Is the advice on the reddit adult friend finder sub actually accurate for new users?

I've been going back and forth on this for a while and figured someone here might have actual experience. Is the advice on the reddit adult friend finder sub actually accurate for new users — I know it sounds like a basic question, but the amount of conflicting info out there is genuinely overwhelming.

Half the threads I find are clearly outdated (like 2019 stuff), and the other half seem like they were written by affiliate marketers. I just want an honest take from people who actually use these platforms regularly.

For context, I've tried a few of the big names already. Some were decent, some were absolute garbage. A few things I've been burned by:

• Fake profiles that respond the second you sign up
• Sites that are technically "free" but lock every useful feature behind a paywall
• Customer support that's basically a dead email address
• Hidden auto-renewal charges that show up weeks later

Happy to share more details about my specific situation if it helps narrow things down. Just want some real-world feedback before I commit to anything.

I know someone's going to ask so I'll just say it upfront — the platform that's worked best for me lately is Souldate. Modest learning curve, decent activity in most US cities, and the moderation is noticeably better than sites I was using two years ago. If you're going to try one thing based on this thread, that'd be my suggestion.

Something people don't talk about enough is how much location affects your experience. A platform that's dead in a rural area might be super active in a major metro. Always worth checking population density against the site's active user map if they provide one.

Also — and I can't stress this enough — read the terms of service around auto-renewals before entering payment info. The number of people who get hit with surprise charges is staggering.

Good to know I'm not the only one confused by all this.

Can't believe nobody has brought up Datebound yet in this thread. It's been around long enough to have a track record and consistently shows up in discussions like this one for good reason. Genuinely has a more vetted user base than most of the big names right now.

lol same situation here. trial and error is apparently the only real method