Name: Tinder
Rating: 3.5

LAST UPDATED: March 1st, 2025

Tinder is an online dating app that was first introduced as a social network dating site on college campuses in 2012. The app uses location data to connect local singles who anonymously review member profiles and decide whether they are interested. Members are only connected when both parties mutually swipe right to like each other. Like several other big-name online dating sites, Tinder's parent company is Match Group, the parent company of match.com.

Typical dating sites require no introduction or approval before another member can begin messaging you. Tinder uses a double opt-in to reduce feelings of rejection, albeit digital. Before a line of communication can start between two Tinder members, both must swipe right — expressing interest in one another and giving consent for messaging.

While Tinder does not release exact statistics about its popular dating app, here are a few key points for people to know:

340+ million downloads
190 countries
40+ languages
5.9 million paid subscribers
50% of members are ages 18–25
1.5 million dates per week
26 million matches per day

This app caters to people who want quick, easy connections. However, you can set up your online dating profile to look for all kinds of relationships.

Keep reading to learn more about how Tinder works, view pros and cons, or skip straight to user reviews.

How do you sign up for Tinder?

You can access and sign up for Tinder either online via the Tinder for Web platform or by downloading the mobile app on Android or iOS. In less than five minutes, you can have your account set up completed and already be swiping through local singles.

To set up your Tinder account, you need to provide the following things:

Your first name
Birthdate
Profile photo
Email
Phone number or Facebook verification

report_problem

Attention: Tinder's user signup no longer requires a Facebook account.

Before August 2019, Tinder required a Facebook account to sign up. Now, you have two options when you register your new account: either associate your account with Facebook or your phone number.

Next, as with all dating apps, you need to provide more information about yourself and who you want to meet: men, women, or everyone. There are over 30 pre-set, inclusive options to identify your gender.

Examples include the following:

Man
Woman
Agender
Androgyne
Androgynous
Bigender
Female to male
FTM
Gender fluid
Gender nonconforming
Gender questioning
Gender variant
Genderqueer
Male to female
MTF
Neither
Neutrois
Non-binary
Other
Pangender

Trans
Trans man
Trans person
Trans woman
Transfeminine
Transgender
Transgender female
Transgender male
Transgender man
Transgender person
Transgender woman
Transmasculine
Transsexual
Transsexual female
Transsexual male
Transsexual man
Transsexual person
Transexual woman
Two-spirit

You have the option to choose up to three sexual orientations to express your interests:

Straight
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Asexual
Demisexual
Pansexual
Queer
Questioning

Users can choose whether or not to have their orientation displayed on their Tinder bio.

That's all it takes to set up a Tinder profile. Next, you can browse through dating profiles, and change your Discovery settings to vary your deck of potential matches. Discovery settings include the following:

Your current location
Maximum distance radius (1–100 miles)
Gender (seeking)
Age range

To return to your Tinder account, you can sign in with the following credential options:

Facebook
Google
Phone number

What can you do for FREE on Tinder?

Tinder's dating platform allows members to do quite a bit for free. On this site, you can even send and receive messages with other members for free — no credit card or free trial signup needed. You won't be able to do the same on eHarmony or match.com.

For free, you can do the following on Tinder:

Create a dating profile (up to 6 photos and 500 characters) and connect it with social media accounts
Browse and swipe through your daily potential match deck
Like up to 100 profiles every 12 hours
Send and receive text messages with matches
One Super Like per day
One Tinder Pick per day

How do Tinder subscriptions work?

Although you can use the free version of the Tinder app to connect and message with local singles, upgrading to a paid subscription offers additional benefits. Subscription options include:

Two subscription levels: Plus and Gold
1-month, 6-month, and 12-month subscription durations

Here are a few premium features that you should know about:

Rewind — Undo your last Like or Nope.
Super Like — Express extra interest in someone by tapping the blue star. When you come to the top of their deck, your profile will be highlighted in blue.
Boost — Get bumped to the top of people's Discovery queue for 30 minutes, for more immediate matches.
Passport — Check out singles in other cities and countries.
Likes You — See a list of other members who have Liked your profile, before you swipe yes or no on their profile.
Top Picks — Featured member profiles that are selected for you based on occupation, education, hobbies, and other interests.

Free Tinder

Tinder Plus

Tinder Gold

Ads

Ads

Ad-Free

Likes

100 per 12 Hours

Unlimited

Rewind

✔

Super Like

5 per Day

Boost

1 per Month

Passport

✔

Likes You

✔

Top Picks

1 per Day

4–10 Picks Daily

Subscribing to Tinder Plus starts at about $9.99 per month for people under 30 and $19.99 per month for users over 30. Tinder Gold pricing starts at $14.99 per month and increases for users over 30 years old. Exact pricing for each membership varies based on your location and age. If you opt for the 6- or 12-month subscription terms, you get a per-month discount for paying up-front, so it will cost you less in the long run than a month-to-month subscription.

Keep reading for pros and cons of using this dating app or skip straight to Tinder reviews from real users.

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The Good

Easy to Use
Location-Based Matching
Tinder U
Only Message Mutual Matches
Free Messaging
Large Pool of Users
Tinder Top Picks
Safety Measures

Easy to Use

Tinder is an extremely easy-to-use dating app with a game-style approach to matching online daters.

Customer Review: Seth from Dallas, Texas

"Great way to meet new people, make some friends, and help you get back in the dating life. Very easy to use and great for you to get back in the social life."

Each member sets their interests (in men or women) then swipes (scrolling left to right) through local Tinder member profiles. Profiles display multiple photos and a brief introduction or pick-up lines. Users swipe right to like another user's profile and swipe left to reject profiles.

Tinder U

If you are a college student in the United States, Tinder U can help you connect with other single students at your school. It's available at four-year accredited college and university campuses.

You must log in to Tinder while you are on campus and verify your profile with your .edu email address, for an added level of security.

Location-Based Matching

Tinder helps you quickly contact local users. Matches are based on your location and GPS data. This helps to combat one of the most significant issues that users have with online dating sites: long-distance connections. If you want more than a pen pal, Tinder helps users find someone that they could reasonably connect with IRL.

Adding GPS location data to Tinder's emphasis on profile pics adds to its reputation as a hookup app. However, users state what type of relationship they are looking for. While it is useful for local hookups, you can also find a large pool of local daters looking for all kinds of relationships.

If you travel a lot, the new Tinder Passport feature lets members get access to more singles.

Only Message Mutual Matches

Tinder keeps things fair for daters by only allowing communication to members who have already "swiped" or shared an interest in each other. This is helpful for people that don't want to be harassed or approached by every member of the site. Basically, swiping right on someone gives your consent for them to message you.

The double-opt-in saves you from rejection. You only connect after mutual interest is expressed.

Free Messaging

Most online dating sites require you to be a paid member to send and receive text messages. Though you can only message people that you have matched with, this is one of the online dating options that allows you to interact with other people without paying for a subscription.

Large Pool of Users

Tinder is the most popular online dating app in the United States, with an audience of more than 7 million users, varying across several age groups. Additionally, it is the most popular dating app in 27 states. A 2020 survey found that the dating platform is popular among city and country-dwellers. Six percent of rural adults, seventeen percent of suburban adults, and eleven percent of urban adults were currently using Tinder.

Many people view the popular dating app as a hookup app, but Tinder's website displays stories of relationships and marriages coming from the online dating social network. Tinder can be used for whatever type of romantic relationship you're looking for: "Friends, dates, relationships, and everything in between."

Tinder Top Picks

Tinder's newest update offers improved recommendations. Now, instead of users coming up randomly in your area, Tinder will try to show you matches that they think you will like (based on previous swiping history and what you have in common).

Safety Measures

When it comes to dating online, many services leave safety to the individual user. However, Tinder has a few safety features that users can take advantage of, including the following:

Photo Verification — Verify your profile by copying a selfie pose. The photo is verified by human and facial recognition technology. Verified profiles are confirmed with a checkmark. This new feature is being rolled in stages and isn't available to all users yet.
Noonlight — In the United States, Tinder has partnered with Noonlight, a personal safety/panic-button app. When you plan to meet someone IRL, you can add details about your date to your Timeline. If you don't feel safe, you can discreetly request emergency services to your location.

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The Bad

No Phone Support
Gender Disparity
Refund Policy
No Matching Algorithm
Swipe Limits
Age-Based Pay Scale
User Motives

No Phone Support

You can't call Tinder customer support on the phone. Requests can be submitted online or through your account. This is certainly not unique when it comes to online dating sites, but it can still be inconvenient for some users who prefer to call and speak to someone for assistance.

Gender Disparity

In the United States, 32 percent of men and 28 percent of women have ever used a dating site or app; however, male Tinder users make up the majority — over 75 percent are men. People seeking to match with women may find it a bit more competitive than other online dating sites.

Refund Policy

In-app purchases are nonrefundable. If your subscription auto-renews, you have 14 days from the transaction date to request a refund.

No Matching Algorithm

This dating service can seem exceptionally superficial. Members rate other daters purely on their photos and a short one-liner. There's not much depth in actually getting to know the daters until both members have matched, where they may have a conversation. This may leave out potential matches that could work out for a long-term relationship.

Generally, personalities can be easily overlooked because this app focuses on an all or nothing approach to rating each new person's profile pictures.

Swipe Limits

Without a paid membership, users are limited to 100 Likes (right swipes) every 12 hours. Upgraded users on either subscription get access to unlimited Likes.

Age-Based Pay Scale and Issues

Tinder has an age-based pay scale, so if you’re over thirty years old, upgrading will cost you more. Younger (under 30ish) users can subscribe starting at $9.99 per month; it can be up to double for people over 30.

Pricing is based on your location and age. The exception is the state of California, where the company agreed to a 2019 settlement.

User Motives

When it comes to online dating companies, many reviews mention poor intentions of other members, scammers, fake profiles, and bots. Tinder doesn't escape this criticism.

Customer Review: Remington from Pleasant Grove, Utah

"This app is an absolute joke. Too many people don't take this seriously they don't try to match they just try to hook up. I'm honestly disappointed just a waste of my time."

However, as with many dating apps, a serious relationship is possible, but you may have to kiss a few frogs. With over 190 reviews collected, only a few people mention meeting a wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner.

Customer Review: Mckinsey from Logan, Utah

"This is how I met my husband! The service and people on the app can be sketchy but that doesn’t have anything to do with the company."

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The Bottom Line

Tinder is a very popular and easy to use online dating service. Interested consumers can download the app from iTunes or Google Play or access the site with their browser.

This watershed online dating app lets users swipe through photos and profiles of local singles based on your device's location data. Once a mutual match is made, members can message each other for free. Paid subscriptions are available for those who want more options, but Tinder Gold and Tinder Plus pricing is not set in stone and users in their thirties will be paying more than younger users.

Although Tinder has a reputation for facilitating hookup dates over long-term relationships, results vary based on what you are looking for and the intentions of other users. Some members have started successful relationships from the app.

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User Reviews

Star Rating

3.5

343 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

25%

4 grade

29%

3 grade

24%

2 grade

12%

1 grade

10%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

Quality

Service

Trustworthiness

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Dicky Lemlem

Tinder is set up like nothing else I have ever seen. I paid for a 6 month subscription. Usually when you pay a hookup site you can at least see what is going on with any potential prospect that you are interested in. No such thing here. If you pay for Tinder Plus you may as well pay for nothing. All they do is tell you how many likes you have, and if you go to look to see who likes you, your looking at a bunch of intentionally blurred photos and at the bottom it upgrade to see who like you. Okay, so you hit upgrade for 4.95 extra a month. Think you only pay 29.70 to upgrade, you better think again. They charge you as if it the full price. In this case over 100.00 dollars and then they say they will request some other company refund the remainder of the initial amount. Bottom line folks, there are much better sites for dating and even hookups for casual meetings. I am not going to say you don't get what you're paying for here because they are upfront about what you get when you study it, but, you get to at least see and select profiles, and see who is interested in you on other sites if you pay. Then comes the upgrade problem. I immediately deleted my account. Please people, read and understand before joining this group. It simply is not worth the cost here. There are much better choices.

11 months ago

Roger Garland Los Angeles, CA

I joined and paid $100 for 3 months. Once I did, I was unable to message women or see the ones that liked me. Each time that I tried, a window would pop up asking me to pay. Since I had already paid, I contacted Tinder but hey have no customer service reps that you can speak with. They claim that any problems have to be solved on online so I tried twice to find out what the problem was. I got emails back from them that did not solve the problem so that the system would work for me. Getting nowhere and becoming frustrated, I called my credit card company who arranged a refund. Tinder then said that I was banned, falsely claiming that they removed me because I had violated their terms of use. It's very sad and disgraceful that their business model is to not have customer reps that might have easily solved my problem. I gave them a 1 star rating but would have given no stars if this review allowed me to,

1 year ago

John Diaz Sebring, FL

Full of beautiful women trying to get account numbers from crypto by gaining your confidence of love and then slowly getting you to invest in crypto trading and eventually getting all your log in information and account numbers by insisting you give them a screen shot of every step so you don't do anything wrong. Why would a beautiful woman that is model material be interested in an old man???? Why would a beautiful woman that is model material be on a dating site at al??? WhenI realized I was being conned, I had to change all my pass words to my bank, crypto accounts, emails etc... I also had to withdraw all my Coinbase and ETH. money and put it in a safe wallet. After I did that, I noticed that all the values have been going up consistently causing me to loose thousands...

2 years ago

Chad Hopp Austin, TX

Everyone who is rating tinder as a 5 star is out of their mind. As someone who has used tinder for a long time, I'll lay down some facts for you and provide some of my positive experiences. 1. Bots.. a lot of them. 2. Cam girls (onlyfans, wannabe IG models, ect..) lot of them too 3. Vastly more men than women. 4. Scammers! ~watch out~ Okay, so it has the normal dating app bullsmack. Cool. We get it. However, contrary to the article above, there is a matching algorithm. It favors accounts that pay, as well as, people who upload new pictures. So, if you are not uploading new pictures your account will fall to a lower priority. Swiping right on everyone seems to have that effect as well. Its rare to find a girl who actually responds after matching. This is not because I'm ugly or boring... its because tinder is almost more of a swiping game. People swipe and never come back to the app. Overall, you can match with real people. But its extremely rare. I have matched with a lot of girls. I've dated a girl I matched with for two years. I've gone on many dates because of tinder. The app DOES WORK. But, you have to be dedicated. Paying tinder gets you vastly more matches, really like 4x more matches. If you want to be successful you pretty much have to use the app every single day. Tinder is a numbers game. Statically you will match with someone after you swipe on enough people. If all the dating apps equate to a sea of trash, I guess tinder isn't totally garbage. But it still belongs in the sea of trash with all the other dating apps. Go outside and find yourself someone.

3 years ago

Adrian Philadelphia, PA

I have been trying to CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS. I tried with my google account, with my apple subscriptions and through my Tinder account and it does not allow me to do it! This is insane, I do not use the app, nor the service and they are taking from my account $15 USD every month, it is just not fair and there is no way to contact them. I tried sending them a request through their website but the "protected by reCAPTCHA" does not work either, I really do not understand. This company is taking advantage of people and they should be hold accountable, starting at least with an easier way to contact customer support. WHAT A BAD EXPERIENCE!

4 years ago

Melissa DeVenero Rockville, CT

Got banned for no reason. Reached out to see why and was met with a generic message that I was banned for not following guidelines, etc. I reached out again to see which one I did not follow and no response. Reached out again to just get another generic message. They won’t tell me why I was banned. They won’t even answer emails. I did nothing wrong. If you are going to ban someone for life please be able to at least tell them why or which rule or guideline they broke.

jennifer thompson Prospect Park, PA

A few months after a bad break up I decided that maybe I would jump back into the dating pool to see what kind of fish are out there. A friend told me to go on tinder so I set up an account. It didn’t take long for my page to get some action but honestly not the kind I was looking for. It seemed like almost instantly I was bombarded with messages from one weirdo after the next. The would leave me the craziest most inappropriate messages. Didn’t take long for it to become annoying. Tinder made me realize why I don’t do online dating

Ser Ro Havana, 03

I was using tinder for a while and suddenly I got banned. First I was frustrated because I paid a whole year of a subscription and I don't get my money back, and nobody told me why they banned me, I am always very polite in my conversation so I have no idea. Customer service is no where to be found. Now after using other apps like badoo and lovoo I realized that they are much better and they have the same features as tinder for free. I would get a lot of fake profiles in tinder, not anymore, Also I get much more matches and have much more features that I didn't have in tinder.

Mia

I took a bunch of time to create an account and was banned the next day, less than 24 hours for no reason. I read over the terms and did not violate any policies. When I wrote to ask why I was banned, Tinder did not supply me with any explanation and do not offer the option to appeal. I knew I should have deleted this app as the first 3 encounters were just guys trying to hook up for the night. Talking sexual. A bunch of people posting near naked pics on the app and I get banned? All my pics and videos were fully clothed and respectful. I never got banned from any app in my life.

Justin Pumilia , NJ

I have been using this service for almost a year now and have come to be very disappointed. I have had 11 potential matches for almost the whole time and have never come across one. I have a feeling that it is a pay to get matches type situation. Maybe it is user error but I find it had to believe that when I swipe right on everyone for a week and get nothing from it that it is a user error.

4 years ago Edited September 14, 2021

Bobbi Callahan, FL

Rediculous waste of money . I was charged eighty bucks to look at pictures and swipe. Then when someone liked my picture it wanted another $6.99 a month to become a gold member so I can see who liked me. BS. All I wanted to do was find somebody who like to travel & take some vacations. BS, NOT PLAYING THAT SILLY GAME! SAVE YOUR MONEY YOU'RE PAYING FOR NOTHING I CAN LOOK IN A MAGAZINE AND SEE PICTURES

5 years ago

Michael Lyman Salt Lake City, UT

Oh where do I start? Tinder.....Could be one of the most thoughtful time wasters ever. Not only do you usually not get anywhere as a guy, you are either stood up or ghosted pretty frequently by the other users. If you do happen to meet someone on there, they turn out to be more along the trashy type. I'm sure there are people that succeed on there, but the product is not very successful. Tinder has a lot of issues with the app, and not being able to see who has liked you really can be a huge downfall of the app.

7 years ago

Krystal Taylor Pleasant Grove, UT

I downloaded Tinder, and became obsessed. Which was not good for my mental well being, rather than seeing people as individuals I began to judge people on their appearances insomuch that I would think to myself when I'd see people in public, "would I swipe right on them?" It became a game of "who's hot and who's not" I did go on several dates with guys I had met on the app, and things went well, there just wasn't any chemistry between us, which I guess is hard to judge when you try to get to know someone via text. The first conversation with a match is always somewhat tricky to initiate, I think it would have been helpful for the app to include "ice breakers," to get that initial conversation going. I also think it would be helpful for Tinder to include a section in the Bio where an individual can rate themselves on a numberline from "down for dates" to "relationship ready" that way users can filter through more quickly if they are looking for something more serious or just a hookup

Dennis Campbell Houston, TX

Actual cunsumer review sights have it down to about a star and a half. Ask yourself this. If everybody leaves fast and tnider buys, not sales, advertising, how do they make their money? Data mining like fb and twitter. Get all your info then piss you off before they need more servers

Erin St Pierre

I can't stand tinder. There should be some sort of system to monitor reports of bullying/abuse, because as far as I can tell, whatever system they have in place at the moment doesn't work at all. The customer service will take days if not weeks to contact you when you have a problem. I would suggest staying far, far away from tinder.

I paid just over £70 for a full years membership on Tinder. Started off ok, then photos all disappeared (my own and of the men). None would show up on screen.All i get is the wording! I have re-downloaded the app again and again, its still the same. I have complained. . . .nothings been done. . . . .total waste of money! NOT RECOMMENDED! ! !

9 years ago

Amanda George IL

This app is full of catfish that just want to play games. Stay away from it. Would give 0 stars if I could. Customer service is severely lacking and they don't take spam accounts seriously.

1 year ago Edited July 7, 2023

Canio Costanzo Greer, SC

Many of the women I swiped left popped up weeks later. Happens all the time. And the app freezes up all the time. Plus the women lie all the time, but that's beside the point.

A E B Damascus, MD

Tinder is an absolute joke of a dating site. 98% of the profiles are either fake, girls just looking to be Instagram stars, or they live 5000 miles away from you in another country. The ones that are real, if you do happen to match with them, never respond after a few back and forth messages

Adam Crawley Pleasant Grove, UT

Tinder has a good and easy access to quick dating; however, there are many rontchy people on the app and so users have to be careful before setting up a date. I've had some sketchy dates using this app. The app doesn't attract the best people.

6 years ago

Logan Hudson Norcross, GA

Tinder has been an awful experience with trying to match with others. I feel like the selection does not accurately match my interests. There is not much interaction from a customer service stance either

Chloe Magleby Provo, UT

Tinder is for sketchy people to meet other sketchy people. I have had way too many encounters with people who are not on the app for the right reasons. I would not recommend this dating app to anyone!

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Verified Customer

Sondra Menthers

Absolutely horrible. Very low class men on there just looking for hookups.

2Jonathan Montufar New York, NY

i cant Check my "Whose interested in me" section or my moments section all i can do on my phone is Like or pass women. How the hell does this work??

Jeff Curtis Mapleton, UT

Most dating apps have a verification process so you can know you're talking to a real person. Tinder is popular among real people and scammers/catfish

Remington Austin Pleasant Grove, UT

This app is an absolute joke. Too many people don't take this seriously they don't try to match they just try to hook up. I'm honestly dissapointed just a waste of my time.

Spencer Scoville American Fork, UT

If you are looking for a long term partner this app is not for you. You will hardly find the one swiping back and forth basing each person only on their looks.

Juan Beaver, PA

I used tinder for about a month and only matched with a few people. It's a very biased dating app and there are a lot of weird people on it.

Chloe Adams Morgan, UT

I hate this app. So many flaws in the application, tinder plus is over $100 dollars and there isn’t a refund option. Ridiculous.

J. S. Meridian, ID

Tinder was not a positive experience. I felt the app is addictive and unfair based on how much is paid

William South Jordan, UT

I was on this sight for about two days. Nothing good can come from a tinder.

Mykahla Nelson Managua, MN

I did not like tinder. The boys on this site were super creepy . I would not recommend !

Roberson Salt Lake City, UT

Tinder is full of bots as well as cam girls looking to scam people. Tinder is useless.

Christina Kaysville, UT

Seems like a trashy app and a quick way for a quick hook up. Look elsewhere to find your match