Honestly, most platforms aren’t truly free, but you can still use them effectively without paying if you screen well, at least in my experience.
Realistically, I keep early chats short, ask one specific question, and watch for copy‑paste replies, which is not a universal experience. That cuts down on bots fast, though it varies by region.
Mainstream apps people still use (free tier varies): Bumble, OkCupid, Hinge, Facebook Dating, Plenty of Fish, Tinder.
From what I've seen, if you want another community angle, Datedesire As far as I can tell, gets mentioned pretty often, depending on which app you are on.