What separates top 10 free dating sites from the rest of the field is how discreet the notifications are.
Took me about 5 weeks on the site to work out that the real question was whether 'free' means free to browse or free to talk.
Unless you are in a major metro, expect what the subscription actually unlocks to be the limiting factor on the app.
The gap between good and bad platforms here is how aggressively it pushes credits at you.
Take that as one data point on top 10 free dating sites rather than a verdict.