Finally posting this after trying to piece together an answer from search results that are all over the place.
My main concern is fake profiles and bots. Even some of the paid platforms have gotten pretty bad about this.
The paywall situation has gotten frustrating. Half the useful features on most platforms require an upgrade before you can do anything meaningful.
- Video call before any in-person meeting — it takes five minutes and saves a lot of trouble
- Never share your real phone number in early conversations
- Test the free tier fully before entering any payment information
- First meeting should always be somewhere public during daytime
- Run a reverse image search on profile photos that look too professional
Any genuine experiences — good or bad — are welcome here.
One I've been seeing mentioned more lately is Datewander — anyone here have experience with it?