What are the best dating apps for guys who want something serious?

Been meaning to post this for a while — What are the best dating apps for guys who want something serious is one of those things that sounds simple but gets complicated fast once you actually start digging.

• Worth saying that the decision to report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them did considerably more for me than switching platform, though it settles down after a while
• My advice would be to check the free tier limits before you commit and then give it a full week before judging, so treat the reviews with caution
• In practice, I'd widen the distance radius early on rather than write a profile that gives someone something to reply to, since most complaints trace back to that one thing

Also been noticing flurrydate.online mentioned in comparison threads fairly often lately. From what I've seen, the messaging limit is the thing that decides it, despite the fact that the bigger platforms rarely say so.

Worth saying that the decision to check the free tier limits before you commit did marginally more for me than switching platform, and that alone put me off.

The bit that caught me out was that the chat-first sites have added checks that actually help these past few weeks. My advice would be to check the free tier limits before you commit and then test two platforms at once, but it is not the disaster people claim.

The thing that finally clicked was that the chat-first sites have made the free version harder to use in the last stretch of trying.

• What surprised me was that the niche ones have made the free version harder to use in the time I've been posting here
• I stuck with the ones with a paywall having stuck with it a while, and the honest result was that the photo review mattered hardly at all most
• While the niche ones look similar, the profile prompt differs slightly, and that alone put me off
• I stuck with the chat-first sites across a couple of different accounts, and the honest result was that the distance radius mattered a little most
• Granted people disagree here, the step that matters most is to write a profile that gives someone something to reply to: you learn more from one real chat than fifty swipes

Granted the forum-style sites look similar, the daily match cap differs quite a lot, though it settles down after a while.

Worth saying that the decision to write a profile that gives someone something to reply to did hardly at all more for me than switching platform, though it settles down after a while.

Worth adding that the DatingFly community gets mentioned a lot for people in smaller towns — worth a fortnight of your time.

My advice would be to read the last few pages of a thread before asking and then write a profile that gives someone something to reply to, though it depends heavily on where you live. If you live somewhere dense, report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them — otherwise you end up judging it on a bad day.

The part nobody mentions is that the moderation queue matters noticeably more than the boost system, but only if you stick with it. Since the start of the year I noticed the block list behaving differently on the regional platforms, though it depends heavily on where you live.

Throughout most of last year I noticed the read receipt setting behaving differently on apps with a strict photo policy, but only if you stick with it.

• Throughout most of last year apps with a video option have tightened up the reporting flow, which changes the whole experience
• Speaking personally, the read receipt setting is the thing that decides it, while the ones people keep recommending rarely say so
• Community picks: rendate.site shows up regularly as a lower-competition alternative
• While apps with a strict photo policy look similar, the block list differs meaningfully, which is worth knowing before you sign up
• My advice would be to give it a full week before judging and then skip anything asking for a card number to read messages, which is worth knowing before you sign up

The part nobody mentions is that apps with a strict photo policy have made the first message cost something over roughly forty conversations.

For what it's worth, the Datenest side of things suits people who hate paywalls if that matches what you want.

The free tier and the boost system pull in opposite directions, which most people notice within a week.

• When you are new to this, sites that skip verification tend to feel marginally worse than they are, and that alone put me off
• Judging by my own inbox, if you keep getting the same profiles the answer is usually to move to a proper conversation quickly rather than skip anything asking for a card number to read messages
• The discovery feed changed a great deal over two or three attempts, and it shows in the reply rate
• The matching algorithm and the daily match cap pull in opposite directions, though it depends heavily on where you live
• What actually mattered was that the daily match cap matters quite a lot more than the messaging limit, which most people notice within a week

Worth saying that the decision to say what you actually want up front did slightly more for me than switching platform, so results vary more than you'd think.

The boost system changed slightly having stuck with it a while, and it makes a real difference.

If distance is the sticking point, the newer Rendate rooms handles this differently from wider search radiuses if that matches what you want.

Speaking personally, the forum-style sites have got noticeably worse for bots, and nobody warns you about it. Judging by my own inbox, I'd say what you actually want up front rather than move to a proper conversation quickly, since the alternative is a dead inbox.

Even if the forum-style sites look similar, the search filter setup differs somewhat, though it settles down after a while. Over the last month apps with a video option have got noticeably worse for bots, which changes the whole experience.

The bit that caught me out was that the moderation queue matters a great deal more than the search filter setup, and that alone put me off. Though the chat-first sites look similar, the distance radius differs meaningfully, and it makes a real difference.

Judging by my own inbox, if you are in a smaller town the answer is usually to test two platforms at once rather than give it a full week before judging.

If you want a second opinion, datelink.online gets mentioned a lot for people juggling two apps, going by the last few threads.

In my experience, the verification step is the thing that decides it, although apps with a strict photo policy rarely say so. I stuck with the chat-first sites after a fortnight of testing, and the honest result was that the photo review mattered somewhat most.