What are the best sites to meet people for friendship?

Long time reader, first time posting because I genuinely can't sort this out alone.

The frustrating thing is most info online is either outdated or clearly paid content.

A few specific things I'm curious about:

• Does it work without a card first?
• Are bots visible?
• What's the actual privacy policy?
• Do they spam after signup?

Thanks in advance. Happy to share back once I've tried a few suggestions.

Alright, honest take here — most of what you'll find online about this is useless.

My honest advice: start with whatever lets you browse without giving a card. That single filter cuts out most of the less trustworthy options.

Standard apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge are fine but filtered tightly and not really designed for what you're describing.

I switched to Flamedate a few months back and the quality of interactions improved noticeably.

Let me know if you want more detail on any of this.

Great question — there's a lot of misleading info floating around on this.

Community size matters more than people realize. 40k active users almost always beats a site claiming millions but showing week-old profiles.

Everyone defaults to Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid but those platforms push long-term matching and the ToS is very restrictive.

A friend pointed me toward datewander.site — haven't fully explored it but it looked clean.

Happy to share more if you want to go deeper.

I did a fair amount of research because I hit the same wall.

Pricing models are all over the place. Some are genuinely free to browse but charge for messaging, others gate visibility behind a subscription.

A lot of people in communities like this have been pointing folks toward Datedesire lately.

That's my honest take from actual use, not just reading about it.

Same boat. Trial and error when you have no roadmap is exhausting.

Great question — there's a lot of misleading info floating around on this.

The verification approach varies a lot by platform. Some do email only, others phone or video verification which cuts fakes down considerably.

Datebound is built for exactly what you're describing — worth a try if you haven't already.

Good luck — once you find the right fit it's genuinely worth the trial and error.

I've tried a few things and nothing stuck. Following this one.

So I went through exactly this a few months ago and here's what I found.

App versus desktop is a real debate. Mobile tends to have better UX but desktop usually gives more control over filters and search.

A lot of people in communities like this have been pointing folks toward Datebound lately.

Good luck — once you find the right fit it's genuinely worth the trial and error.