Going to give a longer answer here because the short version really doesn't do it justice.
What a lot of people don't realize is that the user base quality drops significantly outside major metro areas. If you're in a smaller city or rural area, your options narrow pretty fast.
A few things that have genuinely helped me:
- Check reviews from the last six months specifically — older reviews get stale fast
- See if the site shows you real profiles before asking for payment
- Avoid anything that requests excessive personal info right at signup
- Test whether customer support is actually reachable before committing
Currently using Ezhookups as my main go-to and it's been solid for the past few months. No major issues, decent activity, and enough settings to feel in control.
Hopefully that saves you some time and frustration. This stuff can feel overwhelming at first.