Why does free dating online feel so much harder now than it did five years ago?

Not looking for a sales pitch, just experience: free dating online feel so much harder now than it did five years ago.

It's genuinely difficult to separate marketing from experience when it comes to free dating.

For what it's worth I did test a couple of options around free dating before posting.

Specifically, on free dating, the things I actually care about are:

• How free dating treats years once you stop paying
• How much of the free dating profile pool is dormant or fake
• Whether the free tier on free dating is genuinely usable or just a demo

If you've actually used something relevant to free dating, I'd rather hear that than a recommendation you read somewhere.

What's your actual goal here — is free dating about meeting someone soon, or about finding the right platform first?

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

Can I ask what you have already ruled out on free dating, so nobody repeats what you know?

Liam Walker, that's roughly where I landed on free dating too. Good thread — most discussion of free dating online is astroturfed, so this is refreshing.

I keep Datewander's free tier open alongside the bigger names when I'm dealing with free dating.

If free dating is the question, Rendate itself is at least worth ten minutes of your time before you pay for anything.