Hinge Review: I Found Love Here, But Will This App Work For You?

Overview

I used Hinge for about two years until I met my husband on the app in 2019. The app has changed a lot since then, so I recently returned to my old swiping haunts to review how it works for singles today. I was disappointed by the low quality of some profiles, and I even saw a recycled profile on my first day of swiping. It was slow going. About 8 in 10 matches never sent a message, but I think with patience (and a completed profile) daters could still be successful and find a real relationship here.

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I created my first Hinge profile around 10 years ago (oof, showing my age), and I was about as successful as you can be. I met my husband on the app in 2019. It only took a week of dating for us to decide to be exclusive and delete our profiles.

And thus the Hinge prophecy “Designed to be deleted” was fulfilled.

It doesn’t pay to be stuck in the past as a dating app reviewer, though. My Hinge experience was pre-pandemic. It was pre-AI. And I know new features have been added since…which is why I went back to my Hinge profile to see how it works for singles today.

I set aside my personal bias to determine if Hinge is a good dating app for relationship seekers and where it has room for improvement. My single friends had warned me there’s a lot of casuals lurking in the match list these days, and I did find that to be true. Let’s dive into my experience rejoining the Hinge app.

Signing Up for Hinge: My Experience

Rejoining Hinge was simple, and a bit surreal. It took me 12 minutes from start to finish.

After downloading the app, the first step is connecting to a Google account or adding a phone number and going through text verification.

It’s worth noting that this is an app only. So you have to download it (which is free) and can only access it from your device. It’s not like Match, which has a website and app available.

Basic Information

Since Hinge is a dating app geared toward relationship seekers, its profile includes a lot of information. It’s not a quick signup where you can stay anonymous. Some disclosure is required upon entry.

Hinge required me to disclose:

• My first name
• Email address or Google account
• Birthday (day/month/year)
• Location
• Gender (you can opt out of it appearing on your profile)
• Pronouns (29 options, honestly had not heard of many of them)
• Height
• Sexuality (21 options, and you could hide it from your profile)
• Relationship Type (monogamy, non-monogamy, or figuring it out)

The optional information:

• My last name (no thanks! I skipped this for privacy reasons)
• Ethnicity (skipped but warned it could exclude me from searches)
• What kind of connection you want (could write in more details)
• Education (school and degree)
• Occupation (work and job title)
• Hometown
• Do you have children?
• Do you want children?
• Religion
• Political beliefs
• Drinking habits
• Smoking habits (separate answers for weed and tobacco)
• Pets
• Zodiac sign

Hinge asked if I wanted to turn on notifications for the app, and I didn’t. I’d rely on myself to check back on the app. If you’re keen to keep chats going, getting those notifications can help with response time.

Personal Prompts

The Hinge signup is very much in line with most popular online dating apps. It asks for a mix of photos and written responses to prompts. Six photos and three prompts were required. 

The list of prompts was shorter than it used to be back in my day:

• This year, I really want to…
• A random fact I love is…
• The way to win me over is…
• I recently discovered that…
• I go crazy for…
• My simple pleasures…
• My greatest strength…
• Unusual skills…
• A life goal of mine…
• Dating me is like…
• My most irrational fear…

My go-to prompt (Favorite Disney movie) wasn’t there, so I answered the question about my simple pleasures (reading, texting memes, and making grilled cheese), mentioned my goal to visit Dollywood this year, and disclosed my unusual skill for memorizing song lyrics but never knowing who sang it.

I always gravitate toward the sillier responses, but I have so much respect for the intentional daters who dive right into “what a relationship means to me.” Lead with sincerity if that’s your strength. I lead with wry humor and get serious later.

Final Touches

I was able to skip the photo upload at first, but my profile wasn’t visible, and I couldn’t swipe until I added six photos. Honestly, that part took me the longest. I take more group shots than selfies.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t add captions like I used to be able to, but I could add prompts like “It’s all about the simple things” or “How my friends see me.” I added “Me and my best friend” to a photo with my dog.

Hinge had a lot of ways to personalize my profile and make it my own. I was glad to see a mix of video and voice tools too.

Here’s a summary of the custom features:

• Date Ideas: Add a timeframe and type of date you’d prefer (I went with bowling sometime).
• Friend’s Take: Invite a friend to answer prompts about you.
• Video Prompt: Record a video answer to a prompt.
• Prompt Poll: Create a poll from a list (Example: The best spot in town for pizza is).
• Voice Prompt: Record a voice note in response to a prompt.
• Match Note: This personal aside is sent to matches before the conversation starts.

I was satisfied with my profile, though I quickly realized that my selfie game needs a little work (six photos is so many!!). I felt like it accurately represented my sense of humor and nerdy interests. Once I pushed the “I’m done” button, we were off to the races.

What Happened When I Started Using Hinge 

I got my first like within an hour of my profile going live. Ben sent a message that referenced multiple parts of my profile: “Bowling would be fun with you, Amber! You won’t even need to worry about your dog not returning the ball, since the machines will cover it, lol”

One of the downsides of a post-AI dating world is that I stared at this message for a while, wondering if he’s really that creative or had ChatGPT come up with a line for my profile.

His profile included some funny pictures and a dog who looked similar to my dog, so I’d say the Hinge algorithm did well to introduce us. It was a promising start, but other profiles didn’t live up to Ben’s high standard of honest disclosure and personality-forward pictures.

The Profiles I Saw

As a free member, I could set preferences for age range, location, and gender. I live in a rural area, so I set the maximum distance radius of 100 miles to include the nearest big city.

When asked about the gender I’m open to dating, I said “everyone” because I wanted to get a look at the breadth of options available. 

That preference made the biggest impact on my Standouts (the star icon). On my first day, they were almost entirely bisexual females with ample cleavage in their primary photo.

“Welcome to Standouts. Each day we highlight the people we think you’ll be most excited about. This is based on who is receiving the most attention, your mutual dealbreakers, and your recent activity.”

This app is for relationships, right? Yet one woman felt sexy photos and incredibly short prompt answers (“just chillin,” really?) would be enough to get her matches. She’s hot, so she’s probably right, honestly. But I doubt many of her matches are imagining walking her down the aisle.

My Standouts refreshed every 11 hours and took my swipe history into account, so by my second day, it was more dudes. Once again, a lot of skin was showing.

Meanwhile in my regular swiping field (the H icon), it was male-dominated and mixed quality. A lot of car selfies. Some people took the time to fill in thoughtful answers; 30-year-old Daniel even had several friends write testimonials for him, but mostly I was swiping on lazy profiles with GIFs and memes standing in for real photos.

I saw a lot of 20-somethings. I saw almost no 50-somethings. The ages skewed younger. The political and religious beliefs were all over the board. A weird number of people mentioned wanting or not wanting a “homebody.” 

032 million people have used Hinge since its launch in 2012.

More than one person put their IG handles in a prompt. Some had polls or voice notes. I only saw a couple of videos. One terrible 26-year-old identifying himself as T only added two pictures, and the rest were black squares. He answered the prompt “I bet you can’t” with “argue with me.” Yuck.

For me, the most damning evidence that Hinge is slipping was the fact that I saw a recycled profile within my first two hours of exploring.

I’d been swiping quickly, sure, but had I already reached the bottom of the list of active profiles?? It was slim pickins, apparently.

My Match Experience

Back when I was actively online dating, I had a few strategies to keep my sanity. I didn’t go on more than one date per week, I didn’t send likes to new profiles if I had chats going, and I didn’t follow up if a guy ghosted on a chat.

These rules helped me set boundaries and not get overwhelmed. But I wasn’t worried about that this time around. This time I felt freer to be more aggressive and try to get more matches on my plate, secure in the knowledge that my temporary profile wasn’t going to usurp my free time for very long.

I sent the maximum number of likes for a free member on my first day: eight. That was beyond the pale for my previous online dating life, so I was a little nervous about how many notifications would be coming my way.

But I feared needlessly. I didn’t have a 100% like-to-match rate. Not by a long shot! I got one match for all that liking and messaging. I’m thinking this has to do with my being over 35… and I’m trying not to be salty about it since I am, after all, very much taken. 

My Results After 24 Hours:

Days Tested	1
Profiles Viewed	50
Likes Sent	12
Likes Received	42
Replies	1

My chats were surprisingly manageable. Even when I started making more matches (by liking profiles that had already liked me), most didn’t say anything in the chat and unmatched after a day of mutual silence. Womp womp.

The messages I got were mostly generic compliments — “you’re so pretty” and “love your smile” — but I did see a couple good icebreakers.

• “Hey Amber, what’s been the highlight of your week?”
• “Are you reading anything good now? Any recs for me?”
• “But have the dessert be something sweet at Dollywood??”

Hinge messages didn’t move quickly to sexting like I’ve seen on hookup sites. But they didn’t dwell on deep topics very much either. It’s like a purgatory of small talk waiting for the few people of substance to show up and ask a good question or pose an interesting answer.

Free Versus Paid Membership

I used Hinge for about two years to get dates, and I never paid for any upgrades. I was a woman in her 20s in a college town, so I never wanted for matches.

As a 30-something in a more rural area, my experience was a little different. I sometimes wondered if my profile was getting seen by the right people. My profile was getting likes, but not many compatible profiles were showing up. I looked into my options to upgrade and get better results.

The free membership includes daily swiping and sending likes (up to eight per day), and I could chat with any of my mutual matches. I could even go to the Who Liked Me tab and swipe through those profiles to create instant matches.

The paid upgrade features included:

• See everybody who likes you
• See twice as many Standouts a day
• More visibility
• Priority likes
• Send unlimited likes
• Sort all incoming likes
• More search filters
• See who has Signals in your Likes
• Filter for Signals
• Revisit a profile you just skipped

The search filters are the only tempting feature for me. I know more than one of my single friends has upgraded simply for the ability to filter by religion or politics. If you have a true dealbreaker and are getting a ton of mismatches, the filters can be worth it.

Caveat: The filters only work if someone has filled in that section. If they’ve left it blank, they’ll still show up on your list.

As far as pricing goes, Hinge+ is pretty much on par with other serious dating apps. What’s unique about it is the option for a one-week membership.

• $19.99/week for one week
• $49.99/mo for one month
• $29.99/mo for three months
• $24.99/mo for six months

HingeX costs about $10 a month more than Hinge+ and includes priority placement and more visibility. This perk is not appealing to me as a woman, but I’m sure it helps men beat the competition for attention.

I could also opt to pay $24.99 to two Superboosts that would last 24 hours each. A one-hour boost would cost $12.99. Again, visibility wasn’t my issue, so I skipped this.

And I could pay to send Roses, which are essentially just likes that get priority in the match lists. Prices start at $1.99 per 50 Roses.

What I Liked Most About Hinge

The thing I’ve always liked about Hinge is that it doesn’t do blanket swiping on the entire profile. A general thumbs up tells you very little. But someone liking or commenting on a specific part of your profile can be a great way to start a conversation. 

My husband complimented my Catwoman costume and asked what movie I was seeing. That sparked a discussion about Marvel and DC, which immediately let us know that we are both big nerds.

I like the profile customization features, especially the Date Ideas because it helps intentional daters get to meeting in person that much sooner.

What I really liked about the new Hinge was how it embraced voice notes. I once went on a date with someone who had a lisp, and that threw me off so much on our first date. A voice can really tell you a lot about a person and how attracted you are to them.

I also very much appreciated the robust security measures upon signup. I felt secure that I wouldn’t run into a fake profile or scammer here. And I didn’t!

What I Didn’t Like About Hinge

All dating apps have room for improvement, and Hinge is no exception. I think Hinge is trying to be too fancy with so many special features and swipe games that didn’t really move the needle for me. The date ideas are cool, but the polls seemed mostly wasted on games like two truths and a lie or FMK.

And I was initially confused by all the new terminology like Signals and Standouts. I was used to Roses, but things like the Match Notes and Prompt Polls were new to me. Guess I’m an online dating dinosaur! It took some getting used to.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of the Standouts. They were hit or miss and seemed to favor those with sexier photos rather than quality prompt responses. To me, it seemed like a space where the app pushed cleavage photos and ab shots to the front of the line.

My Biggest Complaint: I wish Hinge would implement some sort of quality standards for prompt responses. Four different guys answered “I go crazy for” with “food.” The one-word filler answers (especially “ask”) really frustrate me because there’s so much room to show personality, and they’re wasting good opportunities.

I entered Hinge worried that I’d see a lot of ChatGPT responses, but it seems even asking an AI to write something for them is too much work for certain Hinge members. Lazy profiles are everywhere on Tinder, but I really expected more from “designed to be deleted” Hinge.

FAQs: Is Hinge Really Better For Relationships?

I’d say it’s pretty good. Is it better than Match for relationships? Not really. But it’s far better than Tinder where a lot of users are openly seeking sex. On Hinge, the hookup seekers keep it in their pants until a few chats at least.

It isn’t as serious a dating pool as it used to be, but there is still a good quality element with the detailed profiles and voice features. It has good potential for young people who want to explore more serious connections while keeping options open.

Is Hinge Safe?

Yes, I’ve pretty much always felt safe on Hinge. Sometimes guys would get a little much, but I had the block button to get them out of my face, and I was careful about not giving out my phone number to just anyone.

I’ve never met a scammer or worried about catfish on Hinge (though I do wonder if that T guy is married). I’d say the totally fake profiles are essentially zero thanks to its rigorous vetting.

Hinge is not an app that lets you get by with minimal details. You add a phone number and go through text verification. You add an email and go through email verification. And it has a biometric Face Check feature to verify photos. Mad respect.

Hinge's content moderation is also proactive. I never received an inappropriate message, but Hinge is constantly on alert for bad behavior and will check in with a "Did this bother you?" message.

I will say that Hinge does ask a lot of personal questions, which can easily lead back to you with a little digging. My husband had a fake last name on his dating profile, but I still was able to find his Facebook and LinkedIn. What can I say, I’m a Google sleuth. Lucky for him, my intentions were honorable. 

I think there is a risk of cyberstalking and harassment on Hinge, and users need to be mindful of what details and photos they disclose to maintain their privacy. 

Who Does Hinge Help?

Young People: The majority of Hinge users are in their 20s and 30s, so I’d say younger daters have the most to gain from using this app. If you’re over 40, it’s going to be more of a challenge to meet people in your age range. That’s true on pretty much all the big swiping apps (Tinder, Bumble, Plenty of Fish).

Big Cities & Rural Areas: As far as location goes, I think Hinge is big enough to support most everyone. I live in a more rural area than I did when I first joined Hinge, but I still saw a decent number of local matches. Though many were a bit of a drive from me.

LGBTQ+ Singles: Hinge is known for being useful for LGBTQ+ matches. American politician Pete Buttigieg met his husband on Hinge, and when he mentioned that fact in an interview, Hinge’s LGBTQ+ following surged 30%.

Monogamous Dating: I would say that even though Hinge has fields for non-monogamy, the majority of users are looking for a monogamous relationship. The app pays lip service to poly dating, but it doesn’t have many poly-friendly features beyond putting it on your profile.

Best Hinge Alternative: Match

Hinge isn't everyone's jam. And that's perfectly fine because a huge lineup of other dating apps is ready to take its place. If you ask me, the best Hinge alternative — the app that truly lives up to the reputation of being for relationship seekers — is Match.

Both Match and Hinge are owned by Match Group, so the design is similar. You're still getting free messaging with matches. You can still swipe in the Discover section. The free and paid search filters are essentially the same.

But you're not required to add more than one photo on Match, and you have a lot more profile prompts, topics, and interest tags to add to your profile. I also think the quality of users on Match is a little higher. More completed profiles and more interesting icebreakers.

Match is well-known as a premium dating site, so it attracts more single professionals and fewer I'm-still-figuring-it-out 20-year-olds. That's a huge upside for serious, intentional daters.

My Final Verdict: Is Hinge Worth It?

If you’re curious about online dating and want to dip a toe in the swiping waters, Hinge is a good one to join. It’s free to get the essentials. It’s simple to use. It’s got a lot of customization options.

BUT if you’re wanting to find love, like I did, I actually don’t think Hinge is the best on the market right now. Match and eharmony have more dedicated features for identifying compatibility and sparking deeper conversations.

Sadly, Hinge has been taken over by the swiping game. It’s harder to get and keep attention, and users seem less likely to voice any type of serious intent. And more likely to show skin.

Granted, I’m older now, and I’m not swiping and chatting as earnestly as I did when my only other option was a weekend with my dog and a 1,000-piece puzzle. But overall I wasn’t impressed with the profile quality, and I haven’t heard a lot of encouraging Hinge success stories from my single friends lately either.

I think Hinge has become Tinder-ified. Sure, it’s a perfectly good way to meet a lot of people at once and spend time judging their profiles. If you want more momentum than idle chitchat, though, go to the more serious dating apps.