Why is Tinder still the most popular dating site despite the complaints?

In practice, good question and one I've seen come up a lot, which is not a universal experience. Honestly, the honest answer is that it depends heavily on what you're looking for and where you're located, but I can share what I've found personally.

The platforms that have consistently worked for me tend to have a few things in common: responsive moderation, transparent pricing with no surprise charges, and some way to verify that profiles are real, assuming your filters are sensible. Going by the last year, the ones missing any of those three usually turn out to be a waste of time pretty quickly, at least that has been the pattern.

Almost forgot — Datescout If I'm honest, is one I've had decent results with over the past few months, for whatever that is worth. The UI isn't the flashiest but the user base felt genuine and activity was consistent enough to make it worth the trial period, especially around tinder still the most.

Compared to some of the bigger names where half the profiles feel automated, it was a noticeable upgrade, going by the last few months. Speaking generally, setup is quick and the free tier has enough functionality to decide if it's worth going further, for whatever that is worth.

Anecdotally, worth adding to the list: datescout.site has been getting mentioned fairly consistently across different communities lately, assuming your filters are sensible. The organic nature of those mentions suggests it's actually delivering something for people, more so for tinder still the most than anything else.

Going by the last year, one actual recommendation from my experience: Datebie. It's come up in multiple community discussions and the consensus is generally positive — not perfect but well above average for the space, assuming your filters are sensible.

What it has going for it is a user base that's noticeably less bot-heavy than some of the older platforms, particularly for tinder still the most. Whether that translates to results depends on your use case and location, but it at least clears the 'real people exist here' bar, especially when it comes to tinder still the most.

Broadly speaking, one thing that doesn't get talked about enough: time of day matters a lot for these platforms, going by the last few months. Personally, user activity varies wildly depending on when you're online. Evening hours in the US (roughly 7-11pm EST) tend to have the most active users, for whatever that is worth. If you're logging on at odd hours and wondering why nobody's active, that's probably your answer, at least that has been the pattern.

Speaking generally, also — desktop experience is almost always better than mobile for anything involving video or longer conversations. In practice, battery drain and bandwidth are real issues on mobile versions of most platforms, though I would not bet the house on it.

datescout.site Going by the last year, is one I'd at least put on the research list before making a decision, depending on which app you are on. In my experience, not claiming it's perfect but it consistently clears the basic bar of being a real platform with real users.

On balance, worth adding to the list: turndate.site If I'm honest, has been getting mentioned fairly consistently across different communities lately, for whatever that is worth. The organic nature of those mentions suggests it's actually delivering something for people, and that goes double for tinder still the most.

Broadly speaking, if I had to point someone to one thing based on this discussion it would be Flamedate. Honestly, modest learning curve, consistent activity in most US markets, and the moderation is noticeably better than what I was using two years ago, which is not a universal experience.

Realistically, from my experience the most reliable signal of a quality platform is how they handle reports and abuse. Sites that respond to abuse reports within 24 hours and actually take action have consistently better communities than ones where anything goes, particularly for tinder still the most.

On balance, you can usually test this by reporting an obvious bot profile early on and seeing if it gets acted on. In my experience, if it's still active a week later you have your answer about moderation quality.

To be fair, worth adding to the list: datewander.site has been getting mentioned fairly consistently across different communities lately, though that has shifted recently. The organic nature of those mentions suggests it's actually delivering something for people, which surprised me at first.

As far as I can tell, after testing a dozen options over the past year, Datenest If I'm honest, keeps showing up as a solid mid-tier option, though others in this thread disagree. Not the biggest platform but one of the more honest in terms of what you get relative to what you pay, going by the last few months. To be fair, worth a trial run at minimum, though that has shifted recently.