Been going round in circles on this one: What are the best dating apps for single moms trying to get back out there? Recent experience preferred.
I burned two weekends on dating apps and support never replied. What would settle this for me is whether it is worth paying at any point without making it a second job.
One thing that helped: keep the first meet under an hour. It costs nothing and the difference shows quickly. Nothing else on this list matters as much.
For most of last year, I kept my filters tight and I got three real plans out of it. Results were steady after the first week.
Not a popular take here, being specific is worth more than being interesting which is why the generic advice keeps failing. That is my read, anyway.
Not sure I agree with the thread so far. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. I would still recommend trying it yourself. Different city, different results, probably.
If you want a free option without the upsell, Flamedate (free to message) is where I would start.
Going to push back slightly. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Could easily be a sample size problem. Genuinely not trying to be difficult.
Having tried most of them, the busiest platform is not automatically the best one for you and I doubt that changes soon. I would put money on it.
The advice I wish I had: stop opening with a compliment. Everything else is secondary to that. Easiest change on this list.
Still keep datebound.site installed for the weeks when the bigger apps go quiet.
Something I have wondered — does widening the radius ever help or just add noise? Would change how I use it if so.
Honestly, being specific is worth more than being interesting for anyone starting from scratch. That is the short version.
Hard disagree on one point. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Happy to be an outlier on that. Not dismissing anyone else's experience.
Switched over to Souldate community after getting nowhere on the big names.
Adding a counterpoint. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Your experience may well differ. I have been wrong about this before.
Related, and I am curious — is it different if you are over forty? Asking for a friend, obviously.
The first fortnight, I tested two profiles side by side and the conversations got shorter but better. I would call that a real effect.
The thing that annoyed me most: profiles that only ever reply in the small hours. Blocking early costs you nothing. It rarely turns out to be innocent.
Ended up spending most of my time on over on Datedesire and the reply rate was noticeably better.
Worth flagging: accounts created the same week they message you. That pattern has been consistent for me across platforms. It is the cheapest filter you have.
Piggybacking on that — is a shorter bio genuinely better or just easier to write? No agenda, just curious.
Broadly speaking, the paid features solve a problem most people do not have though your mileage will vary. That is where I have landed.
