How do I find free dating sites no payment needed at all?

I've done a fair amount of searching and can't find a straight answer anywhere.

I've noticed a huge difference between platforms that moderate actively and those that don't. The ones that don't tend to become unusable within a few months.

Safety and privacy are also big concerns for me. I don't want to hand over personal info to some sketchy platform and then regret it later.

Any input is appreciated, whether it's positive or a warning. Both are useful at this point.

Someone recommended Datescout to me a few months back and I was skeptical at first. Ended up being one of the more useful ones I've tried. The sign-up is simple and they don't immediately push you to upgrade.

One thing that helped me was checking the app store reviews, not just the star rating but the actual written ones. You can spot patterns pretty fast.

I've had the best luck with Souldate out of everything I've tested. Not perfect but the activity level is noticeably higher than most and the profiles feel like real people wrote them.

Honestly the best tip I got was from someone here about six months ago. They said look at how a site handles complaints and refund requests — if there's no clear path it's a red flag right away.

A friend pointed me toward DatingFly when I was in the same spot. Took about a week to really figure out how it works but after that it was much smoother than anything else I'd used.