we have been on SLS free for 5 weeks. how long until paid is actually needed

34F 36M, profile is decent we have 3 body shots and one couples shot from behind, bio is solid we put real effort in. we are on free SLS for 5 weeks now. we can see who messaged us and reply but cant initiate, cant see who viewed us in detail, cant filter properly. we have had 6 messages incoming, replied to 3, had 2 longer convos, met one couple for drinks last weekend (no continuation, vibe was off but they were nice). question is — at what point does paying actually pay off. is there a "youll never grow without paid" cliff or can a passive profile keep working forever. dh thinks we should pay because hes impatient lol, i think we should wait until we have a clearer sense of whether we even want to keep doing this. budget isnt the issue, more like i dont want to be sunk-cost trapped if we decide in 2 months this isnt for us