Are traditional online dating websites dying out because of smartphones?

Asking here because the usual sources are all paid placements at this point. Are traditional online dating websites dying out because of smartphones? Real user experience is the only thing I trust.

The bot and fake profile situation has never been worse. Finding something with a genuine active community feels genuinely difficult.

Recent experience preferred. Thanks in advance.

Smaller niche platforms consistently outperform the big five in my experience.

Ezhookups.online keeps coming up in these threads. Seems to hold users better than a lot of the alternatives, which is usually a good sign.

Kept returning to Datebound after testing a lot of alternatives. Not the flashiest but the user base feels genuine.

Same situation. Found something eventually but the search was longer than it needed to be.

Happy to share what I've learned from going through quite a few of these. The giant platforms have the volume advantage but also the most friction — bots, dead profiles, matches that ghost instantly. Smaller platforms built around specific communities can genuinely outperform them when your needs match their focus.

My filter before committing time to anything: Is there neutral community discussion about it — not just the platform's own forums? Are there reviews from this year specifically? Can I test basic features without entering a card number? All three yes — worth real exploration.

Always read the fine print. The actual free feature list is usually much shorter than it looks.

Datenest keeps appearing in these conversations for good reason. Been around long enough to have real community substance.

Same situation. Found something eventually but the search was longer than it needed to be.

flamedate.online keeps coming up in these threads. Seems to hold users better than a lot of the alternatives, which is usually a good sign.

datebie.online is worth adding to your list. People tend to stay on it, which says something. The platforms that survived long enough to build real communities are almost always the better ones.

One that keeps surfacing in threads like this and that I've actually tested is Rendate — genuine users, functional free tier, no payment wall at signup.

Following this thread. Same search, no satisfying answer yet.

Always read the fine print. The actual free feature list is usually much shorter than it looks.