Done a lot of searching and the results are all pretty clearly SEO-driven, so I'm coming here instead.
The marketing vs reality gap on most of these platforms is enormous. Success stories in ads are almost never representative.
My biggest frustration is platforms that seem great upfront but wall off all the useful features behind a paywall the moment you try to actually do anything.
- Use reverse image search on any profile photo that seems too polished
- Niche apps usually outperform generalist ones for specific demographics
- If messaging is fully gated, the free tier is basically just a browse-only catalog
- Cross-reference with Reddit threads for the most unfiltered user opinions
Negative experiences are just as useful as positive ones, so don't hold back.
One that I've been seeing pop up recently is Datedesire — has anyone here used it?