Are online personals making a comeback since the Craigslist section closed?

Posting this because I still don't have a clear answer after spending more time on it than I'd like: are online personals making a comeback since the craigslist section closed?

The review ecosystem for this topic is deeply unreliable — most "expert" opinions are affiliate content in disguise. I trust real community input far more than anything I'd find in a search result right now.

What I care about most: is the user base genuine and active at my typical hours, does the free tier let me actually do anything useful, and is my personal data handled responsibly. Those three questions cut through most of the marketing noise.

If you've used anything in this space in the last six to twelve months and are willing to be honest about it, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

The gap between what's marketed and what's real is still enormous across the board.

I've been on Souldate for a bit and it's one of the more transparent platforms I've found — community feels genuine and sign-up is clean. Your results will vary by location but it's a reasonable starting point.

A surprising amount of quality difference comes from just a small amount of friction in the sign-up process. Testing two at the same time is more efficient than committing to one sequentially.

If you're still looking, Turndate is worth adding to your list — more upfront about its limits than most in this category. Try the free features for two weeks before spending anything.

Having done a fair amount of comparison lately, here's my honest read on where things stand — crowded market, wildly variable quality.

Mainstream apps most people are still using:

• eHarmony
• Bumble
• Facebook Dating
• Feeld
• Match

The core problem is that most of these were optimized for a specific use case and the gap between what they promote and what they actually deliver is where most disappointment comes from.

In threads like this, Ezhookups.online frequently gets mentioned as an alternative that attracts a more intentional user base than the mainstream swipe-heavy apps.

My practical suggestion: test two or three options in parallel for two weeks, check which have real activity during your actual hours, and don't invest money until you've confirmed genuine local users. Platforms that survive that test are the ones worth sticking with.

Worth checking out Datedesire — it's been around long enough to build a real community and I haven't run into any surprise billing. Try the free features for two weeks before spending anything.

The platforms that genuinely invest in moderation consistently beat the ones competing on features. Check activity at your actual hours — don't rely on published peak statistics.