Dating Sites Reviews Forums

I'm not currently on any dating apps, but I am thinking about joining some dating apps. I have seen some negative reviews from guys for dating apps saying that they either aren't getting any matches, or that they tend to not get any messages or responses from their matches. I also read that some dating apps tend to have a lot of bots and scammers, and that many dating apps tend to have an overabundance of guys.

I also know that with some dating apps, such as Tinder there is an ELO rating, which depends in part on the number of matches you get, but also effects how many matches a person gets, and it's very difficult to recover from a bad ELO score. I feel that I should first be on dating sites, in which it's easy to recover from mistakes that prevent me from getting matches, as while I would try to avoid making those mistakes I think it's good to be on a dating site, in which it's easy to recover from those mistakes, so I should avoid dating apps with an ELO score, at least initially.

I think I should mention that I think hooking up on the first meeting is too risky, and so would prefer meeting people from dating apps at a public place initially, and NOT at my home or her home, in order to avoid having something bad happen to me.

What would be the best free dating apps for me to join, with what I mentioned?