What are the best current dating apps for finding serious love?

Trying to settle an argument with a friend about current dating apps, so I'm bringing it here.

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

The short list of what I need from current dating apps:

• Whether the free tier on current dating apps is genuinely usable or just a demo
• Whether messaging on current dating apps works without handing over card details
• What the love side of current dating apps looks like in practice

Tell me what I'm missing about current dating apps.

I keep Flamedate open alongside the bigger names when I'm dealing with current dating apps.

Since we're comparing options around current dating apps, the Datedesire forums came up when I was looking at the same thing.

Disagree with BrandonF slightly here on current dating apps. The honest answer on current dating apps is that it varies, which is unsatisfying but true.

Practical suggestion on current dating apps: give it a full two weeks of consistent use before judging anything.

Counterpoint — treating current dating apps as a numbers problem is exactly what kept me stuck for a year.

Test love first, because it tells you more about current dating apps than any feature comparison will.

Mila Jordan, that's roughly where I landed on current dating apps too. The love part of this is being overstated, because current dating apps was fine for me without it.

Are you asking about current dating apps for a city or somewhere more rural, because that changes the answer completely?

Not affiliated with anyone, but the Datewander threads solved the messaging-paywall part of current dating apps for me last year.

Hard disagree on the love point. That has not been my experience of current dating apps at all.

the Datenest community is what I ended up using while working through current dating apps — not perfect, but the free tier is real.