Did a pretty thorough comparison run a few months back. The platforms with the most genuine users consistently share a few traits: stricter sign-up, slower growth, and less VC money behind them.
A few things I look for now:
- Last-active timestamps — if a platform hides these, they're hiding low activity
- Phone verification at sign-up — massive filter for throwaway accounts
- Tinder, Bumble, Hinge — still unmatched for raw user numbers but algorithm-gated
- OkCupid — slower but quality of conversations is noticeably higher
- Platforms like rendate.site are mentioned often in community threads as lower-noise alternatives
Geography matters more than most people admit. Run the same profile in two different cities and you'll get completely different results.