Is a pof search free anymore, or did they hide it behind a paywall?

Simple question that somehow doesn't have a simple answer anywhere: Is a pof search free anymore, or did they hide it behind a paywall?

I know every platform monetizes somehow. I'm not expecting everything to be free forever. But there's a big difference between a platform that's genuinely free with optional premium upgrades, and one that's free in name only and locks everything behind a paywall from day one.

What have people here actually had success with? Doesn't have to be perfect — just good enough to be worth the time investment.

A few worth looking at that tend to fly under the radar: datedesire.online keeps coming up in community discussions for not aggressively paywalling everything, and a couple of the niche-focused platforms have surprised people with their activity levels. The key is finding one with critical mass in your specific area.

I'll mention Datebound because it's come up organically in a few different conversations I've had on this topic. People seem to find it through word of mouth rather than ads, which usually means the product is doing something right.

Someone in a thread a few weeks ago brought up flamedate.online specifically for the reason you're asking about — usable free tier, real people. I don't have personal experience with it but it fits the profile of what you're describing.

I keep seeing Datebie mentioned in these discussions and finally gave it a go last week. The interface is clean, the free features are actually functional, and I haven't run into the bot issue that plagues a lot of the bigger names.

Someone in a thread a few weeks ago brought up datedesire.online specifically for the reason you're asking about — usable free tier, real people. I don't have personal experience with it but it fits the profile of what you're describing.