ChristianCafe
Introduction & summary
ChristianCafe.com is our winning dating website in the matchmaking category. It’s Christian-owned and managed, created by and for Christians. The company behind this platform is also called ChristianCafe.com and they’re based in Ottawa, Canada. 25,000 Christian marriages have resulted from this matchmaker, which has been in operation since 1999.
- For Christian singles only
- Detailed, Christian-specific profiles
- 10-day free trial
- International member pool
- Communicate while staying discreet and anonymous
- Numerous awards for best customer service
- Hundreds of happy marriage testimonials
- Launched 25 years ago
- Featured in mainstream media
- Christian-owned and operated
General information & target group
ChristianCafe.com was created to help Christians find partners who share their faith. A group of Canadian Christians from Ottawa who noticed a gap in the market back in 1998 created it. One year later, they created a company and named it ChristianCafe.com. Since then, the team has seen thousands of marriages be born through the platform. Many of the site’s users are looking for marriage, although it isn’t absolutely necessary.
In any case, this platform isn’t for people looking to date casually. It’s for singles who are strong in their faith and are looking for a person who shares their beliefs and values, possibly looking to commit to a marriage. For many, this includes waiting until marriage before engaging in sexual relations. There’s a common understanding on the site that such values are at least expected to be discussed among the users. This can be quite comforting, since these topics can be challenging to talk about on other dating platforms.
Christian demographics
The site’s audience is mainly North American, although there are Christian singles from all over the world on the platform. According to some sources, the site’s gender ratio is 61% male and 39% female. This sounds realistic, based on what we have seen in this industry. About 40% of the users are between the ages of 35 and 55. As a Christian dating site, it favors heterosexual relationships, but it’s possible to search for any gender. Many users who visit the portal seem to be redirected from YouTube, as ChristianCafe.com has several videos there.
The platform is open to many different ways of living a Christian lifestyle. It shows with the users’ ability to state their denomination or their degree of involvement with their church during the registration process. The first impression of the site is how professional and welcoming it looks. Users are invited to experience the website through a free trial to see if the community feels right for them before committing to a long-term contract. You can read hundreds of testimonials from married couples who met on ChristianCafe.com. There’s a lot to discover on this portal, filtered through a Christian lens.
Registration
Users can sign up for a 7-day free trial. First, the site asks for a username and an email address. Email verification isn’t required to explore the platform. Since this is a Christian website, there aren’t any direct questions about users’ sexual orientation. It’s open to both singles and divorcees, but the site does ask that users aren’t legally married when they sign up. An important matter users get asked about is their relationship with God and the church.
Next, the site encourages users to upload up to three photos. This drastically enhances the profile, making it much more visible and compelling to other users. To help give new users the initiative, the platform promises three additional free days for uploading their first photo. This isn’t mandatory, though. There’s also no personality quiz that users have to answer, either. On this platform, it’s all about creating a comprehensive profile and using the search filters.
Detailed Christian profiles
When a new user accesses their brand-new profile, they’ll see three sections: one with basic information, another with multiple-choice questions, and a final one with written answers. The multiple-choice questions are the same as the ones asked during the registration process. However, the written answers are different and go much further in depth. There, users can write thoroughly about what they’re looking for, their Christian faith, favorite free-time activities, and much more. We recommend taking your time to complete the profile. This is where users should let their personalities and uniqueness shine.
User platform & member area
As we’ve mentioned, users’ profiles greatly benefit from a little time investment from them. This will greatly enhance their chances of finding the right person on the platform. We can see that many members write detailed descriptions of their wishes and their faith. This is worth it, especially considering the detailed search filter feature. While getting to know the platform, we can try a somewhat limited version with a free profile. We get 7 days and an additional 3 days if we upload at least one picture.
Advanced search filters
It’s helpful to be clear on what you want, and you can adjust the search filters accordingly, as matches can be exact or inexact. Users can choose one or more age brackets of five years each and one or all genders. Besides this most basic information, you can add more details to different groups of criteria, such as:
- Location: Allows you to add as many or as few states, countries, or world regions as you like.
- Appearance: Pick the specifics, including race, height, body type, hair color and length, and fashion sense. Again, you can choose several options at the same time or be highly specific.
- Background: This lets you choose the level of education, profession, and earnings that you prefer. The marital status you’re open to dating is also included. Remember, though, that only legally divorced people can join the platform.
- Lifestyle: Choose the personality type that you’re inclined to look for and the type of relationship they should be interested in. It also refers to their wishes and current situation regarding children, if you’d want them to be willing to relocate, and their relationship with smoking and tobacco.
- Faith: Here, you can pick the level of involvement they have in the church, whether they belong to a certain denomination, and how important their faith should be for them.
Costs
The website has a membership subscription, meaning that the platform will renew the contract once the membership period expires. If you wish to stop the subscription, you can delete your account. This may be inconvenient if you wish to return at a later date, so alternatively, you may just put your account on hold.
A membership allows you to browse the profiles, send your contact details through a message, and participate in the forums. You cannot do these actions during the one-week free trial. ChristianCafe.com also offers plenty of different payment methods, besides credit or debit card payments. Alternatives include PayPal, Moneygram, Western Union, and check/money orders. You can also gift a membership to someone. These are the site’s membership rates:
- 1-year $16 per month, in one installment of $109.97 (save $40)
- 6-month $99 per month, in one installment of $89.97 (save $20)
- 3-month $99 per month, in one installment of $59.97 (save $10)
- 1-month $97 per month, in one installment of $39.97 (save $5)
Success rate & special features
Success rate
ChristianCafe.com has managed to impress us with its extraordinary statistics. The site’s operator claims that 25,000 weddings have taken place among the platform members. Credible testimonies and user comments support this on the website. We also found that there’s a lot of activity in the forums, signaling that the community is very engaged. There are dozens of replies to each post after only a short time of them being online. When we logged in during our review, there were 161 females online.
Many Christian media outlets have featured the platform over the years, such as The Christian Broadcasting Network, the Full Circle talk show, 100 Huntley Street, the interfaith TV show 3D: Dialogue, and Christianity Today, to name a few. Furthermore, ChristianCafe.com has appeared in mainstream media such as Newsweek, The Mirror, The New York Times, and many more. It’s clear to us that ChristianCafe.com is a serious and professional platform dedicated to facilitating Christian marriages.
Special features
- Send a wink: When you send a wink, a short introductory message gets sent to the user as a gentle icebreaker.
- Write a letter: Let your feelings out, talk about your faith and everyday life.
- Participate in the forums: There are countless forums with different discussions, grouped by topic.
- Apply advanced search filters: This is one of the great advantages of this website. After all, Christianity can be experienced in many different ways, and the detailed search filters help you find exactly the person you’re looking for.
- Post a prayer: Every day, users post new prayers here that all the members can read and reply to.
Conclusion
ChristianCafe.com is a great place for Christians who want to date. Most of these users are naturally interested in getting married, but there’s a lot of diversity within the Christian community. The platform manages to provide an environment of anonymity and discretion that feels very safe and trustworthy. The site has excelled in this niche since its creation in 1998. It’s operated by a company that goes by the same name as the website. It was founded by a group of Christian Canadians who noticed a gap in the online dating market.
The response from the public has been amazing ever since, and there’s been a lot of activity on the website. Users exchange ideas on the forums and in surveys; they post public prayers and create detailed profiles that explain their lives and faith. Many users belong to different churches, whereas others consider themselves non-denominational Christians. The platform has many members in North America, but we also found users from all over the world, such as the UK, Colombia, and many African countries.
FAQ
What are the rules regarding sharing your contact information?
It’s expected that, eventually, the conversation will move away from the platform. As a free member, though, the site doesn’t allow you to send your contact information to other users. However, it’s perfectly within the rules of the site for a paying member to send their details to a non-paying member.
Can I see who has viewed my profile?
Yes. In the bottom-left corner, there’s an option that says, “Who’s Viewed Me?” By clicking here, you’ll find an overview of the people who have visited your profile. Likewise, others will be able to see which profiles you have checked out.
Are there fake profiles on ChristianCafe.com?
It’s impossible to guarantee that there are zero fake profiles on a platform. However, ChristianCafe.com does everything it can to identify any profiles with bad intentions. They use a human team, coupled with the most advanced technological solutions. They update these methods regularly. Also, remember that you can let the company know of any potentially dangerous profiles, and you can also block those users.
What specifically Christian features will I find on ChristianCafe.com?
The forum topics focus not only on relationships but also on life as a Christian in general. Furthermore, there’s a special feature on the site called “Prayers,” where users can leave a public prayer for anyone to see. When you sign up, you’ll be asked quite a few questions regarding your faith. For example, there are questions about your degree of involvement in your church, church denomination, opinions regarding sex life and contraception, etc.
Is ChristianCafe.com safe?
The company behind ChristianCafe.com puts great effort into creating a safe experience for its users. The platform allows you to stay anonymous and communicate only through your ChristianCafe.com email. You can even hide your location from your profile. If you realize that your username somehow reveals too much of your personal information, you can change it to a different name. Furthermore, you can block users very easily if necessary, using a feature called “Mailblock.” The website has the latest technology in place to ensure there aren’t any fraudulent profiles.
Can I give someone a free membership?
Yes, it’s possible. You’ll need to do so from your own membership page, though. After that, you’ll need to send an email to payment@ChristianCafe.com, stating the username of the person you’re paying for. Then, the operator will get in touch with that person to let them know.