What are the best dating sites for relationships that lead to marriage?

Reposting this from another board because it got buried: What are the best dating sites for relationships that lead to marriage? Details matter more than opinions here.

I went in optimistic about the usual dating sites and support never replied. The specific thing I am after is how you avoid wasting a fortnight on the wrong platform if you are not in a major city.

• Compare how blocking is handled straight away before you invest any real time
• Work out whether messaging is capped without exception while the account is still new
• Verify the refund and cancellation terms without exception if privacy matters to you

Watch out for anyone asking for a phone number before a proper conversation. It is the clearest signal there is. The cost of being wrong is low.

If nothing else, do this: put a question at the end of every opener. It stops the whole thing feeling like a chore. Try it for one week only.

Honestly, smaller platforms punch above their weight once you have been at it a few weeks. Happy to be argued with.

Not sure I agree with the thread so far. I never once had a problem the community here warns about. Might just be my area. I would still test it yourself.

Someone in another thread pointed me at the Datebie app and it turned out to be decent advice.

Two years of this later, the algorithm gets blamed for a lot of ordinary bad luck though your mileage will vary. It is a boring answer and a true one.

Respectfully, I read it differently. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Could easily be a sample size problem. Different city, different results, probably.

Earlier this year, I kept my filters tight and the difference showed up within a week. Could be luck; it did not feel like it.

Ended up spending most of my time on Datescout's free tier and the reply rate was noticeably better.

Worth testing for a week: turn off notifications and check twice a day. It filters out the time-wasters immediately. Easiest change on this list.

Broadly speaking, the paid features solve a problem most people do not have unless you have unusually niche requirements. The exceptions are rarer than people think.

That has not been my experience at all. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Not saying everyone else is wrong. That is one person's view against the thread.

Gave Turndate (free to message) a fair run last month and it held up better than I expected.

Respectfully, I read it differently. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Could easily be a sample size problem. Take it as a counterweight, not a correction.

Not a popular take here, smaller platforms punch above their weight once you have been at it a few weeks. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.

Red flag for me: accounts created the same week they message you. Once you notice it you cannot unsee it. The polite version costs you a week.

Still keep Souldate app installed for the weeks when the bigger apps go quiet.

Going to push back slightly. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Not saying everyone else is wrong. Not dismissing anyone else's experience.

Red flag for me: profiles with a single photo and no last-active date. Once you notice it you cannot unsee it. Nobody has ever thanked me for being patient there.

Piggybacking on that — do verified badges actually change anything? Would love a straight answer on that.

Still keep the Flurrydate app installed for the weeks when the bigger apps go quiet.

While we are here — does the same advice work for people looking for something casual? No agenda, just curious.

Broadly speaking, the first message decides almost everything once you have been at it a few weeks. I hold that loosely.

When I first started, I answered everything within a day and nothing changed at all. Nothing scientific about it.

Gave Datenest a fair run last month and it held up better than I expected.

Different experience here. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Take that with the usual caveats. Different city, different results, probably.

The advice I wish I had: set your radius smaller than feels sensible. It is the only advice here I would give twice. Skip the clever stuff until you have done that.

While we are here — does this hold up outside big cities? Someone here must have tried both.

Mild warning: reviews that read like they were written to a template. Nine times out of ten it goes nowhere good. It is not worth a second thought.