How Much Do Dating Apps Cost for Men?

The core version of the big dating apps is free, so the answer is zero until you choose to add something. What you spend after that depends on which tier you pick, how long a plan you sign up for, and whether you buy single extras on top. The price that counts is the one on the subscription screen inside the app.

Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and OkCupid all let you make a page, look at other people, match and chat for nothing. A man can run a full dating life on the free version of any of them.

That matters for how you think about the cost. The question is not whether you can afford the app. It is whether any particular add-on is worth what it charges, and the add-ons are all optional.

Each app sells its own ladder.

Tinder has Plus, Gold and Platinum. Hinge has Hinge+ and HingeX. Bumble has Boost, Premium and Premium+. OkCupid has Premium.

Across the four, the tiers sell a similar short list. Unlimited likes in a day. Seeing who already liked you. Finer filters. Being placed ahead of other people for a while. The higher the tier, the more of those it bundles.

Some things are not part of any tier. Hinge sells Boosts and Roses separately. Bumble sells Spotlights and SuperSwipes in packs. OkCupid says its Incognito option is a separate subscription.

These are easy to lose track of. A man who is already paying a monthly fee can still spend more by tapping a one-off extra at the wrong moment, and the charges add up faster than the monthly line suggests.

The honest reason this article does not print a dollar figure is that there are several moving parts.

Plans come in different lengths, and a longer plan costs less per month than a short one. So the real monthly price depends on the plan you choose, not just the tier.

Billing is a second variable. Apps sold through the App Store or Google Play are charged there, and Hinge also offers its own payment on iOS. The bundle in each tier and its price change over time too.

Because of all that, any number in an article is likely to be out of date by the time you read it. Open the subscription screen in the app and read it there.

a dating coach's rule for any paid feature is to test it. If it is relatively cheap, buy it for a short stretch, see whether your results move, and drop it if they do not.

He adds a reason for paying at all. His view is that a man who refuses to pay for anything on principle is trading away results to protect a feeling, and that your time is worth money. But he is just as firm that you should not pay blindly for every extra on offer.

Here is a way to run the test. Before you pay, write down what the free version gives you in a typical week: how many people like you, how many conversations you have, how many dates you set up. Then pay for one tier on one app for the shortest plan available, and track the same three numbers.

Paid features multiply what you have. If your lead photo and your written answers already get a good response, a tier that puts you in front of more people will get you more of it.

If they do not, you pay for a larger audience to say no. In that case the money belongs on the photos and the words first. Fixing those costs far less than a year of subscriptions and changes what every tier is worth to you.

Subscriptions renew, and a plan bought in a burst of enthusiasm keeps charging after the enthusiasm is gone. Look at what you are paying for at the same time each month. If you are on one app most of the time, you do not need the paid tier on three.

Keep one paid tier on the app that produces your dates. Let the others run free.

Dating apps cost nothing to use and cost whatever extras you add. Check the in-app screen for the true figure, pay for a short test of one thing at a time, and keep it only if your numbers move.