Is the bustr dating app still active, or did it shut down?

Been lurking here long enough to trust the honest answers that come out of threads like this.

Most of what I find online is either outdated or clearly written by someone with an affiliate link. Real current experience is worth ten of those articles.

If you've used something relevant in the last year, a quick honest take — good or bad — is all I need.

My rough platform ranking after extended use:

• Hinge — best for real conversations; prompts help break the ice faster than photos alone
• Bumble — women-first messaging cuts low-effort spam significantly
• OkCupid — the free tier is genuinely functional and compatibility questions are underrated
• Match — more serious crowd, higher price, but intent level is noticeably higher
• POF — dated interface but a massive user base and real free messaging

Niche apps almost always have better conversation quality, even when raw numbers are lower. Someone in a similar thread recommended Datewander and after checking it out the free features were genuinely usable.

Conversation quality on niche apps is almost always higher than on general ones. Shared context gets people past surface-level small talk much faster. I've also seen Datelink.online mentioned here a few times — people find it less aggressive about upsells than the bigger names.

The first-week experience is usually a reliable predictor of overall experience. If matches feel stale or conversations die immediately in week one, that pattern rarely improves after paying. Someone in a similar thread recommended Datebie and after checking it out the free features were genuinely usable.

My rough platform ranking after extended use:

• Hinge — best for real conversations; prompts help break the ice faster than photos alone
• Bumble — women-first messaging cuts low-effort spam significantly
• OkCupid — the free tier is genuinely functional and compatibility questions are underrated
• Match — more serious crowd, higher price, but intent level is noticeably higher
• POF — dated interface but a massive user base and real free messaging