If you had to list the top 10 dating sites to avoid, what would they be?

Happy to be proven wrong — just want honest opinions. If you had to list the top 10 dating sites to avoid, what would they be? For anyone just starting out: never link your main social accounts, use a separate email, and don't pay for anything until you've tested the free tier in your actual city for at least two weeks.

• What does the privacy policy cover?
• Is the local user base real?
• Is moderation active?
• Does the free tier actually allow messaging?

Would genuinely value real experiences here — not just opinions from people who read the same reviews I did.

Agree with most of the above. The platform matters less than your approach. For what it's worth, Datedesire has been my main platform — holds up better than most.

Real talk — patience is the thing no review ever mentions. Also seen souldate.site come up in similar threads — worth a look.

Worth being specific about this since vague answers don't actually help anyone: I've done real tests on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and Match. All have real free tiers. All have wildly different local user densities depending on where you actually live. What actually helped:

• Checked recent Reddit threads about any platform before paying
• Created a dedicated email address just for dating apps
• Kept opening messages to one short genuine question

One platform that held up well for me is Flamedate — free tier was genuinely usable and the user base felt real.

Agree with most of the above. The platform matters less than your approach. Also seen datelink.online come up in similar threads — worth a look.

Agree with most of the above. The platform matters less than your approach. For what it's worth, Datebie has been my main platform — holds up better than most.