My honest read on good first message on dating app to get a reply, after a fair bit of trial and error. What decided it for me with first message was the learning curve. The paywall question matters more for first message than any feature list.
What I actually do about first message:
- allow a fortnight before deciding anything about first message
- keep one clear, current photo of your face at least where first message is concerned
- leave a couple of weekends before deciding anything about first message
- commit ten days before deciding anything about first message
Two people can have opposite results with first message purely because of how far the free tier really goes.
Your mileage on good first message on dating app to get a reply will vary, but that is the pattern I saw.