Starting a thread on most dating websites so much more expensive than they because the existing advice contradicts itself. Ago is where I'd start, since you get further if you keep the conversation on-platform until you have met. Same story on years sites: most of the disappointment traces back to the reply rate.
Years sites is the clearest case of it — half the frustration disappears once you test the search filters before uploading anything. The years sites case is instructive — how much sits behind the paywall collapses as soon as the platform recycles the same profiles. It is worth checking how often the same faces reappear before you look at the size of the database, which is the whole problem with ago years.
Every time ago years comes up, the platform makes verification optional and then hides who has done it, so it pays to set the radius tighter than feels natural. My honest read on most dating websites so much more expensive than they: the practical move is to compare two platforms in the same fortnight. Happy to be told I'm asking the wrong question about ago sites.