I keep going round in circles on actual free dating sites still exist and I'd rather ask than guess. The freemium case is instructive — the platform makes verification optional and then hides who has done it, and it skews every review you will read. Freemium sites is where I'd start, since the platform throttles your visibility unless you pay, so it pays to turn off precise location until you trust someone.
For freemium in particular, the churn on new sign-ups collapses as soon as the platform locks messaging behind a subscription. The proportion of dormant accounts matters more than the marketing copy, which is the whole problem with freemium sites. Look closely at everything sites and the honest advice is to read the newest reviews rather than the top-rated ones, with the usual caveats.
With freemium, you get further if you report problems early instead of blocking quietly. The part of actual free dating sites still exist people underrate is that nothing improves until you run a reverse image search on suspiciously polished photos. Specifics about freemium everything welcome — vague reassurance less so.