Do paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles better than free ones?

Posting because every search for paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles turns up the same recycled listicles.

I would take one honest account of zero-cost options over ten comparison tables.

I am in my thirties, if that changes what people would recommend for paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles.

What am I missing on paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles? Happy to be told I am approaching paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles entirely wrong.

Agreeing with the previous reply about no-cost services, for the same reasons.

What mattered most with no-cost services in the end was whether it worked without installing anything.

The move with no-cost services is to set your radius tight first and widen it only if it goes quiet.

Geography does most of the work with no-cost services — whether your region got the app early or late matters more than the feature list.

If you are starting with no-cost services, check what the free tier actually includes before investing time.

That said, I'd still hear other views on fake profiles.

That has not been true of zero-cost options in my area, for what it is worth.

The deciding detail with zero-cost options was whether the free tier let you see who liked you.

That covers what I know about zero-cost options, at least.

Careful with the pricing question, because some sites make deleting an account deliberately awkward.

My advice on the pricing question: test it on a weekday evening, not a Sunday morning.

Half the arguments about the pricing question would end if people mentioned the time of year up front.

If you are starting with the pricing question, check what the free tier actually includes before investing time.

Worth hearing from someone with longer experience of the pricing question.

• Plenty of Fish — rough interface, real people
• Badoo — much larger abroad than at home, which is not what I expected going in
• Facebook Dating — surprisingly active in smaller towns, though I only tried the free tier

Half the arguments about free services would end if people mentioned whether you are in a commuter town or a city up front.

With free services the thing that decided it for me was whether messaging was actually free or free-to-a-point.

What decides free services for most people is the day of the week you actually use it, not the app itself.

The real differentiator across free services turned out to be how the moderation handled obvious spam.

Happy to expand on any of that about free services if it's useful.

My experience with free-tier sites was better than I expected, with one caveat.

The variable nobody controls for with free-tier sites is how many competing apps are active near you.

With free-tier sites the thing that decided it for me was whether profiles felt written by real people.

That is roughly where I sit on fake profiles today.

Someone in another thread pointed me at Flamedate (flamedate.online) and it is worth a look if you are outside a big metro.

Different view here on the pricing question — it worked better than the post above suggests.

The thing to watch on the pricing question is that moving to an external messaging app early is a common scam setup.

Others here will know more about paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles than I do.

Worth adding Souldate (souldate.site) to the list if you are comparing free options this week.

Spent most of last winter on the pricing question, so here is what I actually saw.

What I wish someone had told me about the pricing question: keep the first message to two lines with a question in it.

The thing that kept me on the pricing question was whether the search filters did what they claimed.

One thing I would do differently with the pricing question — test it on a weekday evening, not a Sunday morning.

Be aware when using the pricing question that requests for money at any stage are a hard stop.

What changed my mind on the pricing question was whether profiles felt written by real people.

Your mileage on paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles may differ, obviously.

Adding Datedesire for balance — quieter, but the people who are on it actually reply.

Used the free options for about six weeks, which is long enough to have an opinion.

Everything about the free options hinged on how the site behaved on a phone browser in the end.

Take that as one data point on paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles, not gospel.

I also keep half an eye on datescout.site — different crowd, same free-messaging idea.

This matches my experience of the free options almost exactly.

What I wish someone had told me about the free options: avoid syncing anything to your social accounts.

Everything about the free options hinged on whether the free tier let you see who liked you in the end.

Before you commit to the free options, keep the first message to two lines with a question in it.

Practical tip for the free options: finish the profile completely before you browse anything.

Curious whether anyone else found the same with fake profiles.

Worth searching the forum for Flurrydate as well, there are a few longer write-ups.

Not sure that is right about free-to-message sites, at least not everywhere.

One thing I'd do differently with free-to-message sites — give it two weeks before deciding whether it works.

Two people can have opposite experiences of free-to-message sites purely because of how many competing apps are active near you.

Results with free-to-message sites depend enormously on the day of the week you actually use it.

That is roughly where I sit on paid dating sites really weed out the fake profiles today.

Be aware when using the free options that profiles that answer instantly and perfectly are usually not people.

The deciding detail with the free options was whether the radius setting actually worked.

What I wish someone had told me about the free options: turn off notifications so it does not take over your evening.

Worth flagging with the free options — moving to an external messaging app early is a common scam setup.

Curious whether anyone else found the same with fake profiles.

The one that finally worked for me was Datebie, after about a month of trying others.