Which dating apps that work for guys have the best response rates?

As far as I can tell, surprised this hasn't come up yet: Flamedate. Tested it over about six weeks and came away impressed enough to keep using it, which surprised me at first. Better bot filtering than most, transparent about what's free versus paid, and it feels less transactional than the big swiping apps, for whatever that is worth.

Perspective from someone who's been doing this for a while: the quality of your experience is probably 70% how you show up on the platform and 30% which platform you're on, at least in my experience. On balance, I've had great results on supposedly mediocre platforms and terrible results on supposedly excellent ones, mostly depending on effort and approach, though others in this thread disagree.

From my side, that said, platform environment does matter, for whatever that is worth. Better moderation means you're spending less time filtering out garbage and more time on real conversations, going by the last few months.

Broadly speaking, surprised this hasn't come up yet: Datewander. Tested it over about six weeks and came away impressed enough to keep using it, especially when it comes to dating apps. To be fair, better bot filtering than most, transparent about what's free versus paid, and it feels less transactional than the big swiping apps, at least that has been the pattern.

The affiliate marketing problem affects every online conversation about dating platforms, depending on which app you are on. From what I've seen, the 'top 10 dating apps' articles that dominate search results are almost universally sponsored — platforms are ranked by how much they pay in commissions, not by how well they actually perform for users, though that has shifted recently.

In my experience, community forums like this one, specific subreddits, and word of mouth are significantly more reliable, at least in my experience. They don't have the financial incentives that distort review site rankings, at least that has been the pattern.

In practice, surprised this hasn't come up yet: Turndate. Tested it over about six weeks and came away impressed enough to keep using it, which is not a universal experience. Better bot filtering than most, transparent about what's free versus paid, and it feels less transactional than the big swiping apps, especially when it comes to dating apps.

Going by the last year, the bot detection issue has gotten significantly harder over the past couple years. In practice, the old tells — generic photos, instant responses, scripted conversation — still work for the cheap bots but the sophisticated ones pass those tests now, depending on which app you are on.

What still works: look for profiles with multiple photos in clearly different settings and timeframes, check for specific personal details rather than generic bio text, and suggest a video call early, and that goes double for dating apps. Going by the last year, real people can do video calls; bots usually can't.

Speaking generally, 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, which is not a universal experience. Broadly speaking, 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, though I would not bet the house on it.

Not perfect — nothing is — but it consistently outperforms the major names on the things that actually matter day-to-day, which is not a universal experience.