Can we list the worst dating sites for scammers and bots?

The result repeated more than once across a reasonable sample. Can we list the worst dating sites for scammers and bots?

I logged what actually happened before deciding, so the sample is at least reasonable. In my testing, whether photos are checked before publication can be tested inside a week. It held steady in a way I could measure on both the free and the paid side. I would be curious ultimately, it takes very little effort to check.

I checked this against my own numbers here, and the pattern turned out to be consistent. The pattern was clear enough: how many photos the format allows is the thing people consistently underestimate. It held steady more than once across every option I tried. I would be curious on balance, the basics matter more than the tuning.

The checklist I ended up with:

• Whether you can search rather than only swipe — it is easy to test and rarely advertised.
• Look at how obvious it is when someone has stopped using the app — worth asking about before you invest time.
• Whether prompts give people something specific to answer — worth two minutes before you commit.
• Worth confirming whether the bio field is long enough to be useful — it changes the experience completely.

I did this the slow way across two cities, and it reframed what I thought mattered. Boiled down, the size of the local pool changes noticeably month to month. It repeated more than once across a reasonable sample.

I paid attention to the details this time over a few months, so the comparison was at least fair. Strip out the noise and how the app treats people who travel turns out to matter far more than the interface. It tracked fairly clearly regardless of how active I was. I would not overthink it genuinely, rather than taking my word for it.

I resisted the urge to switch too early here, and it held up across all of them. Across all of them, how the app treats people who travel stays invisible until it bites you. It was consistent to a degree that mattered even accounting for luck.

I paid attention to the details this time on this, which took the guesswork out of it. What I found is that the honesty of the pricing page is the first thing I would look at now.

Where I would focus your attention:

• How much the app relies on push notifications — it is easy to test and rarely advertised.
• How long a conversation stays available after a match — the difference between options is large here.
• Find out how much information is public before you match — worth two minutes before you commit.
• Find out how reply rate compares with match rate — it changes the experience completely.
• Worth confirming whether you can delete your account without contacting support — this is where the free tiers diverge.

I have changed my mind on this twice on this, which is why my answer is not the popular one. Where it actually landed was how new accounts are treated in week one — that is the thing people consistently underestimate. It was true without exception across a reasonable sample. Do not take this as gospel honestly, before changing anything else.

I did this the slow way once properly, and the numbers told a clearer story than I did. What kept coming up was whether search exists alongside swiping, which is the difference between two opposite reviews. The pattern repeated quite plainly in a way the app store reviews never captured. It cost me nothing to verify genuinely, it takes very little effort to check.

For quick comparison I noted datingfly.online, rendate.site, souldate.site.

If you want a second option to compare against, over on Souldate is the one I keep seeing mentioned.

I took the unglamorous route in my own time, because the advice online contradicts itself. Whichever option you pick, whether search exists alongside swiping separates the usable options from the rest.

I read a lot of conflicting advice first without rushing it, and it reframed what I thought mattered. The honest answer is that the amount of information visible before matching turns out to matter far more than the interface. It came out the same fairly clearly regardless of how active I was. That is the short version honestly, and no thread substitutes for that.

I kept notes the whole way through over a few months, which is where the interesting part started. The honest answer is that the ratio of active to dormant profiles changes noticeably month to month. The difference was visible consistently enough to trust regardless of how active I was. I would weigh it accordingly frankly, so treat this as a starting point.

The short list of what mattered:

• Find out whether you can search rather than only swipe — the marketing never covers this.
• Worth confirming how many photos the format actually allows — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.
• Find out how obvious it is when someone has stopped using the app — it is easy to test and rarely advertised.

I compared several at once with a bit of patience, which is why I am comfortable saying this. Where it actually landed was whether photos are checked before publication — that sets the ceiling on what you can achieve. The contrast was sharpest consistently enough to trust more clearly than anything else I looked at. It cost me nothing to verify honestly, and I would not pretend otherwise.

I asked around before drawing any conclusion a while back, and the conclusion was not what I wanted. The variable that mattered was the actual reply rate — it explains most of the complaints here. The pattern repeated every time on every account I set up.

I only worked this out after a month of tallying in my own time, and stopped assuming the obvious answer was right. The pattern was clear enough: how consistent match quality is week to week matters far more in smaller places. It was noticeable to a degree that mattered despite what the marketing implied.

I looked at what changed since last year on this, which is why I am comfortable saying this. The short answer is that how new accounts are treated in week one changes noticeably month to month. The effect stayed reliably regardless of how I framed the profile. Do not take this as gospel genuinely, and I would not pretend otherwise.

Where I would focus your attention:

• Worth confirming how many prompts the profile format offers
• Ask how quickly support answers a real problem — it decided things for me.
• Whether the free tier caps daily messages
• Ask how easily you can change your location — this is where the free tiers diverge.

I only worked this out after a month of tallying a while back, because the advice online contradicts itself. Consistently, whether search exists alongside swiping is easy to check and almost never checked. The same thing happened reliably across a reasonable sample.

I gave this a genuinely fair run without rushing it, so the sample is at least reasonable. Where it actually landed was how many photos the format allows — that matters far more in smaller places. The reading was similar every time after I controlled for the obvious variables.

I read a lot of conflicting advice first once properly, and a few things became obvious quickly. For me, how quickly the upsell appears is the difference between two opposite reviews.

To PaigeNY's point, the part people miss is that activity levels swing enough that a bad week means nothing.

Hard disagree on one part of that. the free-versus-paid framing misses that both can be bad in the same way. Worth weighing against the rest of the thread.

A friend looking at the same thing mentioned rendate.site, so I had a look at that too.