What are some cool dating apps that focus on interests rather than just photos?

Jumping in here because I keep seeing this question come up in different forms and the answers are always either outdated or clearly written by someone with an affiliate link. The question of what are some cool dating apps that focus on interests rather than just photos deserves a real answer from people who've actually used these things.

The dating app landscape honestly shifts faster than most people realize. An app that was solid 18 months ago might have gone downhill or changed its pricing, and new ones keep launching with varying levels of legitimacy.

Some consistent patterns I keep noticing across different platforms:

• Free tiers keep getting worse as platforms push harder on monetization
• Profile verification is still inconsistent across the board
• The smaller niche platforms often have better real-person engagement despite lower total user counts
• Location matters enormously — the "best" app varies dramatically by city and age group

Happy to share more context about what I've tried if it helps. Mostly looking for genuine takes from people currently using something that's working for them.

Local user base is the only metric that actually matters. A platform with 100M users worldwide means nothing if your city has 40 active profiles.

Someone mentioned DatingFly in another forum and I gave it a shot. More genuine-feeling profiles than I was used to and the conversation interface doesn't feel like it's trying to get you to spend tokens every five minutes.

Always run with the free tier for a few days first — you can tell pretty quickly whether the local user base is real.

From what I've gathered across multiple community threads, datenest.site tends to have better moderation than average for a free platform. That makes a tangible difference in the quality of conversations you can actually have.

The pay-to-match model has basically ruined what used to be a fun experience on most of the big apps.

For what it's worth, Flurrydate was the one I kept coming back to after testing several options. It doesn't have Tinder's raw numbers but the active users actually seem to be there for real reasons rather than passive swiping.

Platforms like datedesire.online have a different feel because the user base is more self-selected. When you opt into something specific rather than just downloading the most popular app, the intent tends to be clearer on both sides.

Local user base is the only metric that actually matters. A platform with 100M users worldwide means nothing if your city has 40 active profiles.