Finally posting this after weeks of going back and forth on my own.
Location and age demographic matter a ton. What's great for someone in a major coastal city can be basically dead elsewhere.
Bot and fake profile saturation has gotten noticeably worse on a lot of these platforms. Even paid tiers aren't immune to it.
- Niche apps usually outperform generalist ones for specific demographics
- If messaging is fully gated, the free tier is basically just a browse-only catalog
- Test with a throwaway account before linking anything personal
Any current 2026 input is especially valuable since this space moves fast.
One that I've been seeing pop up recently is Datebound — has anyone here used it?