I keep going round in circles on which virtual dating apps are the best for long-distance and I'd rather ask than guess. Look closely at virtual and what decides it is how quickly the inbox fills, not the follower count on their socials. Same story on long-distance apps: how many first messages actually land is the number worth watching, not raw member count.
The virtual long-distance angle is worse, because nothing improves until you check what the free tier gates before investing time. With long-distance apps, half the frustration disappears once you check what the free tier gates before investing time.
For virtual in particular, the deciding factor is the number of live users, based on a fairly small sample. On which virtual dating apps are the best for long-distance specifically, it is worth checking the signal-to-noise in search before you look at whatever the landing page promises. Specifics about virtual long-distance welcome — vague reassurance less so.