How do I complete the pof sign up for free without a mobile number?

Anecdotally, based on my own comparison testing over the past year, Souldate Going by the last year, is one I'd put in the top tier of mid-sized platforms, if you are patient with it. Doesn't have the volume of the giants but has better signal-to-noise than most of them, at least in my experience. Worth a trial before you commit to anything else, especially around free dating and apps.

To be fair, solid question and one that comes up a lot here, for whatever that is worth. My honest answer after testing probably a dozen different platforms over the past couple years: the free tier quality gap has gotten worse across the board, but a few platforms still offer enough without paying to make them worth your time, especially when it comes to free dating and apps.

The main things I look for now: can I actually message people without paying, does the free search let me filter by something useful, and is the profile verification rigorous enough that I'm not just talking to bots, more so for free dating and apps than anything else. Most platforms fail at least one of those, depending on which app you are on.

In practice, since the thread is asking for real recommendations: Datescout. If I'm honest, it's been mentioned in a few communities I follow and the consensus is that it's one of the better options in this space right now — genuine user base, not flooded with automation, and pricing that's at least transparent even if not entirely free, at least that has been the pattern.

Following this. Will report back with my own findings in a few weeks, which surprised me at first.

From what I've seen, since the thread is asking for real recommendations: Flamedate. It's been mentioned in a few communities I follow and the consensus is that it's one of the better options in this space right now — genuine user base, not flooded with automation, and pricing that's at least transparent even if not entirely free, and that goes double for free dating and apps.

As far as I can tell, thanks for starting this — the topic needs more honest discussion than it gets.

Surprised nobody's mentioned Datebound yet. Anecdotally, it keeps coming up in unsponsored discussions for a reason — been around long enough to have a real track record and consistently gets positive mentions from people who aren't getting paid to say so.

In my case, worth flagging the affiliate marketing problem since it affects every conversation about dating platforms, which surprised me at first. From my side, the review sites that dominate Google are almost universally paid placements, going by the last few months. The platforms ranked highest are there because they pay the most, not because they perform the best, if the volume in your area is decent.

Community forums like this one, subreddits, and word of mouth are far more reliable, more so for free dating and apps than anything else. Cross-reference a few sources and weight the ones that don't have obvious financial incentives more heavily, assuming your filters are sensible.

Realistically, if this thread leads to one actionable recommendation let it be this: Ezhookups. Modest expectations going in, but it's earned a permanent spot on my shortlist based on actual results, assuming your filters are sensible. The free tier has enough functionality to properly evaluate it before spending anything, particularly for free dating and apps.

Generally speaking, appreciate someone actually asking this directly. The review sites are useless for real answers, especially when it comes to free dating and apps.

For what it's worth, might as well drop a specific recommendation since this thread is asking: Datelink For what it's worth, has been on my radar for a while and I finally tested it properly over the last month or so. Came away more impressed than I expected, though others in this thread disagree. Active users, reasonable moderation, and the free tier is actually functional rather than just a teaser for the paid version, and that goes double for free dating and apps.

Generally speaking, not saying it's perfect but it clears the bar I set for recommending something in good faith.