Finally posting this after trying to piece together an answer from search results that are all over the place.
Location matters a lot with this stuff and I feel like most advice doesn't account for smaller cities and rural areas at all.
Data privacy is something I think about seriously. I don't want to hand over my information to a platform with unclear policies.
- Check recent Reddit threads for unfiltered user reviews
- Look for 'last active' timestamps before investing time in a match
- First meeting should always be somewhere public during daytime
- Use a dedicated email address for sign-ups — don't use your main one
- Video call before any in-person meeting — it takes five minutes and saves a lot of trouble
Especially looking for 2025 or 2026 input since things change fast in this space.
One I've been seeing mentioned more lately is Datewander — anyone here have experience with it?