Match vs. Tinder: Reviews & 100% Free Trials (2024)

Choosing between all the great dating sites out there can be tough — particularly when it comes to giants like Match vs Tinder (which are owned by the same company, by the way)!

Match and Tinder are both popular, they’re both fun, and they’re both successful, and either would be an excellent wingman depending on what you’re looking for. We wanted to help you in your decision-making process by breaking down the differences between Match and Tinder. Read on the learn more.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of Match and Tinder, we want to share some general information about them. In this first section, you’ll learn about their overall history, mission, accessibility, future goals, and standing in the dating industry.

Match: 4.9/5.0

Our dating experts have given Match a near-perfect 5 stars for many reasons. It’s been around forever in terms of online dating — the site launched in 1995. Most members are serious daters looking for find loving relationships. In fact, Match has led to more relationships and marriages than any of its competitors.

Match has a lot to offer singles, and our review shows that:

Match

★★★★★

4.9/5.0

Match

4.9/5.0

About this rating

Our team of editors and writers draw from their industry expertise to calculate dating platform ratings based on a variety of criteria that impact the modern dating experience. We looked at popular platforms and analyzed important factors, including:

Active membership

Pricing and affordability

Filters and communication tools

Profile verification

Customer support

Our rating and review system is independent of commission rates, and any platforms we partner with do not have a say in their scores.

See Our Review »

Amber Brooks Editor-in-Chief

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Relationships: Friends, Dates, and Relationships

Match System: Browse by zip, age, appearance, more

Our Experts Say: “Match has facilitated the most dates and relationships of any dating site, and its large audience and high success rate make it our top review...” Full Review »

Browse Free: View Photos Now

User Base	Gender Ratio	Popularity (Visits/Mo.)	Today's Deal
All Singles*	49%* 51%*	39.7 Million*	Try Match FREE

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Match is available on both iOS and Android devices. You can sign up the traditional way via the Match.com homepage, or you can download the app for free from the App Store or Google Play.

Tinder: 4.4/5.0

Tinder is an innovative and fun dating app, so we’ve given it a 4.4-star rating. Tinder users are slightly more unkind in their overall reviews. The app has 4 stars on Google Play and the App Store. However, we don’t think a few sour grapes should deter the majority of daters because Tinder has a lot date options available with just a swipe.

Tinder took the dating scene by storm in 2012 as the first dating app to offer swiping, and many competitors have since followed suit. Swiping is fast, fun, and easy; however, it does have some disadvantages that keep it from topping Match. For example, Tinder is more superficial because you only have a photo and a byline to judge people on. Also, even though it sees over 2 billion views per day, a lot of people say their matches are flaky, and some daters have run into inactive or fake profiles.

The Winner: Match Has a Higher Rating

When we look at the whole picture, Match is superior in our book. It’s been in the dating industry the longest. It’s more about quality instead of quantity as well as depth instead of looks. And it’s proven to be worthwhile for singles who are looking for a long-term commitment rather than a one-night stand.

Singles often have a lot of questions about online dating, especially if this is their first time using it, but one question that’s usually at top of mind is “What is it going to cost?” Well, we’re here to tell you — at least in regards to Match and Tinder.

Match: Free Membership & Premium Options Start at $17.99 a Month

Match gives every new user a free membership that never expires and allows him or her to fill out their information, add several photos, view, like, and favorite profiles, and receive matches. Free members can also send messages to the profiles in the Top Picks list.

However, singles have more premium features (see who’s liked you, chat with a dating expert, attend events) and can better control their dating experience by signing up for Match. Check out one of our exclusive offers below. If you already know you want to fully commit to Match, we suggest the 74% off offer. If you’re on the fence, try the free three-day trial.

• Free three-day trial
• 74% off any new membership

Either option gives you access to premium features like having your profile highlighted in Match’s search results, seeing who’s liked your profile, and being able to set up a Vibe Check video date on the app or site.

Tinder: Mostly Free With a Few Features Available for Purchase

When you join Tinder, you’re given a free membership — just the same as Match. You can swipe through profiles, send and receive messages, and like or Super Like a certain number of profiles a day.

Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold are upgraded memberships that you can purchase, and their features include Rewind (undo a swipe if you went the wrong way), unlimited likes and extra Super Likes, profile boosts, and the ability to see who’s already swiped right on you.

The Winner: Tinder Gives You a Little More Bang for Your Buck (Or Lack Thereof)

We’ve got to give this round to Tinder. Its free membership includes two-way messaging with all matches, and you can’t ask for more than that.

Another common question online daters want an answer to before joining a dating site is “Who are the users?” They all have their individual preferences, and it does them no good to join a dating site that has users they just won’t be drawn to. Here is everything you need to know about Match and Tinder’s user base.

Match: 39 Million Monthly Visitors From 50 Countries

Match has more than 42 million users and 39 million monthly visitors, and it’s available in more than 50 countries and eight languages. The company has offices in Dallas, West Hollywood, San Francisco, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing.

This makes Match not only one of the largest dating sites in the world but also one of the most diverse.

Match’s users vary greatly in age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, education, appearance, interests, culture, and background.

You can easily sort through them by these categories. The site will also take your criteria into great consideration when recommending matches.

Since Match has been around for nearly 30 years, we anticipate its user base and reach to continue growing.

Tinder: 50 Million Daily Users From 190 Countries

Over 50 million people from over 190 countries use Tinder every day, and they’re swiping over 1.6 billion times every day. They have all kinds of goals, values, beliefs, hobbies, and personalities, so it should be really easy to find someone special. In terms of Tinder’s team, they’re located in West Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

Since 2012, Tinder has been downloaded over 430 million times. So yeah, you’re bound to meet a lot of swipe-happy folks here.

The Winner: Tinder With Its Larger Reach

According to the numbers, Tinder has Match barely beat in this round, but really no matter which platform you choose, you’ll definitely have a variety of singles to browse and get to know.

When people are taking the leap into online dating, they’re often curious about how the sites match people and what kinds of features the sites offer. Let us take you through Match and Tinder’s different browsing, matching, flirting, and communication systems, among other things.

Match: Browse for Yourself & Receive Matches Every Day

Match allows you to search through its millions of profiles on your own using advanced search filters for age, ethnicity, religion, education, background, appearance, and other important characteristics. You can save your searches, so you don’t have to start all over again each time.

You’ll also want to go to the Discover page of your Match account to see things like mutual matches and reverse matches, saved searches, and general browsing.

In addition, Match will do a lot of the work for you by delivering personalized potential matches to you every day (check the Matches page). If you see a start denoting it as a Top Pick, that means you can send a private message regardless of your Match membership status. This can make it easier to find someone compatible and get the conversation started.

Tinder: Swipe as Much as You Want Until Its a Mutual Match

Tinder is pretty straightforward — you’re presented with a profile, and you can see the person’s age, gender, location, and a couple other pieces of information. Then you swipe right if you’re interested and left if you’re not. You can like and Super Like profiles, too.

If you and the other person are both interested in each other, then messaging is enabled. You can message your matches on Tinder for as long as you want — there’s no time limit like there is on Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel. However, after a week or two of chatting, more Tinder users will be ready to move on to a real-life date or another match.

The Winner: Match Guarantees Matches or You Get 6 Months Free

You’ve gotta love free, so Match gets another point from us for its free messaging options and search filters. It’s not just that, though. Match’s advanced matching algorithm takes a lot of pressure off its members, which puts it above Tinder in our book.

We get readers asking us all the time “Does Tinder really work?” and “How successful is Match.com?” I mean, a dating site can be free and send you matches all day long, but if those matches aren’t actually people you want to date, then it’s a moot point. We’re going to address those questions and more in this next section.

Match: The Most Romantic Connections of Any Dating Site

For years, Match has called itself the #1 dating site in the industry because it’s responsible for more dates, relationships, and marriages than any other dating site and app, including Tinder.

Scott and Sheryl are just one happy couple who met on Match. They both had grown frustrated with their dating lives going nowhere, and their professional lives took up a majority of their time that finding a significant other felt impossible to them.

Scott and Sheryl are one of the millions of happy Match couples.

That is, until one day when Sheryl’s friend took her phone, browsed through her matches on Match, and pointed out Scott. Sheryl and Scott felt a true connection from the first message, and they set up the first date for that next weekend.

Scott proposed on April 15, 2017, and they both couldn’t be happier and more grateful to Match.

“We are so excited to start our lives together. If it wasn’t for Sheryl and her friend — AND Match — I don’t know where I would be at this moment,” Scott said. “Sometimes it takes a village, and that’s OK! She’s my soul mate, my best friend, my one true love.”

Tinder: 60 Billion Total Matches Since 2012

According to Tinder’s press page, the app is responsible for 1 million dates a week and 60 billion total matches since 2012, and we think that’s just mind-blowing. Dylan East and Jennifer Alemanno are a couple of Tinder users who left their positive feedback on Google Play.

“In all honesty. I like the app. I have found a few people and we’ve been talking, and it’s great,” he said.

“Best dating app experience I’ve ever had. So many handsome, lovely men,” she said. “I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner. Never expected to meet genuine people and respectful gentlemen. Pleasantly surprised!”

The Winner: It’s Hard to Beat Match

Over 60 million total matches — that’s nothing to sneeze at, and Tinder should be very proud of its numbers. However, how many of those swipes and matches have actually led to genuine dates and relationships? A lot of singles and industry professionals say Tinder is more for hookups. If a casual hookup is more your thing, more power to you. But if it’s something more serious you’re looking for, we’d highly recommend turning to Match.

Ultimately, if it were life or death and I had to pick one Harry Potter character to name as my favorite, it would be Harry. He’s The Boy Who Lived. He’s the Chosen One. He’s the face of the story. He’ll always be my top pick when it comes down to it. It’s just like that for our experts in regards to online dating — if they could only choose between Match or Tinder for the top dating site or app, they’d choose Match. As you can see, they have plenty of reasons that prove why.