Is Bumble Boost Worth It for Guys?

It depends on which problem you have. Boost is worth paying for if you get plenty of matches and many of them expire before anyone writes. It is a waste of money if you get very few matches, because nothing in it changes the photos and words a woman judges you on. Run the free version for two weeks and count, and the answer will be obvious.

Boost is Bumble's base paid plan. It includes a weekly allowance of SuperSwipes and Spotlights, Extend, Rematch and unlimited Backtrack. Premium and Premium+ include everything in Boost and add more.

A SuperSwipe tells a woman you are especially interested before you have matched. A Spotlight pushes your page out to more people for a set period. Extend gives a match more time, and Rematch restarts the clock on one that already expired. Backtrack undoes a no swipe you regret.

We leave the price out because it changes, and the right way to judge it does not depend on the figure. Ask what problem each feature solves and whether you have that problem.

A Bumble match does not last forever. Each of you gets one opening message before the chat fully opens, and the match expires if nobody writes in time. Everyone gets a free Extend, and Boost makes it unlimited.

If you are a busy man who matches in the evening and forgets about it until the weekend, this is where Boost earns its keep. Extend and Rematch protect matches you already earned. Count how many of your matches expired last month. If it is several, you have found a problem the plan was built for.

a dating coach says a paid feature multiplies what you already have. If your matches are close to zero, a multiplier turns close to zero into slightly more than that. A Spotlight shows your current page to more women, and if the page does not appeal to them, more women pass.

This is the most common waste. A man with an out-of-date lead photo pays for Boost, sees no change, and decides the app is rigged. The fix was the photo. Our view is to repair the page first and pay for volume afterward.

Boost is not the plan with the Liked You queue. Seeing who has already liked you, advanced filters, Incognito Mode and Travel Mode sit in Premium. If seeing your likes is the feature you want, you are looking at the wrong tier.

Boost also leaves your photos, your answers and your messages exactly as they were. It changes how many women see you, and how long a match lasts.

a dating coach's rule for any paid tool is to test it cheaply and compare against your free weeks. Do the same here.

For two weeks, use the free version daily and note three numbers: women you like, matches you get, and matches that expire with no message. Then take one month of Boost, use it the same way, and compare.

Stop paying if your matches did not rise, or if no matches were expiring in the first place. Keep it if the same effort now produces more conversations. Bumble says its paid features are optional and that Bumble works well without them. A man should be able to say what he got for the money.

SuperSwipes are for women where you can name what caught your eye. Sent as a habit, they stop meaning anything, and a SuperSwipe followed by "hey" wastes the signal.

Start a Spotlight when people are likely to be on the app, such as an evening, and when you will be around to answer. Exposure you are not there to follow up is wasted.

Use Extend on the matches you most want to talk to, and then write something specific to them. Extra time is only useful if the first message is good.

Boost will not make a weak page strong. It makes a page that works reach more women, and it protects the matches you have. If you are unsure which describes you, the two-week count tells you. And whatever you decide, keep the goal in view: a plan for a date within a few messages of the match. The plan matters more than the subscription.