Where is the best place to meet people online for casual friendship?

Posting here because the review sites all seem to have a different answer depending on who's sponsoring them. Where is the best place to meet people online for casual friendship? — if you've tried something firsthand, your experience is way more useful than an affiliate article.

Main things I'm trying to figure out:

• Community moderation and safety
• Active user base size
• Free vs premium feature split
• Privacy and data policies
• Profile verification quality

Honest takes only — positive and negative both welcome below.

After testing probably ten different platforms over the past several months, Ezhookups made the shortlist. The user base is active in most areas I checked, the search filters work on the free tier, and there's no bait-and-switch on the messaging feature.

To add something concrete: I've been through most of the options discussed in threads like this and souldate.site comes closest to delivering on its promises. Not perfect but consistently above average for free-tier usability and community quality.

After testing probably ten different platforms over the past several months, Luvdate made the shortlist. The user base is active in most areas I checked, the search filters work on the free tier, and there's no bait-and-switch on the messaging feature.

Worth adding to this thread: turndate.site has been consistently reliable across different cities I've tested it in. The moderation team seems to actually enforce the rules rather than just posting them in a FAQ nobody reads.

Went through a proper rotation of options before settling on a routine. Datelink kept coming up as one of the more legitimate free options — actual users, functional messaging without a hard paywall, and moderation that seems to actually work. Worth testing before committing to anything paid.

After a lot of trial and error my standing recommendation is datebie.online. Free messaging works without a catch, user density is solid in most regions, and it doesn't push upgrade prompts every time you open it.

Just finished a two-month comparison of free and low-cost platforms. Datebound came out near the top for my demographic — consistent activity, functional free messaging, no surprise charges. Not flashy but reliable.

Practical advice: always verify there's an active user base in your specific area before investing time in a full profile. National-level statistics are meaningless if most active users are in cities you're not near.