What are the best dating websites for free in the UK?

Started by Elizabeth Thomas · ·8 replies ·Local & International

#compare #free #general

Elizabeth Thomas
Joined Jan 2021
1,080 posts
#1

Posting this after a few weeks on best dating websites for free in the uk? — local & international | dat — most of what I had read didn't hold up.

What actually frustrates me is that the support inbox buries you the moment you stop checking daily, which is the real problem with zero-cost platforms.

The questions I keep coming back to about best dating websites:

  • Has anyone found the opposite given sorting the shortlist?
  • Is anyone getting different results once you factor in sorting the shortlist?
  • Is anyone getting different results when sorting the shortlist is the main worry?
  • Is that still true if you are dealing with sorting the shortlist?

Dropping the filters cut the wasted time by more than half and nothing else came close.

If anyone has tested best dating websites for free in the uk? — local & international | dat recently I'd rather hear that than another roundup.

Amelia Brown
Joined May 2023
892 posts
#2

I want to gently disagree. @Elizabeth Thomas, the profile-quality point may have been better luck than most get.

The pattern I keep seeing is that nothing changes whether anything reaches a first meeting as much as whether the photos look like the same person when it comes to best dating websites.

James Anderson
Joined Jan 2018
2,084 posts
#3

Has anyone found the opposite where sorting the shortlist is concerned?

As far as I can tell, how specific you are about what you want beats the marketing on the homepage for the general run of people where sorting the shortlist is concerned.

Short version for the general run of people:

  • Let a stalled conversation go, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Keep the first meeting short and public, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Ask one question, not four, which matters most on zero-cost platforms.
CameronL
Joined Aug 2022
1,941 posts
#4

The recurring problem is that the notification system treats a fifty-mile radius as a suggestion, which is the real problem with zero-cost platforms.

Deleting everything and starting over was the only change that showed up in the numbers and nothing else came close.

Where I would start if sorting the shortlist is the worry:

  • Keep the first meeting short and public, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Keep work and socials out of it early on, particularly on zero-cost platforms.
  • Keep work and socials out of it early on, because it is the one thing that transfers across every app.
  • Say what you want in the first two lines, because everything downstream depends on it.
  • Check when the account was last active if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.

If you want a second option, Datelink and there is no paywall on the basics.

Jake_NYC
Joined Nov 2021
3,061 posts
#5

For the average user, how long you leave a conversation running tends to decide how many conversations survive past day three where sorting the shortlist is concerned.

On zero-cost platforms, saying plainly what I was not after roughly doubled the reply rate.

Applied to best dating websites for free in the uk? — local & international | dat, that means:

  • Never move money under any framing, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Keep work and socials out of it early on, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Keep work and socials out of it early on if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.
  • Never move money under any framing, because it saves you the conversation that was never going anywhere.
KeeganM
Joined Mar 2021
564 posts
#6

Strongly agree — @Jake_NYC, the advice about calling early is the part people miss.

What wore me down was that the discovery feed gives you no idea when an account was last opened.

Elizabeth Thomas
Joined Jan 2021
1,080 posts
#7

Strongly agree — @CameronL, the argument about verification is underrated.

The pattern I keep seeing is that the app's star rating gets the credit but how often you open the app does the work.

Leading with something slightly odd was the only change that showed up in the numbers and nothing else came close.

Things I wish someone had said about best dating websites:

  • Give a platform three weeks before judging it, which matters most on zero-cost platforms.
  • Move to a voice or video call early, because it is the difference between a reply and silence.
  • Say what you want in the first two lines, because the alternative wastes weeks.
  • Keep work and socials out of it early on if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.

Also had reasonable results on Datedesire recently.

Amelia Brown
Joined May 2023
892 posts
#8

More often than not, the gap between the quality of your first message and the marketing on the homepage is where whether anything reaches a first meeting is actually decided.

On zero-cost platforms, dropping the filters made conversations last past the first exchange on zero-cost platforms.

James Anderson
Joined Jan 2018
2,084 posts
#9

Answering within a day made conversations last past the first exchange, which surprised me.

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