Ashley Madison
Review 2024
Designed for Discreet Extramarital Relationships
24 million US Members & Free Membership for Women
72% Male | 28% Female
- Designed for Discreet Extramarital Relationships
- 24 million US Members & Free Membership for Women
- 72% Male | 28% Female
In-Depth Review of
Ashley Madison
There is no shortage of options in the wide world of online dating. From different interests to different kinks to different fetishes, everyone can find their place. Ashley Madison is one among these infinitely unique offerings, as a dating site designed for those seeking discretion in their extramarital affairs.
Originally founded in 2002 by Darren J. Morgenstern with the apt slogan – “Life is short. Have an affair.” – Ashley Madison took the world by storm. Gaining notoriety and renown, it entered the world stage. However, with a platform founded on discretion, it hit a hurdle in 2015 when a massive data leak struck its servers. Thousands of users’ private information was suddenly exposed to the world.
Trying to pick up the pieces from that infamous leak, Ashley Madison is once more on top of the extramarital dating scene. However, can it maintain the throne with so many competitors there too? We made a profile to find out. Read our review to see if Ashley Madison is still the best offering for those seeking an extramarital affair or sexual experience like no other!
Pros
Active community of members
Perfect for a discreete hookup or an extramarital relationship
Free for female users
Very user-friendly app and website
Great anonymity features to hide your identity
Cons
Pricey credit system for men
Scammers due to anonymous features
How Much Is Ashley Madison?
100 CREDITS
Per credit: $0.49
Total: $49.00
500 CREDITS
Per credit: $0.30
Total: $149.00
1000 CREDITS
Per credit: $0.25
Total: $249.00
Signing Up for Ashley Madison
Signing up for Ashley Madison is straightforward and secure. It doesn’t ask for a large amount of personal information, but it does ask for more general information about your interests and physical attributes. Unlike when it began, there are actually more options for relationships than solely extramarital – which is why they now ask about your current relationship status. From there, you can choose the ever-brandished affair option, or something else to suit your fancy.
With a reinvigorated emphasis on discretion and security after the data leak, member profiles don’t have very much to go on. Some might include a city of residence or a zodiac sign, but there are no names plastered on profiles other than a chosen username. To add to that, profile pictures exist on Ashley Madison, but there are options to obscure your face with a blurring filter or even a mask.
Although it isn’t a long sign-up process to start browsing, the emphasis on security is clear. Which makes a lot of sense, given the nature of the site and its desired clientele.
Member Structure
Similar to Sugar Daddy dating sites, Ashley Madison does sway towards a predominantly male userbase. Older men make up the majority, but many reside in the 25-34 range. Overall, however, the percentages come out to about 72% male and 28% female. That being said, it is an absolutely massive userbase for a niche dating service, with well over 70 million users across 45 countries.
Among those, 26 million are from the US with around 25,000 daily logins. It should also be noted that while Ashley Madison found fame and still promotes itself as an extramarital dating service, it has since branched out to include a number of other offerings for its member base too.
Such options as polyamorous couples seeking to spice up their relationship or those in an open marriage now find a plethora of options on the Ashley Madison site. At the other end of that, a number of single users also exist on the site, searching for married couples or those in an open relationship to find companionship with.
Matching Process
The matching process on Ashley Madison still relies on discretion above all. As you might imagine, that can make the work cut out for it rather difficult to navigate. Algorithms tend to fail when profiles have a decided lack of information, and that’s why a big part of the matching process on Ashley Madison revolves around searching for potential matches yourself.
However, as a modern feature, you can narrow that search to filter by location to find those potential matches closest to you. To add to that, there are also options for boosting profile visibility. For those users on-the-go, there are options to change your location to wherever you might be traveling to explore the potential for matches at your next destination. You can also boost your own profile to appear in more searches to increase the odds of others reaching out.
Both of these options are only offered for a fee, but they greatly increase chances of finding a match.
Contact Options
Something important to note about Ashley Madison is that it advertises itself as functioning a lot like a night club in the city – one where women don’t have to pay to enter. Because of the large gender disparity, all women on Ashley Madison are given a premium membership upon sign-up, which greatly increases their contact options out of the gate.
With that, we can talk first about the free membership offered to male users. As might be expected for a site like this, options are limited. Free memberships offer the ability to browse the site, like profiles, and send winks. However, only with a paid membership can relationships really form on Ashely Madison.
With a paid membership, users can initiate chats, video calls, and private messages. As mentioned previously, they can also use the travel man feature to search in a new destination and boost their profile for more visibility. To add to that, they can also use the private showcase feature – a way to provide other users with access to uncensored photos. As intended, this feature is frequently utilized by female members to extend communication with paying male profiles.
Finally, paid users are given the ability to send virtual gifts to prospective partners. However, these gifts are part of a credit system on the site, where users pay real money to acquire a certain number of Ashley Madison credits. In that way, the costs for the site can really stack up for many users.
Ashley Madison App
Ashley Madison has an app available on both Android and iOS. It has all the same features of the web version and still maintains its emphasis on security. As a plain example of that, the icon for the app is customizable and easily blends in so as not to draw attention. The app is also specifically designed for browsing by location, with a swipe feature to accommodate modern audiences.
Conclusion
Ashley Madison has made its mark on the online dating scene. With a unique approach to extramarital affairs, it paved the way for many modern sites that followed. Although it had a setback in 2015 with the data leak, it has since overcome that setback and pushed on to become one of the most successful niche dating sites around.
With increased security and increased options for dating beyond affairs, Ashley Madison has evolved to maintain relevance even two decades later. Although we don’t personally condone cheating or non-consensual extramarital affairs, if you are someone interested in dating outside of your own marriage, or within someone else’s, Ashley Madison might just be the perfect site for you!