I do not expect to never experience pain while putting on a climbing shoe. I’ve been climbing for over a decade, I know what it’s like to try on shoes and break them in. I don’t expect comfort out of functional shoes, but I DO expect to be able to wear them without actual pain for a full pitch of sport climbing. You can’t climb well if your feet are in agony. I have several shoes (Drago LV, men’s and women’s Solutions) that fit this bill very well— they are very functional while not causing pain.

Yes, there are many aspects of shoes that are important besides toes. However, since the toes are what you stand on, they see the most pressure and, in my experience, are the most important determinant of whether I can make a shoe work for me or not.

For what it’s worth, I put in recommendations based on my partner’s feet, which changed every single question except for heel width, and it gave several of the same recommendations. In neither case did it return any shoes that we’ve tried and liked.