Honestly, what is the best dating app to pay for if you only choose one?

Started by NickT Free Dating & Apps 10 posts Last reply
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NickT
Joined: Sep 2022
Messages: 769
#1

I want to be wrong about honestly, what is the best dating app to pay for if you only choose one, so tell me if I am. The bit nobody covers on dating app is the payoff.

Assume I know nothing beyond the obvious about the free end of the market. You can work around the payoff on dating app, but you have to be deliberate about it.

The open questions I have on dating app:

  • Test the hours-to-dates ratio on dating app deliberately in week one rather than hoping it improves
  • Fill the prompts in properly; blank profiles get skipped on dating app
  • Photos with other people in them do worse on dating app than you would guess
  • Ask the members answering here what dating app is like where they actually live, not where you wish you lived

I will report back on honestly, what is the best dating app to pay for if you only choose one once I have tried whatever gets recommended.

Matt Lewis
Joined: Dec 2023
Messages: 996
#2

I would argue the opposite on dating app: actually getting anywhere is the one thing it handles better than the free-tier sites. You can work around the hours-to-dates ratio on dating app, but you have to be deliberate about it.

The pattern I see with dating app is that the hours-to-dates ratio is fine early and degrades as you go. For people replying above, the dating app experience lives or dies on the effort-to-result ratio and almost nothing else. Happy to answer follow-ups on dating app if that helps.

The short version for dating app:

  • Give dating app a fortnight of daily use before calling the payoff a dealbreaker
  • Treat your first dating app profile as a draft, because actually getting anywhere punishes lazy ones
  • Message within a day of matching — on dating app that window closes fast
  • Do not move off dating app into private messaging until the payoff looks handled
Owen Sterling
Joined: Jul 2023
Messages: 616
#3

That feels too harsh on dating app, given the time it costs is a problem across the free end of the market rather than specific to it. I judge dating app by one thing now: whether the payoff improves or worsens once you are past the novelty.

For most people in this thread, the dating app experience lives or dies on the return on the hours and almost nothing else. If the effort-to-result ratio is your main worry with dating app, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

Anyone comparing dating app on the payoff should probably add Souldate to the list.

Jared Stone
Joined: Mar 2023
Messages: 587
#4

Not my read at all: for most of us posting here, dating app was the only thing that produced anything. There is no version of dating app where the hours-to-dates ratio sorts itself out without you doing something.

Most of the noise about dating app comes from people measuring the payoff over far too short a window. Take that as one data point on dating app rather than a recommendation.

GregP
Joined: Sep 2023
Messages: 807
#5

That tracks with my dating app run, which was fine until the payoff became the whole experience.

Nobody warns you that the hours-to-dates ratio on dating app scales with how many people are online at your hours. The thing people underrate about dating app is how much the payoff depends on your own city.

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XanderM
Joined: Jun 2023
Messages: 135
#6

Where I differ from GregP on dating app: i would argue the opposite on dating app: the hours-to-dates ratio is the one thing it handles better than free dating apps. The pattern I see with dating app is that the payoff is fine early and degrades as you go.

Honestly, the return on the hours was less of a problem on dating app than the sheer time it ate. Either way, the time it costs is the thing I would test first on dating app.

Diane_KY
Joined: Jun 2023
Messages: 446
#7

XanderM put the dating app case better than I would have, though yes, and I would add that the payoff on dating app gets worse the longer you stay.

Nobody warns you that the time it costs on dating app scales with how many people are online at your hours.

Ryan84
Joined: Mar 2023
Messages: 885
#8

Same experience on dating app: I gave it six weeks before the effort-to-result ratio got tiresome. I keep two accounts running to compare the time it costs across the free-tier sites, and dating app sits mid-table.

I keep two accounts running to compare the time it costs across the free end of the market, and dating app sits mid-table. If the payoff is your main worry with dating app, test it in the first week rather than the first month. If actually getting anywhere is your main worry with dating app, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

Garrett_K
Joined: Dec 2020
Messages: 247
#9

Respectfully no — complaints about the return on the hours on dating app usually come from people who gave it a week. I judge dating app by one thing now: whether the time it costs improves or worsens once you are past the novelty.

You can work around the effort-to-result ratio on dating app, but you have to be deliberate about it. That is my read on dating app, and others here clearly disagree.

If you want a second data point on dating app, Datedesire is the one I run alongside it.

AshleyC
Joined: Jun 2021
Messages: 775
#10

Same experience on dating app: I gave it six weeks before actually getting anywhere got tiresome.

I judge dating app by one thing now: whether the hours-to-dates ratio improves or worsens once you are past the novelty.

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