How does a dating app make money?
Show all answers
The Secret: What do dating apps mostly charge for?
Visibility and shortcuts: boosts, likes, seeing who liked you. The free app builds the crowd; a minority of payers buy subscriptions and add-ons that make them more visible or save time. Source: Match Group 10-K
Why They Stay: Why do users keep swiping for months?
Intermittent rewards: an occasional match keeps hope alive. Unpredictable rewards are powerful habit-formers, the same mechanism behind slot machines. Source: Wikipedia – Reinforcement (variable ratio schedules)
Why They Leave: What's the paradox of a dating app's churn?
Success means the customer leaves. A happy couple deletes the app. That's why apps run several brands and lean on word of mouth from people who left happy. Source: Hinge – 'designed to be deleted'