Raya is an online dating app for the famous, elite, vibrant, and influential members of the society looking for other like-minded partners for relationships. It is a mobile app mostly used by celebrities, musicians, athletes, models, photographers, and other professionals.
This mobile dating platform was launched in March 2015 as a dating app but grew to become a professional networking medium for members in the entertainment industry. To join, you need to have a referral. Your profile needs to be vetted by an anonymous group of moderators comprising 500 members worldwide, who will approve or disapprove of your membership. The typical member has to be creative, famous, or expert in a known industry. New users are also expecting to share a bond with existing users on this platform. Raya is not an ordinary dating site, and it’s not an ideal dating app for the typical people who have no connections on the platform already.
Raya App LLC owns Raya, and members must pay a monthly subscription to enjoy this dating site’s services. It was designed by Daniel Gendelman in 2014, before being launched in 2015.
Raya is only functional on mobile apps, downloaded and installed for free on iOS devices. Android users will have a hard time because there’s no app for them. Let’s look at the functions, users, and other related characteristics of this dating platform.
How Does Raya Work?
To use Raya, you need to be an elite member of the community. You either need to be a musician, a celebrity athlete, or someone known and famous. Raya can only be used on iOS platform devices.
Raya works by connecting individuals, including athletes, musicians, photographers, directors, designers, and other celebrities, to other like-minded individuals either for casual sex, short-term dates, or long-term relationships. The website is mostly used by celebrities who are looking for other famous individuals for love and relationships.
To use Raya, you must be referred by someone known, and your account has to be approved by the moderators. Moderators are users from different regions of the world. This dating platform is a bit private—to match with someone, you must pay for a subscription, which enables you to connect with other users of this site.
Once recommended to join the site, you must fill an application form and then wait for approval from the moderators. Approval may take a short time or as long as eight months. The acceptance mostly depends on so many things, including your status, influence, and net worth.
Raya does not look so much at your finances. Some of the factors it considers to be a member include your overall background, how you spend your time, interaction with people, your intentions, and how you will help other users.
The Sign-Up & Login Process at Raya
To become a member, you are required to register and update your profile. To register, users are required to provide the information mentioned below.
- You are required to enter your first name, then following by your last name.
- Email Address: A valid email address is required to approve and confirm your account.
- Birthdate: Your date of birth is needed for this section as it also assures your age. Only individuals over 18 years are allowed to register.
- Gender: You are required to choose either male or female from the options provided.
- Instagram details: Users are required to link their account to Instagram accounts.
After filling the above details, the signup tab directly leads you to a page where you must complete your full profile.
Profile Interface
Raya’s profile section is very detailed compared to other sites. The information required here must be genuine, as it is used by the moderators to verify and approve the account. The details mentioned below are required.
- Industry: In this section, new users are required to provide the industry they work in. Options include art and design, travel, business and technology, entertainment and culture, and entrepreneurship.
- Phone number verification: Users must provide their phone number, which will then be used to verify the account. The phone number is mainly used for verification purposes only.
- Select a member: This section requires users to select a member who referred them. Failing to know anyone in the app may lead to rejection of your account.
Photos are always synced from the user’s linked Instagram accounts.
After filling the above details, users are required to wait for the account confirmation. The verification process may take a shorter time or make even a year, depending on the information you provided during the registration and account creation process.
After confirmation, the site requires its members to agree and accept the site’s terms and conditions, including zero tolerance for disrespect or behaviors that are mean-spirited.
Matches & Communication Information
After being confirmed, you can now use the search filters to find your preferred matches. You can search for members based on their age, religion, distance, ethnicity, or other advanced features provided by the platform. The website provides potential matches worldwide for the members to choose from, starting from those nearby to those far away. Members can also turn on the social model—to get matches only from their neighborhood.
To match, the website provides profiles whereby users need to click on the ‘tick’ to like the profile and the ‘X’ to reject profiles. A mutual match is created when the profile you ‘ticked,’ ‘ticks’ you back. After matching, you can send each other a message to create a conversation. You can chat with as many matched users as possible, know each other better, and plan how you will meet for a date.
Raya’s Audience and Activities
Since it is a dating site for famous and influential individuals, Raya does not have many users on its platform. The users are widespread all over the world and can be segmented into the categories below.
- Age
- Sexual Preference
- Race and Ethnicity
- Religious Orientation.
Avergae User Age
Being an adult dating site, this platform contains members who are 18 or above. The majority of users on this platform are the youth and mature adults, aged between 25 to 50. It boasts individuals who have already made it in life through music, sports, and other professions.
Sexual Preferences Explained
Raya accommodates all types of members on its platform and has not put any restrictions concerning their sexuality. You can find straight members, gays, lesbians, and other LGBTQ community members on this site. You only need to be famous and well-known in society to guarantee your membership.
Ethnicity and Race
All races and ethnicities are accommodated on this platform. As a member, you can find black Americans, Indians, Chinese, Africans, Asians, among other races using this site. As long as you are known and recognized, you can have an account on this platform regardless of ethnicity. Raya has not put any restrictions concerning the kind of race allowed on its site.
Religious Views
Religion does not form the basis of joining this site as it accommodates all types of religious groups. Members available on this platform come from different religious groups, including Christianity, Muslims, Hindus, pagans, among other faiths. You can also search for other profiles using religion as a search filter.
Raya’s Dating Website Features
Raya has several features that members can use to connect with other members of this platform. These features are minimal since the site can only be used via the app and not through it. Some of these features include the following.
- The messaging feature: This is a connection feature where users can chat with each other after matching. The site only allows matched members to send each other a message.
- The matching feature enables users to browse through the files while clicking on the ‘tick’ to match or ‘X’ to reject. A mutual tick between profiles leads to a match.
- The search feature: This contains filters that members can use to search for their potential matches. You can search for profiles on this site according to their location, age, ethnicity, religion, age, and other filters.
- Location: This feature gives the distance where other members are from the user. It shows the map where the potential matches are located. Members can choose to search profiles worldwide or turn the social tab to get profiles near their location.
All these features are available to all approved users of this platform.
Safety & Security at Raya
There are several security features placed by the site to safeguard its members and their data. Some of the critical security measures include the approval process, where profiles are subjected to a community review to check if they are fit to join the site.
Other discretion features include the screenshot feature, where members are not allowed to take screenshots. Once such is detected, they are blacklisted from the site. Individuals can also block and report suspicious accounts on this platform.
Raya has also put a detailed privacy policy in place, which gives information on how the platform secures its member’s data. The privacy policy provides details on:
- Collecting information
- Sharing and using the collected information
- Keeping information secure
- Texts messages and communication
- User rights
- Age policy
- Contact information
Members must go through this policy to familiarize themselves with how the site treats its user’s data.
Is Raya a Legit or Scam Service?
Raya has all the qualities which make it to be a legit dating site. This site gives all the essential information on a legitimate dating platform from the signup process, moderators, verification, match, conversations, and the privacy policy. Users can also contact the customer care in case of anything through the email address provided if they need to confirm its legitimacy.
Subscription Types and Price
This website has only one type of account to its users, the premium account. All users who join this site enjoy all features of this website at a fee.
Free Membership
Raya dating platform offers the premium type of membership only. It does not give its members a free account. Free accounts are only limited during registration, where users can register and create their profiles. Approval is free, where profiles are subjected to moderators to be looked upon and verified.
Paid Membership
Raya provides a paid membership to all its users. Members who have been accepted to use this site have the full functions and enjoy all services upon payment of the monthly fee. These fees are always charged on the user’s Apple accounts and are auto-renewed 24 hours before their due date. Packages can be one month, three months, six months, or one year as detailed below:
- One-month subscription package at $9.99, paid monthly.
- Three-month subscription package at $29.99, paid quarterly.
- Six-month subscription package at $49.99, paid half-yearly.
- Twelve-month subscription package at $95.99, paid yearly.
These subscriptions can be turned off on the iTunes account settings to stop the auto-renewal process. The platform does not refund submitted payments. Failing to pay or by terminating these subscriptions, leads your account to be dormant. Doormat accounts are always put back to the waiting list. Other payments available include the following.
- 30 extra likes at $6.99
- One direct request at $2.99
- Five direct requests at $11.99
- Twelve direct requests at $29.99
- Skip the wait at $4.99
All payments are made through the iTunes account.
Raya’s Website Design and Usability
Raya does not function via the website. All its functions are done on its mobile app, and the site only contains its terms of use, user guidelines, customer care, and the privacy policy.
Is There A Mobile App?
Raya functions via the mobile app, which can be downloaded and be installed for free from the iOS platform for iPhone users. The app is not yet available for Android platform users. The mobile interface is modern, boasting a few features – the colors blend well, giving it a friendly, beautiful interface. This app can only function on iOS devices.
The mobile app contains all features of this platform, including the messaging and search functions. It also contains the location feature, which shows users’ location through maps.
Contact Information
Company: Raya App, LLC
Address: Greater Los Angeles Area, West Coast, Western US
Email: [email protected]
Raya: Final Thoughts
Raya is a good website for those “well-known individuals” in our society. It boasts an easy-to-use interface and simple features designed to get you started quickly. You are also assured of finding legit and quality matches due to its high-quality verification and approval processes.
However, some of its limitations make it unsuitable for ordinary individuals since you must prove yourself to the moderators via an Instagram account, which leads to a limited number of members. This limit makes it challenging to get a match, especially for individuals living outside town. It also contains only paid accounts, which may be expensive for individuals who do not wish to pay to get a partner.
Nevertheless, it’s a good site, worth trying for celebrities and powerful people of different industries. Besides this, the cost is lower when compared to other websites. Give it a try!
