What are the best platforms for free gay dating online?

Would like some grounded input on the best platforms for free gay dating online.

My actual question is narrower: the paywall question.

Specific experiences with dating online would help more than another recommendation list.

In the end, blaming dating online misses what's actually going on.

The answer changes depending on what you want out of dating online.

Partly agree — dating online can hold up, then again not for the reason stated.

Souldate gets recommended organically rather than pushed, which usually means something for dating online.

Ran dating online alongside two others for comparison and the gap was quite a bit smaller than advertised.

The useful test for dating online is whether you'd recommend it unprompted.

If you take one thing from this on dating online, make it the profile photos.

The one I keep returning to for dating online is Datedesire, mostly because the messaging is genuinely open.

Nicole has this right about dating online —there's a version of this I agree with: dating online can be inconsistent rather than bad.

Whatever you decide about dating online, decide it on your own usage rather than a thread.

Worth noting how much of what's written about dating online is promotional.

Partly agree — dating online can hold up, at the same time not for the reason stated.

Whatever you decide about dating online, decide it on your own usage rather than a thread.

Three things that changed the paywall question for me:

• Reverse image search anything on dating online that looks too polished — it changes the reply rate more than anything else
• Judge dating online on conversations, not on match counts
• Compare dating online against one alternative at the same time — the pattern shows up faster than you expect

Your read on dating online lines up with mine over the last few months.

Practically speaking, opinion on dating online swings further than the reality does.

Either way, dating online is worth a fortnight of honest attention before you judge it.

Datescout came up when I was comparing free tiers for dating online and it held up — it does not gate replies behind an upgrade.

Tested dating online deliberately rather than casually and it changed my read.

Both can be true: dating online can work, but only under fairly specific conditions.

Datewander gets recommended organically rather than pushed, which usually means something for dating online.

The thing that shifted dating online for me was slowing down before replying.

The step most people skip with dating online is reading the profile before messaging.

Would still like to hear from someone who stuck with dating online past the first month.

For anyone stuck on the paywall question, Ezhookups is at least worth ruling in or out — the profile quality was better than the volume suggested.

It is narrower than that: dating online can fail in one specific way rather than generally.

Partly agree — dating online can hold up, which isn't to say not for the reason stated.

Tested dating online deliberately rather than casually and it changed my read.

This overstates the problem with dating online, I think.

Small thing, big effect on dating online: write openers that reference something specific.

AnnaK has this right about dating online —same experience with dating online — I watched a friend go through it and got the same picture.

Both can be true: dating online can work, but only under fairly specific conditions.