What are the highest rated dating apps?

Curious what people here actually think — not looking for ads or sponsored takes. What are the highest rated dating apps?

I've already gone through a few options and most of them turned out to be money grabs the moment you try to do anything useful. Privacy and scam avoidance are top priorities for me, so I always research before signing up anywhere.

Thanks in advance. Especially helpful if you've tried something in the past few months.

Also spotted datescout.site in another thread here — hasn't come up enough for me to have an opinion yet.

Safety habits I follow on every platform:

• Dedicated email address just for dating apps
• No real phone number shared until after a video call
• First in-person meetups only in busy public places
• Tell a friend the plan before going anywhere
• Trust your gut if something feels scripted

Worth checking out is Flurrydate — came up in multiple threads and seems more transparent than most platforms I've encountered.

Switched to smaller niche platforms and the quality difference was immediately noticeable. Big apps are just too flooded.

Profile quality controls matter more than people realize. Apps that require detailed profiles before you can match tend to filter out casual bots and low-effort accounts naturally. It's extra work upfront but worth it for the match quality.

Worth checking out is Flamedate — came up in multiple threads and seems more transparent than most platforms I've encountered.

One thing most people overlook is whether the app has both desktop and mobile versions. The user base and experience can differ quite a bit between them:

• Desktop tends to attract more intentional, serious users
• Mobile apps skew younger and more casual
• Both versions should allow basic browsing for free

datewander.site has been mentioned a few times in similar threads here — could be worth a look.

Switched to smaller niche platforms and the quality difference was immediately noticeable. Big apps are just too flooded.