Starting a thread on still a craigslist free dating site alternative because the existing advice contradicts itself. Same story on craigslist: the depth of the profile fields collapses as soon as the platform locks messaging behind a subscription. Nothing about craigslist sites changes the fact that most of the disappointment traces back to the number of live users.
Look closely at craigslist sites and you get further if you log the times of day your messages get answered. For craigslist in particular, the platform recycles the same profiles, so it pays to ask a specific question in the first message. I judge craigslist on one thing: the churn on new sign-ups does more work than the number of features listed, going by the last year or so.
Craigslist is where I'd start, since the platform throttles your visibility unless you pay, and that is usually where the goodwill runs out. Anyone weighing up still a craigslist free dating site alternative should know that the platform counts a like as a match, and how honest the pricing page is suffers for it. Anyone who has tested craigslist sites properly, please weigh in.