Where can I talk to local singles free of charge?

Wanted to get some real answers on talk to local singles free of charge. What nobody mentions about local singles is what share of matches go nowhere.

My problem with every answer on local singles is how fast the picture goes out of date, which is why I want firsthand accounts. The thing that decides it for local singles is how quickly a new profile gets noticed on mobile.

What I wish someone had told me about local singles after a few false starts:

• Check whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out with the age filter set narrow
• Check whether the distance setting is honoured on mobile data, not office wifi
• Track whether the same faces cycle back the next day on mobile data, not office wifi

If you gave up on local singles, where did it fall over? Recent wins and recent regrets all fine here. Short replies will save me a wasted month.

Adding to @Avery Nelson rather than arguing — local singles varies more than either of us said. If you're evaluating local singles, start with whether the app is usable or bloated day to day — everything else follows.

Where I'd start with local singles after a few false starts:

• Count whether replies are open before you finish the profile against one platform you already trust
• Time how quickly a scripted account gives itself away using a fresh account rather than an old one

The honest test for local singles is how the interface holds up on mobile in practice, not the feature list.

That's been my experience with local singles; ask if you want the detail.

@Caleb I had the opposite result with local singles, so take both our takes with salt. My rule with local singles: how fast it loads on a bad connection at the times you actually log in first, everything else second. the datingfly.online crowd is worth ten minutes before you commit anywhere.

That's where I've landed on local singles, and I'd be glad to hear others found different.

Not the answer anyone wants: local singles works, but not the way the marketing implies. I judge local singles almost entirely on whether it is genuinely free or free until you try to reply once you are past sign-up. rendate.site came up in the same search and behaved similarly.

Two weeks in, how aggressive the upsell gets outside the big cities is what actually mattered for local singles.

That's where I've landed on local singles, may not hold for you.

@Caleb I wanted that to be true of local singles and it simply wasn't. You can ignore most of the marketing around local singles and just check what you lose by never paying outside the big cities. Ended up sticking with what Datedesire is doing for the messaging alone.

That's what six weeks of local singles taught me, and I'd be glad to hear others found different.

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: local singles works, but not the way the marketing implies. Where local singles falls down for me is how many accounts are real.

That's been my experience with local singles, and I'd be glad to hear others found different.

My read: local singles works, but not the way the marketing implies. For local singles, how active it is outside big cities after the first week is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening. If you want a second opinion, what Datelink is doing is the one I'd try next.

That's my read on local singles — happy to be argued with.

Speaking from four months of it: local singles is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. Anyone comparing local singles should be looking at how aggressive the upsell gets before anything else. Started on what Datebie is doing and never fully moved off it.

Worked for me on local singles, though clearly it varies by region.

Short version: local singles depends almost entirely on your city. The only metric I trust with local singles is how much of the layout is ads.

That's been my experience with local singles — happy to be argued with.

Blunt answer: local singles did roughly what I expected, no more. The honest test for local singles is how much you can do before being asked to upgrade day to day, not the feature list.

That's been my experience with local singles and I'd revise it if the numbers moved.