How to Make a Dating App Like Tinder

Can love be found online? Opinions on this may vary, but developers continue to be puzzled over how to make a dating app like Tinder, Match, Badoo, or OkCupid. With over 8,000 dating apps around the world, users choose only the most trusted. The picture below shows the most popular dating apps in the USA.

Contents

• How to make a dating app like Tinder
• Why Tinder? How does the Tinder app work?
• Tinder app features
• Technology stack required to develop a Tinder-like app
• Team (one developer per technology)
• Effective monetization strategy
• How much does it cost to build a dating app like Tinder?

How to make a dating app like Tinder

Steps to developing a Tinder-like app

Why Tinder? How does the Tinder app work?

Tinder is a popular and easy-to-use online dating solution. Since it appeared on the market, it has made over 30 billion matches. The secret of its success is gamification, which it introduced using innovative swipe technology.

Although Tinder may seem simple, it is smarter than it appears. In March 2019, Tinder presented a new matching algorithm. Currently, it’s not as transparent as it used to be. Tinder now matches you according to your recent activity, proximity, and gender preferences. It aims to show active users to other active users.

Tinder app features

Tinder’s basic feature set

• Registration through social networks
• Profile editing
• Geolocation-based searching
• Swiping and matching
• Private chatting
• Notifications
• Settings

User profiles

Registration is a must-have feature, but it should be quick and easy. Each user creates a personal profile outlining their interests and preferences. Basic information could be extracted from social networks. Allowing sign-up using social network accounts is essential.

Searching

Users identify their region so they can match with users from nearby locations. The ability to set preferred age and gender also makes it easier to find one’s soulmate.

Swiping and matching

Swiping is Tinder’s unique feature. It gives the app a dose of gamification and entertainment. A right swipe is a Like, a left swipe is a dislike, and a swipe up is a Super Like. A match occurs when two users like or Super Like each other.

Private chatting

After matching, users may begin chatting. Emojis, stickers, and GIFs make the conversation more lively.

Settings

To personalize the app, users can turn the sound on or off, change the visual theme, apply search filters, and edit personal information.

Admin panel

The team should have access to the admin panel to solve issues, manage users, and analyze the UX.

Technology stack required to develop a Tinder-like app

Team (one developer per technology)

• Back-end developer
• Front-end developer
• Android developer
• iOS developer
• UX/UI designer
• Quality assurance engineer
• Project manager

Effective monetization strategy

Although most dating apps are free for users, this doesn’t mean these apps earn nothing. The basic features are free for everyone, but users need to pay to obtain additional features.

Tinder Plus

Users can upgrade to Tinder Plus to receive unlimited Likes, rewind, a free monthly boost to the top of the user list, Super Likes, and the possibility to chat with users around the world.

Tinder Gold

The second option — Tinder Gold — gives all the advantages of Tinder Plus and a Likes You feature to let a user see who likes them.

In-app purchases

Some users don’t need all the Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold features. They are thus allowed to purchase only what they do need. For example, Tinder users can buy a boost and become a top profile in their location. Also, users like sharing stickers and gifts while chatting, so providing sticker packs for purchase can increase your revenue.

Ads

In-app ads are a good revenue solution for apps with mostly non-paying users. Tinder’s users are a great target audience for brands. An ad may help a user find new places to go, gift ideas, restaurants, taxi services — everything they need to prepare for a date. Just don’t place the ad on each screen; this will irritate and push your audience away.

Remove ads

If users are annoyed by in-app ads, they should be able to turn them off. A small fee of a few dollars removes all ads in all the user’s devices.

How much does it cost to build a dating app like Tinder?

You can see the approximate cost of building a mobile dating app like Tinder below. This estimate includes only the features essential to building an MVP of a Tinder-like app. The total price will vary depending on additional functionality.

Android

Feature	Cost
	Min	Max
Architecture	$416	$624
Sign-up and sign-in	$676	$1,248
Search	$260	$520
User profile	$1,560	$2,288
Swipe and match	$1,040	$1,560
Chat	$1,144	$1,560
Payment	$312	$624
Settings	$624	$832
Push notifications	$312	$416
Total	$6,344	$9,672

iOS

Feature	Cost
	Min	Max
Architecture	$312	$624
Sign-up and sign-in	$624	$1,092
Search	$260	$520
User profile	$1,508	$2,496
Swipe and match	$1,144	$1,612
Chat	$1,456	$2,028
Payment	$312	$624
Settings	$624	$832
Push notifications	$312	$416
Total	$6,552	$10,244

Back-end

Feature	Cost
	Min	Max
Project architecture	$416	$624
Database design and connection	$624	$832
Registration and authentication	$832	$1,248
Search	$1,248	$2,288
Swipe and match	$1,612	$2,184
User profile	$1,716	$2,236
Chat	$936	$1,508
Payment	$1,040	$1,664
User settings	$624	$832
Push notifications	$468	$676
Total	$9,516	$14,092

Admin panel

Feature	Cost
	Min	Max
Back-end	$2,080	$3,016
Sign-in	$416	$832
User management	$832	$1,248
Chat management	$832	$1,248
Payment management	$832	$1,248
Content moderation	$832	$1,248
Total	$5,824	$8,840

Additional costs

Feature	Cost
	Min	Max
UX/UI design	$8,100	$11,400
Quality assurance	$6,264	$9,504
Project management	$3,900	$5,940
Total	$18,264	$26,844

Conclusion

In short, a Tinder-like MVP costs $50,000–$80,000. This price includes developing an MVP for both Android and iOS and hiring one person for each technology.

Do you still have questions? We know how to make a dating app like Tinder. Contact us for more information.