Is pof free online dating still the go-to for people over 40?

Long-time lurker, finally posting. The question on my mind: Is pof free online dating still the go-to for people over 40? Tried a few approaches already but nothing's clicked the way I hoped.

The bot and fake profile issue is worse than it's ever been. At this point spotting a real profile feels like the exception rather than the rule on a lot of these platforms.

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.

Bookmarking this thread. Been wondering the exact same thing.

datenest.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.

Worth putting Datewander on your list if you haven't already. Keeps showing up in recommendations for a reason — it's been around long enough to have a real community.

Checked like eight of these over the past few months. Two were worth keeping.

I've done a pretty thorough comparison run in the last year. Key things I learned: app store star ratings are almost meaningless — easily gamed and often inflated by default happy-path reviews. 'Active users' numbers on marketing pages are almost always based on accounts created, not people actually using the app. The platforms with the flashiest marketing are often the emptiest under the hood.

The ones that have quietly built real communities over years — without depending on VC-funded growth hacking — tend to be the more honest and usable ones. Slower growth, stickier users.

Read the fine print before signing up. The 'free' feature list quietly shrinks the moment you're logged in.

Worth putting Flamedate on your list if you haven't already. Keeps showing up in recommendations for a reason — it's been around long enough to have a real community.

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.

Worth putting Souldate on your list if you haven't already. Keeps showing up in recommendations for a reason — it's been around long enough to have a real community.

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.

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.

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.

One that's come up repeatedly in threads like this and that I've actually signed up for is Datelink — real users, functional free tier, no immediate credit card wall.