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How much does it cost to make an app like Tinder?

CHEntrepreneur

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before you burn money now, start with a prototype. Ask Google for "tinder clone script"

here you can buy very cheap scripts and modify

But you should think about if you copy a product, what makes you better than Tinder, Facebook dating and co?

and the hardest part is getting enough women on the platform. Many dating platforms use fake profiles because men dominate the platforms.

good luck
 
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sparechange

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I've been on the online dating grind, which is a massive joke in my experience. Definitely alot of things could be improved.. although with all the crap out there I'm not sure how'd ya stand out. Maybe after the kung flu disappears some type of live speed dating thing could be done, anyone remember the scene from 40 year old virgin?
 

newzzy2

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It also depends on how many countries you're going to "catch" as potential areas for those, who would be looking for their potential dating partners. If you want to look at nice examples, you can always look at Tinder, or at website called Date Jasmin, because it's one of the most popular dating sites I could find recently, especially in Australia.
 
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Saavedra

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If you make a dating app, the LGBT scene is criminally under utilized. Especially the lesbian community can't have a space of their own with little to no vetting (aka some couple looking for a third.) The ones that do exist are extremely clunky and it's difficult to filter what kind of girl you're looking for.

That's one way to stand out amongst a sea of sameness.

Can vow for that, a lesbian friend said it is impossible to filter out crazy cat lesbians xD
 
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PapaGang

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You can buy React app templates for dating for about $300.
React Native Dating App Template with Backend | Download

React templates are to app devs what WordPress themes were to web designers in 2009.
We are on the verge of an app revolution.

It ain't the code anymore that's costly. It's customer acquisition and retention.
And, as MJ always points out, you'll need to have a damn good value skew.
Everyone can put out a dating app now.
 

Gregory Carson

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With all its features?

I'm interested in getting into this space. There's tons of complaints about Tinder. It's about time for a rival :devil:
Based on several projects, and too many decades of software coding projects ... given the basic feature set, and the presumption you are taking about an app distributed for all sorts of devices to millions of users, I would estimate coding costs in the $40-80K range. The trouble is scaling, and all of the web backend to mange users, payments, etc. that must also be added in, and those costs can scale out of hand quick. A public app with lots of use would also require a staff or set of contracted people to keep running and updated. The cost of coding the app is only the beginning.
 
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nelnhf

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How do you intend to monetise the app? Tinder is free which helped to make it popular.
 

Kevin88660

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The hard part is not about making the app itself.

It's about convincing people to download and sign up for the app, and upload photos of themselves on there.
With apps like these that requires a community (Uber, Lfyt as well), there's always that chicken-egg issue : if people realize there's only a few profiles there, they will leave, and you'll never get that traction.....

I think you need at least 9 figure funding to pull this kind of thing off to get traction and mass adoption.
The app isn’t the issue. It is about getting people to know how to use the app I think .

I remember airbnb faced the issue of not getting enough Closure for their rental deals. So basically what they do is they help the house owners to take good photos. They literally went to their houses and take good photos.

When the houses get a good marketing, the tenants will come. When the money comes everything is settled. Word of mouth grows.

The economy of cyber dating for young people is that guys want to get girls and most girls think that most guys are craps. You have to solve the puzzle by doing the first step, help guys to do better marketing on the app. Guide them along.

Instead they are still doing the old models of getting the girls there first and sell guys “stupid tools that dont work”. Basically pricy likes and ways to get the girls attention. Guys figure out that results are shit and gave up.

The cat-fishing business (get the girls first then attract the guys to sell them crap lead gen tool) mode doesn’t work.
 
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Xeon

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The app isn’t the issue. It is about getting people to know how to use the app I think .

I remember airbnb faced the issue of not getting enough Closure for their rental deals. So basically what they do is they help the house owners to take good photos. They literally went to their houses and take good photos.

When the houses get a good marketing, the tenants will come. When the money comes everything is settled. Word of mouth grows.

The economy of cyber dating for young people is that guys want to get girls and most girls think that most guys are craps. You have to solve the puzzle by doing the first step, help guys to do better marketing on the app. Guide them along.

Instead they are still doing the old models of getting the girls there first and sell guys “stupid tools that dont work”. Basically pricy likes and ways to get the girls attention. Guys figure out that results are shit and gave up.

The cat-fishing business (get the girls first then attract the guys to sell them crap lead gen tool) mode doesn’t work.

Tbh, dating apps don't work because a majority of the women there (even the 4s and the 5s) are on there for the attention and validation from the hordes of hungry thirsty guys who shower them with love non-stop. It gets addictive and feels good especially if they don't get this kind of attention in real life.
 

FierceRacoon

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From actually working on something similar, you could build a throw-away MVP that is still "viable" for maybe $60k (sixty, not $2k) or maybe even less. If you have a very experienced developer who is a cofounder, they may be able to produce a usable MVP in 6 weeks of full-time work, but for a U.S. developer of this qualification this amounts to a similar price.

What you can build for $2k is not an "MVP". It would technically work, but people would not use it in this day and age, not even as a prototype. Scaling is a huge problem, but aside from that there are also lots of exceptional cases that have to be handled such as no internet connection, quirks with the logic such as two people who simultaneously swiped on each other, but one right and the other left (what should happen, given that backend may not immediately figure out what has happened), etc. You also have to think what if a person simultaneously logs in on two devices, though the MVP could disable it.

To be clear, we are talking just to build a throw-away MVP in the beginning. If things go well, you may soon need $1M/year on your engineering team and to pay for the servers, and that may be before you even start monetizing it.
 

rodvaN

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Depends on the technology you choose.
Windows (Visual Studio) has many libs for sale, so it might get expensive.
If you choose open source, then Javascript is the best.
You need:
- Web server that handles the backend for the Database.
- FrontEnd app for compiling to deploy on Play and Apple Store.

In the backend you need to define the routes for the API, you can add routes for other user roles later.

The routes:
- admin routes: you can see, add, update and remove users. GET, POST, UPDATE.
- matches the list of the user to the user on the database.
- User routes: delete a match, like, dislike.
- Chat routes: POST messages only. Destroy in cascade when match destroyed?

The views:
- Backend: Using bootstrap you save money, make the login view for admin. View all users and actions.
- Backend configuration: Depending on configurations.
- Frontend: index, swipe navigation, user profile, self profile edit, and chat views.


It is not something really "easy", everything needs testing after the prototype. The key here is that you need to do a fast prototype and make a difference from tinder. If you get people in Asia or India, then it might cost you about 4k - 5k but you will experience some kind of unproffessionality. Depending on where you hire the people.

Hope this helps.
 
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Kid

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So you can read more about Whitney.
Whitney found out that Tinder is rather
not female friendly so she created better
dating app in 2014.
Fast forward to 2021 she is the youngest
self-made female billionaire after
taking her app public on stock market.

 

Hadrian

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Been following these with interest as I have a potentially killer idea to avoid the main complaint I see from men and women... that they don't want to be texting someone for ages before finding out there's no spark! But someone may have grabbed my idea already albeit in a slightly different direction:


Summary:
  • Competing with corporate giants basically makes no sense, that’s why it is better to find a niche by splitting the audience. By the way, it works with social media too. There are more and more community-focused apps for young moms (Pumpspotting, Peanut), freelance travelers (Homeis), millennials (Friended).
  • Anti-Tinder dating apps are trending now. It is about using new strategies and refusing standard ‘swipes’.
  • Providing safety is trending too. Many apps focus on creating a safe space for users, inviting volunteer moderators or using the opportunity to share your current location with friends.
  • Generally, dating apps can be monetized by offering subscriptions for more functions. They can be different, it is another space of ideas.
Analysing the posts above it sure seems like a Herculean task to make an app like this...
 

k.likhachova

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With all its features?

I'm interested in getting into this space. There's tons of complaints about Tinder. It's about time for a rival :devil:
With all its features, Tinder costs about $50,000 - $150,000. The cost of the dating app depends on the functions and experience of the development team. If you're still in doubt about what features you need for a successful dating app, I suggest you explore related articles for a better understanding. For example, this article How Much Does It Cost to Make a Dating App? not only consists of basic information but also provides a convenient calculator to determine the approximate price of your project.
 
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WillHurtDontCare

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You could probably find the source code or some knockoff code on github for free.

The real cost is marketing, which is the hard part of running a tech business.
 

Kevin88660

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Tbh, dating apps don't work because a majority of the women there (even the 4s and the 5s) are on there for the attention and validation from the hordes of hungry thirsty guys who shower them with love non-stop. It gets addictive and feels good especially if they don't get this kind of attention in real life.
The problem is deeper than that.

Dating app main monetization strategy is to rely on young men to spend.

Its like selling marketing and seo to consumers. And young men do not have much spending budget on dating to begin with.

Not a good business to target in my opinion.
 

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