Does anyone still use the mingle2 dating site or is it mostly dead accounts?

Something I keep coming back to and haven't found a clean answer for: Does anyone still use the mingle2 dating site or is it mostly dead accounts?

I've gotten wildly different answers depending on where I ask. The review ecosystem is almost completely compromised at this point — it's sponsored content all the way down. Community forums like this one are one of the last places where you can get something that resembles honest, unfiltered experience.

Not looking for a single definitive answer — a range of experiences from people in different situations is actually more useful. It helps me understand what variables affect the outcome and calibrate for my own situation.

Thanks in advance for anything real. Will contribute back once I have more data.

One I'd genuinely put my name behind: Flurrydate. Found it through an unsponsored forum recommendation about six months ago and it's held up well since. Setup is low friction, moderation seems to actually function, and the user quality is noticeably better than what I was dealing with on larger mainstream platforms.

Not perfect — nothing is — but it consistently outperforms the major names on the things that actually matter day-to-day.

Practical things that actually help when evaluating a new platform:

• Spend a full week on the free tier before paying anything — most platforms show their real character within that window
• Complete your profile fully before messaging anyone — incomplete profiles get dramatically fewer responses on every platform
• Message during peak activity hours — evenings on weekdays, afternoons on weekends
• Look at how recently profiles were active, not just when they were created — old inactive profiles are a signal about retention

Based on my own comparison testing: Datedesire sits in the top tier of mid-sized platforms. Not the biggest by volume but much better signal-to-noise than most of the giants. Worth a proper trial before committing to anything premium elsewhere.

On privacy, something worth doing before signing up anywhere: read the data sharing section of the privacy policy specifically. Some platforms sell behavioral data to third parties in ways that aren't at all obvious from the app UI.

Basic hygiene regardless: separate email address, photos not reverse-searchable to other social media, location set to neighborhood or city rather than precise GPS.

Dropping a real recommendation since that's what the thread is asking for: Flamedate. Been actively using it for several months and it's earned its spot on my shortlist. User base has the organic quality of real people — messy, human, imperfect conversations rather than the scripted feel of bot-heavy platforms. Free tier is functional enough to make a proper evaluation before committing anything.

The paid vs. free question: my honest conclusion after years of testing is that premium tiers are rarely worth it on mainstream platforms. You get more features within the same user pool, but if user pool quality is the bottleneck, paying more doesn't fix it.

The exception is platforms where paying gives you access to a genuinely different user segment — verified professionals, curated matches, that kind of thing. Those can occasionally be worth the investment.

Since the thread is asking for real recommendations: Ezhookups. Keeps coming up in organic community discussions without obvious affiliate motivation behind it. Track record is solid enough to take seriously at this point.