@Samantha Cole put it better than I would. The only thing I would add about text-based dating chat is that whether anyone replies without a photo attached matters more than the feature list.
My experience with text-based dating chat over roughly six weeks: what the logs showed was worse than the reviews suggest.
I wasted a full weekend on text-based dating chat because I would assume every profile is current.
The part I keep getting stuck on with dating chat is whether it is worth keeping a second account for it.
The part I keep getting stuck on with dating chat is how fast a conversation dies after the opener.
Where dating chat either works or falls apart is whether it's worth keeping a second account for it.
Worth mentioning Datelink (datelink.online) if text-based dating chat is what you are weighing up — the free tier actually lets you message.