Shaadi com (Shadi Online)

Free membership: With a free Shadi online membership you can:

• Post your picture and fill out a profile. Allow Premium members to see your contact details.
• Search the online database by religion: Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Sikh; by community: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Sindhi, Gujarathi, Muslim, Catholic, Oriya; by city, gender, age, and even profession.
• Post your picture and fill out a profile
• Read Shaadi Times, the online lifestyle magazine
• Show interest in other members and initiate contact
• Upload a video and astrology details
• Receive (and reply to) Instant Messages from paid members (but you can't initiate email contact).
• Reply to chatroom invitations

Paid membership:

With a Paid membership on Shaadi.com you can do all a free member can, plus:

• Diamond and Platinum members also get a bold listing for their profile, and discounts off of Shaadi events and renewals
• Initiate chat and email conversations
• Use the advanced search function
• Save your searches
• Use the eMatchmaker service (shows you mutual matches)
• Use onsite Messenger for one-on-one chats

Payment options: Online with a major credit card. You can also pay cash at AXIS bank, or UAE Exchange. Alternatively, you can mail, get a free pick up of a cheque/DD or drop payment off at Shaadi.com centres in India.

Renewal: Not clear. Most sites will automatically renew if you pay by credit card.

Open to: Worldwide – but with emphasis on India, the USA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Canada, the UAE, Australia, Kuwait, and South Africa. We did a general search, however, and found members from all over the world.

Features of Shaadi.com:

• Photo profiles
• Advanced search function
• Send and receive secure onsite email
• Online videos and blogs
• See who's online
• Onsite Messaging
• Dating safety tips
• Astrology services
• Parents are encouraged to post profiles of their marriageable children - hopefully with the offspring's knowledge and consent!
• Shaadi Times online magazine
• Every profile is screened and you can show documentary proof of identity, age, address, etc to have your profile screened, confirmed and attested to be accurate with the Shaadi Seal.

We like:

Shaadi Matrimonial is a well designed, easy to use website that is extremely user-friendly.

You can search for suitable profiles in your area before you sign up.

You can choose your level of privacy (determining who can see your profile and picture).

There are lots of members over 40, 50 and 60.

Shaadi com offer an unconditional guarantee. If you don’t have at least one accepted member (they contacted you and you responded positively, or vice versa) in the first month, they’ll refund your membership fee.

If you’re serious about marriage, this giant among Indian matrimonial sites is a good resource.

We don’t like:

Their policy on membership renewal (whether it’s automatic or not) could be clearer. But that’s not really a biggie. Otherwise, this Asian matchmaker service is a good choice.