Dating App Market in 2023
People nowadays do not meet in a library or through friends. Swiping right is the most romantic approach to locating your love in 2023. As a result, the mobile dating app market is currently a fast-growing and profitable place to start a business.
We’ve made a detailed tutorial on the dating app sector to back this claim up with arguments and provide you with more insight into the mobile application development process. Discover examples, required features, factors affecting dating app development expenses, and get the picture of how to design a dating app. Let’s get started!
Dating App User Statistics
Modern technology has dramatically transformed the way we find someone to date, and internet dating is no longer frowned upon.
A quick rundown of some statistics:
- In 2022, the number of users of dating apps grew to 366 million and this number is expected to grow to 440 million by 2027;
- Dating apps earned $2.86 billion in 2022, while the average revenue per user that year was $7.81;
- 19% of users across the internet are using dating apps at the very moment;
- 42% of dating app users aim for marriage, while 13% of users actually got engaged.
The market for dating applications is expanding, as are users’ expectations. As a result, if you want to create a dating app, you should look to industry heavyweights such as Tinder.
Dating App Market Key Players
As online dating has risen in popularity over the last decade, hundreds of dating applications have emerged. Here are some of the most well-known dating apps in use today.
Tinder
Tinder has been the perfect alternative for people looking for hookups, flirting, casual talks, or even long-term relationships since its launch in 2012. Tinder was the first dating app most people started using, and it really helps ease you into the world of online dating.
Tinder now offers the ability to verify your profile, which helps to establish your credibility with other users of the service.
Bumble
Bumble is for women who don’t mind making the initial move and don’t mind losing matches if they don’t get a response within one day. If the guy does not respond within 24 hours, the match ends. If you only check your dating apps every other week, this one is not for you.
OkCupid
OkCupid profiles are significantly more detailed than other online dating services, and if you complete a seemingly endless series of questions (similar to a personality test), they will spit out a realistic Match/Enemy percentage ratio on profiles to help you judge compatibility based on interests.
Changes in the previous few years have made OkCupid resemble Tinder, which is owned by the same firm. It now emphasises swiping and eliminates the opportunity to communicate with a user without first matching with them. Online daters can still send messages, but they will not be delivered to the recipient’s inbox until you match.
Match.com
Match.com provides a free version, but the widespread belief is that a premium subscription is required to have any success. That’s a holdover from the early days of online dating sites when paying for a basic membership showed you were serious about finding love.
However, people have long concluded that if you pay to acquire dates, you may be a little too eager to find a significant other or the perfect spouse, especially considering the number of free dating applications. There are paid features on some dating apps that are worth the money, but people have yet to rationalise spending money on love.
Grindr
Grindr describes itself as the world’s largest gay, bi, trans, and queer dating app, but it’s especially the ultimate gay utopia for men tired of Tinder and looking for experienced lovers.
With so few functional trans-specific dating apps on the market, it’s no surprise that the app attracts a substantial portion of this group. Instead of swiping to match, you’ll see a collage of people who are geographically close to you. Grindr lacks the limitations that other apps have – most users trying to hook up will tell you that they’re not in it for small talk.
Factors Affecting the Cost of Dating App Development
The costs of developing a dating app vary depending on many factors. It is highly advisable to include the discovery phase in the development lifecycle, as this is precisely the step that will help you get a better understanding of the price of your application.
You can find out more about the discovery phase and its importance in software development in our recent blog article. Feel free to read it.
Let’s look at some factors that influence the dating app development cost.
Technology Stack
Considering the features that you want to add to your application, the platforms your app should be available on, and your planned budget restrictions, you may choose between two approaches to mobile app development – native app development or cross-platform app development.
Native App
This style entails developing code for one particular platform from the ground up, with no constraints in mobile app development other than your money and ideas. However, you will need to develop unique applications for each operating system, which may take more time, if not developed in parallel, and will definitely increase the budget.
Another thing to mention is the increased time and effort required for updates and maintenance, as it should be done for different platforms separately.
The technologies that can be used for native app development differ depending on the operating system. iOS development includes the usage of Swift, while Android developers use Java or Kotlin.
Additionally, the creation of multiple native apps, such as iOS application development or Android application development can bump up the price of your application.
However, despite everything mentioned above, native app development has a bunch of undeniable advantages:
- Better performance for features like geolocation and real-time interaction;
- Design is made specifically for one platform and its characteristics, which has a good impact on user retention;
- Maximisation of unique features usage, like Siri for iOS or Google services for Android;
- Better performance in case of poor internet connection;
- Better security than in cross-platform solutions;
- Better support for offline functions.
Recently we wrote an article about Android app development cost that can give you a clearer view of this topic. Check it out!
Cross-platform App
Cross-platform technologies enable you to create apps for a few operating systems at the same time, reducing the cost of developing a dating mobile app.
React Native is one of the most popular cross-platform frameworks. It is built on JavaScript, which has many extensive libraries and a vibrant community.
As every other development approach, cross-platform application development has its own pros and cons. Among the pros of cross-platform development are cost efficiency, as you develop one solution that fits various operating systems. It also has a faster time to market and easier maintenance and updates, since you make it for a single database.
However, cross-platform apps may have some performance limitations, compared to native ones. Also the access to various native APIs can be limited, and there’s always a chance to face platform-specific bugs, which will increase the development and maintenance efforts.
Features
After deciding on the technology, the next thing to consider when developing a dating app is the features you want to include. Killer features that have the potential to blow up the dating app market will raise your chances of success, but also bump up the price.
Design
Another thing to consider is UI/UX design. UX ensures that people can use your product quickly and comfortably. And UI design is in charge of how the application looks and the mood it inspires in users.
Don’t forget, that the more complex the design, the higher the cost of developing a dating app. If you have a limited budget, keep things simple.
Admin Panel
All data is stored, analysed, and utilised for marketing purposes in the Admin panel. This section of the solution houses all of the critical user data.
Admins should also be able to manage packages and add, update, or remove various offers, discounts, and special deals. You can also utilise analytics dashboards to track user behaviour and make better data-driven business and marketing decisions.
When developing the admin panel, you will include various feature sets that will directly affect the final cost of your application.
Development Team
When you’ve defined the concept of the dating app, the tech stack, and the functionality, the only thing left to do is find a team or vendor for design and development of your application. It is often made up of a designer, frontend and backend developers, a tester, and a project manager. You can hire them in-house, engage freelancers, or use an outsourcing agency.
In-house Team
This approach implies complete staff commitment, yet it has drawbacks. You will, for example, need to accommodate all of your staff or offer them work equipment, provide sick leaves, vacations, insurance, pension contributions, and taxes, all of which makes you invest more money in the team.
Furthermore, you must decide what to do with the workforce once the project is completed, as technical support for the app does not necessitate the engagement of all specialists.
Outsourcing Company
Outsourcing mobile app development companies are full-service teams with the expertise and resources to create any application. Their teams include a wide range of experts who can contribute whatever skills you need for the project and for whatever amount of time it is necessary. This approach saves money on the hiring process and maintaining employees.
A good vendor has a high retention rate of employees, which means you can hire a well-knit, experienced team. All that remains to be done is to dedicate this team to the product, and then you will all work together on your idea. High engagement on your end is also the key to a successful collaboration.
Freelancers
There are many freelancers on the market now that are willing to assist in the creation of your application for a reasonable or even low fee. However, you will almost certainly have to go deep into the process personally and supervise their work.
Often freelancers are individualists and cannot fully work in a team due to the specific nature of their employment. By recruiting a team of freelancers, there is a risk of finding yourself in a situation where everyone does what they are good at, but cannot merge into a successful project together.
Also, finding a good freelancer at a good price, especially since you’re trying to save money in the first place, is such a time-consuming endeavour that it can lead you to being late with the product launch.
If you want to learn more about hiring different types of developers, especially Android ones, read our article dedicated to this topic.
Backend Development
Backend development entails working on the server side of software, which involves everything that cannot be seen on a mobile app or website. Backend developers guarantee that the website functions properly by focusing on databases, backend logic, application programming interfaces (APIs), architecture, and servers.
The backend of your dating application can be built in Node.js, Java, PHP, .NET, or Python. Furthermore, a database must be set up to store all of the information app users provide. As a result, you should make sure you supply data management tools and a flawless design that will optimise the performance of the back-end data sources and improve overall operation.
How to Start Developing a Dating App: A Checklist
Analyse the Market
The market is filled with dating applications, and you want your app to stand out. That is why it is critical that you thoroughly research your competition.
With a thorough examination of your competitors, you will be able to determine the reasons for their success or failure. You can apply that knowledge to your own enterprise and design a successful dating app.
Examine their features closely to determine what they are doing differently. They are all, with slight exceptions, nearly identical. The little changes are what distinguishes them. With this analysis of their unique characteristics, you will ensure that you do not inadvertently duplicate any on your platform.
Identify Your Target Audience
You must understand who will use the solution and what will attract the attention of investors. Here’s a look at a typical dating app user.
The typical user is between the ages of 25 and 34, male, unmarried, and lives in a city. People usually graduate from college and get a career by that age, and some even advance to the senior professional level. This can only suggest one thing: this audience is willing to pay for premium services and features.
Consider the Needed Features
Main Features
Although the majority of dating app users seek a true connection and love engagement, some merely want to pass the time. Identifying the target audience and implementing the features important to them are the cornerstones of a successful app. Let’s look at how to build a dating app with basic functionality.
Registration and Sign-in
To create a dating app, you must include quick and simple sign-in choices. Allow for account registration via phone, email, and social media platforms. Remember to inform them that their dating app account will not be visible on their social media pages.
The most crucial aspect of the registration procedure is its simplicity and ease of use. Creating an account on a dating service is usually a spur-of-the-moment choice motivated by curiosity or even boredom. To achieve good user retention, give your users quick and easy access to the pool of profiles.
After the user has had a chance to play around and acquire likes and matches, safety measures such as email and photo verification may occur a few moments later. Give them a taste of the application before forcing them to go through the authentication process.
Profile Editing
How can you create a dynamic and interactive dating app? Begin by providing a simple profile with age, location, name, and photo to allow people to utilise the application right away. Allowing fine-tuning, on the other hand, is a smart step that will help consumers identify compatible matches. Allow users to fill out their profiles with as much or as little information as they wish, such as physical characteristics, interests, hobbies, preferences, and so on.
Deleting and Freezing an Account
Create a dating website or app that allows you to freeze or remove an account at any moment. Users grow tired of using dating apps, meet someone they want to keep dating, or simply need a break from dating. How can you create a dating website or app that offers this option? Provide a simple mechanism for putting the account on hold or deleting it entirely.
Geolocation
Geolocation is a must-have feature when developing a dating app. It should be able to suggest matches that are closest to the users’ location. Although some dating sites allow users to search for prospective matches in larger areas, the bulk of users browse for people in their immediate vicinity.
You should ideally enable accurate location recognition, not just a city or zip code. Different districts, especially in large cities, can be tens of miles apart. Adding an “available now” option will assist consumers in finding a date in a certain region while also providing a distinct value proposition.
Swiping Feature
Although technically not required, the swiping feature is essential if you wish to create a good dating app experience. Swiping adds gamification to the overall flow and allows users to stay on the app for hours.
The mechanic is simple, enjoyable, rapid, and highly addicting. Swiping left usually implies no, while swiping right usually suggests you’re interested in a possible date. If both parties swiped right, the app recognises them and allows them to initiate a discussion.
Messaging
In-app communication should make it simple to connect with matches and start a conversation. Some applications provide icebreaker recommendations, interesting questions, or even quizzes to give their audience something to talk about immediately following the match.
Create a dating app with pleasant and familiar chat rooms, similar to WhatsApp or Messenger, to allow people to get directly into an active conversation without having to spend time learning the functions. Include a shortcut to the user’s profile, image uploads, a list of current matches, and a report button. If someone is acting inappropriately and generating genuine concern, users can report the profile to the administrator for further investigation.
Push Notifications
Create a dating app with customisable push notifications that can be adjusted at any moment. Some users want them totally disabled, while others merely want message notifications and still want to be notified of every application change. Take this into account and make the notifications as personalised and adjustable as possible.
Additional Features
Apart from the main set of features, there’s always some extended functionality you can add to your dating application to stand out from competitors.
Support Team
You absolutely need a professional customer care team to handle user difficulties when developing a dating app. People may be confused by some of the functions, Premium features, problems, and other minutia. Luckily, most of these issues can be avoided by addressing them with a responsive support team.
Learn about chatbots if you want to design a dating app that gives excellent customer service. A lot of modern applications use a chatbot to answer basic inquiries in addition to having individuals on staff who respond to special and complicated user requests. This kind of technology will allow you to automatically reply to predefined questions and provide immediate assistance.
Undoing Swipe
If you’re creating a dating app, ensure users can erase incorrect swipes. Most apps, including Tinder, only offer this option to Premium users to persuade non-paying clients to sign up for a subscription. Due to the repetitive nature of swiping, users may accidentally swipe left instead of right, missing out on a matching possibility. Users can adjust their swipes by using the swipe undoing option.
Social Media Integration
Aside from registration through social networking platforms, such integration can assist users in meeting more individuals in their immediate surroundings. Many dating apps provide access to your social media network’s friends, which provides a more secure date selection because people have at least one mutual friend with them.
Another issue that social media integration can help with is avoiding former relationships. Social media integration can give users the ability to reject certain applicants from the pool. Users can specify who they don’t want to see on the app, such as colleagues, ex-partners, relatives, and so on. You can also add their phone numbers to your blacklist.
Account Verification
Add account verification for top-notch security. Although it is not advisable to enforce account verification immediately, it should occur soon after registration to maintain a higher level of security. That way you can be certain that the person you’re speaking with matches their image. This safeguard also discourages anyone with malicious intent from using the program because their information would be stored in the database.
Users are also more inclined to use the app for a longer time if they feel protected. Furthermore, this method ensures the accuracy of profile information such as age, gender, name, and so on. To create a dating site with a sense of trust and dependability, offer incentives for account verification such as new features or a taste of the Premium plan.
Monetisation Strategy
Create a defined monetisation strategy before beginning the development process. There is no definitive answer to the question of how much profit dating apps make.
You can, however, include in-app advertisements for non-paying app users and allow in-app purchases such as more features, likes, profile boosts, and so on. Finally, for a weekly or monthly subscription, you may add a premium version of the app with unlimited functionality.
Security
Security is vital in any application development, but it is especially important in the case of dating apps. Your app brings together individuals who hadn’t seen each other before, and they rely on your service to undertake some level of vetting to assure everyone’s safety. Account authentication, basic background searches, report and blacklist tools, and features like the panic button are all important.
Dating App Algorithms
Matching in your application can be done through different algorithms. Let’s have a look at some common ones.
Location-based
The most basic and widely used kind of dating app matching algorithm is based on location. Users find others in their vicinity, swipe right after viewing their photographs and profiles, and begin an online chat within the app.
The method does not involve any complex maths, but makes the app more enjoyable to use – especially if you wrap it up in an appealing UI. This kind of simple gamification is exactly what made Tinder so popular and practically addicting.
Furthermore, by inviting users to pay a charge to expand their radius and meet individuals outside of their city, the location-based matching system generates a straightforward revenue stream.
Questionnaire-based
This is possibly the next most popular matching system for dating apps. People can create a profile by completing a variety of questions, forms, scenarios, games, and so on.
The app then analyses the data and matches prospective participants with people who have similar backgrounds, dating preferences, future goals, and so on.
This strategy is not ideal and frequently fails since users are often dishonest about their replies or just do not know what they are looking for. Simultaneously, people who know themselves well enough, typically 30+ years old, usually love this method and find good matches.
Behaviour-based
This algorithm corrects questionnaire-based apps’ biases. People offer access to their networking data rather than answering questions and being honest about their preferences. The app analyses this information, along with historical data from the app, to create a behaviour-based picture of the user. This profile is more objective, which results in better matches and minimises fraud on your app.
AI Matchmaking
AI is crucial in the matchmaking algorithm. The algorithm takes the behaviour, interests, and preferences of the user into account, analyses them, and determines the best connections for each user.
The more parameters you account for, the more precise the matches will be. Allowing users to sift out candidates and select the crucial characteristics for their partners increases their chances of meeting someone special while still enjoying your software.
Pick or Hire a Software Development Team
With so many possibilities in the mobile app development market, you must carefully choose your app development team. Here are some of the criteria you need to pay attention to.
Developers’ hourly rates
It is common knowledge that hourly rates for developers vary by country. Oftentimes devs will have similar experiences and skill sets but completely different prices due to their location. As a result, if you wish to reduce development costs, consider collaborating with professionals from different nations.
Portfolio
Another thing to look for when seeking a mobile application development team is their portfolio. You will gain insight into the company’s level of competence this way. Ideally, the mobile development company’s portfolio should include dating apps.
Previous Clients
Request a list of recent clients from the mobile development team you’re considering. You can evaluate the dependability, communication abilities, and level of commitment of your possible developers by contacting their former customers.
Development Skills
Another factor to consider is the size of the development team. If you wish to build an enterprise-level solution, you’ll require a large development team. To produce a project MVP, on the other hand, you can work with a team of one or two mobile developers.
Begin the Dating Application Development
Discovery phase plays a big role in the development process, so it’s not recommended to skip it. Following this phase, which includes defining requirements, creating a development plan, and selecting a technology stack, you and the vendor you selected can start the development of your application.
The team will begin building the app using various technologies: databases, server hostings, programming languages, and frameworks. The development will include the frontend — what the user sees and can use — and the backend, which saves and processes all application and user data on the server.
Ensure that you have regular conversations and meetings with the development team. You need to keep up to date with how the project is progressing.
Implement Data Privacy and Security Measures
For all of its benefits, online dating has some drawbacks. Without adequate security, such online sites can rapidly become a haven for creeps and fraudsters. So, if you want to develop a dating app for Android or iOS, you must ensure that it is safe for users to use.
To ensure your users’ safety, you must follow a thorough app security checklist. Use a profile verification mechanism to validate new user profiles. You can use social network and phone number verification to prevent impersonation. This will increase user trust and improve their experience on your app.
Apply Ethical User Policies
Ethical user and privacy policies are mandatory. You should show your potential users that you care about their data, privacy, and security.
You can write your policies on the page that provides information about your company. Clarify where these policies apply, what information is going to be collected and for how long, how it’s going to be used and shared, what the user’s rights are, what your contact information is, and other important info.
Run Quality Assurance and Testing
It is vital to provide the software to QA testers before its release. Ensure that the vendor begins testing as early as feasible in the development cycle. The later a bug is identified in the cycle, the more money you will have to spend to remedy it. The cost of issue repair during the post-production stage is substantially higher than during the development stage.
Although there is no such thing as a bug-free app, a significant amount of care and effort must be devoted to ensuring that the app is secure, can withstand most cyberattacks, and functions properly without revealing personal information. The app should also only use the resources required to execute and scale properly, without wasting memory, bandwidth, or server resources.
Launch and Collect Feedback
Release your application to a select set of users as part of beta testing and get feedback from them. Make sure to respond to this input when you release new updates and enhancements for the app.
When everything is ready, launch the app in the app stores you’ve focused on. Don’t forget to continuously collect users’ feedback after the main launch. This will help you to improve the software, add crucial features, and thus expand the audience even further.
Provide App Maintenance
Your work isn’t finished once you’ve launched the app to your user base. You are now in the after-launch maintenance phase of your project’s lifespan. You will always be addressing problems, improving existing features, introducing new ones, and finding new methods to monetise your app based on user input.
Rather than being a static product, your dating app should be a live, breathing organism that evolves in tandem with your user base. This will ensure long-term profitability and user satisfaction.
Conclusion
Finding love is not an easy task at all. But, thanks to dating apps, we’re getting closer to a future where doing so won’t be so difficult. So, if you’re thinking about developing a dating app but aren’t sure about the details, go to a trusted dating application development company.
Consider Bamboo Agile, a team with years of experience in gamified mobile apps for a wide range of markets and audiences.
And if you’ve already got a clear plan for your dating app, what are you waiting for? Simply contact us to tell us about your idea, and we’ll work with you to create the next big thing in the world of dating!
