Great question and one I've put a fair amount of thought into. Let me give you the full picture.
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 Datebound 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.
Take what's useful and leave the rest. Everyone's situation is a bit different.