Tried free-tier sites twice, years apart, and the second attempt went much better.
What mattered most with free-tier sites in the end was how the moderation handled obvious spam.
Before you commit to free-tier sites, turn off notifications so it doesn't take over your evening.
My read is that free-tier sites lives or dies on how far you are willing to travel.
The part nobody mentions about free-tier sites is whether the radius setting actually worked.
If you are starting with free-tier sites, message within a day of matching rather than sitting on it.
Still forming a view on absolute latest free dating site you've heard of, so take it lightly.
- Zoosk — reasonable match quality, though outside a city that changes
- Plenty of Fish — better in smaller markets than you would guess, your mileage may vary
- Facebook Dating — the account link puts some people off
- Grindr — fast but not subtle
- Tinder — still the default for volume, which is not what I expected going in
For what it is worth I have had better luck on EZHookups than on any of the big paid apps.