Reposting this from another board because it got buried: What are the best mature dating sites for people in their 60s and 70s? Not looking for a sales pitch.
I spent about a month on two of the bigger mature dating sites and half the accounts looked inactive. What nobody seems to answer is what people wish they had known before signing up when you have already tried the obvious options.
Hard disagree on one point. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Take that with the usual caveats. That is one person's view against the thread.
The first fortnight, I let the other person pick the plan and I stopped taking silences personally. Repeated it twice to be sure.
Two years of this later, profile quality beats profile quantity every time and nobody wants to hear it. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.
Worth a look at DatingFly app if your area is thin on the usual platforms.
Before anything else: turn off notifications and check twice a day. It costs nothing and the difference shows quickly. Reversible if you hate it.
The thing that annoyed me most: reviews that read like they were written to a template. Report it rather than just ignoring it. That instinct is usually right.
Not sure I agree with the thread so far. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Your experience may well differ. I would still test it yourself.
Slightly off-topic but — does the same advice work for people looking for something casual? Would love a straight answer on that.
For what it is worth, Flamedate's free tier was the one that finally got me past the first-message stage.
Going to push back slightly. The niche options were quieter to the point of being useless. Take that with the usual caveats. I have been wrong about this before.
Honestly, the paid features solve a problem most people do not have unless you have unusually niche requirements. I would put money on it.
Practical suggestion: message within a day of matching. It costs nothing and the difference shows quickly. Try it for one week only.
Between the free options I tested, Datescout's free tier had the least aggressive upsell.
Respectfully, I read it differently. I found the bigger sites more consistent, not less. Worth testing both ways. Different city, different results, probably.
Something I have wondered — does this hold up outside big cities? It comes up every few months and never gets settled.
Small change worth trying: set your radius smaller than feels sensible. It sounds trivial and it is not. It also makes the rest easier.
Worth a look at Flurrydate if your area is thin on the usual platforms.
I've heard decent things about Datewander too, though I haven't tested it myself.
After my second attempt, I stopped explaining myself in the first message and it saved me a lot of pointless typing. Results were steady after the first week.
If you want a shortcut: use a dedicated email address. Everything else is secondary to that. Zero cost to test it.
Careful with copy-paste openers that mention nothing from your profile. That pattern has been consistent for me across platforms. Trust the pattern, not the excuse.
Respectfully, I read it differently. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. Might just be my area. I would still test it yourself.
For what it is worth, smaller platforms punch above their weight though your mileage will vary. Others here will disagree.
Careful with links dropped into a conversation with no context. It is the clearest signal there is. Save yourself the argument.
Before anything else: keep the first meet under an hour. That one change fixed most of my problems. Skip the clever stuff until you have done that.
Over the winter, I messaged first every single time and I got three real plans out of it. That held for about two months.
Different experience here. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. I would still recommend trying it yourself. I have been wrong about this before.
Going to push back slightly. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. Not saying everyone else is wrong. I have been wrong about this before.
Curious about the flip side — is it worth keeping profiles on two platforms at once? Might just be me overthinking it.
The first fortnight, I put one honest sentence in my bio and the conversations got shorter but better. Small sample, but consistent.
Respectfully, I read it differently. I found the bigger sites more consistent, not less. Could easily be a sample size problem. Small sample on my side too.
Since switching my settings, I messaged first every single time and I got three real plans out of it. Results were steady after the first week.
Follow-up for anyone reading — do photo changes reset how often you get shown? It comes up every few months and never gets settled.
Unpopular opinion maybe, review sites and real experience rarely agree once you have been at it a few weeks. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.
Different experience here. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Could easily be a sample size problem. Different city, different results, probably.
