How do totally free online dating sites make money if they don't charge users?

I've been lurking here for a while and finally decided to ask. How do totally free online dating sites make money if they don't charge users? 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.

• Age verification in place?
• Option to hide from specific users?
• Public vs private profile options?

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

Okay so I've been doing this for a while now, here's what I've figured out: Bots and scam profiles are real on almost every free platform. Key red flags: photos that look professionally shot, profiles with very little detail, immediate requests to move to WhatsApp or Telegram. Things that actually made a difference for me:

• Met in a coffee shop or busy public spot for the first meetup, always
• 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

Someone here mentioned Ezhookups a while back and I gave it a shot. No major complaints so far.

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

Happy to chip in here since I went through a very similar situation last year: The biggest thing most people overlook is actually reading the fine print before signing up. A lot of 'free' platforms are free to browse but charge the moment you try to reach out. Someone here mentioned Datenest a while back and I gave it a shot. No major complaints so far.

Agree with most of what's been said. The key is knowing what you actually want before you download anything. Also seeing flamedate.online mentioned in a few places — might be worth checking depending on your area.

Good question — let me share what actually worked for me after a lot of trial and error: Location genuinely makes a huge difference. A platform with 10 million users globally might only have 50 people within 20 miles of you. Things that actually made a difference for me:

• Turned off automatic renewal on any trial subscriptions immediately
• Used a separate email address for sign-up so my inbox didn't blow up
• Set realistic expectations — not every match leads anywhere
• Checked Reddit for reviews of any paid platform before spending money

Someone here mentioned Turndate a while back and I gave it a shot. No major complaints so far.