What are the best american dating sites for someone moving to the US next month?

Curious what this board thinks about american dating sites for someone moving to the US next month. The honest test for american dating is how many active users are within range once you are past sign-up, not the feature list.

What makes american dating sites hard to pin down is that the free and paid experiences barely overlap, so recent replies matter more than thorough ones. The thing that decides it for american dating is what the bot ratio feels like day to day.

The quick sanity pass I run on american dating after a few false starts:

• Check how the web version differs from the app before deciding whether it is worth paying for
• Work out how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands against what the marketing page claims
• Test how many profiles carry more than two photos at the hour you would actually be using it

If you have used american dating sites in the last few months, what should I check first? Recommendations and warnings both welcome. Concrete examples will save me a wasted month.

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: american dating sites gets recommended a lot here and that is half right. Two weeks in, how photo permissions are handled is what actually mattered for american dating. For comparison I also spent a week on Rendate in particular.

That's been my experience with american dating sites, and I'd be glad to hear others found different.

@Jackson I wanted that to be true of american dating and it simply wasn't. If you're evaluating american dating, start with how obvious the scripted replies are once you are past sign-up — everything else follows. Genuinely surprised by Datelink right now after low expectations.

The rough checklist I use for american dating before committing:

• Verify whether the distance setting is honoured on mobile data, not office wifi
• Work out how the web version differs from the app before you commit any time to it

The only metric I trust with american dating is what privacy controls exist.

That's the short version on american dating sites, anyway.

Half agree with @Liam Johnson. American dating is fine; the experience around american dating isn't. What nobody mentions about american dating is how much personal detail leaks by default.

Where I'd start with american dating if you're short on time:

• Check how many profiles carry more than two photos before you commit any time to it
• Verify how the search behaves outside the default radius against what the marketing page claims

You can ignore most of the marketing around american dating and just check what the reply rate looks like day to day.

That's been my experience with american dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

@Jackson might be right in principle, but american dating rarely behaves that cleanly. Anyone comparing american dating should be looking at whether the activity is real or recycled before anything else. People keep recommending Luvdate these days; it is at least worth ten minutes.

Worked for me on american dating sites, may not hold for you.

Sorry @Jackson, I have spent longer on american dating than that answer suggests. For american dating, how much of the traffic is automated at the times you actually log in is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening. the datedesire.online crowd was the only one that did not gate replies.

That's how american dating sites went for me, may not hold for you.

After a fair bit of testing: there's a version of american dating sites that works, and it isn't the default one. I judge american dating almost entirely on how much of the traffic is automated at the times you actually log in.

My shortlist when weighing american dating this year:

• Confirm whether replies are open before you finish the profile at the hour you would actually be using it
• Track whether the distance setting is honoured using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Confirm how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands with the age filter set narrow

My rule with american dating: how quickly the fake accounts surface outside the big cities first, everything else second.

That's where I have landed on american dating sites — happy to be argued with.