Blog# Product Design# Fintech

How to make a dating app like Tinder?

Eugene Doroshenko

Head of Client Experience

February 6, 2018

Table of contents

Building a Dating App: Target Audience Overview

The Essential Dating App Functionality and Cool Additional Features To Set You Apart

User Profiles

In-App Messaging

Geolocation Features

The Matchmaking Algorithm

So How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Dating App?

Dating app with basic functionality or MVP

Dating app with advanced functionality

What do we know about love?

It’s an amazing feeling. It’s hard to find and it has also gone digital today.

You no longer go to a professional matchmaker or ask friends to hook you up with someone. You can simply tap and swipe an app for relevant candidates.

While it’s hard to explain love in numbers, you can easily break down the dating industry to some raw figures that would justify the market depth for building a Tinder clone.

Here’s proof:

Annual revenue from dating apps now tops $2 billion.

An average consumer spends $243 for in-app purchases and subscriptions.

Over 49,250,000 people in the US only have tried online dating, which makes it 15% of all Americans. In the UK 7 millions of people have used a dating app.

Tinder currently boasts over 50 million users globally and 10 million active daily users. 60% of the app’s users come from outside the US.

Tinder is estimated to be worth $1.6 billion with $121 million generated by subscriptions only

Sounds good?

The market depth and profitability is there.

Now, let’s have a closer look on your target audience to understand how to make a dating app everyone loves (pun intended).

Building a Dating App: Target Audience Overview

Back to our question: how to build an app like Tinder?

Here’s the truth – most dating apps have similar functionality and design to social networking apps. The key elements are:

User profiles.

Messaging functionality.

Newsfeed/content feed with the latest updates.

Search, contact and integration options.

And the unique element – matchmaking algorithm.

So shall we take a quick look on the essentials and the respective dating app development costs involved?

Login and Privacy Considerations

You do remember the notorious Ashley Madison case?

That time when tons of private data leaked into the world web. That’s right. Online dating and privacy concerns always come hand in hand.

Most users will rather not let their friends, colleagues and current partners know that they are active in the online dating scene. And of course, no one wants their user data to become a public asset.

That’s why our dating app development company always insists on using SSL certificates and HTTPS connections for added security.

If you think about geo-integration and related functions for your app, we’ll make sure that those 3rd party integration will no snoop on your users’ data and re-sell it for advertising purposes.

Social media logins and integrations come as the second major aspect of personal dating security.

On one hand, those allow to verify users’ identities and protect everyone from possible sex offenders and harassments. Users should also have the ability to report abuses and inappropriate behaviors. Tinder, by the way, has already faced a harassment lawsuit, so do take this issue seriously when you create a dating app.

Want some more security measures? How about these?

Additional profile photo verification. Request users to snap a picture from their device and the app algorithm will ensure that it matches those listed on their profile.

Bumble app has taken another approach and introduced the women first messaging system. Girls should initiate the conversation after they’ve got matched. This was aimed to reduce a number of inappropriate messages female users get. The community response has been overwhelmingly positive so far.

Siren app offered women an option to initially blur their profile photos and get messages from people only interested in their answers to dating questions.

You may require double verification e.g. both via Facebook and LinkedIn to create a more refined user-base.

You can create an exclusive invite-only dating app or “luxury” functionality that would require not only additional screening, but a personal invite from an established community member as well. Marketing such a product can be harder, but the payoffs rise too.

In general, the best way to balance your company’s need for user growth and the quality of users it to create a two-step login option.

Generic login with email/pass or one social media accounts, which would give limited access to the app features. Signing up and getting a taste of your product would be easy.

Additional verification to unlock complete functionality. For instance, integrating Facebook/LinkedIn/Instagram etc. or uploading additional verification documents like ID copy/social security number.

However, here pops another concern.

A lot of users feel reluctant about the providing too much personal data for the fear of getting busted with online dating.

That’s why you should clearly communicate your data protection policy. Highlight that you will never disclose or post anything on their behalf. Clearly outline which user information you store and collect in the first place.

User Profiles

Most dating apps offer linear profile views – pic, a list of interests, questions answered etc.

However, that shouldn’t be the norm.

You may want to experiment and offer users a Pinterest-styled way to organize their pics and personal tidbits. Or keep it simple like Tinder does with minimalistic design and focus on pictures and swapping.

Some essential UX and UI guidelines to consider when making a dating app:

Big clear pictures with the ability to add/store a few different ones.

About me field with a few pre-suggested questions the struggling users may answer and enlist.

Like/dislike and message functionality.

Encourage users to use real names and age to reduce “fakery”. Or better pull this data automatically from their social profiles.

Include an anonymous “save for later” button for the undeceive types.

You can add some custom twists like in-built face tune for pics. Sure that may drive the dating app development price tag higher, but some users will definitely appreciate this.

Additional custom features for a dating app may include video messaging; in-app calls; custom stickers; in-app gifts, stickers and emoticons; and other sweet little perks to break the ice.

In-App Messaging

When you make a dating app, first consider these two monetization options:

Make the messaging free and unlimited like Tinder and Grindr does.

Require users to purchase credits once the user hits their weekly/monthly limit (OkCupid and Zoosk strategy).

Additional messaging perks to consider:

Video chats/video exchanges.

Encourage women to message first over men.

Set of pre-made icebreaker questions to keep the conversation flowing.

Also, did you know that custom emojis and stickers are a $4 million/year industry?

Geolocation Features

Your app should match-make people in the same area, not on different continents 😊

You can monitor user logs and auto-update their profile based on this data. Don’t forget to ask for permission during the initial login!

The Matchmaking Algorithm

That’s arguably the trickiest part of your product.

Playing some sort of clairvoyant and stating and John should like Jane is difficult, especially on a large scale.

Wondering how various dating apps are tackling this process? Here are your answers:

Long user surveys and questionnaires to define their personality (eHarmony and Match have notoriously big ones)

Tinder bases their matchmaking just on profile pictures.

Zoosk assesses your personality based on simple yes/no questions and proposes the most relevant matches.

Heavenly Sinful app took another root and allows users to scale their intentions on a heavenly/sinful scale, add them on the mood map and get matched with people nearby.

Basically, all the “smart” matchmaking algorithms used in dating apps can be broken down to 3 key factors:

Psychological compatibility – the app assesses your personal traits like temperament, social style, values etc.

Shared interests – hobbies, favorite movies and common experiences the users list on their profiles.

Physical characteristics – achieved through a variety of complex factors, most dating apps prefer not to disclose.

Speaking of a dating app like Tinder, where the major emphasis is put on appearance specifically, there have been some speculations on how exactly their algorithm works:

You are first matched with 10-15 profiles ranked on a “more attractive” side to encourage the app usage.

Next, the app will show you the profiles you’ve been already matched with and now awaiting your swipe back with some non-matches in between.

The more you swipe and the more often you login to the app – the more matches you are likely to receive.

Tinder is rumored to secretly reward people, who swipe right often as the app wants more matches and conversation to happen. While if you’re swiping left too much, you get marked as “picky” and your profile will be shown less.

This is the essential functionality for a simple dating app with a few possible twists. Our team would be glad to advise additional options and run customer surveys to validate the assumptions.

Now let’s move on to the money part.

Here’s how much app developers will charge you for building a custom dating app.

So How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Dating App?

A quick reality check first.

By the time you decide to hire dating app developers for your startup, you should have a clear understanding on the features you wish to implement and the manpower required to do the job.

Here’s a three-step checklist to help you with this task:

Do I want an Android or iPhone app (that is also supported on other iOS devices) or both?

Do I plan to make an MVP or a full-feature product?

Do I plan to outsource app development or keep things in-house?

Next, let’s have a look at the man hours required for the key features:

Authorization via Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn and social data sync (32-44 hours)

Profiles functionality and design (28-40 hours)

App settings (28-36 hours)

Geolocation integration (28-48 hours)

Messaging system (90-150 hours depending on the requested functionality)

App feed and discovery settings (32-48 hours)

Payment integrations for in-app purchases (90-150 hours)

The team you should hire for your project:

UX Designer

UI Designer

2 iOS developers/2 Android developers

Front-end developer

Back-end developer

Project manager

QA Ninja

Now let’s take a closer look at the possible project timeline:

Dating app with basic functionality or MVP

UX/UI design – 230 to 300 hours.

Coding for two platforms – 400 to 600 hours.

PM and QA – 200 to 300 hours.

Final cost: $30.000 to $50.000 depending on the project scope if you partner with Alty.

Dating app with advanced functionality

UX/UI design – 950 to 1800 hours.

Coding for two platforms – 1500 to 2500 hours.

PM and QA – 750 to 1250 hours.

Expect to pay between $80.000 to $200.000 depending on the type of product features and their complexity.

Want to get an instant price quote for a dating app development project? Reach out to us.