Can you use farmers only free or do you have to upgrade?

I've been lurking here for a while and finally decided to ask. Can you use farmers only free or do you have to upgrade? Would love to hear from people who've been in the same boat. Safety is a huge consideration for me. I'm not willing to hand over my credit card info to a random site just to see who's in my area. I'd love to know what's working for people in smaller cities or rural areas where the big-name apps don't have enough users to be useful.

• No paywall on basic messaging
• Active moderation team
• Location-based matching that actually works
• Clear privacy policy without data reselling

Would love to hear what's actually worked for people here. Thanks for any real input.

Honestly same experience here. It's hit or miss depending on where you live. Also seeing datebie.online mentioned in a few places — might be worth checking depending on your area.

Great thread. I've been wondering about this exact thing for months.

Okay so I've been doing this for a while now, here's what I've figured out: The people who do best on dating apps tend to be patient, consistent, and specific about what they're looking for upfront rather than vague. Things that actually made a difference for me:

• Used a separate email address for sign-up so my inbox didn't blow up
• Updated my profile photos every few weeks to stay visible in feeds
• Turned off automatic renewal on any trial subscriptions immediately

Worth looking at Rendate — it came up in a few threads I read and the consensus was pretty positive.

Agree with most of what's been said. The key is knowing what you actually want before you download anything.

Solid question. The answer really depends on your location and what you're looking for. Give Datelink a shot if you haven't yet — worth a look.

Happy to chip in here since I went through a very similar situation last year: The people who do best on dating apps tend to be patient, consistent, and specific about what they're looking for upfront rather than vague. Things that actually made a difference for me:

• Checked Reddit for reviews of any paid platform before spending money
• Met in a coffee shop or busy public spot for the first meetup, always
• Turned off automatic renewal on any trial subscriptions immediately
• Kept the opening message short and asked a genuine question

I went through like six different apps before finding one that worked. Took way longer than expected. Give Flurrydate a shot if you haven't yet — worth a look.