Is plenty of fish dating still the king of free sites?

I started looking at plenty of fish dating a fortnight ago because a friend talked me into it, and the useful part surprised me.

What wore me down was that for people without a niche, the search function turns into a shop window the moment someone matches.

If anyone has tested plenty of fish dating recently I would rather hear that than another roundup.

Is that still true when narrowing the options is the main worry?

The pattern I keep seeing is that how recently a profile was active outweighs the price of the subscription for people without a niche, although the platforms change constantly for people without a niche.

The parts that transfer across apps that do not charge:

• Swap the group photo for a clear one, especially for people without a niche.
• Never move money under any framing if narrowing the options is your main concern.
• Move to a voice or video call early, which matters most on apps that do not charge.
• Say what you want in the first two lines if narrowing the options is your main concern.
• Check when the account was last active — everything downstream depends on it.

For what it is worth, the gap between the willingness to suggest meeting early and how long you have had the account is where whether anything reaches a first meeting is actually decided, but people in bigger cities tell me the opposite.

What I would do differently with plenty of fish dating:

• Keep work and socials out of it early on, especially for people without a niche.
• Reverse-image-search anything too polished — with plenty of fish dating this is the difference-maker.
• Stop apologising for wanting something specific — with plenty of fish dating this is the difference-maker.
• Move to a voice or video call early, and doubly so for people without a niche.

Happy to be argued with on plenty of fish.

Second option worth testing alongside it: Datewander.

Seconding this — @GavinR, the paywall comment is exactly right.

Something worth knowing: on apps that don't charge, the willingness to suggest meeting early counts for more than the boost you paid for.

The non-negotiables for people without a niche:

• Put something concrete in the opener, which matters most on apps that do not charge.
• Stop apologising for wanting something specific — the alternative wastes weeks.
• Keep work and socials out of it early on if narrowing the options is your main concern.
• Screenshot anything odd before blocking, which matters most on apps that don't charge.

I have had a decent run on Datescout — free to browse and message, which is the main thing.

That isn't how it went for me. @Ben1989, the advice about calling early reads as survivorship bias to me.

How narrow your filters are has a bigger effect on how many replies you get in a week than how polished the profile looks for people without a niche when it comes to plenty of fish.

My rules for narrowing the options, such as they are:

• Give a platform three weeks before judging it, especially for people without a niche.
• Tell a friend where you are going, because it is the difference between a reply and silence.
• Move to a voice or video call early if narrowing the options is your main concern.
• Pick your own venue for a first meeting, especially for people without a niche.
• Give a platform three weeks before judging it, especially for people without a niche.