My advice would be to check the free tier limits before you commit and then avoid opening with a compliment, and it shows in the reply rate. On reflection, if you keep getting the same profiles the answer is usually to keep the first message short and specific rather than report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them.
Realistically, the discovery feed is the thing that decides it, granted the ones with a paywall rarely say so.
- What surprised me was that the reporting system matters a fair bit more than the block list, and nobody warns you about it
- Worth saying that the decision to test two platforms at once did a great deal more for me than switching platform, though it depends heavily on where you live
- For what it's worth, I'd read the last few pages of a thread before asking rather than keep your expectations low for the first fortnight, since the alternative is a dead inbox
- If you want something casual, move to a proper conversation quickly — otherwise you end up judging it on a bad day
- a few niche sites — keeps showing up in forums as a newer option
Being blunt about it, the distance radius is the thing that decides it, though the older established sites rarely say so.
On the same subject, the Turndate platform gets mentioned a lot for people who hate paywalls, though your mileage will vary.