How To Create a Dating App Like Tinder?

Are you interested in how to create a dating app like Tinder? How much does it cost to develop a dating app in 2024 from scratch? How many developers do you need to build a dating app?

Read this comprehensive guide for useful insights. In this article, I will discuss multiple options that you can use to build a dating app like Tinder, answer the most popular questions about dating app development cost in 2024, and what steps to take to create a dating app from scratch.

Let’s get started!

In this article

1. Configure a ready-made Tinder clone app from Appkodes
2. Configure a ready-made mobile dating app from Appscrip
3. How to make an app like Tinder using Appy Pie’s dating app builder
4. How to make a dating app using the PubNub platform
5. How to develop a dating app following a ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) approach
6. Key considerations while developing a dating application from scratch
7. Frequently Asked Questions on dating app development

Configure a ready-made Tinder clone app from Appkodes

Appkodes is a software development company based in India. You can create a Tinder clone app within 14 days.

If you are an entrepreneur trying to quickly launch your mobile dating app and don’t have a development team, you can choose to configure readily available dating apps. Appkodes provides you with one such Tinder clone app.

You only need to buy their pre-built Tinder clone ready-made app script and customize it in line with your requirements.

The readymade app has many of the key features you will need in a dating app, e.g.:

• Filter option;
• Superlikes;
• Matches;
• Audio and video calls;
• Location-based search.

You get the source code, admin control, a landing page, iOS and Android app support and update period as per the package you buy. You need to contact them for a price quote.

However, you need to arrange backend hosting. I recommend you consider ‘Mobile Backend as a Service’ (MBaaS) providers like Google Firebase, Kinvey, or similar companies. Many of them have a free tier, hence, depending on the projected usage of your app, you may be able to work with a free tier initially. Check out “How To Choose The Best Mobile Backend As A Service (MBaaS)?” for a comparison of MBaaS providers.

Configure a ready-made mobile dating app from Appscrip

For entrepreneurs without access to a highly skilled and experienced development team, Appscrip provides another option to build a mobile dating app without much coding. They have designed their “Datum” taking inspiration from dating apps like Tinder, Grindr, etc.

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You can customize “Datum” easily, and the base source code is PCI compliant; hence, you needn’t worry about in-app purchase functionality. Their pre-built script makes deployment easy, while they support Android and iOS.

They claim to have a scalable design, with multi-language and multi-currency support. Their app has the standard dating app features, e.g.:

• Social login;
• Photo and video upload;
• Social linking;
• Browse profile;
• Matches;

Check out the Datum webpage for more details. They provide a pricing plan upon request. You will need to arrange your MBaaS plan.

I recommend that you assemble the following team:

• 1 business analyst for 1 week;
• 1 graphics designer to create your branding material, for 1 week;
• 1 mobile developer for 2 weeks;
• 1 tester for 2 weeks.

How to make an app like Tinder using Appy Pie’s dating app builder

Appy Pie is a mobile app development software that you can use to create different kinds of apps. They support Android, iOS, Fire OS, and Windows platforms. This is perhaps your best option if you can assemble a reasonably skilled development team.

Mobile dating app features with Appy Pie

When you build an app like Tinder with Appy Pie, you can include the following broad features in it:

• Your users can find matches with simple swipes and taps.
• The app will provide a chat facility to your users.
• Easily monetize your dating app by adding in-app purchases.
• Match profiles of users using broad interests.
• Your app will support push notifications.
• Your users can easily add photos.
• The app will support login authentication with Facebook.
• The app admin has an easy-to-use admin panel.
• Users can use their Facebook profile or create their own.

How to build a dating app using Appy Pies’ intuitive platform

Appy Pie provides a simple, drag-and-drop platform for you to create your mobile dating app. You don’t need to code; this provider allows you to customize app layouts easily.

There are 3 broad steps, as follows:

1. Choose your design layout;
2. Add the features you need in your dating app;
3. Use the tools to push it to the Google Play or App Store easily.

Access their app builder.

Get help from Appy Pie documentation for dating mobile app development

Appy Pie has excellent documentation, and you can consult it in pretty much every step. For e.g.:

• You can view this video tutorial on how to create a Tinder clone.
• The documentation will tell you how you can integrate the login API.
• Appy Pie’s documentation will clarify your questions on push notifications.
• You can learn how to create, update, and delete your dating app.
• Let’s assume you want to include Twilio SMS service in your dating app. Learn how to do it.
• Learn good tips to monetize your app.
• You can check out how to send push notifications using the Appy Pie platform.
• The platform allows you to add YouTube videos to your app, find out how you can do so here.
• If you want the Appy Pie team to submit your app on Google Play, they provide instructions for it here.
• Suppose you want to publish your app to the Apple App Store. You can learn how to do that here.

This is not an exhaustive list. To view their comprehensive documentation, visit the Appy Pie Support webpage.

If your focus area is iOS, and you are planning to build an iPhone app, check out their step-by-step instructions. On the other hand, you can access their instructions on how to make an Android app.

Dating app development cost with Appy Pie

With the drag-and-drop app builder that Appy Pie provides, you don’t need to hire dating app developers specifically! I recommend that you have a developer with generic mobile app development skills in your team, along with a tester, a business analyst, and a project manager. You will likely need a graphics designer for your branding work.

You will likely need less than one and a half person’s months of total effort, assuming you are planning to include standard features. Appy Pie has a tiered pricing plan based on features, for e.g. you can use the free tier only to create a web app.

When you upgrade and buy their basic, gold, or premium plans, you get a wider choice of platforms. There are no ads for you to contend with, in the paid pricing plans. Their pricing includes MBaaS, hence you don’t need to arrange it separately.

You also have a higher quota of push notifications and bandwidth, just to name a few examples. You can get assistance from the Appy Pie developers, too. Check out their pricing page.

How to make a dating app using the PubNub platform

PubNub provides a platform for building various kinds of mobile apps, including mobile dating apps. With their ‘Software Development Kit’ (SDK) you can build the following features in your mobile dating app:

• Encrypted private messaging;
• Typing indicator;
• Unread message count;
• Message history;
• Emojis;
• Push notifications;
• Read receipts;
• User online/offline status;
• Content moderation to filter out inappropriate messages and images;
• Geolocation capabilities.

PubNub has good mobile chat app SDKs, and they bring that expertise into the dating app SDKs too, with their ChatEngine. PubNub offers SDK, plugin, UI components, and messaging framework for dating apps. Read more about it on the PubNub live audience engagement webpage.

PubNub has an extensive array of SDKs, and they support Android, iOS, Xamarin, PhoneGap, and Windows. Read their extensive SDK documentation on the PubNub Developers webpage.

They are an established ‘Infrastructure as a Service’ (IaaS) provider with their Data Stream Networks (DSNs) infrastructure in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They have a free tier in their pricing plan, besides there are ‘STANDARD’ and ‘PRO’ plans. Check out their pricing plan.

You will likely need to hire the following dating app development team in this approach:

• 1 graphic designer for 1 week;
• 1 business analyst for 1 week;
• 1 Project manager for 4 weeks;
• 1 Android developer and 1 iOS developer, for 2 weeks each;
• 1 tester for 2 weeks.

How to develop a dating app following a ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) approach

If you want to create your own dating app and the above options aren’t sufficient then you need to take a DIY approach. You will need the following skills:

1. Graphic designer for your branding;
2. Business analyst;
3. Project manager;
4. Android and iOS developers;
5. Web developer.

I still recommend that you use an MBaaS provider so that you can save backend development time. So, how much does it cost to develop a dating app like Tinder with this approach? Assuming you buy an MBaaS service, the following is an estimate:

• Developing a version for one platform can take about 1,000 hours;
• UI/UX design: Approximately 100 hours;
• Testing: Approximately 50 hours.

This is a relatively complex approach, which is why it‘s best to hire an expert dev team powered by an Agile development process and make sure that your dating app is well-built and easy to use.

Key considerations while developing a dating application from scratch

We talked about various options. These range from using “No-code”/”Low-code” platforms to custom dating app development.

Obviously, the custom dating app development option provides the most flexibility. You can implement key features that help you to differentiate your app in the market. However, developing a dating app from scratch can be complex. Consider the following aspects to make such a development effort successful:

1. Decide the features to offer in your MVP, e.g., core features, monetization options, freemium model, etc.

You might have studied your target audience and identified several features to offer in your proposed dating website and app. These could be features like swiping, matchmaking, social media integration, gamification, GIFs, etc. You might have thought of offering a questionnaire to find potential matches.

In addition to offering a free version, you might have thought of offering premium features in your dating app. These could include help to find that perfect match, “super likes”, authentication via social networks, etc.

As a start-up with plans to launch a dating site and app, how do you validate your business ideas? You need market feedback from dating app users. For this, you need to launch a functional product even if it has fewer features. That makes an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) important.

Plan to launch an MVP with a few features and validate your business ideas. You can enhance it with additional features, a comprehensive monetization strategy, etc. after you get the market feedback.

As we have explained in our guide to MVPs, you should prioritize your features for the MVP. Use tools like “pain-and-gain map”, “prioritization matrix”, etc.

2. Review popular dating apps to get relevant ideas

The landscape of online dating services and mobile dating apps is competitive. You can review a successful dating app to get useful ideas for design and development. The following are a few examples of such dating apps:

• Tinder;
• Bumble;
• OkCupid;

These dating apps are available on both Android and iOS. If you want to get an idea of pricing the premium features, then you can review Tinder subscription plans. You can find out the company offers different features in plans like Tinder Plus, Tinder, Gold, and Tinder Platinum.

3. Data security and privacy to protect sensitive information like user profiles

Dating apps process personal data including highly sensitive information. This includes user profiles, phone numbers, social network accounts, etc. A data breach can be damaging.

New users join dating apps since they want to find a soulmate. They don’t want a risk in their real life due to data breaches in an online dating app. You need to implement a robust security solution, which could include the following:

• Strong password policies;
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA);
• Encryption of data-at-rest and in-transition;
• Securing APIs;
• Mitigating information security risks proactively;
• Proactively testing all releases for compliance and information security.

4. Decide on the tech stack and find competent dating app developers

You need to decide on an appropriate tech stack, and your project requirements drive that decision. To start with, decide whether you will develop native mobile dating apps or cross-platform dating apps.

Native mobile apps deliver the best user experience, performance, and security. You develop native Android apps using programming languages like Java or Kotlin. On the other hand, you need to use languages like Swift or Objective-C for native iOS development.

Cross-platform development involves mobile frameworks like Cordova and Ionic. You have one codebase, and your app can run on both Android and iOS. This keeps the development and maintenance costs down. However, these apps can’t deliver the user experience or performance that native apps offer.

For developing the web app, you can choose JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for the front-end. You can also choose a JavaScript-based web framework like Angular. Node.js, a popular runtime environment for JavaScript is a good choice for back-end development.

You might need to develop RESTful APIs. This requires databases. You can consider MySQL or PostgreSQL, which are popular RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) solutions. Consider using MongoDB or Cassandra if you need a NoSQL database. You might use cloud computing platforms.

Avoid looking for developers with a low hourly rate. Finding a competent developer is more important. Consider hiring your dating app developers from trusted software development companies since they also provide project management support.

5. Plan the development of algorithms like matching algorithms

Popular dating apps use algorithms to find new matches. These AI (Artificial Intelligence)/ML (Machine Learning) algorithms analyze plenty of data to find matches with a good degree of compatibility.

If you plan to offer such features, then you need to use appropriate programming languages like Python. Remember that creating ML/AI algorithms can be complex. Look for competent Python developers.

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Frequently Asked Questions on dating app development