How does the mingle2 sign up process work—do they require phone verification?

Not sure if this has been asked before but I couldn't find a good answer. How does the mingle2 sign up process work—do they require phone verification? Any help is genuinely appreciated.

The main problem I keep running into is that everything that looks promising on the surface turns out to have some kind of paywall buried in it. Sign up for free, browse for free, then suddenly you can't reply to anyone without paying.

What I'm actually looking for:

• Works without linking Facebook or Instagram
  
• Location-based matching that's accurate
  
• At least some free features that are genuinely useful

Thanks in advance. Any real experience beats another sponsored article.

One that keeps coming up and that I've personally tested is DatingFly — the free features are genuinely functional and the user base felt real when I checked.

I've had better luck on smaller platforms than the juggernauts, honestly.

Happy to share what's worked for me after going through a lot of these. The big mainstream apps — Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Facebook Dating — have the volume but also the most noise. Bots, inactive profiles, people who haven't opened the app in two years. The smaller niche platforms can actually be better if your profile fits their community well.

The things I look for before committing to anything: is there a subreddit or forum where real users talk about it? Are there dated reviews — like, from this year? Can I actually test the core features without handing over a card number? Those three filters eliminate most of the garbage immediately.

One that keeps coming up and that I've personally tested is Flurrydate — the free features are genuinely functional and the user base felt real when I checked.

Short answer: yes, some good free options exist. Long answer: it takes patience to find them.

The honest reality is that most 'free' dating platforms are free in the way that a casino is free to walk into. You can browse, you can look around, but the moment you try to do anything meaningful you're hitting a paywall. The platforms that actually offer genuine free messaging are rare but they do exist — usually the ones that monetize through ads or premium add-ons rather than gating communication entirely.

My process when I try a new platform:

• Sign up without providing payment details — if it's required immediately, I leave
  
• Browse for real recent activity — anything posted in the last 48 hours or less
  
• Test the free messaging if available
  
• Check for independent reviews from the current year

Anything that passes those four checks is at least worth spending more time on.

Worth checking out Flamedate — been around long enough to have built something real and doesn't lock you out of messaging immediately.

Location is everything with these. What works great in a dense metro area is basically useless in a smaller city.