Long-time lurker, first thread — my question is about free over 50 dating apps. Ad-free apps is the clearest case of it — the deciding factor is the signal-to-noise in search, going by the last year or so. Applied to apps apps, the signal-to-noise in search outweighs raw member count, based on a fairly small sample.
Speaking as one of members in their fifties and sixties, I'd say half the frustration disappears once you check what the free tier gates before investing time — ad-free included. Look closely at ad-free and the honest advice is to keep a note of what you actually spent, having tried a handful of these. If apps apps is your priority, the ratio of matches to conversations is the number worth watching, not the size of the ad budget.
It is worth separating out singles past fifty here, because with ad-free apps, what decides it is the reply rate, not whatever the landing page promises. There's a pattern with free over 50 dating apps: most of the disappointment traces back to the amount of recycled content. Specifics about apps apps welcome — vague reassurance less so.