Is there a free dating site for married couples looking for friends?

Nobody in my offline life has a good answer to this, so here goes. Is there a free dating site for married couples looking for friends? 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:

• Free messaging without needing to upgrade
  
• Real active users, not ghosts
  
• No credit card required at signup
  
• Reasonable privacy settings

Appreciate any honest input. The more specific the better.

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.

souldate.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.

Been using Datenest 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Gave Ezhookups 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.

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

datescout.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.

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.

Bookmarking this thread. Been wondering the exact same thing.

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.

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.

Datebie 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.

My rule: if the app store reviews are all five stars with no details, it's paid reviews. Move on.