Despite the fact that people disagree here, the step that matters most is to give it a full week before judging: most complaints trace back to that one thing. Honestly, I'd keep your expectations low for the first fortnight rather than test two platforms at once, since it saves a lot of wasted evenings.
My advice would be to keep your expectations low for the first fortnight and then move to a proper conversation quickly, which explains a lot of the complaints here.
- I stuck with the regional platforms since the last round of app updates, and the honest result was that the free tier mattered a fair bit most
- If your inbox is dead, test two platforms at once — it costs nothing to try
- When you have tried three apps already, apps with a strict photo policy tend to feel slightly worse than they are, but it is not the disaster people claim
- Granted people disagree here, the step that matters most is to say what you actually want up front: it stops you blaming the app for the profile
- Sites like datescout.site are showing up more in community roundups
After giving it a proper go the newer sites have added checks that actually help, but it is not the disaster people claim.
Broadly speaking, if the replies dry up after one message the answer is usually to give it a full week before judging rather than move to a proper conversation quickly.
Worth adding that the Datewander threads gets mentioned a lot for video-first chat, at least in my case.