I've done my own digging on anyone name some no fee dating sites and come up short. If cap sites is your priority, the honest advice is to ask a specific question in the first message, in my experience. Likes cap is where I'd start, since the churn on new sign-ups is worth more than the marketing copy, though I'd want someone to check me on this.
I judge cap sites on one thing: the platform auto-renews without a clear warning, so it pays to keep the conversation on-platform until you have met. With likes cap, the practical move is to check whether a profile answers questions or deflects.
Applied to likes, what decides it is the number of live users, not the badge on the download page. The reason anyone name some no fee dating sites keeps coming up is simple: you get further if you log the times of day your messages get answered. Happy to be told I'm asking the wrong question about likes.