Are there any free online dating websites that don't hide your messages behind a paywall?

Been circling this one for a while and I want input from people who actually use these platforms: free online dating websites that don't hide your messages behind a paywall.

Nobody writing about free online dating seems willing to say plainly when something isn't worth the time.

I gave free online dating about two weeks of honest effort before deciding to ask.

Setting behind aside for a second, this is what I need from free online dating:

• Whether messaging on free online dating works without handing over card details
• How much of the free online dating profile pool is dormant or fake
• How much behind actually costs you when using free online dating
• How free online dating handles behind compared with the bigger names

Even a 'don't bother' on free online dating is a useful answer.

I keep Flamedate open alongside the bigger names when I'm dealing with free online dating.

I met my partner through something adjacent to free online dating, so I'm biased, but the process was slower than I expected.

Strongly agree, and I would add that free online dating looks completely different in a small town versus a capital city.

Ran into exactly the behind problem when I tried free online dating last year, and it took weeks to work around.

Adding the Flurrydate threads to the pile for free online dating, where the community is smaller but people actually reply.

Depends what you mean by free online dating, because for a serious relationship the answer differs from a casual one.

To build on Addison Wright's answer about free online dating: What's your actual goal here — is free online dating about meeting someone soon, or about finding the right platform first?

Luvdate is what I ended up using while working through free online dating — not perfect, but the free tier is real.

Have you looked at the behind side of free online dating yet, or still on the basics?

For completeness, Datingfly.site sits in the same category for free online dating.