, Shaadi.com is clearly doing something right. Members have joined the site looking for a marriage arrangement, and reviews show that there are many that now have successful and happy marriages that started on the matchmaking service.
The meticulous registration process, with its detailed questions, strict photo policy and phone number verification, means that there are a low number of fake profiles and helps to ensure only those that are serious about finding love make the cut.
After spending so long signing up to the site, it may disappoint some that a free account limits you to just browsing potential matches. The huge member database, extensive matchmaking algorithm, and smart search feature increase your chances of finding a match, so upgrading to a premium account could be worthwhile.
The inclusivity of the website is limited by only allowing heterosexual matrimonies, and quite a few ads still appear even after you’ve signed up to the premium ‘ad-free’ subscription.
With a claim of 5million success stories and a team of designated relationship advisors helping you to find the one (for a price), we can definitely see why Shaadi.com appeals to so many Indian singles. Matrimony is Shaadi.com’s speciality, so it’s the site to visit if you’re looking for love.
🆓 Free services and paid-for services
It’s free to sign up to Shaadi.com. Once you’ve joined and created your profile, you can immediately start browsing through profiles and choose to ‘show an interest’ in other users. A standard membership means you can also access the Shaadi.com blog and view public photos of other users.
The Shaadi.com Premium service – Upgrade to get extra features
There are various membership packages available, that are designed to help you to get a quick response in your Shaadi.com search. There are five Premium and Premium Plus packages to choose from:
Gold
- Send unlimited messages
- View 75 phone numbers
- View hidden photos
- You also get Premium Assistance on priority
Gold Plus
- Send unlimited messages
- View 150 phone numbers
- Get highlighted to your matches
- View hidden photos
- You also get Premium Assistance on priority
- Feature on top of search results
- Get highlighted to your Matches
Diamond
- Send unlimited messages
- View 150 phone numbers
- View hidden photos
- You also get Premium Assistance on priority
Diamond Plus
- Send unlimited messages
- View 300 phone numbers
- Get highlighted to your matches
- Make contact details visible to all
- View hidden photos
- You also get Premium Assistance on priority
- Feature on top of search results
- Get highlighted to your Matches
Platinum Plus
- Send unlimited messages
- View 600 phone numbers
- Get highlighted to your matches
- Make contact details visible to all
- View hidden photos
- You also get Premium Assistance on priority
- Feature on top of search results
- Get highlighted to your Matches
Personalised packages
In addition to offering Premium and Premium Plus membership, there are personalised packages where you’re assigned a dedicated relationship advisor to suggest handpicked matches. If you’re interested in any of them, the advisor will do a follow up on your behalf to arrange meetings. You’ll also enjoy all of the benefits of Premium Plus.
💰 Prices
How much does Premium cost?
| Packages | Monthly price | Total |
| 3 months (Gold) | R 422,56 | R 1267,89 |
| 3 months (Gold Plus) | R 581,98 | R 1745,95 |
| 3 months (Personalised Plan) | R 3568,19 | R 10704,35 |
| 6 months (Diamond) | R 315,31 | R 1891,45 |
| 6 months (Diamond Plus) | R 419,24 | R 2515,00 |
| 6 months (Personalised Plan) | R 2823,25 | R 16939,90 |
| 1 year (Platinum Plus) | R 278,73 | R 3346,41 |
The personalised plan is R 10704,35 for three months, or R 16939,90 for six months.
How to pay?
All debit and credit cards are accepted forms of payment, as well as internet banking through all major banks in India. Once you’ve made an online payment, your upgraded membership will be activated immediately.
💡 How to reduce costs at Shaadi.com?
Shaadi.com often has discounts of between 50-60% off its paid packages to encourage its free members to upgrade to a premium subscription. Any available offers are shown on the website.
You’ll also save money if you subscribe to a paid membership for six months instead of three. With the personalised package, this lowers the monthly cost from R 3575,05 to R 2826,78.
📊 Membership structure
With over 5,000 registered users in South Africa alone, it’s clear that Shaadi.com has filled a gap in the online dating market. Aimed at men and women aged between 25 and 40, this matchmaking service differs from many mainstream dating sites as its members are only looking for serious, long-term relationships that can lead to marriage.
Its core market may be India, but Shaadi.com is used around the world and it has offices based in Canada, the UAE, South Africa and the United States.
✍️ Registration
Time needed: 5 minutes.
It’s free to register on Shaadi.com to start with.
- Log-in
On the Shaadi.com homepage, you’ll need to select ‘Sign up’
- Follow the log-in instructions
Enter your email address and create a password
- 👨 👩
Choose whether you’re creating a profile for yourself, friend or relative and select your gender
- Provide with basic details
Enter basic information, such as name, date of birth, religion and location
- And you are done!
Click ‘Sign up’ to complete registration
Completing your profile
You’ll then be taken to your profile page, and will need to fill in the required fields. These include how long you’ve been living in your current location, your diet, height and sub-community.
Your education and career details will need to be added next, including your annual income. Your income is only used for matchmaking, and can be hidden from other members using your privacy settings.
Adding a paragraph about yourself is essential on a matrimonial site like Shaadi.com, and you’ll also need to add a valid phone number to complete the sign-up process. A 4-digit PIN will be sent to the mobile number you added to verify it.
Uploading a photo
The website is fairly strict when it comes to uploading profile photos, and has photo guidelines that should be followed. You can choose to upload from Facebook, your computer, mobile phone, or to email your photos across to the website.
You can upload between three and 20 pictures, and they should be front facing and not with a group. The site also screens, optimises and adds the photo to your profile within a few hours.
📱 User friendliness and the Shaadi.com app
Although the initial sign-up process is very detailed and time-consuming, you’ll immediately be able to scroll through members that match your criteria without having to filter the search yourself.
To browse more members, the site’s smart search bar is one of its most innovative features. You can filter users based on certain criteria or by a keyword option. There’s a second ‘Matches’ search option too, which recommends members based on your preferences.
Finding and shortlisting profiles is simple and straightforward, but a downside is that you’ll be unable to contact anyone you like unless you’ve paid to upgrade to one of the premium or premium plus memberships.
Another benefit of upgrading your membership from a usability point of view is that you’ll go ad-free. There is a large number of banner advertisements on the site, so browsing the site without this distraction is a definite bonus.
Free to download, the Shaadi.com app has a sleek and simple design that’s similar to the desktop version. We’d recommend using the app over the classic website as you can use a swiping feature to browse through profiles and shake your phone to activate the ‘Surprise Me’ match feature.
✉️ Contacting users
Before a member tries to contacts you, you need to ‘accept interest’. You can also decline an interest, or cancel interest if you change your mind.
To send or read messages, you’ll need to subscribe to one of the premium plans. Once you have a premium membership, you can start messaging your accepted matches by email, chat or by phone.
If you want to call a member but their number is hidden, you can still reach these through text message, chat and email.
👍 Pros and cons 👎
What we like
- Smart search feature with 24+ filters based on personality, astrology, and faith
- Strict registration and verification process
- Ideal for women, since there are more male members
- Targets age groups from 25-40
- You can easily search through registered users with filters
- A “contact filter” means you can set parameters for who can send you messages
- There is a chatroom for instant messaging
- The app is free to download
What we don’t like
- Only allows you to ‘show interest’ in another user, as initiating chat is only for premium users
- Takes longer than usual dating site sign ups (but is more secure for it)
- Only allows heterosexual relationships
- The website has a lot of ads, even if you’re on a premium package
🙋 FAQs
Simply sign up to the dating site for free and create your profile. You can then search and connect with matches you like, and upgrade to a premium membership to start a conversation.
Founded in 1996 by Anupam Mittal, Shaadi.com was created as an online matrimonial site for Indian singles looking for marriage.
To delete your profile, go to ‘My Shaadi’ on the main toolbar and then click on ‘settings’. You’ll then be able to choose whether you want to temporarily hide your profile, or delete your account permanently.
You can hide your profile if you prefer, and it won’t be visible to other members on the site. Instead of deleting your account entirely, it can be a good idea to simply hide your profile so you can continue your search when you want to.
Shaadi.com offers you a secure and safe environment where you can search for your life partner. Every profile on the dating site is checked for inappropriate content, and it also has a system in place for reporting abusive messages and members.
The dating site encourages you to be safe online and has highlighted in Shaadi.com blog articles the ways you can avoid scammers. Asking you to chat outside of the site, or asking you for money is behaviour the site wants members to avoid, and you should report it immediately.
Making payments on the site is also secure, as the website uses encryption technology to provide the highest level of security.
No, Shaadi.com is an online wedding service for heterosexual singles only.
Yes, you can sign up as a divorcee and even look for fellow divorcees in the basic search option. Options include; never married, divorced, awaiting divorce and widowed.
You can block members if you don’t want them to contact you or view your profile. You can select ‘Block profile’ on the dropdown on a member’s profile, and you can unblock them after 48 hours if you change your mind.
Yes, when you first sign up to the site you can specify your relationship with the person you’re creating the profile for.
ℹ️ Company information
Registered office address: 2B (2) II Ground Floor, Film Center Building, 68 Tardeo Road, Mumbai – 400 034, India
Parent Company: People Group
Website: https://www.shaadi.com/
Director: Gourav Rakshit
