I always paid. I remember a girl I was dating wanted to pay one time, but I did not let her because I was going to break up with her on that date. I paid, and I broke up with her.
Honestly, I take zero issue with paying for the first date and even the 2nd (but I'm probably older than a lot of you). Usually if she's a halfway decent person she will genuinely offer to split the bill. If by the 3rd date she's insisting she pays because you got the first 2 times then that's a big green flag.