Tried a bunch of things on my own first but kept hitting dead ends.
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.
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.
Would really appreciate any honest takes from people who've actually tried different options.