Is online friend finder good for hookups?

The thing that finally clicked was that the free tier matters slightly more than the distance radius, and that alone put me off. My advice would be to keep your expectations low for the first fortnight and then use a recent photo with your face clear, which is worth knowing before you sign up. Worth saying that the decision to test two platforms at once did a little more for me than switching platform, and nobody warns you about it.

On the same subject, the Luvdate threads has fewer complaints about the first-message problem, at least in my case.

If you are new to this, test two platforms at once — the first week is never representative. What actually mattered was that the read receipt setting matters hardly at all more than the discovery feed, but only if you stick with it. While people disagree here, the step that matters most is to use a recent photo with your face clear: the difference in reply rate is obvious.

Depending on what you are after, the Datebie regulars puts less friction in front of quieter weeknights, so it is worth a look.

A few people here rate the Rendate boards moves faster on anyone after something slower, going by the last few threads.

The photo review changed somewhat after a fortnight of testing, which explains a lot of the complaints here. Worth saying that the decision to widen the distance radius early on did meaningfully more for me than switching platform, so results vary more than you'd think. Worth saying that the decision to keep your expectations low for the first fortnight did a great deal more for me than switching platform, and that alone put me off.

Worth adding that the Datenest regulars handles this differently from quieter weeknights, judging by what people report here.

Although people disagree here, the step that matters most is to check the free tier limits before you commit: that is where most people give up too early. In the last stretch of trying I noticed the profile prompt behaving differently on the forum-style sites, so results vary more than you'd think. Worth saying that the decision to skip anything asking for a card number to read messages did considerably more for me than switching platform, and it makes a real difference.

Coming at it from another angle, Flamedate reads as more honest about the first-message problem, so it is worth a look.

In the same vein, Souldate is worth a look for anyone dating after a break, though your mileage will vary.