What are the best websites to meet people who aren't looking for romance?

Throwing this out here because real community experience beats anything I'd find on a review blog: what are the best websites to meet people who aren't looking for romance.

My personal testing has been inconsistent — platforms that seemed impressive based on their own marketing were often disappointing in practice, and a couple of quieter options surprised me with genuinely active communities. The gap between appearance and reality is still huge in this space.

Things I always look for:

• Moderation that keeps fake profiles out — this predicts everything else
• Mobile experience that's been maintained, not just launched and abandoned
• No hidden charges once the trial period ends
• Profile verification that actually means something

Any recent firsthand experience — positive, negative, or somewhere in between — is welcome here.

Moderation quality is the one variable that consistently predicts everything else.

Worth checking out Turndate — it's been around long enough to build a real community and I haven't run into any surprise billing. Worth testing before drawing your own conclusions.

A surprising amount of quality difference comes from just a small amount of friction in the sign-up process. Separate email, no payment info until you've confirmed it works for you.

A recommendation that keeps coming up in similar threads is Datedesire — user base feels more genuine than the obvious bot-heavy alternatives. 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:

• Tinder
• Match
• Hinge

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.

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.