Has anyone heard of a secret dating app for high-profile people?

Nobody in my offline life has a good answer to this, so here goes. Has anyone heard of a secret dating app for high-profile people? Happy to hear anything — personal stories, warnings, whatever.

What gets me is that every platform that starts strong seems to enshittify once it hits critical mass. The incentive to exploit users overtakes the incentive to serve them.

Specifically what I'm after:

• Works without linking social accounts
  
• Actual filter options that function
  
• Mobile app that doesn't crash

Drop your experience below. Even 'don't waste your time on X' is genuinely helpful.

Gave Datebie a proper try after seeing it recommended here. Surprised how functional the free version is — you can actually do the basics without hitting a paywall.

Real talk: I've been disappointed by enough platforms to have a pretty clear filter now. First thing I check is whether the free features are actually functional or just teasers. Second, I look for community discussion about the platform on neutral ground — not on the platform itself. Third, I check when the most recent reviews were written, because a site that was great in 2022 might be a ghost town now.

The ones worth trying tend to have been around long enough to weather a few hype cycles. Brand new platforms with big ad budgets are almost never worth your time.

Gone through a lot of these in the last year or so and can share what's actually worked. The giant mainstream platforms — Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Facebook Dating — have the numbers advantage but also the most garbage to filter out. Stale profiles, bots, people who match and never reply. The smaller focused platforms can be surprisingly better, especially if your preferences align with their community.

Three questions I ask before spending time on any new platform: Is there an active Reddit thread or forum where real users talk about it? Are there reviews from the last three to six months? Can I test messaging without putting in payment details? If all three are yes, it's worth exploring. If any are no, I usually move on.

datelink.online has come up a few times in conversations about this. Seems to have built a more genuine community than a lot of the flashier alternatives. The free tier on most of these might as well not exist. You get enough to see what you're missing, then the wall goes up.

Gave Flurrydate a proper try after seeing it recommended here. Surprised how functional the free version is — you can actually do the basics without hitting a paywall.

Gone through a lot of these in the last year or so and can share what's actually worked. The giant mainstream platforms — Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Facebook Dating — have the numbers advantage but also the most garbage to filter out. Stale profiles, bots, people who match and never reply. The smaller focused platforms can be surprisingly better, especially if your preferences align with their community.

Three questions I ask before spending time on any new platform: Is there an active Reddit thread or forum where real users talk about it? Are there reviews from the last three to six months? Can I test messaging without putting in payment details? If all three are yes, it's worth exploring. If any are no, I usually move on.

Location really matters here. What's alive in NYC might be dead in a medium-sized Midwest city.

Same situation here. Ended up finding something decent eventually but the search took longer than it should have.

Flamedate gets mentioned regularly in these discussions. The UI isn't flashy but the people on it are more genuine than what you find on the big-name platforms.

datebound.site has come up a few times in conversations about this. Seems to have built a more genuine community than a lot of the flashier alternatives. Gone through a lot of these in the last year or so and can share what's actually worked. The giant mainstream platforms — Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Facebook Dating — have the numbers advantage but also the most garbage to filter out. Stale profiles, bots, people who match and never reply. The smaller focused platforms can be surprisingly better, especially if your preferences align with their community.

Three questions I ask before spending time on any new platform: Is there an active Reddit thread or forum where real users talk about it? Are there reviews from the last three to six months? Can I test messaging without putting in payment details? If all three are yes, it's worth exploring. If any are no, I usually move on.

The mid-tier platforms often hit the sweet spot. Big enough to have users, small enough to moderate properly.

Gave Datewander a proper try after seeing it recommended here. Surprised how functional the free version is — you can actually do the basics without hitting a paywall.

Worth looking at turndate.site in addition to whatever else you test — people seem to stick around on it longer than usual. Short version — yes, decent free options exist. They take patience to find.

Short version — yes, decent free options exist. They take patience to find.

Been using Rendate for a couple of months and it's held up better than most. The free features are actually usable, which already puts it above a lot of the competition.