Shaadi Matrimonial Review

Since 1996, Shaadi.com has been matching Indian singles and has become one of the top five web sites in all of India (as of 2008). There are currently more than 10 million Asian members with 6,000 new profiles being created every day. Shaddi.com reports that since the site went online. they have been responsible for introducing life partners that have resulted in over 1.3 million marriages. Most members tend to be from the middle-class with about 70% of them from India (as of 2010).

Shaadi.com is also unique among dating services. The have over 150 Shaadi.com Centers in 87 of India's cities. This allows both parents and their children to review together potential matches with a Shaadi.com relationship expert. As you can see, parents are not left out in the match-making process. They can easily login to the service and help their child find a suitable life partner. Shaadi.com profiles of their single members include many traits. You have the normal features that most dating services include like physical details, location information and income. Other search categories on Shaadi.com include religious grouping, caste, skin tone, country of residence and whether the profile was created by the single, a parent or a sibling.

 Positive Features

• A feature-rich dating and matrimonial site that includes a very helpful popup tool system that guides you through the process
• A Shaadi Toolbar is available that makes accessing the site very easy; the toolbar alerts you to new messages right away
• Reported to be India's number one matrimonial services provider, as determined by number of site visitors
• Unconditional guarantee with 100% money back; see costs section below for more details

 Negative Features

• Too much online advertisement on the site, which remains even if you pay to become a premium member

• Free Membership	Yes (no time limit, standard membership) Included: Create a profile (must only complete first step) Registration Nick name, password, email, gender, birthday Basic details Gender, profile created by, marital status, physical details, complexion Religious and social background Religion, mother tongue, caste, sub caste, family values, Manglik / Kuja Dosham Education and career Lifestyle Diet, smoking and drinking habits Location Includes information down to city level Also has residency status (citizen, student visa, work permit, etc.) Contact details Include phone number to be reached at as well as how private you want this information to be Contact person doesn't have to be the person being matched Can change at any time Hobbies, interests and more Additional details Blood group, Gotra / Gothram, cultural background and birth place Additional contacts–can include members of your family or close friends Father’s and mother’s employment Number of brothers and sisters and whether they are married Essay of description of your family Partners profile Can select one or more attributes of most parts of profile that you find desirable in a life partner Includes everything from religious and social background information to education and career details Display your Shaadi.com profile Show interest to a member Display your contact details to premium members Respond to chat invitations Reply to email messages Post photos, video, horoscope Not included: Cannot initiate communication with members (email or chat) Cannot write personal messages to members
  Costs	Membership costs last updated August 25, 2010. Please check Shaadi Matrimonial for most recent pricing Premium membership plans available: Three-month gold membership for $79, which is approximately $26 per month Six-month diamond membership for $119, which is $19.80 per month - save over 41% Twelve-month platinum membership for $189, which is just over $15 per month - save over 56% Bold your listing in search results available for 3 months for $16 100% money back guarantee If you do not have at least one accepted member in the first month, Shaadi.com will refund your entire premium membership fee Accepted members are people who expressed interest in you and you responded positively, or members who responded positively to your interest expressed Accepted payment methods include all major credit cards, Net Banking, pay cash at AXIS Bank or UAE Exchange Can drop payment off at any Shaadi.com Center Premier membership includes: Show interest and write personal messages to members View validated contact details of other members and display your contact details Send and reply to email messages
  Relationship Types	Straight
  Relationship Status	Single Divorced Widowed
  Looking For	Marriage
  Regions	United States Canada United Kingdom Australia India
  Languages	English
  Viewing & Communication Tools	Profile Photo and/or video Show interest Email Shaadi.com messenger Email Can send messages anonymously
  Search By	Quick search Age, location, marital status and community type (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, etc.) Smart search Shortlist matches based on over 24 different criteria, such as astrology data, family values, body type, profession, caste and more AstroSoulMate search City search Profession search Keyword search Special cases Search for physically / mentally / challenged members Also, view members by photo or video and who is online You can save most search results and mark members as favorites
  Other Info	Won numerous awards including PC World India for best website design in 2007 ISO 9001:2000 certified. In general this means Shaadi.com has demonstrated its ability to consistently provide a product that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system. (see ISO)

Read the comparison of top two matrimonial sites in India Shaadi.com Vs Bharath Matrimony

Shaadi.com vs BharatMatrimony.com Review

Shaadi.com vs BharatMatrimony.com


This is a long due blog – due to the winner among the two and more so to my friends who are still hunting for a soul mate and are considering/using matrimony website(s) as one of their Stairways to Heaven.

Shaadi.com (henceforth referred to as Shaadi) and BharatMatrimony.com (henceforth referred to as BharatMatrimony) are the two largest matrimony websites in India. Before I jump into the comparison, I would like to dwell into when one finds his/her way into matrimonial websites, the dangers/prejudices it holds and where and when it works.

Philosophy and reality of matrimony websites

Matrimonial websites are rarely the first option for partner seekers, but they are good, and over the years, they have been very successful in getting the right match, and in some cases, an acceptable compromise. In my case, it didn’t give the solution in the end, but I learned well about Shaadi and BharatMatrimony and have a reasonable idea which one would give a good success rate for which type of people.

So, let’s start with general sphere of influence of these matrimony websites. They are:

Effective for

1. Agarwals, Jains, Maheshwaris and the likes – basically big castes with a good array of mates to choose from. Also effective for Brahmins who are flexible with Brahmin sub-castes.
2. Where marriage must happen within the caste – do or die, billionaire or blind.
3. Doctors and Chartered Accountants, who prefer partners from same profession.
4. Professionals seeking a professional partner without bias for caste.
5. Bohras/Muslims/Christians/Jews – a small array to choose from, so either you find it or you don’t, but at least you don’t waste your time.
6. Beautiful girls – I am not being sexist about it, but they will get many proposals, no matter what, as most guys would sacrifice many other parameters to have a beautiful wife.

Not very effective for:

1. Boys from Banswara – I mean guys small towns or cities. I found that a lot of families/girls have preconceived negative notions about not marrying into a family from a small place, even though the guy is working in a big city or outside India. The same notion isn’t reserved for girls from smaller cities, as they will be move into the bigger city family after the marriage.
2. Seekers from small castes or sections, who are flexible to look out.
3. Run-of-the-mill (read too many available) engineers and management professionals.
4. Professionally successful women beyond the socially accepted marriageable age.

Needless to say – above isn’t a rulebook, but should have a good 80-20 or 70-30 applicability.

Psychology when using such websites

Psychologically, one looks for more superior partners on matrimony websites than what one would be looking for within one’s comfort zone of caste or city. This happens because:

As I said before, a matrimony website is hardly a first option. Generally, we search within the caste, then through near or far relatives or friends. Then we start looking out of the caste into other acceptable (usually ‘higher’) castes within our city/region. At some point, especially these days, parents also ask the son/daughter whether they like or love someone from a good caste (same level or higher). When all frontiers are lost, a half-hearted registration to these websites is made.

Now, my search criteria was as follows (and I think the MUSTs apply in general to a large set of people):

1. Good character/soft and good nature. (MUST)

2. Good family. (MUST)

3. Good education. (MUST)

4. Average-good looks. (MUST)

5. Preferably working, otherwise a housewife, but definitely not very career-oriented. (MUST)

6. Interested in spirituality. (WANT)

7. Very beautiful. (WANT)

8. From a very educated family with parent(s) having a reputable job/profession. (WANT)

9. From a place preferably closer to, or at least easily to reach from, Banswara. (WANT)

But when one looks at matrimony websites, the confidence that these criteria (especially 1, 2) are actually met is low, for there is a chance of misunderstanding, or even worse, cheating. And therefore, we look for and would accept far better partners from matrimony websites than we would within our own castes or region.

The proof of the pudding was seen in the proposals I sent and received on BharatMatrimony. I hardly liked the ones I received and I was rejected or not responded to by the ones I proposed.

The comparison, finally…

Now coming to the comparison, I will do it categorically:



1. The name: When it comes to the name, Shaadi is clearly a winner, for shaadi in Hindi means marriage. In mind, it sounds like the obvious choice. BharatMatrimony’s name has a bit of a hybrid touch. “What is in a name”, they say, but it is for nothing but the name that Shaadi is the biggest matrimony website!

2. Fee: Both websites allow you to look for partners with a free login. But to get contact info, one has to pay. Both are expensive, at least costing above 2k for 3 months (minimum registration period), but BharatMatrimony was slightly cheaper than Shaadi when I registered.

3. Login and ease of handling: BharatMatrimony is easier to use compared to Shaadi. The login to Shaadi is a bit cumbersome and it opens as a pop-up window where tabs cannot be managed, whereas BharatMatrimony works in normal window, where multiple tabs can be opened.

4. Search: The search function in both websites is effective – with enough options of age, height, religion/caste, region, salary etc. to choose from. However, looking at the search results, I always felt that BharatMatrimony offers you a better array of results than Shaadi – this might have something to do with appearances.

5. Appearances: Appearance-wise, BharatMatrimony is far superior to Shaadi. Apart from browsing and tabs-management, the profile and photos look far cleaner and better in BharatMatrimony.

6. Details: Shaadi is horrendously ineffective when it comes to partner details. It is rather strange, for Shaadi profiles are usually uploaded with support from their executives and after their review, whereasBharatMatrimony profiles are developed individually and only some things such as photos are screened before display. BharatMatrimony lets you give as much details about yourself as you like in an organized form (Personal Info, Occupational Info, Religious Beliefs, Hobbies etc.) and at the same time, it lets you share your expectations from life partner in an organized way. Shaadi, on the other hand, is less detailed and doesn’t have an option for describing your options except in the Comments section. In fact, Shaadi by default won’t reveal the person’s name and you are lucky if it is given in Comments section. BharatMatrimony doesn’t have such illogical issues.

7. Horoscope match: Provided you and the searched result have both put the required details of birth date/time and place, the website will auto-calculate the horoscope match and display it just below the profile ID.

8. Contact info and contact: Here again, BharatMatrimony is very effective. You can either dig the person’s phone no. or you can send a message without knowing their email ID. For your account type, you have a certain limit on messages or phone numbers, which is reasonable. In case of Shaadi, they are still living in the stone age. They will mail you the contact info rather than email it, and even then, they will mostly forget or take too much time to respond.

9. Expressing interest: BharatMatrimony offers a good range of choice here, including phone number, text messages and voice messages. If the user is online, you can also do a text chat. Shaadi on the other hand only gives you the contact info after long chasing.

10. Customer support: BharatMatrimony’s customer support is very good. They called me a day after I created my paid profile to inform my about my benefits. Shaadi on the other hand is seemingly full of ineffective conmen. Even after my repeated requests of sending the profiles on my email rather than my mailbox, they didn’t respond and it took 2 personal visits from my sister to resolve the issue.



Conclusion: I think they are right when they say, “What is in a name”?

Disclaimer: All thoughts or notions expressed in here are solely that of the author and are not intended to malign the already maligned reputation of Shaadi or boost the business of BharatMatrimony. The author doesn’t have any profit sharing agreement with BharatMatrimony and will definitely not receive a penny from Shaadi. His sole intention is to reveal the truth as he sees and direct his friends and blog followers to the relatively right path. The comparisons are based on his solumate search on Shaadi between August – November 2010 and on BharatMatrimony between December-February 2011.

Best 5 Matrimonial Sites in India

Matrimonial sites are on demand around the world these days because needy family receive number of profiles in short time span and all procedures are completed in short period.Here is the list of 5 leading matrimonial services now available in India.Check out.

1. Shaadi

"Shaadi" is not just India’s biggest matrimony website, it is the world’s largest matrimonial website. Profiles of prospective Indian brides and grooms can be searched on the basis of “Mother Tongue”, “”Religion”, “Caste”,"Profession", “Country” .

2. BharatMatrimony

It is another Matrimonial Website whose primary audience is India eventhough Bharat Matrimony is also very popular in USA, UK, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Italy, China, Mexico, Kuwait Qatar, UAE, etc. Bharat Matrimony offers Toll-Free services in 7 countries, live chat options and 120+ branch offices. Profile search can be done numerous parameters like Shaadi “Age Range”, “Mother Tongue”, “”Religion”, “Caste”, “Country”, “State”, “City”, “Occupation”, “Marital Status”, “Education”, “Height”, “Veg/Non-Veg”, “Special Physical Characteristics”, “Horoscope”, “Children”, “ Smoker/Non-Smoker”, etc. A keyword search can also be done. Bharat Matrimony has niche matrimonial sites for different Indian communities like Malayalee, Marathi, Marwadi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Parsi, Sindhi, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada etc.

3. jeevansathi
Jeevan Sathi has more than 5 million profiles ever loaded on their site. The company has also set up 14 offline Jeevansathi Match Points, to complement their online offering, which are located in high footfall retail areas in certain cities. These outlets provide assisted services and help prospective brides or grooms or their families understand and interact with their site.They support through their Toll free Number also.Overall their support seems to be very good.

4. simplymarry
SimplyMarry.com is India's another premier matrimonial service portal owned by "Times group". They offer a one stop platform for online matchmaking that allows prospective Indian brides and Indian grooms to meet and communicate regarding matrimony. They claim that they are utilizing the most advanced search technology available for their matrimonial service.

5. matrimonialsindia
Established in the year 1997, MatrimonialsIndia.com is one of the foremost and vivid Indian Matrimonial Site, providing ample database of thousands of prospective brides and grooms profiles. With ample database of thousands of prospective brides' and grooms' profiles, they assist you to meet with potential life partners and build lifetime relationships. Avail best matrimony services with MatrimonialsIndia.com and get closer to your dream partner.

What is a matrimonial site ?

Let us discuss what is the role of matrimonial sites in Indian marriage culture.Matrimonial sites are specially popular in India and among Indians settled overseas, as an alternative to the traditional marriage broker. In 2006, the business of organized marriages in India was worth INR 10 billion (USD 180 Million). A general study has shown that young men and women in India generally do not feel any compulsion to date since dating has not been a part of the culture historically, and love is often taken to be the total mutual dedication that comes after marriage


Matrimonial sites register users, after which they are able to upload their profile onto a searchable database maintained by the website. Those users looking to find suitors search the database with customised searches that typically include nationality, age, gender, availability of photograph and often religion, geographic location and caste (mainly for websites based in India).

Shaadi.com is the worlds largest matrimonial service and has consistently been working in this matrimonial field since 1996 while bharatmatrimony.com ranked as India's Most Trusted Matrimony Brandby The Brand Trust Report 2014. Many other regional  matrimonial sites are there in the field.