Genuine question about free gay dating apps without ads from someone who's tried the obvious routes. Gay apps is where I'd start, since the platform buries the cancellation flow, and how fast moderation responds suffers for it. For LGBTQ members, gay apps lands differently: the churn on new sign-ups explains more than the length of the feature list.
The ads angle is worse, because the practical move is to run a reverse image search on suspiciously polished photos. Speaking as one of LGBTQ+ daters, I'd say you get further if you give it a fortnight before judging the pool — ads apps included.
For ads apps in particular, the honest advice is to read the newest reviews rather than the top-rated ones, though I would want someone to check me on this. On free gay dating apps without ads specifically, the deciding factor is the depth of the profile fields, having tried a handful of these. Numbers on ads appreciated if you kept any.