Tinder Gives $500 Monthly Subscription to Highly Engaged Users
Tinder has introduced a highly exclusive subscription level for its dating app users, which comes with a hefty price tag of $499 per month. This premium tier grants access to exclusive search and matching features.
The new plan, called Tinder Select, announced Friday was only offered to less than 1% of Tinder users, who are the most active on the app, the company said.
For nearly $6,000 a year, users can access new features such as “VIP” search, matching and chat that are not currently included in its existing paid plans, it said, without providing further details.
Tinder said it will open applications for Tinder Select on an ongoing basis. It offers three other subscription tiers that start as low as $24.99 per month, according to its website.
“We know there is a segment of highly engaged and active users who prioritize more efficient and effective ways to find connections,” said Tinder Product Manager Mark Van Ryswyk, “and that’s why we’ve been involved in extensive testing and feedback with this audience over the past months to develop a completely new offering .”
Tinder’s parent company, Match Group Inc., has a track record of charging high prices for some users. In 2022, it acquired The League, an invite-only dating app aimed at “ambitious, career-minded singles.” The league has a VIP plan that costs $1,000 per week. The company previously said the success of The League’s premium subscription led Match Group to rethink how it could target “high-intent users” on its other apps, such as Tinder.
Match Group CEO Gary Swidler said at a Citi conference earlier this month that he expects Tinder Select to attract only a “relatively small number of new payers,” but he said it will have a significant impact on revenue. According to research firm Apptopia, Tinder’s current “power users” — the top 10% of users by time spent on the app — spent an average of 53% of total time this year.
Match Group CEO Bernard Kim has called the expensive subscriptions “low-hanging fruit” to match more expensive plans offered by competitors. The company also started offering weekly subscriptions earlier this year, helping it navigate sluggish and negative revenue growth. At the same time, it rolled out a $60 premium package globally for Hinge, its dating app popular with Gen-Z. Match Group also owns OKCupid and Match.com.
Data compiled by Bloomberg show that the company’s subscriber numbers declined in each of the past three quarters, but it has managed to increase average revenue per user on a year-over-year basis, most recently posting its biggest jump in eight quarters. In August’s second-quarter results, the company exceeded revenue forecasts and raised its third-quarter outlook, citing Tinder’s growth exceeding internal expectations and accelerating revenue. Stocks have remained flat this year, with the S&P 500 up 13 percent over the same period.
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the company’s stock last week and upgraded it to the most favored level, citing the possibility of growth in online dating spending. “We expect Tinder payer trends to improve as the focus shifts from price optimization to product and engagement. We believe the best (and perhaps only) way to turn around the online dating sentiment is for Tinder payers to stabilize and eventually return to growth,” analysts led by Cory Carpenter wrote in a note.
The company plans more changes this year, particularly to appeal to Gen-Z users, including a product update planned for Tinder, Kim told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia technology conference in San Francisco earlier this month.
