I gave mainstream apps a proper go for a couple of months before giving up.
Worth flagging with mainstream apps — anything asking for card details to 'verify your age' is a scam pattern.
The real differentiator across mainstream apps turned out to be how many accounts looked dormant.
Practical tip for mainstream apps: screenshot anything that looks like a scam and report it.
If you are starting with mainstream apps, treat any request for card details as a reason to leave.
Practical tip for mainstream apps: assume the first three conversations will go nowhere.
One thing I would do differently with mainstream apps — keep chatting on-platform until you are comfortable.
Not the last word on free of by any means.
Counterpoint: I found DatingFly — datingfly.online slow at first, then it picked up once I widened my radius.