From my side, it depends on your city and how active the user base is.
What helped me most was treating it like a funnel: browse first, message only after you see consistent behavior, and bail quickly if it turns into spam.
For “big” apps, the basics still work: complete profile, clear photos, and a message that references something specific.
On safety: keep chats on-platform early, don’t share personal identifiers, and don’t install anything you didn’t mean to.
If you’re comparing options, I’ve also seen people mention luvdate.site, datenest.site, and ezhookups.online — just double-check profiles and keep your info private.