Vegetarian Buddies Review

Overview of Vegetarian Buddies

Vegetarianbuddies.com is an online dating site for vegetarians. This site centers around chat and video chat so you can meet other vegetarians from all over the world, but also has search filters to find local veggie dates or relationships.

The best tool on VegetarianBuddies is the Smart Match program used to make the search and site relevant. You can look for something as specific as “local single vegans” or broaden your search to a location, height, age range, and more. The Smart Match Tool uses search history, site activity, and the personal info you give to show compatible matches. This means that if you really only want to meet Single Vegetarian Women, and you search versions of that, the site recognizes the pattern and shows you more of the same. You can still search for matches outside what you normally like by using the Search tools rather than the Matching tools. If your preferences change over time, so does what the site shows you. In my experience, it makes it really easy to find what you want without digging through profiles that don’t interest you.

The biggest downfall with this site is that it’s not really a free dating site – even if you buy a membership, you have to upgrade to be a VIP member and have full access to all the chat and priority features. I did also think the site was a little bit slow at times. There are a lot of regular members who seem to be online frequently, but new members come in more slowly. This isn’t a huge surprise because it is a niche dating site for vegetarians, so it won’t have the same broad audience as other dating sites.

Features and Activities

VegetarianBuddies has several ways to search, play, and interact. This more important than you might think – I don’t see a lot of sites getting both the tech and the social aspects right. It’s often one or the other, and sometimes neither. This site used great tech (Smart Match Tool) and social media features (Flirt and Video Chat). I think it’s this combo that makes this site work so well.

• Home – This is your default landing page, where your Notifications, Messages, Chat alerts, Member requests, the New Members section, Flirts, and Matches can be found. You can also use the dashboard to access activities and refine your browsing.
  • Inbox – Envelope/Mail Icon shows when you have new messages.
  • New Members – See who’s new and reach out to welcome them. Again, this aspect of the site isn’t quite as busy as others, but it is steady.
  • Your New Matches – These are matches VegetarianBuddies suggests – this is where the Smart Match Tool I talked about in the Overview comes into play.
• Browse – Browse members by category and view connections. Choose to see:
  • New – Shows new site members.
  • Online – Shows members who are Online Now and have not hidden themselves. You can choose to remain Offline if you prefer to browse the site privately.
  • Matches – Shows people the site suggests as Matches.
  • VIP – Shows VIP Members. You can view many of the VIP members, but can only chat and video chat with them if you have a VIP Membership, on top of the Paid Membership.
  • Admirers – People who have Liked your profile.
  • Favorites – People you have Liked and who have Liked you back.
  • Visitors – Users who visited your Profile.
  • Blocked – Use this to block members for any reason. I love online chat, but there are people I don’t want to interact with more than once… or ever. If you change your mind, you can Unblock at any time.
• Profile – View and edit your profile here. The details you give here help the site find Your Matches.
• Chat – Chat or Video Chat with other members. You can only do this if you’ve paid for a membership, and even then, you can only Chat with VIP Members if you are one yourself. This is where they nail you down for the Gold Membership and VIP Add-on, because without messaging and chat, the site is useless.

• Flirt – This feature suggests potential flirts based on your likes. The site keeps tabs on the Top Flirts of the Week. Those are members who have Flirted the most.

Memberships

The totally free dating site is, unfortunately, a myth. Not just on this site, but all over the web. Most free dating websites offer a Free Join, which is not the same thing as a Free Membership. This is how they get you on the site, then they require you to upgrade if you want to chat or date. VegetarianBuddies is no different. The Standard Membership gives you access to the most basic features of the website, like search, browsing, and accepting incoming messages. If you want to use the better features of the site, you have to pay. I try to think of this as any other kind of dating. If I go out to a club or to the gym to meet people, I am paying there, too.

The structure for upgrading on this website is a little more complicated than some others I have reviewed.

There are 3 Premium Upgrade Options:

1-month membership at $37.99/month

• Add VIP $14.90/month = $54.89
• Total due at signup = $54.89

3-month membership at $29.99/month

• Add VIP $14.90/month = $44.89
• Total due at signup = $134.67
• Saves $10/month or $30 total

6-month membership at $24.99/month

• Add VIP $14.90/month = $39.89
• Total due at sign-up = $239.34
• Saves $15/month or $90 total

If you plan to get a paid membership to the site, it’s best to buy the VIP with the monthly package. There are so many features on here that you can’t use if you don’t upgrade to a full VIP Membership that you’re wasting money by NOT buying it, as odd as that seems.

The six-month plan is the best deal, as it is less per month than the monthly recurring plan. Even though it saves money to pick the multi-month plans, they are also billed on sign-up for the whole package, so it does cost more right away.

Summary

In my opinion, VegetarianBuddies.com is one of the best dating sites for vegetarians on the market, mainly because of the Smart Match Tool and the fun features. They have a good help and support team, a system for validating member profiles to prevent trolls, good site security, and the members are active.

The winning features of this dating site are the Search Function and the Smart Match, hands down. The way they work together makes it easy to find compatible matches, even in much smaller categories like Fruitarian Singles or Plant-Based Dating.

My least favorite thing about the site is the Membership Package + VIP Add-On Option. I don’t think the price is awful – it is similar to what other dating sites are charging for membership. It’s also not the only dating site offering the Add-On. I simply prefer an easier process. I don’t want to have to think about which membership I’m going to get and if I pay for one, I want to use all the features.

Overall, VegetarianBuddies.com is a good site. It runs well and isn’t scammy or glitchy. I don’t have other browser pages and pop-ups all over the place. It has a lot of active members, great tech, and fun ways to interact. It is worth the membership if you purchase the add-on. If the VIP add-on is not in your budget, I’d probably start with a one-month membership to see if you like the site with the limited benefits.