Finally gave up googling and decided to ask people with real experience.
What bothers me most is how hard it is to find real, unfiltered opinions. Forums like this are honestly more useful than any best-of list I've found.
The free tiers on most of what I've tried are basically useless — you get just enough to see real people are there, then hit a wall the moment you try to message anyone.
Would really appreciate any honest takes from people who've actually tried different options.