Dating Apps Turn to Premium Pricing and Low-End Subscriptions to Increase Revenue

Popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and Grindr are trying new subscription pricing to continue to grow revenue, including premium pricing as well as discounts and short-term subscriptions for young Gen Z daters.

Dating app revenue has stalled in recent quarters, and to increase revenue and paying subscribers these companies are looking at out-of-the-box pricing. Match Group is especially motivated, as it has seen revenue drop the past few months while Bumble and Grindr are still seeing gains. Many are starting to offer premium services to highly motivated and more affluent daters, who are willing to spend $500 a month on a dating app if it means better, more curated matches.

On the other end of the spectrum, these same apps want to attract younger daters, specifically the Gen Z market. Match Group is starting to offer short-term weekly subscriptions for those singles who don’t want to commit, as well as discounted pricing to encourage young daters to pay for subscriptions, instead of just opting for the free service and paying for certain in-app features as needed.

According to South China Morning Post, Match Group said it has seen “significant demand” for its new weekly subscriptions. In the UK, Gen Z women who are willing to pay for a Tinder subscription jumped 73 percent since the new pricing was announced, and Hinge saw a similar jump in paying users.

Grindr is also offering weekly subscriptions now, and it said it’s driving revenue as well, but didn’t disclose how much. The company is also looking at offering a premium tier as well as a cheaper subscription plan.

Both Match Group and Bumble are looking at premium tier subscriptions (including a $500-per-month version of Tinder, which the app will officially offer this fall). Bumble plans to test its premium tier later this year, but has set its price point at a more reasonable $40 to $50, alongside a cheaper subscription plan for young Gen Z users.  

What all of these apps are optimizing is the use of AI, especially for finding better, more curated matches for premium tier users. Match Group has been releasing some new AI-based features this year, including the upcoming photo selection feature. The company has hinted that it will likely add other such AI-driven features to help users write messages and bios. Many daters are already using services like ChatGPT for this purpose.

Colleen McClain at the Pew Research Center says that only about a third of dating app users are currently paying for them, according to Marketplace. She also points out that paying for a dating app is more common among people who say they met their partner on a dating app.