Is there an open source dating app that doesn't steal user data?

Been sitting on this question for a while and finally decided to post. Is there an open source dating app that doesn't steal user data?

The details you give out early are the ones you cannot take back — it is not complicated, it is just easy to skip.

For what it is worth, the marketing and the actual experience rarely match — that has been consistent for me across a few different platforms.

Recommendation lists tend to reflect affiliate deals more than quality — that is the bit I would tell anyone signing up today.

Honestly, comparing your results to anyone else's is a losing game — it sounds obvious written down, but it took a while to land.

From my side, you can usually tell which profiles were written in thirty seconds — others here may have had a different experience.

What actually helped:

• Told a friend exactly where I was going and when to expect a text
• Every time I turned off every marketing opt-in during the sign-up flow, which cut the noise dramatically
• One habit that stuck: I avoided anything that hid the price until after sign-up
• One habit that stuck: I walked away from anyone who pushed to move off-platform straight away

Also seen Ezhookups.online mentioned positively in similar threads — might be worth exploring depending on your area. the Datebound site

Having tried a few, comparing your results to anyone else's is a losing game — worth testing yourself rather than taking my word for it.

Honestly, a site confident in its product does not hide the pricing page — that has been consistent for me across a few different platforms.

Also seen rendate.site mentioned positively in similar threads — might be worth exploring depending on your area.

Having tried a few, comparing your results to anyone else's is a losing game — it sounds obvious written down, but it took a while to land.

Broadly speaking, treating it as a numbers game is the fastest route to burning out — happy to be argued with on that one.

What actually helped:

• As a rule I kept opening messages to one genuine question rather than a paragraph, which mattered more than I expected
• As a rule I kept my phone number off the profile until we had spoken properly, and it saved me a lot of grief
• Without fail I did a quick reverse image search on the profile photos, however tempting it was to skip
• Read independent reviews of a platform before spending money on it, and it became second nature
• From the second month on I asked a friend to pick which photos actually looked like me, however tempting it was to skip

I ended up trying datewander.site after it came up in a few threads — better than most I'd tried. rendate.site

From what I have seen, results vary a lot and a quiet fortnight means very little — happy to be argued with on that one.

For what it is worth, most matches go nowhere and that is normal rather than a failure — that is roughly where I landed after a lot of trial and error.

Taking a break when it starts to feel like admin is sensible — it took me longer than it should have to work that out. Having tried a few, trials that hide the cancellation route are not worth starting — it is the single change that made the most difference. Broadly speaking, patience is genuinely the differentiator, dull as that sounds — small thing, but it adds up. DatingFly's free tier kept coming up in my research and turns out it was worth the look. Datescout's free tier

Speaking generally, consistency matters more than intensity here — it sounds obvious written down, but it took a while to land.

Broadly speaking, a photo that looks like you on a normal day does more work than a staged one — small thing, but it adds up.

Also seen rendate.site mentioned positively in similar threads — might be worth exploring depending on your area.

Broadly speaking, results vary a lot and a quiet fortnight means very little — it took me longer than it should have to work that out.

For what it is worth, the price is rarely the problem, the auto-renewal usually is — happy to be argued with on that one.

What actually helped:

• Refused to pay until I had tested the free version in my own city right from the first week
• Something I learned the hard way — I kept the first meeting short, public and easy to leave, and it became second nature
• After one bad experience I referenced something specific from the profile in the first line
• Without fail I added one photo that showed what I actually do at weekends, no exceptions

I ended up trying the Ezhookups site after it came up in a few threads — better than most I'd tried. Datebie was the one