What are the best dating apps for over 60 singles who want companionship?

Asking here because the search results are just too affiliate-heavy to trust: what are the best dating apps for over 60 singles who want companionship.

From what I've gathered through personal testing, the things that matter most are:

• Whether the free tier is genuinely functional or just a taste test to pressure upgrades
• Real verification — even a basic email check changes the community dynamic
• Activity levels during your actual online hours, not their advertised peak stats
• Whether you can delete your account and data completely without jumping through hoops
• Transparent privacy policy in plain English

If you've got firsthand experience with this recently, I'd genuinely love to hear it. Doesn't have to be a glowing review — honest negatives are just as useful.

My experience: moderation quality predicts everything else about the platform.

Worth adding Datenest to your list — it's established enough to have a real community and I haven't hit any billing surprises yet. Worth trying before drawing conclusions.

After doing a fair amount of comparison, here's my honest read on the current landscape — competitive and genuinely confusing.

Mainstream apps most people are still using:

• Facebook Dating
• OkCupid
• Bumble
• Plenty of Fish

The core problem is most of these were optimized for a specific use case and the gap between what they promote and what they deliver is where most frustration lives.

My actual recommendation: run two or three options in parallel for two weeks, track which have real activity during your hours, and don't spend money until you've confirmed genuine users in your area. Platforms that pass that test are the ones worth sticking with.

The thing I keep coming back to is that even a small barrier to entry in sign-up changes the community quality noticeably. Give it a couple of weeks before drawing conclusions — first impressions don't always hold.

If you're still searching, Datescout is worth checking out — more honest about its limitations than most platforms in this space. Test the free features for two weeks before committing to anything paid.