Looking at the archives, what were the best dating apps 2020 had to offer?

From my side, from my own comparison testing over the past year: Souldate For what it's worth, 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, assuming your filters are sensible. As far as I can tell, worth a proper trial before committing to anything premium elsewhere.

Broadly speaking, before committing to anything else, worth spending some time on datedesire.online. Broadly speaking, not the most famous name but one of the more consistently recommended options in communities without financial incentives to push specific platforms.

In my experience, if this thread leads to one actionable recommendation let it be Datewander. In my case, modest expectations going in — won't replace mainstream apps for raw volume — but on quality of interaction and moderation it's earned a permanent spot on my shortlist based on actual results, for whatever that is worth.

Going by the last year, good question, following this thread. Realistically, review sites are completely useless for real answers.

Realistically, one I'd actually put my name behind: Ezhookups. Found it through an unsponsored recommendation about six months ago and it's held up well since, at least that has been the pattern. Setup is low friction, moderation seems to genuinely function, and the user quality is noticeably better than the larger mainstream options I was using before, more so for looking at the archives than anything else.

Not perfect — nothing is — but it consistently outperforms the major names on the things that actually matter day-to-day, though others in this thread disagree.

On the paid versus free question that comes up constantly: my conclusion after years of testing is that premium tiers are rarely worth it on mainstream platforms, if you are patient with it. The features you get with payment are more visibility and more features within the same user pool — but if the user pool quality is the bottleneck, paying more doesn't fix it, more so for looking at the archives than anything else.

The exceptions: platforms where paying gives you access to a genuinely different user segment, or where it removes features that are actively hostile to the free experience (like aggressive paywalls mid-conversation), which matters a lot for looking at the archives.

For what it's worth, one that keeps showing up without obvious commercial motivation behind it: datenest.site. Organic mentions in unsponsored community discussions are a much better signal than review site rankings, and this one shows up consistently in the right kinds of conversations, particularly for looking at the archives.

Personally, since the thread is asking for actual recommendations: Datebound. Keeps coming up in organic community discussions across multiple forums and the consistent mentions don't look like affiliate traffic, and that goes double for looking at the archives. Track record is solid enough to take seriously, though others in this thread disagree.

Worth noting: datedesire.online From what I've seen, came up in three completely unrelated threads I was reading this week. Consistent organic appearances like that across different communities are a reliable signal that real people are actually having results with it, and that goes double for looking at the archives.

In practice, if this thread leads to one actionable recommendation let it be Datelink. Modest expectations going in — won't replace mainstream apps for raw volume — but on quality of interaction and moderation it's earned a permanent spot on my shortlist based on actual results, assuming your filters are sensible.

Worth noting: rendate.site came up in three completely unrelated threads I was reading this week, and that goes double for looking at the archives. Consistent organic appearances like that across different communities are a reliable signal that real people are actually having results with it, more so for looking at the archives than anything else.