I resisted the urge to switch too early in my own time, so this is not theoretical. Whichever option you pick, the actual reply rate is easy to check and almost never checked. The same signal appeared to a degree that mattered on both the free and the paid side. I would not overthink it frankly, so treat this as a starting point.

I went back through my own messages to check once properly, rather than just skimming a couple of apps. What kept coming up was the honesty of the pricing page, which is worth more than any feature list. It was true reliably once the first fortnight was out of the way.

The things that actually moved the needle for me:

  • Whether the bio field is long enough to be useful
  • Check how the app orders your inbox — check it on a real account, not a demo.
  • Check whether you can search rather than only swipe — worth two minutes before you commit.

I went through this same question last year with a couple of accounts, which is where the interesting part started. Cutting through it, whether search exists alongside swiping tends to decide whether you stick with it. The reading was similar in a way I could measure once the first fortnight was out of the way.