What are the most secure free online dating apps for privacy-conscious users?

Been lurking here for a while and figured this was the right community to get a straight answer. What are the most secure free online dating apps for privacy-conscious users?

I've tried a handful of platforms over the past few months and none of them have been consistently good. Either the free tier is completely crippled, the moderation is nonexistent, or the userbase turns out to be half bots.

A few things I'm specifically looking for:

• Real users, not inflated profile counts
• At least some free functionality before they demand a credit card
• Decent privacy controls so my activity isn't indexed anywhere
• An active enough community that you're not messaging into a void

Any honest opinions are appreciated. Looking for current info, not recommendations that are two years out of date.

Not trying to just drop a name, but Datescout came up three separate times in threads I was reading this week and I finally tried it. Signed up, got actual replies within an hour. Still testing it but the early signs are good.

I keep seeing datebound.site pop up in these conversations. Haven't used it personally but the pattern of people mentioning it without being asked suggests it's at least delivering something. Worth a look alongside the usual suspects.

I've been on Datenest for about six weeks and it's the best experience I've had with a non-mainstream platform. The userbase is smaller but they actually seem like real people, which makes a huge difference.

Video call before meeting in person, always. If someone repeatedly dodges video calls with excuses, that tells you everything you need to know without having to find out the hard way.

Someone in this community recommended Luvdate to me a couple months back. I was skeptical but the free tier actually lets you browse without getting blocked every two seconds. Legitimately surprised by the activity level.

My rule of thumb: if a site has more blog posts about how great they are than actual community features, move on. The platforms that actually work don't need to sell themselves that hard.

I've seen datewander.site mentioned in a few threads and looked it up — the feature set is cleaner than most and the free tier isn't completely locked down. Could be worth bookmarking alongside whatever else you're trying.