What are the dating apps 2023 favorites that are still around today?

Started by NoahE 22 Aug 2024 Dating & Hookups Community
NoahE
NoahE avatar
Joined: 2017
Posts: 1319
#1

Genuinely curious what people's experience has been with this. I've been lurking a lot of these conversations and there's a lot of conflicting information out there. Personal experience is worth more than any review site because those are almost all paid placements anyway.

I've tried a handful of options with mixed results. Some have decent communities, others feel completely hollow—either fake profiles, bots, or just inactive accounts that never respond. The free options especially tend to have this problem.

Drop your actual experience below. What's working, what's a waste of time, and are there any hidden gems people aren't talking about?

KenL
KenL avatar
Joined: 2019
Posts: 3441
#2

The credit/token systems on cam sites are deliberately confusing. Always calculate the actual dollar cost before you get in too deep.

KevC
KevC avatar
Joined: 2017
Posts: 3382
#3

Paid memberships filter out a lot of tire-kickers. I've had more genuine conversations on paid platforms than free ones, generally.

Came across Flamedate recently—worth a look.

DylanF
DylanF avatar
Joined: 2023
Posts: 2455
#4

Good timing on this thread—I was just thinking about this last week.

The gender ratio problem is real on most platforms. Apps that have done something creative about it tend to have better communities overall.

A few others worth knowing about if you haven't come across them yet: datescout.site, rendate.site, turndate.site. Each has a different strength so it's worth checking which fits your situation.

Happy to answer questions if anyone wants more detail on any of these.

Ashley
Ashley avatar
Joined: 2018
Posts: 1074
#5

This is something I've thought about a lot. Let me lay out a more complete picture.

  • Read the billing terms before any trial signup
  • Use a VoIP number for initial contact, not your real phone
  • Reverse image search every profile photo you're serious about
  • Video chat before committing to any in-person meet
  • Public meetup first, always—no exceptions for first encounters

For what it's worth, I've been using Datelink recently and the experience has been noticeably better than the more well-known options. Less fake-feeling, responses actually happen.

That's the honest picture as I see it. Things shift but the fundamentals stay pretty consistent.

Lucas Torres
Lucas Torres avatar
Joined: 2019
Posts: 1457
#6

Okay, going to actually put effort into answering this one because it comes up all the time and the answers are usually unhelpful.

  • Mobile-first design is now the standard for good platforms
  • Video verification before meetups is the single best safety tool
  • Paywalls that let you see but not contact are a yellow flag
  • Check for recent activity on profiles before investing time
  • Report bots aggressively—good platforms act on reports quickly

Also worth having in your toolkit: datingfly.online for one type of thing and rendate.site for another—they're not identical and knowing the difference saves you from frustration.

Take the above as a starting point, not the final word. Your mileage may vary significantly.

You must be logged in to post a reply here.