“There’s nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman…it’s a thing no married man knows anything about.” -Oscar Wilde
If your first thought about Ashley Madison dating is “Hey, isn’t that the website where you can date married women?” you’re not wrong.
The company started a huge scandal when it first launched edgy slogans like “Life is short, have an affair!” and the strong imagery of a woman wearing a wedding ring.
That was back in 2001. Has the company changed over twenty years later?
More to the point, who uses Ashley Madison dating? Is it still considered marriage dating or has it evolved into something else?
And what can you expect if you sign up with the Ashley Madison dating site?
We’ll answer all of these questions in our Ultimate Ashley Madison Dating Site Review.
Ashley Madison Dating Review 2023
Pros
- Mostly married but looking clientele
- 70 million members
- Many ethically non-monogamous users
- Women get free premium memberships
- Gay and lesbian-friendly
Cons
- Men have to pay to start conversations
- Not trans friendly yet
- Very competitive for men
- Some fake profiles
- Some escorts hanging around
Top Features of the Ashley Madison dating website
- Private, anonymous & discreet communication
- The most secure affair site
- Tools to mask/blur/black out your photo
- Unlockable private photo galleries
- Go invisible & hide your profile
Special Deals at the Ashley Madison dating website (Promotions are time-sensitive)
- 50 credits for only $9.99
- 100 more bonus credits for $24.50
Overall Ashley Madison Dating Site Review: 5/5
The Ashley Madison dating website has an open-minded spirit and a welcoming design – and all this despite having virtually no community you are forced to take part in.
This makes the Ashley Madison app unique among all other affair sites.
The Ashley Madison app appeals to people who cannot share their photos publicly because of their home life or job.
Whereas many NSFW sites and casual dating sites push for transparency, video chat, and social links, it’s understandable why many people don’t want the limelight – just the no-strings-attached affair!
That’s why the Ashley Madison app is still popular today, not just for people looking to cheat, but for a wider variety of non-monogamous lovers who just wish to keep their sex life private.
Ashley Madison Dating App: Basic Overview
When Ashley Madison dating first started, it caused quite a stir. The founder of Match.com called it a “business built on the back of broken hearts…[it] ruins marriages and damages families.”
However, in recent years, Ashley Madison’s demographics have evolved. Now, the Ashley Madison dating site leans towards a wider variety of non-monogamous dating. There are now married women, married men, LGBTQ users, singles, swingers, and poly families.
It’s not just a “cheating website” anymore. It’s more of an affair site, with broader meanings to suit the complicated sexual needs of its users.
Signing Up with Ashley Madison
The best way to become familiar with the Ashley Madison app is to sign up and take a free preview. There’s no cost or any personal information required to create an account.
Signing up with the Ashley Madison dating website requires a series of simple steps.
- Use the AshleyMadison app or go to the website, AshleyMadison.com.
- Click the “Join Now” button and then enter a valid email address with a password.
- Select your gender.
- Select the preferred gender of your partner.
- Enter profile information, such as your name, location, and age.
- Agree to the terms and conditions and click “Continue”.
- Verify your email address by clicking the link in the email sent to you.
- You have now successfully signed up with Ashley Madison.
Creating a Profile for the Ashley Madison Website
Now it’s time to create a profile for the Ashley Madison website. The quality of your profile is directly related to the attention you will receive from other partners. You can access your profile at any time by clicking Profile on the far left-hand tab.
On the About Me page, add a few photos and then write a brief description of yourself.
Photos should also be high quality and showcase your personality – not just your body.
Psychology Today has a nice list of tips on how to take better photos for dating apps.
Defining Your Preferences on the Ashley Madison Dating Site
Next, in the Vitals section, indicate the type of relationship you are looking for in Ashley Madison dating, and the qualities you are seeking in a partner.
You can choose whether you’re single or married, gay or straight, and some more vitals about your body type and your language of choice.
The Interests and Desires section gives you a chance to add some lifestyle tags (stuff you enjoy doing for fun) or some of your favorite turns-ons in bed. (Or out of bed, apparently!)
What Does It Cost to Use Ashley Madison?
The Ashley Madison Website offers registration, profile creation, and unlimited browsing for free to all members. However, women get a free premium membership too, while men must pay in order to initiate contact with other members.
Instead of paying a monthly membership fee, men can buy credit packages and just pay for the contact they actually have.
The Basic Package is the most affordable option. You get 100 credits at 49 cents per credit.
The Classic Package gets you 500 credits at 30 cents per credit.
The Elite Package gives you 1000 credits at 25 cents per credit.
The Ashley Madison website adds a one-time activation fee of $19.99 for mobile access.
You can pay via credit card, PayPal, or even check or money order.
Click the Mail/Courrier option to get very specific instructions so that your paper payment won’t be lost.
How Does the Credit System Work at Ashley Madison?
Users sometimes complain that Ashley Madison dating can get expensive since not everyone understands how the credit system works.
Bills can get high, considering that every text message costs credits. Every time you send a message or open a message from someone else, those are disappearing credits – at about 5-10 per message sent or opened.
It doesn’t help that the Ashley Madison app doesn’t warn you how much you’re spending with each transaction. All you can do is double-check your credits total on your main dashboard to make sure you’re still covered.
On average, 1000 credits buy you 111 conversations. When you buy 500 credits you get 55 conversations. The Basic option of 100 credits will only buy you 10-20 conversations, depending on how long you chat. Because long conversations can also cost credits.
>>Buy credits now
As a compromise, buying a credit package on the Ashley Madison app now includes 30 days of free Member Initiated Contact (MIC).
This feature, which sells for $29.99 separately, allows you to read and respond to your messages for free, so as long as another member starts the conversation.
If money is not an issue, then it might be a good idea to check “Top up your credits.” This option lets the Ashley Madison website automatically charge your account for 200 new credits whenever you run out, rather than risk ending the conversation too soon.
It’s not complicated to keep up with your Ashley Madison dating app bills, but it does require some regular check-ins to make sure you know how much you’re spending.
Ashley Madison Dating App: Top Features
Private & Public Photo Galleries for the Ashley Madison Dating App
When you’re uploading extra photos, you will have the choice of uploading public or private photos.
“Public Photos” gallery should always be Safe For Work. These are photos that everyone will see, when browsing through profiles based on location and filtering.
It’s no wonder that many Ashley Madison dating users do not post any photos of their faces, considering that being recognized on an affair dating site could cause a major security leak professionally and personally.
Instead, you might see photos of bodies (but no genitals) or photos of just a person in a suit or dress, with identifying information obscured. You might also notice some public photos are “blotted out” to avoid showing the person’s face.
Don’t worry, NSFW photos are allowed in the “Private Photos” gallery. However, these media files are not automatically displayed to anyone unless the owner gives full consent to each individual person.
Private photos can only be unlocked with a special “key.” You can offer this key to others, or request someone’s key after a friendly chat.
Privacy Tools for the Ashley Madison Dating App
As for the blotted-out faces you see on Ashley Madison dating profiles? It might look like Photoshop, but it can all be done using online privacy tools of the Ashley Madison dating website.
All you have to do is upload a normal photo and then you can decide which way you want to anonymize it:
- Blurring the image
- Blacking out the image
- Cropping the image
- Applying a “mask” filter to obscure the face
The original photo will remain in your private gallery, while the censored image will stay in your public gallery. You can also choose a standardized “anonymous” icon in case you don’t want to post any public photos.
Ashley Madison Dating App Security
The Ashley Madison dating website features some top-notch security, which has been only enhanced after a cyber-terrorist attack back in 2015.
Now, the site offers 256-bit encryption, PCI DSS validation by Security Metrics, and Rapid SSL security to protect all financial data.
The Ashley Madison dating app also has some enhanced security features. Not only does it protect your confidential information, but it also helps to prevent “significant others” from discovering the Ashley Madison dating account.
You can turn on 2-step authentication to lock out other users in the home. You can change your status to OFFLINE by using Incognito Mode, or turn off your location.
Find these options in User Settings, right under the main dashboard.
The Ashley Madison dating website even has a full panic option, just in case you’re caught.
You can hide your profile, which disables all messaging, and makes you completely invisible to all other users on the Ashley Madison website – and without your profile appearing on a search.
If that’s not enough to make a successful getaway, you can also click Delete Account or Deactivate Account, just in case you want to completely scrub your account from the device.
Who Viewed Me? On the Ashley Madison App
This option on the Ashley Madison app lets you see who viewed your account. It’s a good way to keep track of everyone you interact with and it may lead to additional matches besides the default matches you get in your inbox.
See the Best of Ashley Madison Dating with “Discover” Mode
Discover Mode is a free browsing experience that lets you see the closest Ashley Madison dating profiles nearby your location.
Men can like a profile for free, but starting a chat requires credits.
On the other hand, women can create a premium account and start conversations for free – if they add a few photos to prove they’re real.
While the Ashley Madison website does not require ID verification, they do moderate profiles and even moderate photos that seem a bit suspicious.
Filtered Searches while Using the Ashley Madison App
The Ashley Madison dating site is one of the few hookup sites that allow free members to do location searches. Not only can you change your city location (or use GPS to auto-detect where you are), but you can also customize more specific filters for a better match.
You can change the age range, location distance, relationship status, and body type, before getting back the best results.
>>Go to Ashley Madison Now
You can even customize the intensity of the relationship you want, with discreet affairs ranging from something short, or long-term, or cyber only, to something more general like “whatever excites me.”
Priority Man on the Ashley Madison Dating App
The Priority Man feature on the Ashley Madison dating app is a way for men to get more visibility when they are looking for affair dating.
This feature gives them a profile boost, with their profile being featured at the top of the search results and with a highlighted profile.
Priority Messaging for the Ashley Madison App
You can also get Priority Messaging, which means your DMs go to the top of the page and are also highlighted over the competition.
With the deluge of single and married males using Ashley Madison dating, you may have to “stand out” from the rest of the crowd somehow, and that’s why Priority Messaging is a popular feature for new members, as well as Priority Man for boosting your profile.
Just be aware that sending priority messages can cost up to fourteen credits, which is even more than a regular message.
Message Plus for Ashley Madison Dating
Message Plus is a feature of the Ashley Madison dating site that allows users to send private and secure messages to other users, as well as photo or video attachments.
You can also schedule when a message will be delivered, just in case your partner expects your email at a certain time.
Ashley Madison Alternatives: Are There Other Affair Sites?
Ashley Madison dating may have carved out a niche for itself back in 2001 but since then, many affair dating sites have popped up and are finding their own audience. Here is an Ashley Madison Dating Site Review of its three best competitors.
Adult Friend Finder vs. Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
The Ashley Madison website’s best feature is its notoriety – this is the go-to site for hosting married women, married men, and anyone who has a naughty secret.
It’s no coincidence that most people are masked, all profiles are unverified, and no one wants to talk too much about their personal lives!
In contrast, Adult Friend Finder is a much more sociable affair site. There are verified people here, swinging couples that show their faces, and many other non-monogamous users that have no reason to hide secrets.
AFF Review
- AFF charges membership fees
- AFF doesn’t let women join for free
- AFF has more chat rooms and group forums
- AFF has live streaming videos
Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
- AM charges per interaction
- AM allows free location searches & browsing
- AM doesn’t have verification options
- AM has online privacy tools to blur/mask your face
Victoria Milan vs. Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
Victoria Milan was created to compete with the Ashley Madison dating site and has many of the same features, themes, and imagery used in its advertising.
Both affair sites are targeted toward people wanting extramarital affairs. Both sites welcome people of all complicated backgrounds.
Some users claim that Victoria Milan is better for long-term relationships, and the Ashley Madison dating site is better for casual sex.
Victoria Milan Review
- VM doesn’t have credits, just membership fees
- VM has a “panic button” to click in case your spouse catches you surfing
- VM has virtual gifts you can give to your online friends
- VM is based out of Malta
Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
- AM charges credits
- AM has privacy tools, like VM
- AM has many more members than VM
- AM is based in Canada
Secret Benefits vs. Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
Secret Benefits may seem to conjure up some of the same images as Ashley Madison dating, but clearly one is motivated by sex and the other money.
Secret Benefits is a luxury and sugar dating affair site. It has a higher female-to-male ratio because a lot of wealthy, semi-famous, and generous men log in here.
Ashley Madison has some rich sugar daddies and mommas, but it’s mostly working-class people, or rich people that do NOT like to spoil their dates.
Or so the sugar babies tell us!
Secret Benefits Review
- SB is for sugar dating
- SB has a higher female-to-male ratio
- SB has verification options
- SB has more strictly moderated profiles
Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
- AM is cheaper – in price and in lifestyle
- AM women are more interested in sex than sugar dating
- AM prefers its members to remain anonymous
- AM has some problems with escorts
Ashley Madison Dating App FAQs
Is Ashley Madison good for couples?
Yes, the new Ashley Madison website is good for couples. You can find swingers here, people in open marriages, poly families, and couples looking for threesomes.
It’s safe to say not everyone at Ashley Madison is cheating. The Ashley Madison website does have some members who are ethically non-monogamous.
Is Ashley Madison legit?
Yes, the Ashley Madison app is legit – although it’s always been controversial.
Ashley Madison was first founded as an affair and cheating site but has since evolved into a more open-minded and sex-positive site.
This is where many people come to find discreet affairs, including married, single, and non-monogamous people.
With over one million affairs on record and 70 million members, Ashley Madison dating has continued to silence its critics.
What are the benefits of Ashley Madison?
Some benefits of Ashley Madison dating include the following:
- Anonymous and discreet communication
- Find affairs with married women or men
- Find swingers and poly groups in your area
- Mask public photos with online privacy tools
- Flirt with people by sending them private photo galleries
- Surf “invisibly” with Incognito Mode
Is the Ashley Madison dating app free?
The Ashley Madison dating app is free for women to browse and text.
Men can browse for free and create a profile but sending and opening messages costs credits.
Are there any other dating sites like Ashley Madison?
Yes, there are other dating sites like Ashley Madison – Seeking, Secret Benefits and Victoria Milan are often mentioned as its main competitors.
What is an AM Pass on Ashley Madison?
The AM Pass on the Ashley Madison app was a verification system that unfortunately no longer exists.
Through the years, the Ashley Madison dating site has had to retire some ideas, including verification…
(Guess no one wants to prove they’re “real” on a site that’s trying to avoid extortion!)
And the “Have an affair guarantee” – also gone as of 2023.
What does a Red Dot on Ashley Madison Mean?
The Red Dot on the Ashley Madison dating website refers to a new message in your inbox that you haven’t opened yet. Once you click on the red dot and open the message, the color goes away.
The green dot on Ashley Madison dating means that the user is online and reading messages.
What differences are there between the Ashley Madison app vs. Ashley Madison dating website?
The Ashley Madison app is almost identical to the Ashley Madison dating website, at least as far as content goes.
The differences lie in the formatting quality. The Ashley Madison app is formatted to fit your phone or tablet and so does away with extra space.
The default Ashley Madison website that displays on a desktop or laptop has larger screens, graphics, and more white space that makes the website seem empty compared to the more effectively organized app.
Conclusion – Ashley Madison Dating Site Review
There’s no question that married dating is a popular niche and a kink that some people find irresistible.
The Ashley Madison website fulfills that need, whether your fantasy is sneaking around with a taken wife or husband, joining a couple, swapping partners, or finding a warm body when you’re alone on vacation.
The Ashley Madison dating site is not without its flaws. It could use some updated features like video chat or even group forums. Yeah, the messaging system is pricey over time.
But overall, the Ashley Madison dating website is the most secure, the most private, and the least dangerous affair site you can possibly use.
If you’re going to have an affair, remember Life is Short…and you should probably keep things discreet and private, with a little help from the Ashley Madison app!