How we research and check dating agencies

This site exists to help people decide whether to pay an agency or matchmaker, and which one. That only works if the information is accurate, current and free of hidden interests. These are the rules we work to.

Where agency information comes from

• The agency's own website, and nothing else, for anything about the agency. Services, the area it covers, offices, published fees, vetting and contract terms all come from the agency's own pages and published terms. We don't use review sites, directories, press releases about the agency or what other agencies say about it.
• Trade bodies and regulators for the rules. Membership of a trade body comes from that body's own list. Consumer law comes from the legislation itself or the government regulator's guidance, and we link to it.
• Quotes are quotes. When we put words in quotation marks, they are the agency's own words from the page we cite.

What every listing shows

• A checked-on date. Prices and terms change. Every listing shows when we last read the agency's website, and the sources at the foot of the page link to the exact pages we used.
• Published prices only. If an agency publishes a price, we give it as written. If it doesn't, we say "not published" rather than estimating. Many agencies only quote at a consultation, and that is useful to know in itself.
• What's missing. If an agency doesn't say how it vets members, or what happens if you cancel, we say that too. Silence on refunds is information.

When a city guide goes live

A city guide is published only when we've found and checked enough agencies that genuinely serve that area. A national firm with a page for every town doesn't count as local unless its own website shows people, offices or a specific service there, and even then we say what kind of firm it is. Until a city meets that bar, we don't publish a thin page for it. Manchester was the first to go live; the agency hub shows the rest as they're ready.

We don't yet phone or email agencies for unpublished prices. If we start, we'll say on each listing which details came from the agency directly and when.

Independence and our own service

DatingAgency.com runs its own online dating service, so we have a commercial interest in people choosing a dating site over an agency. We handle that by:

• never placing our service inside an agency comparison or ranking;
• showing it in a separate, labelled section, with the same plain facts we expect of agencies: that it is a dating site, that reading and replying to messages is paid, that memberships renew until cancelled, and that profiles are shared with partner sites;
• writing guides that say when an agency or matchmaker is the better choice, as in is a matchmaker worth it and agency, matchmaker or dating site.

As of 17 October 2026, no agency listing is paid for and none carries an affiliate link. If that ever changes, the listing will be clearly marked and this page updated.

How we write about the law

Consumer law changes, and it differs between the UK nations and between Australian states. We cite the legislation itself (on legislation.gov.uk and the state legislation sites) or the regulator's own guidance, give the date we checked it, and say which places a rule covers. Where we found agency-specific rules only in some places, as in Victoria and Queensland, we say that rather than implying they apply everywhere. Our contracts and refunds guide is the main example.

What we won't publish

No invented statistics, testimonials, success stories or member numbers. No "best agency" rankings, since nobody can test agencies fairly without being a client of each. No examples presented as real people; where we use an example, we label it. No advice that depends on facts we haven't checked.

Advice, not legal advice

Our guides to contracts and refunds and safety explain the law and official guidance in general terms, with links to the source. They aren't legal advice about your contract. For that, contact Citizens Advice in the UK or your state or territory's fair trading office in Australia.

Corrections

If you spot an error, tell us through the members help centre, saying which page and which fact. If an agency's own website shows we're wrong, we correct the page and update the checked-on date. Agencies can use the same route to point us to a page we've missed. The contact page has the details.