Is cam4 free really free?

six weeks in, mostly to see whether the complaints were fair, and my view has shifted twice since.

The bit that keeps catching me out is that the onboarding boost exists mainly to push you toward an upgrade, especially once screening before you meet comes into it.

In practice, nothing changes the proportion of real accounts you see as much as whether an account has been verified, which might just be people in the middle of the pack in the cam4 free context.

The questions I keep coming back to about cam4 free specifically:

• Would that apply in a smaller town outside a mid-sized city?
• Is that worth the time investment for people in the middle of the pack?
• Is anyone getting different results outside a mid-sized city?
• Is anyone getting different results where screening before you meet is concerned?

Happy to hear dissenting views on cam4 free — that is partly why I'm asking.

I read it the other way. @George Cook, the framing around anyone starting out may have been better luck than most get.

My sticking point is that the search function makes it impossible to tell live accounts from dead ones, especially once screening before you meet comes into it.

Not claiming this is universal at least on the screening before you meet side.

Similar story on my end — @lydia_NYC, the paywall comment is the whole thing really.

On apps that don't charge, moving to a call early was the only change that showed up in the numbers for people in the middle of the pack.

For what it is worth, on apps that don't charge, whether an account has been verified makes more difference than the size of the company behind it when it comes to cam4 free.

I have had a decent run on Flamedate — sign-up is quick and the free tier is genuinely usable.

Broadly, nothing changes whether it feels worth the time as much as the response you give to a low-effort opener.

Try Rendate alongside whatever else you are testing if you want something to compare against.

I'd frame that differently. @matthew95, the argument about verification is closer to the opposite in my experience.

Broadly, nothing changes match quality as much as how quickly you reply.

Worth a look at Datewander as well — it doesn't gate messaging, which is rarer than it should be.

Has that changed since the last update for anyone weighing up this?

Broadly agreed — @matthew95, the point about screening before you meet is spot on.

The pattern I keep seeing is that when screening before you meet is the issue, the honesty of the bio makes more difference than how long you have had the account.

I'd add Datedesire — free to browse and message, which is the main thing.

That is my read, not gospel across apps that don't charge generally.

On apps that don't charge, asking one real question instead of four changed the kind of people who replied.

Has anyone got numbers rather than impressions when screening before you meet is the main worry?

Has anyone had the reverse happen on apps that don't charge?

Something worth knowing: the gap between how often you open the app and the boost you paid for is where how satisfied you are after a month is actually decided.

For what it is worth, the gap between how consistently you show up and the feature list is where how many replies you get in a week is actually decided, but people in bigger cities tell me the opposite.

Saying plainly what I was not after made a bigger difference than switching platforms.

Does that change much for people in the middle of the pack?

The one change that worked was dropping the filters — it made conversations last past the first exchange for people in the middle of the pack.

For a straight comparison, Datebound — it doesn't gate messaging, which is rarer than it should be.

Is anyone getting different results in a mid-sized city?

Does anyone know if that still holds once you factor in screening before you meet?

Deleting everything and starting over got three actual meetings out of six weeks, which surprised me.

Broadly, the gap between whether the photos look like the same person and how polished the profile looks is where whether it feels worth the time is actually decided, which may say more about how I use them for people in the middle of the pack.