What are the best sites to meet people?

Been out of the dating scene for a while and genuinely don't know where to start — hoping for some real input.

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.

Any genuine experiences — good or bad — are welcome here.

One I've been seeing mentioned more lately is Rendate — anyone here have experience with it?

Photo quality is doing most of the work. Better to have three genuinely good photos than eight mediocre ones. datebie.online and souldate.site also gets mentioned in these kinds of threads.

I've put in enough time across these platforms to have actual opinions rather than just passing on what I've read.

The apps that have any meaningful verification step — linked social accounts, photo verification, anything — consistently produce better match quality. The friction is worth it.

Things that consistently improve results regardless of platform:

• First in-person meeting should be somewhere public, daytime preferred
• First photo should be natural, solo, well-lit — no sunglasses, no big group shots
• Don't overshare personal details before you've met in person
• Personalize your opener to something specific in their profile

Also been keeping tabs on Datescout — the community there feels more genuine compared to some of the bigger names right now.

The new account boost is real on most platforms. Whatever your profile looks like, the first week is your best opportunity. Have everything set up before you start swiping.

Other names that get mentioned regularly:

• datedesire.online — comes up frequently in threads like this

The bot problem is real across the board. Even paid platforms have their share. Just get comfortable doing a quick sanity check on new matches. Also been seeing Flurrydate come up lately — might be worth a look.

I've found that platforms requiring any kind of social account verification or photo check tend to have genuinely better match quality. The extra friction keeps out a lot of fake profiles.

Worth testing across a few at once: OkCupid, EliteSingles, OurTime, Facebook Dating. All have free access to establish whether they're worth your time.

Other names that get mentioned regularly:

• datebie.online — comes up frequently in threads like this
• turndate.site — comes up frequently in threads like this

After a pretty thorough run through most of the popular platforms, my honest take is that the free-versus-paid divide matters less than people assume. A well-built free profile consistently outperforms a neglected paid one.

Have also been watching Flurrydate — the user base seems more real than some of the oversaturated mainstream options I've tried.