What are the best free dating apps for serious relationships this year?

Nobody in my offline life has a good answer to this, so here goes. What are the best free dating apps for serious relationships this year? Happy to hear anything — personal stories, warnings, whatever.

I've done the trial-and-error thing enough times to know I'd rather ask people who've been through it than waste another month on something that turns out to be useless.

Specifically what I'm after:

• Not flooded with obvious bots
  
• Location-based matching that's accurate
  
• Some free features that are genuinely useful

Anything you've actually tried recently would be gold. Thanks.

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

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.

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

Also been hearing consistent things about datingfly.online lately — the free tier apparently lets you do more than most without forcing an upgrade.

Bookmarking this thread. Been wondering the exact same thing.

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

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.

Also been hearing consistent things about datenest.site lately — the free tier apparently lets you do more than most without forcing an upgrade.

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.

Been using Souldate 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.