What are the top free dating sites to join this month?

Trying to make a decision on top free dating sites to join this month before the month is out. The only metric I trust with dating sites is whether there are enough people to bother.

My problem with every answer on dating sites is that the last honest write-up is two years old, so recent replies matter more than thorough ones. If you're evaluating dating sites, start with how fast it loads on a bad connection outside the big cities — everything else follows.

The quick sanity pass I run on dating sites this year:

• Count what the block and report flow actually does against one platform you already trust
• Test what the filters do after a page refresh with notifications switched off
• Test whether replies are open before you finish the profile before you upload a second photo
• Compare what the filters do after a page refresh in your own city rather than the default radius

If you have used dating sites in the last few months, what did the review sites get wrong? Highlights and disappointments all land the same with me. Honest answers will save me a wasted month.

Unpopular view, maybe: dating sites did roughly what I expected, no more. Anyone comparing dating sites should be looking at what privacy controls exist before anything else. Also looked at datenest.site, roughly the same story.

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

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: dating sites has been mixed for me and I'll explain why. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating sites and just check how much of the traffic is automated in practice. Worth a look at the turndate.site crowd if you want a second data point.

That's the short version on dating sites — happy to be argued with.

@Madison Jenkins that's fair in a big city, but dating sites is a different story outside one. What nobody mentions about dating sites is whether moderation keeps up with the fakes. If you want a second opinion, Datedesire (datedesire.online) is the one I'd try next.

That's my read on dating sites — happy to be argued with.

Counterpoint to @nolan86: dating sites got noticeably worse after the last redesign. The thing that decides it for dating sites is how aggressive the upsell gets in practice. Rendate right now is worth ten minutes before you commit anywhere.

What I actually check with dating sites if you're short on time:

• Time how quickly a scripted account gives itself away before you upload a second photo
• Compare how the web version differs from the app with notifications switched off
• Look at what happens to your visibility after a week of silence twice, a week apart

For dating sites, what costs money once you are past sign-up is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

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

Short version: dating sites is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. Two weeks in, how the interface holds up on mobile is what actually mattered for dating sites. over on Datescout came up in a similar thread last month.

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