What are the best dating sites for single parents over 40 looking to blend families?

Long-time reader here, finally posting something worth asking about. The question: What are the best dating sites for single parents over 40 looking to blend families?

Quick context: I'm not brand new to online dating but I feel like my knowledge is about 18 months out of date, which in this space is a lot. Platforms that used to be solid have gotten worse. Some that looked sketchy have apparently improved. Looking to recalibrate based on current experience.

What I care most about: honest assessment of user quality, realistic free-tier functionality, and how the bot situation compares to what I've experienced elsewhere. Not looking for marketing copy — just real experience from people who've been there.

Dropping a real recommendation since that's what the thread is asking for: Datewander. 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.

Appreciate the honest discussion here. Far more useful than anything I can find through a normal search.

Based on my own comparison testing: Ezhookups 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.

Data point worth sharing: datebie.online came up in three completely unrelated threads I was reading this week. Consistent organic appearances across different communities without obvious promotion behind them usually means real people are having real results with it.

One I'd genuinely put my name behind: DatingFly. 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.