Finances

“Young people aren’t disinterested—they’re priced out.” That’s George Arison’s CEO of Grindr's bold argument. In a recent interview, he pushed back against the narrative that Gen Z is losing faith in dating. Instead, he says, it’s the overly monetized business models of many apps that are driving users away.

Arison points out that some dating apps charge for virtually everything—messaging, matching, visibility—making the free versions almost unusable. He claims Grindr has intentionally kept its free product “extremely robust” so that users don’t feel compelled to pay just to participate.

Have you ever stopped to think about how much we actually spend on dating apps? From boosting a profile to subscribing for unlimited swipes, the money adds up quickly. In fact, according to Busines of Apps, global dating app revenues surpassed $6 billion in 2024—with North America responsible for about 50% of that total. By 2030 this total is expected to rise to $8.7 billon.

That $6 billion milestone highlights just how deeply dating apps have become woven into modern life. Analysts note that North America alone accounted for more than $3 billion, making it the single largest driver of global app revenue. Asia-Pacific followed with steady growth, fueled by rising smartphone adoption and shifting cultural openness toward online dating. Europe trailed slightly, contributing just under 20% of total revenues.

Dating app Hinge is taking payment processing for its app into its own hands, and out of the control of the App Store.

Hinge CEO Justin McLeod was recently interviewed on the Decoder podcast and said the company would like to introduce the new payment system by the end of the year.

This is big news for dating apps, and for developers in general who have litigated to bypass the monopoly-like hold Apple and Google have on their payment platforms. To make their apps available on the iOS App Store for users to download, Hinge has had to agree to giving a percentage of every purchase made by its users to Apple.

Dating app Bumble announced that it was cutting almost 30 percent of its global workforce, shaking up the company while its userbase continues to decline.

According to its new CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, who’s back heading up the struggling company she founded, Bumble will be focused on returning to leaner operations to drive growth, according to The Guardian. The company will be cutting 240 roles globally in efforts to turnaround its sinking stock price.

Bumble shares rallied 24 percent during early trading the day after the announcement.

Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno announced in a post on LinkedIn that she will be leaving her role in July after two years as head of the app and eight years working for parent company Match Group.

This is the latest shakeup for Match Group, whose new CEO Spencer Rascoff recently announced that Tinder’s chief technology officer would also be leaving at the end of May, with no replacement named.

Match Group said it would be laying off 13 percent of its workforce in efforts to cut spending, the bulk of which would come from Tinder, according to The New York Post. Tinder has seen a decline in paying users over the last several quarters, and activist investors have been pushing for a turnaround. Hinge is the company’s bright spot, which is steadily growing despite the industry’s general decline.

Dating app giant Match Group is set to cut 13 percent of its staff, a reduction of about 325 employees from its most current count of 2,500. The company will also be closing all open positions.

This news comes after another disappointing first quarter. The company said in an earnings call that paid users fell more than 5 percent from a year ago, a trend that continues as more young daters look for ways to meet outside of dating apps. According to Fortune, the company’s new CEO Spencer Rascoff said that the staffing cuts will save Match Group about $100 million per year, and about $45 million in 2025 alone.

The trimming of staff will mostly focus on management according to Tech Crunch, with about one in five managers affected. The company wants to centralize key functions like technology and data services, customer care, and content moderation. It also wants to focus on media buying and international go-to-market functions to increase customer reach.