What Is Ashley Madison?

The Ashley Madison dating site is easily one of the most popular married dating platforms where people can find discreet connections. Their famous slogan, "Life is short, have an affair", sums up what the site is all about. But because Ashley Madison launched back in 2001, some might wonder, "Is Ashley Madison still in business after all these years?". That's exactly what we are here to answer!

This in-depth Ashley Madison review covers everything you need to know about the site. From its hyped-up safety measures after the unfortunate 2015 data breach to the ways in which you can connect with others while staying discreet and the overall cost involved. All will be covered. We even give some tips that you won't find on other Ashley Madison reviews online. So, keep your eyes peeled as you discover whether Ashley Madison is where you'll find the fun that you're looking for.

Pros

• Female users can sign up and use the platform completely free (this helps increase the number of women on the site)

• The platform has a very simple, user-friendly, and uncluttered design that's extremely easy to navigate

• The convenient Ashley Madison app is available for iOS and Android devices

Cons

• With both a credit and subscription-based system, it can get very expensive for men to stay active members

• Male members are required to have a positive coin balance before they can initiate most kinds of communication on the site

• There is a very high likelihood of coming across fake or scam accounts

• There are not many dating features that help in finding you a match on Ashley Madison (you'll only have suggested profiles or need to use the search bar)

Login Process

Start the Ashley Madison login process by clicking "See your matches" on the website. Alternatively, you can download the Ashley Madison app from Google Play or the App Store. The whole process is quick and easy and will be over in less than a minute or two. To create your account, you'll be asked to provide the following information about yourself:

• Relationship status (The available options include your gender, status, and what you are looking for, for example, "Attached Male seeking Females")

• A username for your profile

• Password

• Location (Only the country you live in)

• Zip/Postal code

• Date of birth

• Ethnicity

• Email address

After completing the login form, you'll be prompted to purchase credits right away, but you can skip this if you want to get a feel for the site before flashing your credit card. Ashley Madison will then ask you to upload a profile photo (according to the site, profiles with photos get 400% more attention). You'll also get to select whether you want to automatically share your private photos with whoever shares their photos with you. Lastly, you can add some info about yourself that will go on your profile:

• What type of connection you are looking for (Short term, long-term, cyber affair, whatever excites me, anything goes, or undecided)

• A greeting (Here you can whip out your best one-liner)

• Write an 'About Me' to describe yourself (You get 2,000 characters to go into some detail)

• Height

• Weight

Profile Completion

After you've registered an account on Ashley Madison, your profile sections will already be filled with all the information provided. We did find that the 'Greeting' and 'About Me' sections were blank even though we filled those in already. So, you might have to do those again.

Profiles are rather simple, and the only other empty sections in your profile that you need to fill in after registration will be your 'Photo Gallery' and the 'My Interests' and 'Desires' section. You can add up to 12 photos in total and select whether you'd like to make them public photos or private photos. Private photos will only be visible to members with whom you choose to share them.

The very last thing you can add to your profile is your interests and desires to let other members know what you are into. There are 40 options in total, and you can select as many as you find applicable to you. These options include basic hobbies, how you would describe yourself, sexual interests, and what sort of person you'd like to find.

User Account Quality

The profiles that you'll come across on the platform will be those of like-minded people who are looking for affairs. Ashley Madison has a large and diverse membership pool and will prioritize showing profiles that have photos uploaded. You are very unlikely to come across any empty profiles. You can, of course, expect that a lot of members will choose to either have their profile photo blurred or have a mask to help cover their identity.

From our experience, Ashley Madison prioritizes location as its most important match-making parameter. You'll only see members who are closest to you and in your area. From the pool of locals, the site will pinpoint those members that match what you've set that you are looking for. The platform has over 24 million members from the USA, so you won't ever be short of match suggestions.

Dating Features

Discover

The Ashley Madison Discover page is where you'll find all of your potential matches. The site will automatically suggest the members that you are most likely to have some luck with. Scroll through the profiles and see who catches your attention before sparking up a chat. But if you want to take things into your own hands, you can edit the parameters of your search filters.

Basic filters let you search for a match based on age, location, when last they logged in, and what they are searching for ("Single Female Seeks Male" for example). You can also filter to only see profiles with private photos, public photos, or who are new members. Added advanced search parameters let you also search by:

• Body type

• Height range

• Ethnicity

• Languages spoken

• What type of connection they are looking for

Member Initiated Contact

Member Initiated Contact is an added subscription that men can sign up to if they'd like to save on spending so many credits. It's the most inexpensive and effortless way to maintain communication with someone without the need to purchase more credit packages. The catch is that a female account will have to have made the first move. You will still end up using credits if you initiate communication with someone. Making the initial contact includes actions such as:

• Sending a message

• Exchanging Private Keys

• Sending a Wink

• Favoriting the member

The purchase of a Member Initiated Contact subscription comes with a 30-day free trial for you to give it a try. During this time, you can read and reply to any messages that have been initiated by female users. You will only be charged if you haven't canceled the subscription before this Ashley Madison free trial expires. This feature costs $32.99 per month and also gives you 10 private key requests and 20 winks per day.

Private Gallery Key

Discretion is everything on Ashley Madison. And to give you some control over how discreet you'd like to be, the site gives you the power to choose who does and doesn't see your private photo gallery. Now, what kind of photos you decide to put in your private gallery is completely up to you. But when you feel comfortable letting someone see what you've been keeping private, all you need to do is send them a Private Gallery Key.

You can send someone a key by simply clicking on the 'key' icon either on their profile or next to the message box while you are messaging them. Then select 'Send Private Key'. You can also request to see someone's private gallery the same way. But requests are not free and will cost 3 credits. As a new Ashley Madison member, you will get one free key request. Those who want to stay discreet should make sure they have the Automatic Private Key Exchange activated or not. If it is on, then you will automatically give whoever shares their key with you access to your private photos.

Favorites and Winks

While browsing the site, especially the 'Discover' page, you are more than likely to come across a few members who catch your eye. Perhaps you feel like browsing some more, or your pick-up lines aren't that strong, but you still want to show your interest and remember who you've come across. On Ashley Madison, you can do this by either sending them a wink or adding them as a favorite.

You can 'Favorite' as many users as you like for free, and you'll also get 3 free 'Winks' every day. After your daily winks run out, they will cost 1 Credit each to send. Both features will notify members via message to inform them that they have been favorited or been winked at. This is a great way to not only keep track of who you like but also to initiate contact in a flirty way that's a bit cheaper than a message.

Profile Photo Anonymity

You'll want to avoid broken hearts after the awkward question of why your spouse saw your face on an affair website like this. So, apart from being able to create a private photo gallery, there are a few extra features that help keep your Ashley Madison profile as anonymous as possible. To hide your face on your profile photo, you can choose to cover it with an Ashley Madison mask. A mask can either be a rectangle to cover your eyes or one of the two masquerade-style masks. The site also gives you the choice to blur your profile photo with the option to set the intensity of blur that you feel is needed.

Prices & Costs

Ashley Madison is like the dinner date of online dating sites. Only men are expected to pay. Making the service free for women entices more women to join the site. Ashley Madison offers both subscription and credit-based options for its male users. The Credit system forms the base of the site as most of the interactions you can do on AshleyMadison cost at least one credit. The available subscriptions are there almost as a side dish to the main course and aid in creating a more premium experience on top of what you can already do with credits.

Credits are bought in packages of different sizes. While they are all once-off purchases, you are given the option for Ashley Madison to automatically top up your Ashley Madison credits when you have 12 or fewer credits left. If you have the "Top up your credits" featured ticked, your account will get charged for the same package size you initially purchased. The first time you purchase a credit package, you'll also be charged $18.99 for Mobile Access, which is a one-time activation fee.

What you'll need credits for:

• Send a Wink (1 Credit)

• Private Key Requests (3 Credits)

• Send a regular message (9 Credits)

• Send a Priority message (14 Credits)

There are also three types of subscriptions available on AshleyMadison. The Member Initiated Contact subscription gives you 20 extra winks and 10 private key requests per day. Most importantly, it lets you read and send messages for free to any female user who made the first move. Your first 30 days of this subscription will also be free. An AshleyMadison Prime subscription will highlight your profile with a gold border and claims to increase your profile views so much that you'll get 25% more messages. A Priority Man subscription will boost your profile to the top of local searches. To be honest, these are rather expensive subscriptions for what they offer. Getting the most attention from sexy women while still staying discreet certainly has its price.

How Safe Is AshleyMadison.com?

Fictional Profiles

It's not uncommon that an elite dating site like Ashley Madison would attract the attention of a few money-hungry scammers. The site doesn't do any background checks on its members. Add the fact that female accounts can use the site for free and male users are likely in need of discretion; it creates an environment that's all too easy for someone to be taken advantage of.

While we didn't come across any obviously fake accounts on AshleyMadison, we strongly suggest that members use some caution when it comes to recreating too much about themselves. The site provides an extensive Ashley Madison list of tips on how to stay safe online. Especially the part where they mention how to spot and report any suspicious profiles.

Online Security

We know the Ashley Madison data breach of 2015 might still feel all too fresh in some people's minds. Especially for a site that prides itself on discretion. But rest assured that Ashley Madison has more than just beefed up their security protocols. The proof is in the pudding, and the site has not had any incidents since, so another Ashley Madison leak is highly unlikely.

According to the site's terms and conditions, they really do take protecting your personal information seriously. Ashley Madison has high privacy and security standards for themselves and for any service providers they choose to work with. Not only that, but they will never sell your data to any third parties. The only time your data will be shared with anyone is to provide the dating service at the highest level of quality available.

Final Thoughts

With such a stellar track record, it's rather easy to agree with what other Ashley Madison reviews are in the same mind about. That is AshleyMadison is the go-to affair dating site online. Its growing popularity over the years is a testament to its success. It's difficult to even think that there are any Ashley Madison alternatives to choose from. There just aren't any sites like Ashley Madison online. It's rather one of a kind as far as discretion goes, making it perfect for affair seekers around the world.

If, however, discretion is not too important, then you will be able to find much better and more fun matching features on other dating sites. But we think the like-minded nature of AshleyMadison members will make it very difficult to even consider signing up anywhere else. The biggest hurdle (and this is just for men) will definitely be the price. Unless you have the social skills of a rock and won't send more than a message or two a day, then this won't be a cheap dating site. All things considered, AshleyMadison still provides a great platform for its very niche market.

FAQ

Is Ashley Madison Legit Or Not?

The Ashley Madison website is a legitimate online dating platform that has helped married people, in particular, find discreet affairs since 2001.

How Does Ashley Madison Work To Keep Me Discreet?

AshleyMadison has a couple of anonymity features available to keep your secret safe. These include:

• A private photo gallery that only people you give access to can view

• Masks to cover your face on your profile photo

• A blur feature to completely obscure your profile photo

Is Ashley Madison Free To Use?

AshleyMadison offers a free service to female users only. Male users can sign up, browse profiles, and send one message at no cost. Apart from this, men are required to purchase credits to pay for any interactions they have on the site.

How Much Is Ashley Madison Going To Cost Me?

The overall Ashley Madison cost will vary from person to person. Female users can use Ashley Madison for free, while male users will need to buy credits. The exact cost for male users will inevitably depend on how many credits they choose to spend on the site. There are also subscription options to help increase your overall experience that will affect your cost.

Is Ashley Madison Worth It To Use?

The seemingly endless list of success stories and good reviews would suggest so, yes. AshleyMadison users tend to be like-minded individuals who are after the same thing, so it is highly likely for someone to be successful on the platform.

How To Delete Ashley Madison Account Permanently?

• Log into your AshleyMadison account.

• Click on the three lines in the top right corner of the screen to open your menu.

• Go to your 'Settings'.

• Click 'Account'.

• Select 'Delete Account' at the very bottom of the page.*

• Click the "Delete your account" button.

*Alternatively, choose 'Deactivate my account' if you wish to merely hide your profile and remove it from search results for a while while still keeping all your credits. You'll be able to restore your account later on.