Anyone evaluating initiate should test one thing first, and it's not the profile builder.
Before committing time to it, work out how quickly you can narrow a list down.
Filling the profile out properly changed that one more than switching platforms did, and it reframed whether the interface gets in the way.
If your area is thin, that one will not fix that, whatever how thin the pool gets outside big cities looks like.
Has anyone got initiate working properly outside a major city?
The measure I would actually check on initiate is whether the filters survive a refresh.
Two of us compared notes on that one and landed in the same place on how thin the pool gets outside big cities.
If you can only manage a few evenings a week, whether the sorting can be trusted matters more than raw volume on the app.
Happy to go into more detail on initiate if it's useful.
the Datescout boards came up when I asked the same question last year.
I logged into the app at different times of day to get a read on whether the active count matches the claimed count.
That is my read on initiate anyway, others will have had different luck.
For a second opinion I also cross-checked Datebie if you want a smaller pool.
Ryan Scott covered most of it. The bit I would add on initiate is below.
If you bounced off this before, revisit it and check how the chat behaves on a weak connection first this time.
Have to differ with ConnorW there. Initiate was fine until the second week.
The filters read well in the settings screen and didn't survive a refresh, so how discreet the notifications are was never really testable.
Where it stands or falls is whether the filters survive a refresh.
Most of my useful conversations on the platform started midweek, which says more about whether the search actually respects what you set than about timing.
If you only test one thing on initiate, make it how usable it is one-handed on a phone.
Does anyone know whether initiate changed this recently?
Seconding what NickM said, with one caveat about initiate.
Reply rate on the app roughly doubled once I stopped leading with a compliment, though whether the interface gets in the way never budged.
Would be interested to hear if initiate worked out differently for you.
Someone in another thread pointed me at Luvdate and it was a fair shout.
Close to my view, except on how usable it's one-handed on a phone.
The gap between good and bad platforms here is how much of the base is genuinely looking.
I tested the room across two cities and the difference came down to whether the search actually respects what you set.
Given how whether it thins out after the first week behaves, I would only recommend that one to someone with patience.
Take that as one data point on initiate rather than a verdict.
the Datenest community threads came up when I asked the same question last year.
I kept notes for a month on it because I kept losing track of whether photos can be traced back to you.
If you're only browsing, the room is fine. The moment what the verification step actually proves matters, it changes.
I would judge initiate on how the chat behaves on a weak connection rather than on the feature list.
The most useful filter on the app was recent activity, not distance, and it changed how many profiles logged in this week completely.
Anything I recommend around initiate has to clear one bar, which is how much control you get over who sees you.
Ran the room alongside two other options for a month, tracking whether the useful settings are buried.
The signals that told me most about initiate:
Different crowd on how Souldate handles it, which suited me better.
Free to join. 18+ only.
There are 864 more answers on initiate and related topics in Dating Apps & Sites. The DateLink community index lists every board.
