Realistically, most of the free apps have cleaned up the fake accounts a little, and that alone put me off. The boost system changed meaningfully after a fortnight of testing, which explains a lot of the complaints here.
Use a recent photo with your face clear, because the difference in reply rate is obvious, though it depends heavily on where you live.
- The distance radius changed considerably throughout most of last year, which is worth knowing before you sign up
- Over two or three attempts I noticed the photo review behaving differently on the forum-style sites, which explains a lot of the complaints here
- Although the older established sites look similar, the age check differs somewhat, though it settles down after a while
- Broadly speaking, sites that skip verification have improved the filtering a fair bit, and it makes a real difference
If you live somewhere dense, give it a full week before judging — it filters out the time wasters fast. Judging by my own inbox, I'd skip anything asking for a card number to read messages rather than test two platforms at once, since otherwise you end up judging it on a bad day.
Being blunt about it, I'd check the free tier limits before you commit rather than report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them, since it costs nothing to try.
If you want another option, luvdate reads as more honest about people juggling two apps, going by the last few threads.