ELO started in chess. Then gaming. Then dating apps borrowed the basic idea: rank profiles by how much interest they get and from whom. In 2025, most big apps say they don’t literally use “ELO,” but they still rank you against others using similar signals—quality of interactions, profile completeness, recent activity, and how people with strong histories respond to you. The label changed; the incentives didn’t.
TL;DR
- Apps still rank you with desirability-like signals, even if they don’t call it “ELO.”
- Indiscriminate swiping, stale profiles, and low engagement hurt visibility.
- Selective swiping, complete profiles, and real conversations boost your ranking.
- “Resets” are riskier now due to data retention and verification systems.
- 2025 trends: more verification, reduced new-user boosts, stronger penalties for spammy behavior.
ELO Scores were originally a way to rank chess players. Then gamers. Now online daters are rated with ELO-style systems too. On a swiping-based dating app, your “score” determines the users you’re shown as well as who will see you in their feeds. Think of it as a desirability ranking that updates with every interaction—while the name “ELO” isn’t always accurate anymore, the concept is similar across apps. Many factors are weighed to rank you against others, and you can improve your standing by optimizing your photos, bio, and how you engage.What does this mean in practice?
Rankings go up and down depending on who you swipe right on and who swipes right on you. Other behaviors matter too, but that’s the core idea. Let’s dive deeper.
How Do Elo Scores Work?
Dating-app “ELO scores” measure how you stack up compared to others on the app. Every right swipe raises your rank; every left swipe lowers it. The value of each interaction depends on who it’s from—likes from high-engagement users count for more. In large cities, ranking systems help apps decide who appears first in each user’s deck and reward “good” behaviors like selective swiping and real engagement. Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge all use their own variations. Hinge, for example, blends machine learning with a Gale-Shapley–style system to predict compatibility.
What Is An Elo Score In Dating?
When physicist Arpad Elo designed his ranking method for chess, he never imagined it would end up in dating. In this context, your ELO-like score represents your overall “desirability.” Every like or match counts as a “win,” every left swipe a “loss.” Modern apps use more variables—profile quality, message engagement, and behavior patterns—to calculate your visibility. Tinder says it dropped the ELO model in 2019, but it still ranks users by activity, mutual interest, and other factors. Bumble and Hinge use similar ranking logic, even if they call it something else.
But if you beat them, then their rating will go slightly down and yours will go slightly up. If that same low-rated chess player wins against a player with a similar rating, their score will go up slightly and their opponent’s will go down slightly.
What’s Bad For ELO Scores?
Trigger-happy swiping
Mass right-swiping looks spammy and lowers visibility. Swipe selectively to signal genuine interest.
An old or empty profile
Not updating your profile leads to a slowly declining ELO Score. You’re not doing anything on the app, so your ELO score falls away. Likewise, never swiping erodes your score. Tinder wants people active on the app, that’s their business model.
Low engagement
Your profile may be attractive, but nothing will come of matches if there aren’t messages. You need to be active on the app to have a good ELO score, because, yes you got it! That’s their business model.
Repeated resets
Deleting and recreating your account repeatedly now risks moderation flags and shadowbans, since apps track device and verification data.
Ghosting
If you never reply to matches or new messages, then the app thinks you’re not interested in finding a date so your ELO Score will drop. If you’re not interested in someone anymore, then just unmatch them, it’s kinder that way – to both them and your ELO Score.
What Is Good For ELO Scores?
ELO Scores can seem a bit bleak, but where there are things that damage your score, there are also plenty of ways to boost it.:
Perfect profile
Great photos, clever prompts, and a full bio lead to more quality matches.
Detail
Fill out your profile as much as possible. More detail will lead to more right swipes and conversations, so better ELO Score, so more profile exposure.
Updated profile
Keep your pics and bio up to date. As well as increasing your ELO Score – with dating profiles, there’s always room for improvement. An updated profile is also part of the ‘regular app use’ needed to boost your ELO score.
Swipe selectively
Unless you’re Ryan Gosling, sending out hundreds of likes doesn’t necessarily increase the number of matches you get. If you’re swiping right on everyone, relatively few will swipe right back. On top of that, remember the algorithm likes it when you behave correctly (according to the expectations of the app), and rewards you with a higher ELO score.
Activity
Make sure you’re replying to any messages or likes you get. Remember, these apps are a business so you need regular, satisfied, customers. They also like longer conversations and solid interaction between matches.
Although there’s no way to find out your ELO Score, you can have an educated guess. Signs that your ELO score has dipped include:
- Not seeing attractive profiles when you used to see plenty
- A gradual decrease in likes – that nagging feeling that you used to get way more matches
- A sharp decrease in likes (which could also indicate a shadowban)
How Do ELO Scores Work On Bumble?
Bumble hasn’t confirmed an ELO system, but its algorithm behaves like one. Completed profiles, selective swiping, and prompt engagement boost your exposure. Over-swiping or ignoring chats lowers it. If your visibility dips, improve your photos, reduce right swipes, and fill in all profile fields including “More About Me” and interests.
How Do ELO Scores Work On Tinder?
Tinder dropped its official ELO score years ago but still ranks profiles using engagement signals like recency, mutual interest, and profile completeness. A well-rounded, verified, and regularly updated profile performs best. The “new user boost” still exists but is shorter in 2025. Log in daily, swipe selectively, and keep your bio and photos fresh for better matches.
How to Reset Your ELO Score
If your account’s performance has plateaued, you can try a soft reset—pause, improve, and reactivate. Hard resets (deleting and recreating accounts) are now more complicated.
How To Reset Bumble ELO Score
You can restart once, but frequent resets may trigger flags. Fix behaviors first—like mass swiping or low engagement—before starting over.
How To Reset Tinder ELO Score
Tinder now uses device and video verification, making duplicate accounts easy to detect. The platform also retains deleted account data for around 90 days, which limits “instant resets.” If you truly want to start fresh, wait out that period and change behaviors that previously hurt your visibility.
Final Thoughts
Once you understand how ELO-style systems work, you can use them to your advantage. Every app ranks differently, but all reward authenticity, selectivity, and consistency. Optimize your profile, stay active, and let genuine engagement lift your ranking naturally.
FAQ
Do dating apps still use ELO?
Tinder says it no longer uses ELO, but every major app still ranks users using similar desirability and engagement metrics.
Is right-swiping everyone still bad?
Yes. Indiscriminate swiping lowers your visibility. Apps reward selectivity and meaningful engagement.
Does the “new user boost” still exist?
It does, but it’s weaker in 2025. You’ll get a short visibility lift, but profile quality matters more.
What’s the deal with verification now?
Video and photo verification are becoming standard to reduce bots and fake accounts, improving user trust.
If I delete Tinder, when can I rejoin clean?
Wait about 90 days before rejoining. That’s how long Tinder retains user data, so waiting helps you start fresh.
Is Hinge’s “Most Compatible” really different?
Yes. Hinge uses a predictive matching model to pair people likely to like each other, rather than ranking everyone by a universal score.
