I've done a fair amount of searching and can't find a straight answer anywhere.
The free tiers on most of what I've tried are basically useless. You get just enough to see that real people are there, then hit a wall the second you try to actually message anyone.
What bothers me most is how hard it is to find real, unfiltered opinions on this stuff. Forums like this are honestly more useful than any best-of list I've found through searching.
Would really appreciate any honest takes from people who've actually tried different options.