Cougar Life Dating Site Review: Still Got It in 2024?
Cougar Life is a dating site for mature women interested in dating younger men and vice versa. Younger men are called “cubs” and mature ladies are called “cougars”—that’s what the website’s name implies. Created in 2006, Cougar Life is one of the oldest dating sites in this category—and the key question we wanted to answer before writing this review was, “Is this dating website still as good as it was?”
We’ve tested everything about this dating site to answer this question—messaging, search, profile quality, safety, customer support, and just about everything else. Read this Cougar Life review to find out what we’ve found!
CougarLife website overview
Top Features:
Private photo gallery requests, reading the Cougar Life blog, sending a “Priority” mail.
Motto:
Cougar Life is where modern, confident women connect with younger men for fun, exciting relationships.
Cougar Life
Gender ratio:
20%
80%
Visits/Month:
213K
- Over 213K users monthly
- Most used in the US and Canada
- Free registration
Cougar Life is known as the only cougar dating site that has a big audience and a positive reputation. But when a platform doesn’t have enough competition in the niche, does it mean it neglects to provide a good service? That’s what we are trying to find out in our in-depth Cougar Life review.
The Site Is Good for
- Sugar baby women looking for sugar daddies and mommies
- Sugar baby men looking for sugar daddies and mommies
- People who are interested in online dating
The site is trying to attract more cougars, so messaging is free for them. Also, sugar mommas who choose Cougar Life can use all the other features without paying—search, support, and access to profiles are also absolutely free for them, but Priority Mails will still cost credits.
Sugar cubs need to pay for messaging, but the prices aren’t too high, especially considering that they spend credits on unlocking a conversation with a cougar just once, and all the further messages can be sent to this woman for free. Sending Priority Messages is optional, so basically, messaging is the only feature a man needs to pay for.
| 📈 Visits per month: | 213K |
| ✅ Profile verification: | Yes |
| ❤️ Reply rate: | 87% |
| 🌍 Most used in: | US, UK, and Canada |
What we liked on CougarLife:
- Many active users
- Modern design and nice online dating services
- Availability of a mobile application
- Ability to delete Cougar Life account easily
- A huge number of profiles
What we didn't like on CougarLife:
- A small selection of credit packages
- The primary audience of the site is the USA
- Not many users in small US cities
Best CougarLife Alternatives
How to Create a Cougar Life Account Like a PRO
During our Cougar Life review, we noticed that people are discussing the platform a lot, as there are not many other dating sites that are specialized in cougar dating. Many people say it's effective for both cougar and sugar dating, while there are also users who are worried that Cougar Life has many fake profiles.
To understand what is true about the cougar dating site and what is a lie, we made our Cougar Life review. And the process started with registration and creating a profile.
- We visited the Cougar Life site and filled in the registration form for free
- Registration took 6 min and was similar to the sign-up process on other sites
- No mobile number was required to register on Cougar Life
Some of the steps during signing up are obligatory, while others are optional and can be added later on. In particular:
- Obligatory info: name (can be a fake one), age, gender, active email, dating preferences, and greeting (headline).
- Optional info: photo, real name, and appearance/personality traits.
Overall, signing up for Cougar Life is easy and doesn't take long. We had no problems creating a cougar profile, received a confirmation link in seconds, and were able to access member profiles, and all the features right away.
3 Tips on Making a Cougar Life Account That Stands Out
You have probably already heard about the fact that filled profiles with photos get significantly more attention than those that lack them. But is filling in the profile on a dating site enough to get noticed? Well, for the start, filling in all fields is a good idea, but here are a few more tips that will help your profile stand out on this dating service:
- 90% of people choose young men and mature women based on pics, so your Cougar Life photos should be high-quality and without any other people
- Add a private photo Gallery with hot photos to give a key to the Cougar Life's members you want
- Make sure that your headline (Greeting) is catchy and engaging to give cougars and cubs an opening for a message
Putting some effort into creating a good profile is equally important for all users and it's 50% of the work done on the Cougar Life dating site.
Prices & Free Options
Cougar Life is a dating website for older women dating younger men. However, it’s not like other cougar dating sites regarding the free and paid options. While many other dating sites in this industry are completely free for “cubs” (younger men), that’s not how this cougar dating site works.
Cougar Life is not free for younger men and it’s not paid for older women. Everything is the opposite here—older women can use Cougar Life for free, while men need to pay for it. The same is about men seeking men and women seeking women—they all need to pay for Cougar Life.
Here’s how much credits cost on Cougar Life:
| Price | Credits |
|---|---|
| $30 | 100 credits |
| $100 | 500 credits |
| $150 | 1K credits + free profile highlighting |
Free Version of Cougar Life
But it’s not like you can’t use this platform at all if you don’t have a premium membership. Here’s the list of free options available to Cougar Life users:
- Registration
- Search
- Profile editing
- Sending winks, likes, and adding members to Favorites
- Browsing profiles and viewing public photos
- Reading the Cougar Life blog and contacting customer support
All the free features on this cougar dating site are good enough—we haven't experienced any difficulty trying to figure out how the system works. It's pretty intuitive, and these tools and services allowed us to understand who exactly we can meet on Cougar Life, evaluate the quality of profiles, and find people we'd like to talk to. However, as you can see, though we could make someone notice us by sending a wink, as one of the male users, we couldn't initiate any conversations.
Paid Version of Cougar Life
In other words, sending messages is not free—you’ll have to buy credits to access this feature. You’ll exchange credits for initiating contact, sending messages, or sending Priority mails (highlighted messages). Here’s how much it costs:
- Sending a message and unlocking a conversation—5 credits
- Sending a “Priority” mail—10 credits
- Opening 1 collect message—5 credits
Did Cougar Life set reasonable prices? For us, it's one of the niche dating sites with a pretty good pricing policy. There are a lot of platforms that make you pay for each message sent to another user, and fortunately, CougarLife isn't one of them. We bought the mid-price package for 100 dollars and spent them all on conversations. We didn't send too many Priority Mails—there were only 3 mature women who didn't reply to our messages, so we used this feature to make them notice us (2 of them then replied), so it cost us 30 credits out of 500. Many more credits were spent on unlocking conversations with 30+ potential matches and reading messages sent by others, and we still have 210 credits left on our account. Not all of those conversations actually went somewhere, but we could have at least 7 real dates if that was what we've been looking for.
Does Cougar Life work and is it expensive? Yes, it works, and it's even cheaper than many other online dating sites, including various sugar dating services. You can see your balance, have free access to profiles, and can understand whether you are ready to spend your 5 credits on unlocking a conversation with this particular user or not. If you make wise choices, 500 credits will be enough for you to communicate for at least 2 months.
How to Search for a Match on the Cougar Life Dating Website?
Searching for a compatible match is not hard on Cougar Life, as the cougar dating site assists in search and communication with a variety of free and paid services and features. To help you understand the process, we are taking you with us and showing how we were looking for cougars on Cougar Life.
Cougar Life Search
- Search is free
- It's available only for the members of Cougar Life
- Profiles, photos, and info don't appear on Google search results
We started our search for mature ladies we liked from the Discover section in the top right corner. The section has a short preview of a member’s profile and filters to tailor the member base to any preferences a user might have. In fact, there are 8 basic filters that include: age range, preferred location, search distance, time of last login, new members, and based on private and public photo availability. Also, there are 4 advanced search filters on Cougar Life, which are body type, height, ethnic background, and dating goal.
Overall, searching for a suitable match is easy. The search filters do help with that, and every time we changed our requirements, we got accurate results and not one person was shown multiple times.
Member Profiles
- 80% of profiles are filled
- 65% have photos
After we found a member we liked, we could click on her profile in the Discover section and be redirected to her page. Also, we were able to visit cougars' profiles who approached us first in the Messages section in the top tab.
During our Cougar Life review, we noticed that profiles are not very detailed. Many people don't share a lot of private info, which is understandable, considering the specifics of cougar dating. Also, almost no one uses real names which is common on other cougar dating sites too.
Communication Options on the Cougar Life Site
- Communication ways are limited
- Members of the site usually reply within 15 min to 1h
- You can't see if the message is read
Though Cougar Life is a niche site focused on cougars and cubs' relationships, there are not that many ways for chatting. Messaging is actually the only way of communication. Members can start chatting via the Messages section in the top right corner or by clicking on the special button on the member profile.
Also, dating services for communication include winks, a cute way to show you are interested in a person, and requesting and granting keys to private photos. But both of these services can hardly count as a way to talk on Cougar Life. Yet, regular messaging gets the work done.
Safety
Cougar Life is safe. But can we call it a 100% safe cougar dating platform?
No—but it's not the Cougar Life's problem. There are no 100% safe dating sites right now—all of them have some fake accounts, unfortunately. However, the Cougar Life team does its best to protect the customers. Their blog has a lot of good posts on safety, their tips on security and privacy are pretty helpful, and they block suspicious/fake profiles fast. Just remember that it's only you who can protect yourself—so never send money to the members of this site, never provide your financial information, and be careful with phishing emails.
User Experience on Cougar Life App and Website
Submissive cougar
I joined the Cougar Life website six months ago. During this time, I had many meetings with different men and was in a relationship with a SD who met all my requirements. I texted him first. He said he was looking for a dominant girl. It suited me 😉 Our relationship lasted about 2 months; he regularly helped me with money. It was fun, but he moved to another city, and now I’m looking for a mate again.
Spectacular sugar daddy
My experience with Cougar Life messages has been generally positive. Right after signing up, I started texting handsome and successful sugar daddies. They didn’t always answer me, but two weeks later, I got a match. We talked every day before work and after. Then he offered to meet. It was spectacular. We agreed on a mutually beneficial relationship. So far, everything is great.
Romantic cougar
I came to Cougar Life looking for a sugar baby because one of my friends suggested that I try it, and I met Emily a couple of days after I started using the site. So fast, wow! She texted me first. We talked almost all night. I told her that I was married. For her, that was not a problem. Within a week, we started dating. We meet primarily on trips and weekends, and I’m happy with that.
What Do Experts Have to Say About Cougar Life?
Sam Golden
Researcher
The Cougar Life is a great service for people who live in the USA. In fact, it’s hard to find a site with such an active community. Another advantage of the service is its thoughtfulness. It is easy to use and start a conversation. Thus, it will be easier for you to find your person from various contacts.
Steven Fisher
Editor
I would recommend Cougar Life to anyone interested in sugar dating. It is a very user-friendly platform with many search filters where you can easily find the right partner.
Tips for Using the Site
We have collected the ultimate tips for people who don’t know how to use sugar sites. So let’s take a brief look at those.
- Look at the profiles on the site. Which of them drag your attention? Get inspired by other users’ profiles and create your own.
- Message the users who visited the site last week. Messaging users who were active recently will significantly increase your chances of getting a response.
- Don't start the conversation with "Hi. How are you?" Most people don’t like it, so you have to come up with something more creative.
- Stay optimistic. Failure on dating sites is typical. Keep it in mind and continue your search. In this case, success is inevitable.
- Visit the dating site regularly. If you do not visit the sugar platform often and rarely reply to messages, you won’t get closer to your goal. So use the site at least 1-2 times a week, and you will surely meet someone.
Conclusion: Is It Worth Using Cougar Life?
Cougar Life dating platform has a modern design, good features, as well as a great user-friendly application. New users join this platform daily, so they have many chances to find a sugar partner fast and stress-free.
FAQ
Is Cougar Life legitimate?
Yes, Cougar Life is a legitimate dating platform designed to connect older women (cougars) with younger men (cubs). It has an active user base of those interested in such relationships. However, as with any online platform, users should exercise caution when sharing personal or financial information. Even the most secure platform cannot prevent fraudulent activities.
How to cancel a Cougar Life account?
To cancel your Cougar Life account, follow these steps: log into your Cougar Life account, click on your profile picture, choose the "Account Settings" option in the dropdown menu, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and choose the "Deactivate Your Account" feature, then follow the guidelines to confirm the deactivation. Deactivating your account will remove your profile and all associated data from the site. Remember that you will not restore this information later.
How to read messages on Cougar Life for free?
Cougar Life requires a premium membership to read messages from other members. Paid users can also access other features, including sending stickers in a live chat. Therefore, free members cannot read messages. However, you can check this website or contact customer service for the most updated information.
How to get free credits on Cougar Life?
Cougar Life typically doesn't offer free credits. However, this website occasionally runs promotions or special offers with free credits for newcomers joining the platform. So you can get the same amount of credits as if you bought a credit package on Cougar Life.
Does Cougar Life work?
The effectiveness of Cougar Life, like any dating site, will depend largely on what you're seeking and how much effort you put into it. Many users have reported successful matches and positive experiences, but results can vary widely from person to person. Take time to create a comprehensive profile and actively respond to messages and interests from other users to increase your chances of successful cougar/cub seeking.
Is Cougar Life free?
Cougar Life offers a free basic membership, allowing you to browse profiles and send winks. However, the pay-as-you-go credit system is required to access premium features, such as unlimited messaging, advanced search and profile boost. The cost of credit packages varies, so it's best to check this website for the most current pricing information.
Is Cougar Life real?
Yes, Cougar Life is a real online dating platform and is one of the few dedicated places on the web for male singles interested in older women dating to connect. It has been in operation since 2006 and is designed to facilitate connections between older women and younger men. While it's real, it's always crucial for users to exercise caution and safety when using any online dating platform.
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