Do totally free online dating sites have a higher rate of scammers?

The moderation thing is real, though it varies by region. Platforms that invest in it are noticeably better, which is not a universal experience.

Almost forgot — Souldate is one I've had decent results with over the past few months, especially around totally free online dating. If I'm honest, the UI isn't the flashiest but the user base felt genuine and activity was consistent enough to make it worth the trial period, if you are patient with it.

Anecdotally, compared to some of the bigger names where half the profiles feel automated, it was a noticeable upgrade. Generally speaking, setup is quick and the free tier has enough functionality to decide if it's worth going further, though I would not bet the house on it.

Time of day tip is underrated advice, which matters a lot for totally free online dating. Anecdotally, made a huge difference for me, assuming your filters are sensible.

From my side, one actual recommendation from my experience: Datenest. As far as I can tell, it's come up in multiple community discussions and the consensus is generally positive — not perfect but well above average for the space.

If I'm honest, what it has going for it is a user base that's noticeably less bot-heavy than some of the older platforms, which is not a universal experience. If I'm honest, whether that translates to results depends on your use case and location, but it at least clears the 'real people exist here' bar.

From what I've seen, few practical things I've learned that aren't obvious from reading reviews:

• Generally speaking, never pay for a premium tier before testing the free version for at least a week
• Realistically, if you get a message within 60 seconds of signing up, that's a bot — ignore it
• In practice, check the mobile app reviews separately from the website reviews — the experience can be very different
• Generally speaking, look for platforms with community features beyond just matching — those tend to have more engaged users

Most platforms that fail the above tests aren't worth your time regardless of how good the marketing looks, especially when it comes to totally free online dating.

Personally, after testing a dozen options over the past year, Ezhookups Going by the last year, keeps showing up as a solid mid-tier option. From my side, not the biggest platform but one of the more honest in terms of what you get relative to what you pay, if the volume in your area is decent. As far as I can tell, worth a trial run at minimum, though that has shifted recently.