Are Hinge Comments Free?

Yes. On Hinge, a comment is an optional text note you add when you send a Like on a photo or prompt, and Hinge does not list commenting as a paid feature. What costs money is the volume of Likes you send and extras like Roses. A free comment is one of the strongest tools you have, so use it on the Likes that matter.

When you like something on her page, Hinge lets you attach a short note to the Like. That note is the comment. You can leave it blank, but Hinge's help center says adding one makes your Like more likely to get a response.

It is the closest thing the app has to a first message, and it arrives before she has decided whether you match. The words in it are often the first thing she hears from you.

Hinge publishes a list of what Hinge+ and HingeX add. It covers unlimited Likes, seeing all incoming Likes at once, unlimited Undo Skips and advanced filters. HingeX adds seeing compatible people sooner, an always-on boost and Priority Likes.

Commenting is not on that list. Hinge does not present it as a paid feature, which fits with a free account being able to do it.

Two things are limited without a subscription.

Likes. Free Hinge users can send only a select number of Likes per day. Hinge+ and HingeX subscribers can send unlimited Likes. A comment travels with a Like, so the limit on Likes is the limit on comments.

Roses. Hinge sells Roses separately from subscriptions. A Rose lets you move your Like to the top of someone's Likes You list, and sending one also lets you add an optional comment.

So the comment itself costs nothing, but the number of times you can send one in a day does.

If your Likes are limited, each comment is worth more. Do not spread them across everyone.

a dating coach has noticed the same logic on other apps. A man who likes everyone ends up with a feed of women he did not want, and he believes the apps read that man as less selective. Hinge works better when you like fewer women and say something to each of them.

A good rule is to send a comment only to a woman you would actually take out. If you would not, skip her without guilt. You have fewer Likes to give, and each one lands better.

My rules for a first message apply directly, since a comment is a first message.

• Comment on a prompt before a photo. He says prompts seem more genuine and less superficial than photos. There are exceptions, but a prompt answer gives you words to respond to.
• Keep it short. If you can say it in fewer words, do. One or two sentences is plenty.
• Look for something unusual and tease it a little. Something odd in her answer gives you material, and a light tease is better than a compliment she has heard a hundred times.
• Make it about her page. A comment that could go to any woman is wasted.

For example, if her prompt says her worst habit is leaving her laundry on the chair, you might write: "That chair has seen things. Is it still technically a chair?" It is specific, it is light, and it ends on a question she can answer in a sentence.

A comment cannot rescue a weak page. She looks at your photos and your answers before she decides whether to accept a Like, and the note only matters if she reaches that point.

Make sure your first photo is a clear one of your face in good light. Make sure your answers say something specific. Then the free comment has something to work with.

If you do spend a Rose, add a comment to it. Hinge lets you, and it makes sense: a Rose gets your Like seen first, and the comment gives her a reason to accept it.

Save Roses for women you really want, and write that comment with the most care. A Rose with no comment is just a louder version of an ordinary Like.