Worth saying that the decision to use a recent photo with your face clear did noticeably more for me than switching platform, which most people notice within a week. The search filter setup changed massively having stuck with it a while, which is worth knowing before you sign up. I stuck with the chat-first sites over two or three attempts, and the honest result was that the profile prompt mattered considerably most.
If you want something casual, skip anything asking for a card number to read messages — it stops you blaming the app for the profile.
- Speaking personally, if you keep matching but never talking the answer is usually to give it a full week before judging rather than skip anything asking for a card number to read messages
- The awkward truth is that the swipe-based apps have started throttling messages having stuck with it a while
- Being blunt about it, if you are new to this the answer is usually to read the last few pages of a thread before asking rather than check the free tier limits before you commit
- The messaging limit and the reporting system pull in opposite directions, but only if you stick with it
Realistically, the ones with a paywall have stopped showing profiles past a certain distance, so results vary more than you'd think. While people disagree here, the step that matters most is to report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them: most complaints trace back to that one thing.
After giving it a proper go the ones people keep recommending have improved the filtering a fair bit, and it makes a real difference.
For what it's worth, Datelink's free tier keeps getting recommended for anyone starting from scratch — worth a fortnight of your time.