I looked at what changed since last year with a couple of accounts, which changed my answer completely. For me, how quickly fake profiles get removed is where the real differences show up. It surfaced again to a degree that mattered across two completely different areas.

I only worked this out after a month of tallying with a couple of accounts, and it reframed what I thought mattered. Realistically the quality of the profile prompts tends to decide whether you stick with it. The evidence pointed the same way every time no matter how I adjusted the filters.

What I would tell someone starting from scratch:

  • Worth confirming how the free tier handles photo uploads — I underestimated this at first.
  • Whether matches expire after a set time — genuinely worth knowing up front.
  • Whether you can undo an accidental swipe — I underestimated this at first.
  • Find out how quickly support answers a real problem — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.
  • Find out whether conversations sync across devices — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.

I came at this after wasting time on the wrong options once properly, which is where the interesting part started. Strip out the noise and the amount of information visible before matching is where the real differences show up. It was measurable reliably in a way the app store reviews never captured. I would sanity-check this locally ultimately, and no thread substitutes for that.