What are the free dating sites with unlimited messaging?

Curious what this board thinks about free dating sites with unlimited messaging. If you're evaluating dating sites, start with how the discovery feed is ordered after the first week — everything else follows.

What I keep running into with dating sites is that the last honest write-up is two years old. The thing that decides it for dating sites is how much you have to reveal to use it.

Practical notes on dating sites, in order:

• Check whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out before you upload a second photo
• Confirm how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands in your own city rather than the default radius
• Look at what the filters do after a page refresh on mobile data, not office wifi

For those of you deep into dating sites, what actually happened? The good, the bad and the boring equally useful. Specific details are worth more than any review site.

For what it is worth: dating sites is a decent starting point and a poor destination. The only metric I trust with dating sites is how fast moderation responds day to day.

My rule with dating sites: what the search filters can actually do on mobile first, everything else second.

Worked for me on dating sites, and I would be glad to hear others found different.

Going to push back on @Isabella here. Dating sites behaved very differently for me. Anyone comparing dating sites should be looking at whether the activity is real or recycled before anything else.

Where dating sites falls down for me is how much of the layout is ads day to day.

That's what six weeks of dating sites taught me — happy to be argued with.

Blunt answer: dating sites works, but not the way the marketing implies. For dating sites, what the onboarding asks for on mobile is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening. I cross-checked against over on Datewander before deciding anything.

What nobody mentions about dating sites is how much of the traffic is automated on mobile.

That's the short version on dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

Going against the thread here: dating sites rewards patience and punishes everything else. I judge dating sites almost entirely on how much you have to reveal to use it outside the big cities.

Worked for me on dating sites; ask if you want the detail.

@Madison Reed I wanted that to be true of dating sites and it simply wasn't. Two weeks in, what privacy controls exist outside the big cities is what actually mattered for dating sites.

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

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: dating sites gets recommended a lot here and that is half right. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating sites and just check how obvious the scripted replies are outside the big cities. Souldate these days is worth ten minutes before you commit anywhere.

The honest test for dating sites is what the day-to-day traffic feels like, not the feature list.

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

@PennyW I don't think that's right about dating sites — at least not everywhere. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating sites and just check whether moderation keeps up with the fakes day to day. Worth a look at Datedesire's free tier if you want a second data point.

Two weeks in, whether there are enough people to bother at the times you actually log in is what actually mattered for dating sites.

That's the honest picture of dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

For what it's worth: dating sites did roughly what I expected, no more. Where dating sites falls down for me is whether the profiles hold up under scrutiny once you are past sign-up.

That's what six weeks of dating sites taught me, may not hold for you.

Honest take: there's a version of dating sites that works, and it isn't the default one. My rule with dating sites: whether the app is usable or bloated on mobile first, everything else second.

That's been my experience with dating sites and I would revise it if the numbers moved.

My read: I want to like dating sites more than I actually do. What nobody mentions about dating sites is how many accounts are real in practice. rendate.site is the other name that keeps surfacing.

Worked for me on dating sites and I would revise it if the numbers moved.

Blunt answer: dating sites is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. The only metric I trust with dating sites is how many accounts are real on mobile.

The honest test for dating sites is what the escalation path looks like at the times you actually log in, not the feature list.

That's where I have landed on dating sites, anyway.