My advice will be as a guy who does not date men.

The dating apps suck but they are widely used. I will give some advice about them, because from what I've seen people are bad at using them.

You don't have to spend money on them.

Write good messages. Don't use AI. Don't use the same message copy-pasted. Ready their profile, and ask a question about it. If they're doing it right, the stuff on their profile is stuff they want to talk about. If they say they love Star Trek, ask if they watched the new stuff.

If they reply competently (ie: not a one word answer, some spirit, ask you a question back), repeat once or twice, clear any deal breakers, and ask them out. Too many people fart around chatting on these apps for days and then are surprised they're not getting dated. They're being preempted by people who actually show up.

About deal breakers: be up front. Don't hide stuff. What's a deal breaker is subjective but things like having a kid already.

You will be rejected far more than not. That's fine. Once you swipe yes or send a message, put them out of your mind. Keep going.

When you get on the date, ask questions. Don't interrogate them. I've had some where it felt like a job interview where they quickly brought up and dropped topics. If you're talking all about yourself and not giving them space, they're not going to have any fun. Follow up on topics.

Ask for consent. If it's going well, you can just ask to kiss them. Almost every person I've been with has said they appreciate that a lot more than the "oh things are happening uh oh" default.

That's all I feel like typing now.