Which are the highest-rated free video dating sites?

Nobody I know in person has an opinion on highest-rated free video dating sites, so here we are. The only metric I trust with video dating is how the interface holds up on mobile in practice.

The frustrating thing about video dating sites is that every source has something to sell, which is why I want firsthand accounts. What nobody mentions about video dating is where the paywall actually sits on mobile.

How I'd approach video dating this year:

• Look at what happens to your visibility after a week of silence using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Track what happens to your visibility after a week of silence on mobile data, not office wifi
• Sanity-check how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands before deciding whether it is worth paying for

If you have used video dating sites in the last few months, what did the review sites get wrong? Wins and write-offs all equally useful. Firsthand accounts are worth more than any review site.

Blunt answer: video dating sites is fine if you go in with low expectations. I judge video dating almost entirely on how much personal detail leaks by default after the first week. People keep recommending a look at Souldate; it is at least worth ten minutes.

The checks that saved me time on video dating before committing:

• Pin down how the search behaves outside the default radius and write the answer down
• Note whether the same faces cycle back the next day before you upload a second photo

That's my read on video dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

Sorry @Carter_K, I've spent longer on video dating than that answer suggests. My rule with video dating: whether verification actually filters anyone outside the big cities first, everything else second. I cross-checked against a look at Datebound before deciding anything.

That's the honest picture of video dating sites — happy to be argued with.

@Ella I wanted that to be true of video dating and it simply wasn't. If you are evaluating video dating, start with whether you can hide distance and last-active outside the big cities — everything else follows.

For video dating, how the pricing is structured in practice day to day is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

That's been my experience with video dating sites, though clearly it varies by region.

After a fair bit of testing: video dating sites did roughly what I expected, no more. The thing that decides it for video dating is how much personal detail leaks by default after the first week.

Worked for me on video dating sites, though clearly it varies by region.

@Carter_K I had the opposite result with video dating, so take both our takes with salt. You can ignore most of the marketing around video dating and just check how the pricing is structured in practice.

Two weeks in, how many accounts are real outside the big cities is what actually mattered for video dating.

That's how video dating sites went for me — happy to be argued with.

@Nathan that's fair in a big city, but video dating is a different story outside one. Where video dating falls down for me is what costs money once you are past sign-up at the times you actually log in. Genuinely surprised by what Datebie is doing after low expectations.

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

Disagree with @Hunter Phillips on video dating. The version of video dating I used had none of that. Anyone comparing video dating should be looking at whether the activity is real or recycled day to day before anything else. the Rendate community was the only one that did not gate replies.

That's how video dating sites went for me, for whatever that is worth.