Tinder Plus: Is It Worth Paying For a Premium Dating App?

In 2012, Tinder launched as a free dating app that marketed to young singles on college campuses and in major cities across the United States. Its appeal was that a date was only a swipe away.

Less than a decade later, Tinder has become internationally famous as the most popular dating app in online dating history. It has been downloaded over 530 million times. According to Tinder statistics, over half of its members are under 25 years old. The vast majority of users are either Gen Z or millennials.

In response to modern matching challenges, Tinder started charging a monthly subscription fee for three premium dating levels: Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum. Tinder reported over $1.4 million in revenue in 2020 thanks to its monthly subscribers.

Let’s focus on the most affordable paid membership on Tinder — also known as Tinder Plus — to determine if it’s worth the cost.

Creating a profile on Tinder will quickly allow you to connect with singles in 196 countries around the world.

There are several benefits to paying for Tinder Plus, and many single professionals take that extra step to speed up the matchmaking process. Here are six of the main features of the Tinder premium membership. 

1. Unlimited Right Swipes

Once Tinder introduced the Tinder Plus service, free members said goodbye to days and nights of endless swiping. Freemium members are now limited to 100 swipes a day. If you run out of swipes for the day, the only way to continue swiping is to upgrade to a paid plan.

Upgrading to Tinder Plus gives members access to unlimited swiping. For many, it’s worth the price to stay in the game.

2. Rewind Your Last Swipe

Swipe regret? I get it. I’ve been there too. Sometimes the thumb says no when the heart says yes.

Tinder created the right swipe feature that most dating apps are now using to make matches. However, it also opened the door to swipe fatigue — which describes that feeling of being so totally done with looking at dating profiles.

You might find yourself constantly swiping to the left and assuming you won’t like your potential matches. As a result, you may reject someone who, on second thought, could be worth getting to know.

I’ve received dozens upon dozens of phone calls and text messages from singles who are begging for help. They tell me they swiped left on a compatible person in error and regretted it moment’s later. Alas, without Tinder Plus, nothing can be done to recover that missed connection.

The Tinder Plus Rewind feature came to the rescue of online daters who wanted to undo a rejection of a potential match. Being able to go back to find the one who digitally got away is a valuable tool — and could be worth the price of admission to some singles. Singles can use Rewind to go back and reconsider the previous profile in the stack and make a decision that gives them peace of mind.

3. Passport to Any Location

Do you ever find yourself dreaming about taking a vacation to New York City or relaxing under a palm tree in Hawaii? Now you can search for dates in any destination thanks to Tinder Plus’s Passport feature.

If you’re planning a trip across the country, you can upgrade to Tinder Plus to get a Passport. That means you can view dating profiles in the ZIP code, city, state, or country that you’ll be visiting in advance of your trip. Passport allows you to connect, match, chat, and put a date or two on the calendar before you leave home.

The Passport feature allows business travelers and remote workers to cast a much wider net in the Tinderverse. Individuals can arrange a one-night stand or get in a long-distance relationship with an out-of-towner thanks to this premium feature.

Tinder is a location-based app. If you don’t have Tinder Plus, your matches will be within 100 miles of where you are located. The Passport feature can open the dating field for an upcoming vacation, business trip, or road trip.

4. Control Your Profile — Hide Age and Distance

Tinder Plus gives you the ability to control what’s visible in your dating profile. You can show your age and home city in your profile, or you can hide this information. You’ll appear more mysterious, and disabling your age and distance can dramatically widen your reach.

I like these anonymous features because age isn’t just a number when it comes to dating apps. Some people get fixated on searching within a very narrow age range, which reduces the number of your matches. 

If you accurately post recent profile photos, and I hope you do, imagine the Tinder dating pool as an enormous outdoor singles party with hundreds or thousands of people who drive from 10 minutes to two hours away to mingle at the party. 

If you go to an offline event, you can quickly strike up a conversation with someone you find physically attractive and come to realize that you have a lot in common. From music to yoga, travel to family, this person seems to check off all of the boxes, and you’re excited about the possibilities. 

While chatting with your crush, would you break the flow of this incredible connection to ask them their age and how many miles they lived from the party location? Probably not.

5. Super Likes and Boosts

Tinder Plus has traditionally included an allotment of Super Likes and Boosts, but the rules are changing on this. Tinder recently announced it will discontinue Boosts and Super likes for new Plus members starting this fall. Singles who have been subscribed to Tinder Plus before September 7, 2021, will keep their Boost privileges.

Tinder Plus members previously had a bank of 5 Super Likes per day to help them stand out in the match stack. Super Likes can triple your chances of matching with a new person and result in more extended conversations.  

Tinder Plus users also once received one 30-minute boost per month to appear as a top profile in their area. That can increase the number of matches a user receives.

Getting multiple Tinder Boosts, also known as the “Skip the Line feature,” will now cost Tinder Plus members $6.99 each, or you can splurge for a package of 10 boosts for $5.00 each. 

If you decide to pay extra for the Boost feature, I recommend activating it between 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time on Sunday. That’s prime time for dating app usage, and Sunday nights are a busy time for singles swiping. 

6. Ad-Free Browsing

Since most Tinder members are using the free service, Tinder monetizes its mobile app with sponsored advertising.

If you want a commercial-free experience on Tinder, upgrading to Tinder Plus is the way to go. It hides all of the advertising. Basic members have web ads in their feed, while Tinder Plus members swipe in a decluttered ad-free zone.

Now that you know the features of Tinder Plus, it’s time to get down to business. Tinder Plus comes with a price tag. 

The monthly rates vary depending on the member’s age. The cost is typically lower for singles aged 18-29 years old and higher for 30+ singles. 

The price for Tinder Plus for singles under 30 is $4.99/month for one month, $2.50/month for six months, and $1.67/month for a year membership. Tinder members over 30 pay $9.99 for one month, $5.00/month for six months, and $3.33/month (or $39.99) for one year paid in advance. 

I think it’s worth trying Tinder Plus for one month to see if you like the featured benefits. But I’d also say you should consider your surroundings. Having unlimited swipes works best for singles who live in large metropolitan cities or travel to other areas frequently.

If you run out of potential matches where you live, you won’t benefit from the extra swiping options. So it’s up to you to decide if the Rewind option or Boost feature are going to help you reach your dating goals.

Tinder was initially known as a hookup dating app, but it can foster a love story that leads to marriage. Millions of singles go online in search of romance, friendship, and meaningful relationships. The app uses photo verification tools and premium membership plans to make sure individuals have the means to upgrade their experience and make their profiles stand out. That’s worth swiping right on in our book!