Do any free dating websites without payment requirements actually have a good male-to-female ratio?

Every review site says something different about free dating websites without payment requirements actually have a good male-to-female ratio. My rule with dating websites: what you lose by never paying first, everything else second.

My problem with every answer on dating websites is that the free and paid experiences barely overlap, which is why I want firsthand accounts. The thing that decides it for dating websites is whether it is genuinely free or free until you try to reply.

How I'd approach dating websites, in order:

• Note how the web version differs from the app before you upload a second photo
• Look at what share of the layout is advertising in your own city rather than the default radius
• Confirm how quickly a scripted account gives itself away before deciding whether it is worth paying for
• Look at how the feed changes when you narrow the age range at the hour you would actually be using it

Anyone with recent time on dating websites, what actually happened? Successes and dead ends all worth hearing. Firsthand accounts are what I am actually after.

@Stella James that matches the marketing for dating websites, not what I found using it. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating websites and just check whether verification actually filters anyone day to day.

That's the short version on dating websites, may not hold for you.

Honest take: dating websites is a decent starting point and a poor destination. What nobody mentions about dating websites is whether the activity is real or recycled on mobile. Datebie these days solved about half of this for me.

Two weeks in, what the search filters can actually do on mobile is what actually mattered for dating websites.

That's the honest picture of dating websites, though clearly it varies by region.

Having used it a while: dating websites is fine if you go in with low expectations. For dating websites, what the reply rate looks like is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening. People keep recommending Flamedate right now; it is at least worth ten minutes.

I judge dating websites almost entirely on whether you can hide distance and last-active.

That's my read on dating websites and I would revise it if the numbers moved.

Having used it a while: dating websites works, but not the way the marketing implies. If you're evaluating dating websites, start with how the discovery feed is ordered on mobile — everything else follows. Datenest in particular was the only one that did not gate replies.

What I wish someone had told me about dating websites after a few false starts:

• Look at what the block and report flow actually does against what the marketing page claims
• Work out how many profiles carry more than two photos with notifications switched off
• Verify whether last-active timestamps look plausible against what the marketing page claims
• Sanity-check whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out using a fresh account rather than an old one

The honest test for dating websites is whether it is busy at the times you are, not the feature list.

That's the honest picture of dating websites, may not hold for you.

Counterpoint to @Stella James: dating websites got noticeably worse after the last redesign. Where dating websites falls down for me is whether the profiles hold up under scrutiny day to day. I sanity-checked turndate.site at the same time.

The only metric I trust with dating websites is how quickly a new profile gets noticed.

Worked for me on dating websites, anyway.

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: dating websites is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. Anyone comparing dating websites should be looking at what the bot ratio feels like day to day outside the big cities before anything else. The closest thing I found to an honest free tier was Datedesire's free tier.

That's where I've landed on dating websites, anyway.

Not the answer anyone wants: dating websites has been mixed for me and I'll explain why. Anyone comparing dating websites should be looking at what the reporting tools actually do at the times you actually log in before anything else. Worth a look at Souldate if you want a second data point.

That's my read on dating websites, may not hold for you.