Is Tinder Free? And What Does Paying Get You?

Is Tinder Free To Use?

So… is Tinder free? Well, Tinder has been dominating the online dating market for years now. The fact that Tinder’s earnings release for 2019 was a whopping $1.2 billion means that its paid membership and services are of high importance to the parent company, Match.

So the simple truth is that Tinder does in fact cost money, but it’s also free… Let me explain further.

Tinder is free to download. Its free version will allow you to make a profile, swipe, match with users, and chat. Although, there are many limitations such as the number of swipes allowed per day. Tinder offers paid subscription services (Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold) as well as paid one-time extras that allow the user to unlock certain features (Super Likes, Boost).

This article will take a look at exactly what features on Tinder are paid, what you get for free, what each feature does and most importantly if spending any money is worth it.

If you are wondering how Tinder works, check out this article first.

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Does Tinder Cost Money To Use?

Yes… and no. As mentioned above, there are different levels of involvement when using Tinder. But the good news is you can get away with never having to spend a cent if you don’t want to. But if you want to access exclusive features, you will need to get out the wallet.

The free version of Tinder will allow you to download the app, swipe on up to 100 profiles per day, match, and chat. The free version is more than enough for someone dipping their toes into the Tinder pool for the first time.

But look, there is no denying that paying for Tinder does in fact increase your chances of getting more matches (or the right matches). So let’s do a deep dive analysis into every single free and paid feature that Tinder offers!

What Are The Free Features Of Tinder?

As mentioned above, Tinder’s basic components of swiping, matching, and talking are doable, but let’s take a look at some of the extra little freebies thrown in.

Top Picks

Well… Top Picks. Under the free version of Tinder, you will receive one free Top Picks per day. Top Picks is basically a tailored-for-you list of potential matches that Tinder believes would be most compatible with you. Top Picks is a great feature to throw some Super Likes down on. If you’re not sure what a Super Like is, keep on reading!

Passport

In 2022, for a limited time, Tinder has included their Passport feature for free. This allows you to swipe and match with users all around the globe, by setting your location to any eligible city.

Users in that location will be able to see that you aren’t in their immediate location, as Tinder will always show users a rough estimate of the distance between users. So… that Brazilian beauty will know if you’re pretending to be a local!

Very soon Passport will only be available for paying users under Tinder Plus, Gold, or Platinum.

What Are The Paid Features Of Tinder?

Tinder offers two different monthly subscription levels to unlock certain features. These are called Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold. Tinder Plus was the first paid Tinder subscription offered. Tinder’s “elite” membership level, Tinder Gold is the newest addition that was introduced in 2017.

The premium features that these subscription levels offer are “super liking” someone, “boosting” your profile to be the most popular for a period of time, or even seeing who has already liked you.

Tinder also offers extra paid one-time extras. Let’s take a look at all of these different features and exactly what they do… and if they are useful!

Tinder Plus

The features that Tinder Plus includes are unlimited Swipes, Rewind, 5 Super Likes a day, 1 Boost a month, No ads, and Passport.

Unlimited Swipes

Swipe till your fingers fall off. No, please don’t actually do that, but with Unlimited Swipes, you can. Unlimited Swipes really says it all, you won’t get that pesky message telling you that you’ve run out of matches for the day, keep on swiping.

Rewind

Rewind allows you to backtrack after you’ve swiped on someone. Maybe you weren’t paying attention, or maybe you were holding your phone upside down and swiped the wrong way. Whatever the reason, Rewind allows you to undo your decision and swipe appropriately.

5 Super Likes A Day

Normally, you swipe right and sit back and hope for the best. A Super Like allows you to take a little more control.

Rather than quietly swiping and hoping your match does too, a Super Like allows you to stick your head above the pack and show your potential match that you not only like them… but you Super Like them!

It really is just a way for you to stand out from the pack and let them know that they are very much so your type. A Super Like can even increase your chances of a match by 3x.

But use them wisely! You should use your Super Likes on people that really tick your boxes, rather than throwing them at the first 5 attractive people you see.

With Tinder Plus, you will receive 5 new super likes to use every 24 hours. So don’t worry too much when they run out.

1 Boost A Month

A Boost is a way for you to shoot yourself right to the front of the Tinder queue. Remember, there are thousands of other people on Tinder, so sometimes that profile you just swiped won’t see you for weeks, or maybe ever. Especially if they are someone that jumps onto Tinder sporadically and swipes only a few people at a time.

It’s difficult to get yourself in front of users like this unless you use Boost. A Boost allows you to be one of the top profiles viewed for the next 30 minutes.

This means that if someone starts swiping in that time period, most of the time you will be one of the first profiles they see. This obviously dramatically increases your chances of matches.

You get one free Boost a month, so use it wisely. If you’re wondering when you should set it off, check out this article on Tinder Boosts. In my opinion, the Boost is and will continue to be the most valuable paid tool.

You can always buy more individually, which I will explain soon.

Passport

As mentioned above, Passport is actually now a free feature! It won’t last for long, so make the most of it whilst it’s free!

Other than also getting rid of any annoying ads popping up whilst swiping, those are all the features of Tinder Plus.

How Much Does Tinder Plus Cost?

As of right now, in the US Tinder is sitting at around $9.99 per month. Here’s the kicker… If you’re 31 or over, I have some bad news for you. Monthly subscriptions for over 30’s is $19.99 per month.

Here are the current prices (subject to change):

Under 31 years old

Under 31 paying for one month = $9.99 per month

Under 31 paying for six months = $5.84 per month

Under 31 paying for 12 months = $4.59 per month

Over 31 years old

Over 31 paying for one month = $19.99 per month

Over 31 paying for six months = $12.50 per month

Over 31 paying for 12 months = $8.34 per month

For prices in your area, have a look on the App Store, or on Google Play.

Tinder Gold

Tinder Gold is all about efficiency. It’s Tinder’s newest, and top paid subscription that was launched in 2017. Tinder Gold allows you access to all the premium features that Tinder Plus does, but also includes premium features such as Likes You and more Top Picks.

Likes You

This is where the efficiency comes in. Rather than twiddling your thumbs and hoping for a match, Likes You allows you to see every single profile that has already liked you. The name kind of says it all…

Related: What is Bumble Boost?

This feature saves a bunch of time, especially for the serial swiper. Also, if you’re a little shy and might not like being too vulnerable waiting to see if others have swiped left or right you can ease into your Tinder journey by purely swiping on people that have liked you first.

This is getting a little more advanced, but Tinder Gold can help increase your ELO score (basically your Tinder ranking). The reason being is that the Tinder algorithm recognizes your right-swipe to match ratio to help get an idea of your desirability.

If you are mostly only swiping on guaranteed matches (by using Tinder Gold) then your ELO score gets a boost!

Top Picks

As explained earlier, Tinder will serve up a selection of potential matches that its complicated algorithm calculated as your most compatible! How much science goes into this is another story… Regardless, Top Picks are great to use your Super Likes on.

How Much Does Tinder Gold Cost?

It appears as though Tinder has kept Tinder Gold prices constant, rather than changing them based on your age. Let’s take a look at the current US prices, but keep in mind that prices change depending on your location.

Paying for one month = $29.99 per month

Paying for six months = $18.83 per month

Paying for 12 months = $12.50 per month

Tinder Platinum

Tinder Platinum is the latest (and most expensive) version of its paid memberships. Being a tier above Tinder Gold, Tinder Platinum includes everything that Gold does, as well as being able to send messages without messaging and getting your likes prioritized. If you want to find out more, check out my article on exactly how Tinder Platinum works.

Extra Paid Features

Tinder makes it even more tempting to spend some money with the fact that you can make one-off extra purchases of some premium features. Some of the extra features you can purchase are extra Boosts, extra Super Likes, and Extra Top Picks (only if you have Tinder Gold).

All of these have different options, with each being cheaper if you buy in bulk.

Is Tinder Gold (Or Plus) Worth It?

This is the million-dollar question… Is Tinder Gold worth it? Or, better yet, is it worth it to spend any money on Tinder?

Well, I have zero affiliation with Tinder, so I will never tell you to definitely upgrade, or even use it for that matter. If you are serious about finding a relationship, you would be better off jumping on an app/website like eHarmony or Elite Singles, which do also cost money but compared to Tinder, you are much more likely to find a serious relationship.

But if you’re not just looking just for a serious relationship and have your heart set on Tinder, the simple truth is that paying gets you results. Think about it, Tinder obviously wants its paid features to work, so you and I keep buying them. So if you don’t mind spending a bit more money to increase your chances, go ahead and do so!

Are Any Of Tinder’s Extra Paid Features Worth It??

If you are thinking of spending more money on paid extras, definitely put them on Boosts. In my opinion, it’s the feature that definitely has the most immediate impact on you getting matches.

But if you came here looking for some answers before even downloading Tinder, definitely get started on the free version. But if you’ve been giving the free version a go for a while and are curious whether paying will have any impact, throw down some dollars and see for yourself.