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About the Author: Steve Ward
Steve Ward is the Owner and CEO of Master Matchmakers and a second-generation matchmaker who built the firm alongside his mother and co-founder JoAnn Ward. He hosted and executive-produced VH1's Tough Love for six seasons, co-authored Crash Course in Love (Simon & Schuster), and has been featured as a dating expert by CNN, the Today Show, Oprah, Glamour, People, and Cosmopolitan. He has spent more than 25 years personally coaching and matching relationship-minded singles nationwide.
Quick answer: Maclynn International is a London-headquartered, psychology-led matchmaking firm founded in 2011 as Vida, with four US offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Morristown, New Jersey. It does not publish its fees. Master Matchmakers offers background-checked, verified introductions nationwide, with fees starting at $3,500.
Maclynn International tends to surface once a search widens past the familiar American firms, for a reason worth noticing: it is not one. It is a British company that opened offices here. Before anything else, you should know that Maclynn and Master Matchmakers pitch the same person in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and I own Master Matchmakers.
So read me accordingly, and check me. Every Maclynn detail below comes from Maclynn's own live site rather than a directory or an aggregator, and where the site does not state something, I say so instead of filling the gap. That is the standard I would want applied to my own firm.
Maclynn International, from Vida to a Transatlantic Firm
Maclynn launched in London in June 2011 as The Vida Consultancy, founded by Rachel MacLynn, a business psychologist who moved into matchmaking in 2006. It served London clients only at first. By February 2013 it was working internationally, and it opened its first office outside the UK in New York in September 2017. It took the Maclynn name in the United States in January 2020 and globally in July 2022.
The Vida name survives as a separate top tier, Vida VIP Membership, described as bespoke matchmaking delivered personally by Rachel MacLynn to a small number of clients each year. So if you were researching The Vida Consultancy and could not find it, it is the same company under its former name.
The model is explicitly psychology-led. Maclynn's FAQ states more than half its team holds a degree, Master's or PhD in psychology, and its process pages put psychology at the foundation of the matching work. A membership opens with a compatibility profiling session, follows a five-step methodology, and typically lasts six to twelve months, tailored by client.
Two standing tiers sit below the VIP service. Private Membership is the paid one: an assigned matchmaker, hand-selected introductions, a proactive search, discreet headhunting, and access to a pool the firm describes as more than 25,000 interviewed Open Members. Open Membership is the other side of it, a passive profile registration carrying an opportunity to be matched with a Private Member that the firm states plainly is not guaranteed.
Where Maclynn Actually Operates
This is worth establishing first, because "international" can mean very different things. Maclynn's global headquarters sits on Berkeley Street in Mayfair, London. In the United States its offices page lists four locations: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Morristown, New Jersey. It also works in the United Arab Emirates, where its FAQ says Dubai clients are handled from London, and it states it has members in more than 100 countries.
So the American presence is real, and it is concentrated. Two clusters carry it: the New York and New Jersey corridor, and California. If you live in Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston or Miami, there is no Maclynn office in your market. The firm says it can match clients who are not near one, and that is a fair claim rather than a dodge. But it differs from a firm whose network was built market by market across the country, and it is worth asking on the call which office would actually run your search.
What Maclynn Charges, and What It Publishes
Maclynn does not publish a price. Not a range, not a starting figure, not a band. The only pricing language on its site appears on the services page, where the Vida VIP Membership is listed as Price On Application. Private Membership carries no figure.
There are third-party sites that will hand you a confident number for Maclynn, and I am not going to repeat one. If a figure is not on the firm's own site, it is somebody's estimate, and passing an estimate off as fact is how unreliable comparisons get written. What is verifiable: the consultation is complimentary, membership typically runs about twelve months, and you get your number on that call.
For contrast, Master Matchmakers' fees start at $3,500. The total varies with the number of introductions and coaching sessions, how specific your criteria are, and your marketability, and the more open you are about who and where you will be matched, the lower the fee. Reasonable people can disagree about whether a published starting number matters. I think it does, because it lets you rule us out before spending an hour on the phone.
What Maclynn Does Better Than Most
There is genuine credit to give here, and I would rather give it accurately than grudgingly.
The psychology credential is real. Rachel MacLynn is a Chartered Psychologist in the UK, and the firm states more than half its team holds a psychology degree, Master's or PhD. Few firms in this industry can say anything comparable about the training of the people doing the matching.
The cross-border reach is not a marketing line. A London headquarters with US offices and a stated network across cosmopolitan cities can run a genuinely international search. If your life is split between London and New York, or you would truly relocate, that is an advantage a domestic firm cannot match.
It is honest about the limit of the service. Maclynn's own FAQ says the firm cannot provide a relationship, only an introduction. That is a true sentence that costs a matchmaker something to write.
Two more things it gets right. You keep the final say on who you meet rather than having a date booked for you, and after each introduction both sides can give confidential feedback that shapes the next one.
How the Vetting Compares
This is where the two firms diverge, and it is the one comparison I would ask you to verify yourself rather than take from either of us.
Maclynn answers the vetting question directly on its process page: every client undergoes a thorough personal interview and an ID verification process before being introduced to you. That is more screening than much of the field performs, and interviewing everyone in the pool is a meaningful commitment.
What its site does not state is a criminal or public-record background check. I looked across the services, process and FAQ pages and did not find one. I am reporting an absence from the published material, not asserting the firm does not do it: those are different claims, and only one is verifiable. If that matters to you, ask on the call and get it in writing.
Where Master Matchmakers Fits
At Master Matchmakers every member goes through age, identity and photo verification, a criminal and public-record background check, and an interview. You review a verified profile and photo and exchange phone numbers before agreeing to meet anyone. There are no blind introductions, coaching and post-date feedback are built in, and contracts do not expire.
Best Overall Value Master Matchmakers: Best Overall Value
Founded: 2001 | Starting investment: $3,500, total varies by your needs
Master Matchmakers publishes where its fees begin and screens on public record, not only on interview. You see a verified profile before you agree to meet, coaching and post-date feedback are part of the engagement, contracts do not expire, and we have worked nationwide since 2001.
Best for a Cross-Border Search Maclynn International: Best for a Cross-Border Search
Founded: 2011 as Vida, per its own site | Starting investment: not published
Maclynn is a strong fit if your search genuinely spans countries and you want a psychology-trained team running it. A Mayfair headquarters, four US offices, and members in more than 100 countries make it credible for a London-to-New-York life.
| | Maclynn International | Master Matchmakers |
| Starting investment | Not published; VIP tier listed as Price On Application | Starts at $3,500; total varies by your needs |
| Screening stated on the site | Personal interview plus ID verification; no criminal or public-record check stated | Criminal and public-record background check plus identity, age and photo verification |
| Model | Psychology-led, five-step methodology; Private and Open membership tiers | Personal matchmaker plus an integrated coaching team; verified profiles exchanged before meeting |
| Term | Membership typically six to twelve months | Contracts do not expire |
| Reach | London headquarters; four US offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Morristown, New Jersey | Nationwide, concentrated in major metros |
| Best for | Clients whose search genuinely crosses borders and who want a psychology-trained team | Serious professionals who want public-record screening and a published starting fee |
Every Maclynn entry above is drawn from maclynninternational.com as published at the time of writing. Where a row says a detail is not stated, it does not appear on the firm's own pages. Master Matchmakers rows reflect our own verified practices.
Choosing Between Them
The decision turns on two questions, and neither of them is which firm is better in the abstract.
The first is how far your search really travels. If you split your year between continents, or would genuinely move for the right person, Maclynn is built for that and you should take it seriously. If your life is anchored in one American metro, a London headquarters and four US offices are not doing much for you.
The second is what you need to know about someone before you sit down across from them. An interview and an ID check confirm a person is who they say they are. A public-record check tells you more, and for many people, particularly women weighing this decision, that step is the whole point. We built Master Matchmakers around it, and have introduced more than 65,000 singles since 2001.
One caveat applies to every reputable firm here, ours included. No matchmaker can legally promise a specific relationship, and Maclynn is right to say so on its own site. What a firm can be held to is whether the information it gives you about a match is accurate, the standard our How It Works page describes in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Maclynn International the same company as Vida Consultancy?
Yes. The firm launched in London in June 2011 as The Vida Consultancy, adopted the Maclynn name in the USA in January 2020, and rebranded globally in July 2022. Vida is retained as the name for bespoke matchmaking delivered personally by founder Rachel MacLynn to a few VIP clients annually.
Where does Maclynn International have offices?
Maclynn's global headquarters is in Mayfair, London. Its site lists four United States offices: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Morristown, New Jersey. It also serves the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai clients working through the London office, and states it has members in over 100 countries.
What is the difference between Maclynn's Private and Open Membership?
Private Membership is the paid service: an assigned matchmaker, hand-selected introductions, proactive search and headhunting. Open Membership is a passive profile registration that gives you the opportunity to be matched with a Private Member, which the firm states is not guaranteed. Private Members get access to over 25,000 Open Members.
Does Maclynn International run background checks on the people it introduces?
Maclynn's site states that every client undergoes a thorough personal interview and ID verification process before being introduced. It does not state that it runs criminal or public-record background checks. Master Matchmakers runs a criminal and public-record background check plus age, identity and photo verification on every member.
Does Maclynn International publish its prices?
No. Maclynn does not publish a fee, a range or a starting figure for Private Membership. The only pricing language on its site is Price On Application, shown against the Vida VIP tier. You receive a figure during the complimentary consultation. Master Matchmakers publishes a starting fee of $3,500.
Want to Know the Number Before You Commit?
If you would rather see where the investment starts, know everyone you meet has cleared a public-record check, and never work against an expiring contract, that is the firm we built.