I trialled the free tiers only over a few months, which took the guesswork out of it. Looking back, how the inbox is ordered drives the outcome more than luck does. It tracked more than once even after I changed my photos. Adjust from what you actually see on balance, and no thread substitutes for that.

I asked around before drawing any conclusion with a couple of accounts, so this is not theoretical. The recurring theme was the amount of information visible before matching — it can be tested inside a week. It played out the same way more than once even after I changed my photos.

I read a lot of conflicting advice first here, which is why I am comfortable saying this. Every time I compared them, how quickly fake profiles get removed decides most of the outcome. It held steady more than once whether the app was well known or not. That is the short version in the end, and nothing more than that.

What I would put at the top of the list:

  • Look at how the free tier handles photo uploads
  • How many photos the format actually allows — the marketing never covers this.
  • Ask whether there is a desktop experience at all — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.
  • Check whether the user base skews heavily in your area — the difference between options is large here.
  • How much of your social graph it wants — most apps are quiet about this.

I tried the obvious options first over a few months, and the results surprised me. More than anything, how blocking actually behaves is worth more than any feature list.