How Much Does It Cost to Build an App Like Tinder

Introduction

Dating apps have become very popular in recent times due to the ease of finding a life partner. These days, dating apps like Tinder have several features with a lot of benefits that help users find the most suitable partner based on different factors.

These apps also make a lot of money and are a lucrative business idea. Building a Tinder clone app costs some money and below you will learn how much it cost to create an app like Tinder. You can also find the best app cost calculator where you can easily get an estimate to make an app like Tinder.

How much does it cost to create an app like Tinder?

It mainly depends on what features you want to incorporate into your app and how complex the functionality is. Let’s consider the basic version of an app like Tinder and how much it costs. Approximately, it costs something around $80,000 for any of the platforms iOS or Android) and $120,000 for cross platforms. This price has been estimated taking into account the hourly rate of Eastern Europe that is $50/h. But if you want to build an app using resources from the US, Canada or Western Europe, these prices can significantly vary.

Let’s begin by a brief introduction of the Tinder app.

What is Tinder App?

Tinder is a dating app that helps users find life partners based on their provided personal information and preferences.

Users begin by downloading Tinder and then sign up by entering their basic information such as name, gender, age, location, and other preferences.

The Most Essential Features of a Dating App Like Tinder

Authorization and User Profile

Authorization for developing a dating app like Tinder is extremely important. And for that, Tinder uses a Facebook authorization engine. For such an app, developers use an open authorizations protocol such as OAuth.

The credentials of social media accounts are safe and the app does not remember it because this registration is implemented. But users can also use credentials in order to create a new account using this app. Moreover, users can also use their contact number to sign in to this app.

If you want to build your own app like Tinder, you can use any sort of user authorization.

Once authorized, the users have to create a profile. And for that, you have to enter their information like name, age, gender, and a picture.

Settings and Notifications

Like many other apps that allow to change settings, Tinder also provides this feature for the convenience of its users. For an instance, users can choose to enable/disable push notifications related to new messages or new matches. Moreover, users can also choose the units of distance they want to display on their app such as km/mi.

If you want to build a Tinder clone that has the similar functionality, you can use the following:

• FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) for Android
• APN (Apple Push Notifications) for iOS

Apart from usual app settings, users can also adjust Tinder-specific settings. Users can change the following settings:

• Enable/disable discovery, if users do not want to be discovered
• Choose to show or hide their gender
• Specify the search distance
• Select the age range for other users

So, if you’re looking for how to make an app like tinder that works the best, ensure that you set up this functionality properly.

Geolocation and Communication

One of the fundamental features of a dating app like Uber is geolocation. You cannot skip this feature because a dating app cannot simply function without this. And to add this feature, the development team must use Core Location and Geolocation API.

For Android: Android location package & MapView classes

For iOS: Map Kit framework & CLLocationManager class

If we talk about the communication, Tinders users are allowed to chat only if they have similar likes. And if they have different interests, Tinder automatically disables the chat.

RESTful API and HTTP are used to implement this function into your dating app.

Moreover, Tinder also offers a facility to its users to connect their Tinder profiles with Instagram. This feature helps users to easily share their Instagram photos on Tinder. However, Tinder does not allow to share the content from Tinder to Instagram.

Monetization: In-App Purchases

Tinder has free features for all the users but these are limited features. However, if users want to buy a paid subscription, they receive access to more functions. These features include to rewind the last swipe, change location, turn off ads, etc.

To get a paid subscription, the dating app needs to integrate in-app purchase with the Store Kit framework for iOS and in-app Billing API for Android.

App Design

Tinder is a dating app, and its users want a seamless experience with high quality and simple design. And design is probably the first and one of the major things that attracts the users. The reason behind this is that users hate to spend time to figure out how to use the app. They want a simple app where they can easily access all its features without hassles.

If you want to build an app that works like Tinder, you must focus on its design. And it eats up a significant amount of your total app development budget.

Techniques You Must Consider to Make an App Like Tinder

Although Tinder might seem like an app with simple functionality at first glance, it has some hidden complex algorithms. These complex technicalities are invisible to users. Some of the major peculiarities include:

• Users know only one person at a time but behind the system, there are numerous users that are swiping simultaneously.
• All the users can see other users in multiple groups or orders. It shows that it’s important to add functionality to the profiles into groups.
• There’s a particular algorithm that ensures the true match for different users.

How Much Does It Cost to Create an App Like Tinder App?

You’ve got an idea about the main features that you need to incorporate in your dating app. Now you will learn what is the cost of app development if you want to add these features. The following table works as an app revenue calculator that gives an estimate how many hours each feature requires. Then you can simply multiply the total hours with the wage rate in your country.

These are the estimated hours each feature requires developing for your dating app like Tinder. However, they can vary depending on various factors such as team efficiency.

During the project, there are various factors that come on the way that increase the development time. And when project delivery delays, it increases the development cost too.

The following table will help you get a clearer picture of how much would it cost to develop an app like Tinder. The price of the project has been estimated on the basis of average wage rate in Eastern Europe i.e. $50/h

Technology Behind Tinder

Those user features are just a visible part of cost to create an app like Tinder. It is a result of many hours of development and many tools applied. Technology stack for Tinder includes: JavaScript, Python, HTML5 as programming languages, and AWS Mobile platform to build and test apps.

To identify user location Tinder utilizes smartphone’s GPS or data from the wi-fi network connection. Mongo DB and Redis are in use as scalable database environments from the very first day of app existence. With Mapbox, the open source platform, they design custom maps. For data and transactions safety – GoDaddy SSL certificates.

Matching Algorithms of Dating Apps Like Tinder

Tinder has its own matching algorithms that help users to find more suitable matches for them. It takes different factors to find the best match. Here are the three matching algorithms of Tinder that you can use in your dating app.

Location awareness

Dating apps like Tinder use GPS components for matching algorithms. It helps users to find partners that are in a nearby location. Users can check at the distance where the other users are using this app from. Then by checking out the information, users can contact each other. This feature is very beneficial for users because they prefer to find a match in a nearby location.

Mathematical basis

Another interesting matching algorithm screens through answers provided by users in the suggested questionnaire. So those users who have some similarities in their answers, they get connected to each other. These algorithms make compatibility percentage by the answers provided by the users, separately and collectively.

Behavior-based matching

The question-based compatibility is good to get a clue and find compatibility between different users. But the problem is that people do not usually give accurate information. As a result, the match is not the right that comes out using question-based compatibility. To combat that issue, behavior-based matching is another algorithm that functions by matching the behavior patterns of the users. Such a matching algorithm provides better matches to the users.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How to make an app like tinder?

Developing an app like Tinder is a complex task that involves thorough market research. The latest market trend can help you know what features and functionality you must incorporate in your app. The next step is to gather project requirements that mainly involve business logic, features, and design nuances.

After that, you need a development team to execute your app development process. Mainly you need the following specialists:

• Two Backend developers
• One Project Manager
• Two Android developers
• Two iOS developers
• One UI/UX designer
• One or two QA engineers

Or you may reach out to a web development company that can give you expert services. And you can simply get an app like Tinder.

How do apps like Tinder make money?

The dating apps like Tinder make money through different ways and their monetizing model includes the following:

• Make Money through Subscription
• Affiliate Marketing
• Use the services of BuySellAds
• In-App Purchases
• Sending Gifts
• In-App Advertisements
• Run AdSense advertisement
• Promote Sponsored posts on your app

How does tinder make money?

The most of Tinder’s revenue comes from Tinder Plus. It’s a subscription service by Tinder that gives access to its more features. And it’s even not so costly, and it varies with the age of the users. It costs only around $10/month for users under 30 and $20/month for users over 30.

What tech stack does Tinder use?

Tinder uses the following technology slack:

Programming languages: Python, JavaScript, HTML5

To build and test apps: AWS Mobile platform

To identify user location: Wi-Fi network connection or smartphone’s GPS

Wrap Up

Undoubtedly, building a dating app is a profitable investment and growing prospects in the future. If we compare its cost of app development with the expected revenue, it’s unparalleled. But developing a dating app is not a piece of cake. The financial investment and resources are not the only challenge it has. But also, it requires perfect execution of complex procedures. And for that, you definitely need an experienced mobile development team.

This blog has helped you learn how much it costs to develop a Tinder clone. You also looked into different features that such an app requires developing. Along with that, you also got a clear idea what each of these features cost.

If you want to share your thoughts or have any questions, you’re welcome to participate in the comment section.