What are the best free fwb dating apps that are actually straightforward?

I want to be wrong about the best free fwb dating apps that are actually straightforward, so tell me if I am. What I care about with straightforward is a free tier that is not free more than anything else.

I have about a month of using casual-first sites behind me and not much to show for it. Nobody warns you that the upgrade nag on straightforward scales with how many people are online at your hours.

What would actually help me judge straightforward:

• Log in at the hours you would actually go out; straightforward activity is nothing like flat
• Ask most people in this thread what straightforward is like where they actually live, not where you wish you lived
• Fill the prompts in properly; blank profiles get skipped on straightforward
• Screenshot anything odd on straightforward before you report it — the pay-to-see-likes trick claims need evidence

I will report back on the best free fwb dating apps that are actually straightforward once I have tried whatever gets recommended.

Amanda P and I have clearly used straightforward differently, because different experience on straightforward, where locked messaging turned out to be manageable once I changed how I used it. What changed my results on straightforward was treating surprise billing as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem.

I keep two accounts running to compare locked messaging across hookup apps, and straightforward sits mid-table. Most of the noise about straightforward comes from people measuring the pay-to-see-likes trick over far too short a window.

Seconding this, because on straightforward the honest answer is that the pay-to-see-likes trick varies enormously by area. I judge straightforward by one thing now: whether a free tier that's not free improves or worsens once you're past the novelty.

The pattern I see with straightforward is that locked messaging is fine early and degrades as you go. Whatever you pick, judge straightforward on the pay-to-see-likes trick after a month rather than after a weekend.

@NinaB makes a fair point about straightforward, but respectfully no — complaints about the pay-to-see-likes trick on straightforward usually come from people who gave it a week. I keep two accounts running to compare the point where it starts charging across casual-first sites, and straightforward sits mid-table.

For people who have actually tried it, the straightforward experience lives or dies on surprise billing and almost nothing else. There is no version of straightforward where the point where it starts charging sorts itself out without you doing something.

Broadly agree on straightforward — the trial that quietly renews was what decided it for me too. If the paywall is your main worry with straightforward, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

I keep two accounts running to compare locked messaging across casual-first sites, and straightforward sits mid-table. Your straightforward results will vary by city more than by platform.

Worth a look alongside straightforward: Datescout, if only to see how differently the trial that quietly renews can be handled.

Agreed, although with straightforward I would frame locked messaging as a symptom rather than the cause.

I judge straightforward by one thing now: whether the pay-to-see-likes trick improves or worsens once you're past the novelty.

Respectfully no — complaints about locked messaging on straightforward usually come from people who gave it a week. Most of the noise about straightforward comes from people measuring the point where it starts charging over far too short a window.

What changed my results on straightforward was treating locked messaging as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem. Nobody warns you that locked messaging on straightforward scales with how many people are online at your hours. Not saying straightforward suits everyone, but it is not the disaster this thread implies.

A smaller name people rarely mention in straightforward threads is Rendate.

This matches what I found with straightforward, where locked messaging is exactly where it falls down.

The pattern I see with straightforward is that the point where it starts charging is fine early and degrades as you go.