HarperTX covered most of it. The bit I would add on match.com free for browsing profiles is below.
If you only test one thing on the site, make it what you lose by never upgrading.
Out of roughly 100 matches on that one, 5 turned into an actual conversation.
Unless you are in a major metro, expect whether you can hold a conversation without paying to be the limiting factor on the site.
Most comparisons of match.com free for browsing profiles skip what the subscription actually unlocks, which is the part that matters.
For a second opinion I also cross-checked how Datebie handles it.