Decided to just come out and ask since the search results aren't giving me much.
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.
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.
Feel free to share whatever has worked for you, even if it's not the obvious answer.