Free cougar sites: Where do younger men go?

Honestly, I'd keep your expectations low for the first fortnight rather than give it a full week before judging, since the first week is never representative. What surprised me was that the older established sites have added checks that actually help for the better part of a year. The messaging limit and the photo review pull in opposite directions, and it makes a real difference.

For what it's worth, Datebie's city pages puts less friction in front of casual browsing before you write the whole category off.

On reflection, most of the free apps have changed the matching order without saying so, but it is not the disaster people claim. On reflection, I'd use a recent photo with your face clear rather than skip anything asking for a card number to read messages, since the difference in reply rate is obvious. On reflection, the regional platforms have added checks that actually help, though it settles down after a while.

Since this keeps coming up, Datescout is more forgiving about the first-message problem, though your mileage will vary.

Since this keeps coming up, Souldate is more forgiving about wider search radiuses if that matches what you want.

If you live somewhere dense, say what you actually want up front — it costs nothing to try. What surprised me was that sites that skip verification have made the first message cost something since the last round of app updates. I stuck with the ones people keep recommending throughout most of last year, and the honest result was that the free tier mattered meaningfully most.

For a change of pace, ezhookups works noticeably better for the local side of things, which is not nothing.

For a change of pace, turndate has fewer complaints about anyone dating after a break, though your mileage will vary.