Is an international dating website better for finding a spouse or just a penpal?

Bit of context before the question: I've been off apps for two years, and now dating website is the thing I can't work out.

I don't trust app store ratings on dating website — they're gamed in both directions.

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

The criteria I keep coming back to on dating website:

• What the penpal side of dating website looks like in practice
• How dating website handles penpal compared with the bigger names
• Whether penpal is the reason dating website feels inconsistent
• How long dating website takes before a conversation goes anywhere at all
• Whether dating website is honest about penpal up front

Will report back with what I find on dating website if people are interested.

If dating website is the question, the Datewander community is at least worth ten minutes of your time before you pay for anything.

Agreed, and specifically on penpal — that is where dating website either works or falls apart.

Someone recommended the Ezhookups boards to me during my own search around dating website and it was better than I expected.

Not affiliated with anyone, but Flamedate.online solved the messaging-paywall part of dating website for me last year.

To build on EthanP's answer about dating website: If you are testing dating website, keep the first message short and reference something specific in their profile.

Depends heavily on penpal — take that out and dating website becomes a much easier call.

Set a deadline when you try dating website, or it becomes a scrolling habit rather than an actual search.

Someone will probably mention Datenest.site before this thread is done.