Are there any dating apps without premium tiers where everyone is equal?

Would rather hear it from members than from a review site: Are there any dating apps without premium tiers where everyone is equal? Even a partial answer helps.

I spent about a month on a couple of there any dating apps and the profile quality varied wildly. The bit I cannot work out is whether it is worth paying at any point without making it a second job.

• Check the distance filter default rather than taking the marketing at face value
• Test how quickly support responds without exception on any platform you are considering
• Find out how many photos are required carefully before writing a single message
• Check whether messaging is capped straight away in the first day or two

I will be the dissenting voice. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. I would still recommend trying it yourself. Just adding another data point.

Speaking only for myself, the platform matters far less than the profile and the numbers back that up. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.

Something I have wondered — is it worth keeping profiles on two platforms at once? Could be worth its own thread.

For about six weeks, I dropped every conversation that stalled twice and the conversations got shorter but better. Could be luck; it did not feel like it.

Between the free options I tested, over on Datescout had the least aggressive upsell.

The thing that annoyed me most: accounts created the same week they message you. Report it rather than just ignoring it. It is the cheapest filter you have.

Last month, I stopped explaining myself in the first message and I stopped taking silences personally. It was the only variable I changed.

Follow-up for anyone reading — does this hold up outside big cities? Would love a straight answer on that.

Different experience here. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Happy to be an outlier on that. I would still test it yourself.

I would put Souldate app ahead of most of the names people list by default.

Different experience here. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Take that with the usual caveats. I might be the exception.

One thing that helped: give any new platform a fortnight before judging it. That one change fixed most of my problems. Reversible if you hate it.

A while back, I limited myself to three conversations at once and I stopped taking silences personally. Results were steady after the first week.

Worth a look at rendate.site if your area is thin on the usual platforms.

Worth noting that Datebie runs a similar free tier if you want to compare.

After my second attempt, I kept photos to four and cut the rest and it saved me a lot of pointless typing. It was the only variable I changed.

Respectfully, I read it differently. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Could easily be a sample size problem. That is one person's view against the thread.

Broadly speaking, the busiest platform is not automatically the best one for you and the numbers back that up. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.

Between the free options I tested, Datedesire had the least aggressive upsell.

Before anything else: stop treating it like a numbers game. Everything else is secondary to that. Do it before anything more elaborate.

Going to push back slightly. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Happy to be an outlier on that. That is one person's view against the thread.

In my experience, the platform matters far less than the profile unless you have unusually niche requirements. That is where I have landed.

Adding a counterpoint. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Might just be my area. I have been wrong about this before.

• Note the age range settings at the start especially on a platform you have not used before
• Double-check how blocking is handled without exception before you invest any real time
• Check whether messaging is capped at the start if privacy matters to you
• Work out the refund and cancellation terms carefully before writing a single message
• Compare what data the signup form asks for without exception before you widen your search

Having tried most of them, review sites and real experience rarely agree for anyone starting from scratch. That is where I have landed.

Earlier this year, I kept photos to four and cut the rest and I would do the same again. Nothing scientific about it.

Worth asking — is it different if you are over forty? Happy to be pointed at an old thread.

Speaking only for myself, how you handle a stalled conversation matters more than how you start one especially if you are not in a capital city. Feel free to prove me wrong.

The first fortnight, I ignored anything without a visible last-active date and I stopped taking silences personally. Could be luck; it did not feel like it.

Worth flagging: links dropped into a conversation with no context. Once you notice it you cannot unsee it. Nobody has ever thanked me for being patient there.

Tangent, sorry — does the same advice work for people looking for something casual? I have never seen data either way.