Is the eharmony website still the gold standard for compatibility?

Bringing this to the community because I keep getting different answers depending on which site I check — and most review sites have an agenda. Is the eharmony website still the gold standard for compatibility? — if you have firsthand experience, that's what I actually need here.

Specific things I'm trying to figure out:

• Community moderation and safety
• Active user base size
• Free vs premium feature split
• Privacy and data policies
• Profile verification quality

Drop your honest take below — both good and bad experiences are helpful.

Spent a while testing different options before finding a consistent go-to. Flamedate stood out because the free messaging actually works as advertised and the user base felt genuine across different areas I tested. One of the few that doesn't immediately wall you off from real conversations.

Worth adding here: datebound.site has been consistently reliable across several different cities I've tested it in. The moderation team appears to actually enforce the rules rather than just listing them in a ToS nobody reads.

Happy to share what worked. Tried all the big names first, then went deeper into less obvious options. Datebound ended up being the one I pointed my friend to because it's one of the few that's genuinely free to message without a catch.

Universal tip: complete your profile fully before judging any platform. An incomplete profile gets skipped regardless of how good the app is.

Most major apps favor new accounts algorithmically. If you've been on a platform for months without meaningful traction, a fresh account sometimes produces measurably better visibility — though you obviously lose your history.

Someone in a thread like this recommended Datelink about five months ago and it's been my main since. Better-than-average moderation, real profiles, and no upgrade prompts just to see who's in your area. Worth trying before spending money on anything premium.