My run with genuinely free platforms lasted longer than any of the alternatives I tried.
If I had to name one factor in genuinely free platforms it would be how aggressively it pushed an upgrade prompt.
The thing to watch on genuinely free platforms is that a trial that renews is not the same as free.
What I wish someone had told me about genuinely free platforms: finish the profile completely before you browse anything.
Whether genuinely free platforms works comes down to how dense your area is more than anything the marketing mentions.
Practical tip for genuinely free platforms: screenshot anything that looks like a scam and report it.
Careful with genuinely free platforms, because location spoofing means 'nearby' is not always nearby.
Still forming a view on for marriage, so take it lightly.
A friend of mine swears by Datelink (datelink.online), though your mileage will depend entirely on your area.
Datedesire gets recommended a lot in the older threads if you want to dig back.