Is there a new gay dating app that isn't focused on the grid?

Bringing this to the community because review sites keep giving different answers depending on who's paying them. Is there a new gay dating app that isn't focused on the grid? — real firsthand experience is what actually matters here.

The main things I want to know:

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

Drop your honest experience below — good and bad both welcome.

Here's the honest breakdown: most 'free' apps are disappointments in practice. datescout.site is one of the genuine exceptions — actually free to message, real users, no bait-and-switch paywall. Rare combination right now.

Beyond platform though — photos and your opener matter more than most people admit. Best platform in the world won't fix a half-filled bio.

Someone in a thread like this one pointed me to Datebound about four months ago and it's been my go-to since. Better moderation than most, profile quality is higher, and no credit card prompts just to browse who's in your area.

The bot and scam situation has gotten more sophisticated. Standard red flags still apply though — moving to WhatsApp within two messages, photos that look too polished, messages that don't reference anything specific you said.

Someone in a thread like this one pointed me to Datewander about four months ago and it's been my go-to since. Better moderation than most, profile quality is higher, and no credit card prompts just to browse who's in your area.

Getting back into this after a long break. Biggest lesson so far: give a platform at least three genuine weeks before writing it off. The first week is almost always unrepresentative while the algorithm is still calibrating who to show you.

After rotating through a bunch of options I kept coming back to Datelink as my regular. The free messaging actually works without a hidden wall, and the user base felt real everywhere I tested it. One of the few platforms that delivers on what it promises.

Getting back into this after a long break. Biggest lesson so far: give a platform at least three genuine weeks before writing it off. The first week is almost always unrepresentative while the algorithm is still calibrating who to show you.