What are the best free dating apps for serious relationships?

Third time I've tried to get a straight answer on free dating apps for serious relationships. Two weeks in, what happens after you block someone at the times you actually log in is what actually mattered for dating apps.

The part that trips me up on dating apps is that the answers split by city and by year. If you're evaluating dating apps, start with how aggressive the upsell gets outside the big cities — everything else follows.

Practical notes on dating apps after a few false starts:

• Work out how many profiles carry more than two photos at the hour you would actually be using it
• Time how many matches ever send the first message before you upload a second photo
• Verify how many matches ever send the first message on the first evening, not the first month
• Note how quickly a scripted account gives itself away against one platform you already trust

If you gave up on dating apps, what did the first week look like? Successes and dead ends both welcome. Actual numbers help far more than opinions.

Short version: dating apps gets recommended a lot here and that is half right. What nobody mentions about dating apps is what the reply rate looks like after the first week. datedesire.online is the other name that keeps surfacing.

Where I'd start with dating apps this year:

• Note whether the distance setting is honoured and write the answer down
• Work out what the filters do after a page refresh before you commit any time to it
• Time what share of the layout is advertising in your own city rather than the default radius

The only metric I trust with dating apps is whether there are enough people to bother.

That's how dating apps went for me and I'd revise it if the numbers moved.

Speaking from four months of it: dating apps surprised me, though not immediately. The honest test for dating apps is what the onboarding asks for day to day, not the feature list. I cross-checked against what Turndate is doing before deciding anything.

Where I'd start with dating apps:

• Verify what happens to your visibility after a week of silence using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Work out how many matches ever send the first message at the hour you would actually be using it
• Check whether replies are open before you finish the profile with the age filter set narrow

For dating apps, how quickly the fake accounts surface after the first week is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

That's the honest picture of dating apps; ask if you want the detail.

For what it's worth: dating apps is fine if you go in with low expectations. My rule with dating apps: what the search filters can actually do once you are past sign-up first, everything else second. Kept datescout.site open in another tab to compare.

You can ignore most of the marketing around dating apps and just check how much of the layout is ads outside the big cities.

That's what six weeks of dating apps taught me; ask if you want the detail.

Sorry @NolanP, I've spent longer on dating apps than that answer suggests. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at how thin it gets in smaller towns after the first week before anything else. Started on over on Ezhookups and never fully moved off it.

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

@AmeliaY I had the opposite result with dating apps, so take both our takes with salt. I judge dating apps almost entirely on how the pricing is structured in practice day to day. Ended up sticking with Luvdate right now for the messaging alone.

The thing that decides it for dating apps is whether the block list holds once you are past sign-up.

That's where I've landed on dating apps; ask if you want the detail.