How to make a dating app like Tinder or Grindr

Dating apps remain a controversial and ambivalent thing. Some like it and have met the love of their lives, others oppose it. Some of us dislike negative experiences brought on with a dating app, but still use it. That’s life, that’s human hopes for better. Everyone wants to be admired. Good news is that there is no shortage in mobile apps for dating. Another good news dwells in a fact that it becomes easier to make a dating app.

Admit it or not, but we’ve all used dating apps. The business of dating existed long before the rise of mobile apps and devices. So it is only natural that dating has occupied a large piece of mobile industry. And it exploded like crazy. From gay dating apps like Grindr to Shinder – the app matching all women to just one guy… You will find any kind you can think of. But what about the dating app development? How to create a dating app? Let’s start with Why.

Why build a dating app

Dating apps will never be abandoned by users and they bring huge profits. There’s your reason number one. No wonder how to make an app like Tinder is such a popular search request. And with variety of apps for dating, apps for hookups or escort, you can always put a new spin on things and earn a buck on it. Like Hater dating app, for instance, that connects people based on things they dislike.

Find out a new niche, attract audience, introduce paid plans with extra features. And there’s your business project. Make it easy as swiping right. Tinder has 50 million monthly users, Zoosk app has 30 million. Even regional and culture-specific dating mobile apps are trending. Chinese networking ap Momo reached 70 million MAU by start of 2017. Besides, social studies prove that all men and women of all ages use dating apps. From teens and adults to men of age above 50.

As it appears, love could be a blooming business. Few more interesting facts about investment value of dating apps:

• Dating is the $2.5 billion worldwide market
• 40% of all US citizens engage in online dating
• 10 billion matches reached in Tinder app
• 80% of dating app users are millennials
• $1.3 million is the monthly revenue of iOS dating app by Match.com

Dating apps features

So you want to create an app like Grindr. Some are also interested in how much Tinder costs. To make a dating app you start with defining the features. Do you want swipe-right functionality or do you want matching on location? Or are you planning on incorporating totally new unique dating app features? Well, the essential are these ones, as a rule:

• Profiles

User accounts with editable information – bio, images, interests, age, sex, etc.

• Matching

System algorithms to match people, to offer possible matches, adjustable settings

• Push notifications

Real-time alerts about events within an app – messages, matches, reminders, etc.

• Chat / messaging

For users to communicate with each other, often available as a premium (paid) option

• Social integration

Login with social media accounts, app integration to collect data for user profiles and matching

Another issue is how do you monetize a dating app? There are five basic dating app business models:

Model	Info
Subscription	Premium features available within monthly/quarterly/annual pricing plans
Freemium	Basic functionality for free, additional features for a fee
Gifts	Digital stickers, gifts, emojis, flowers, etc. for a fee
Advertising	In-app ads, native ads, in-chat ads, etc.
Offline services	Book movie tickets, reserve a table, call a taxi, etc.

Best dating apps

iOS dating apps or dating apps for Android – there’s no great divide there, actually. Almost all popular dating apps are available for both these 2 platforms, and some for even more. Mobile apps for dating count in hundreds, but to make a dating app and know how high the bar is, check these top ones.

• Tinder – probably the most famous one. Just swiping an offered match left to refuse, or swipe right to accept. Likes and superlikes, chat and group chats, social login, matches around you, recommendations. Basically, everything you need for dating and nothing else.

• Coffee Meets Bagel – high quality matches (bagels), pre-selected matches based on personal profiles, chat, search and filters, premium accounts. A separate functionality for LGBTQ community.

• Happn – a  specific kind of matches that helps discover people you’ve already crossed paths with. On the street, cafe or concert. Users just turn on the location services on their phones. Fun additional features like “Just say Hi”.

• Zoosk – a dating app for serious relationship building. It uses artificial intelligence algorithm (AI) to check user preferences and offer more confident matches. It even validates users’ phone numbers first, and photos as well.

• Match – a mobile version of famous Match.com, one of the first dating services on the Internet. Similar features to all the other dating apps, while additional cool features are subscription only. Great both for single men and single women.

How to make a dating app

If you see a gap on the dating market and wish to create your own mobile app, you’re welcomed to go ahead. Maybe your idea will become the next Tinder. We’ll all adore it and you’ll make huge profits. A win-win situation. If you have little knowledge in making apps, we can help.

Outsourcing mobile development is possible as a whole, or partially. We can do a market research for you, we can prepare an estimate of your app concept. We can do design tasks for a dating app, as well as wireframes and visual prototypes. Also we can test your product.

Of course, this is just one of the options. Though, we also have the expertise to make a dating app skillfully and efficiently, and can tell you how much does a dating app cost to make. Date people, love people, enjoy yourself!