How to build a good dating app

You may wonder if it even makes sense to build a dating app these days. It seems that the market is oversaturated with many products and by dominant players like Tinder.

But what if you still have a worthy dating service idea and are curious about how to create a dating app in this situation.

Your judgments regarding this market oversaturation may be correct at first. However, for numerous dating apps, most of them do not cover all user needs, lack quality, or have a low security level.

Besides, IBISWorld states that the dating service market has shown 11% annual growth over the past five years. In 2019, the total revenue reached $3B in the US alone.

Key insight: Dating apps account for almost a quarter of dating services industry revenue with a growing portion each year. This is due to wider adoption of the Internet and mobile technology.

Thus, for a rational entrepreneur, the market represents a great opportunity to make a dating app.

Continue reading this guide to find top tips on how to create a dating app with the potential to earn profit.

Why You Should Still Build a Dating App: Market Situation

To proceed with the argument regarding creating a dating app or not, statistics show that 19% of couples found their partners on a dating website. Look at the data provided by Stanford University that illustrates the shift in the ways of meeting partners over the years.

Graph: How Couples Meet Today

These days, 40% of Americans use online dating services (more men - 52.4%, than women- 47.6%). Just imagine that over 11M people use a dating app at least once each month in the US.

To add, Statista provided the following insight about the online dating market:

• Income from the online dating segment accounts for $1.667M in 2019
• Revenue predicted at 4.2% annual growth rate (2019 - 2023)
• Average revenue in online dating per user accounts to $4.9

Want to know how to make a dating app to meet users’ intentions? Take the following market factors into consideration:

1. Higher divorce rates: people are more entitled to search for a new partner by utilizing online dating services.
2. Marriage postponement: current generation is more prone to concentrate on their career; many go on casual dates via a dating app to save time.

To summarize: there is enough demand for a new dating app on the market. All you need to do is to сome up with a fresh and value-giving app concept, concentrate on a specific target group, and prepare your business strategy well.

We assume you are interested in knowing how to create a dating app to serve the needs of a particular audience. Let’s address the question: why do people actually use online dating services?

The main benefits provided by dating apps include:

• permanent and fast access to the service
• efficient option for busy people
• opportunity to find a soulmate nearby
• variety
• good option for introverts
• ability to avoid unwanted connections

A study performed by Kaspersky Lab revealed that the top reasons for using a dating app are just for fun, to find friends, and to spend time with an interesting person.

Reasons for Using Dating Apps

It is worth mentioning a big market player: the majority of dating apps (Tinder, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, etc.) are owned by the Match Group. In 2018, the company reached $1.73B in revenue and they continue to expand via international acquisitions like Meetic in Europe and Eureka in Japan.

Facebook is building its own dating service as well. More precisely, the network will provide suggestions for a date based on upcoming events, personal status, and interests.

So you want to know how to make a dating app that will stand out? First of all, it is necessary to study your competitors well.

The table below lists the top ten dating apps with key insights about them.

How to Create A Dating App People Want To Use

As you can see, the diversity in the dating app market is broad. There are even examples like the Sizzle app for bacon lovers or a specific app for beard-lovers.

Keeping this severe competition in mind, we should try to figure out how to create a dating app to attract users, gain traction, and receive such expected revenue.

First and foremost, you should make a dating app targeting a specific but sufficient audience. It is possible to concentrate on matches of particular interests, tastes, relationship focus, or even allow group dates if you plan to build a dating app with increased trustworthiness.

Potential Users of a Dating App

Here are the main aspects of how to create a dating app successfully:

Study the market trends, demographics (male-female ratio, age, income, location, etc.), and psychometric parameters to define a detailed user portrait.

As mentioned, learn from competitive dating apps, check out their functionality, monetization methods, strong and weak points.

For this, you can simply ask your potential users how to create a dating app that would meet their needs.

Conduct a few polls and ask the target audience directly what functionality they want to see and what elements they find important. Then, it is possible to create a great user matchmaking algorithm and clarify the USPs of your dating app.

• App name & logo creation

Come up with an app name and logo that will be easy to remember.

User experience (UX) should be well-thought-out when it comes to moving through app screens. The user interface (UI) should support the app’s functionality.

If you want to know how to create a dating app with a catchy design, consider the following pro tips:

• use the latest trends like blurred background images, translucent elements, swipe navigation
• apply positive and energetic color schemes
• use interactive elements to communicate with your audience
• include simple and easy-to-understand onboarding
• focus on gestures for app engagement and interaction

Swipe Gestures in a Dating App

Work on the app's content from an early stage. Along with UX/UI design, notifications and system messages should encourage more interaction with a dating app.

• Gamification & engaging functionality

Advice for how to create a dating app that engages users is to include a gamification factor (e.g. left/right swiping in Tinder app).

Build a behavior-stimulating feature on top of the general functionality of a dating app. For instance, give rewards when a user logs into the app, creates a great profile, writes messages, or for other actions. Motivate users to use good quality photos for their profiles. As well, personalized feeds, a unique matchmaking function, and app moments can help with user engagement.

Do not forget about creating marketing campaigns to spread the word about your application beforehand.

Extra tip: Curious about how to create a dating app that will conquer the hearts of users? Solve the following issue!

There are many sexual predators using dating apps to find a victim. Crime statistics support this increase in the number of related claims connected with the use of online dating services.

Want to know how to make a dating app as safe and secure as possible? Take the following aspects into close consideration:

• User security - includes profile verifications, message filtering (either manually or automatically for hate speech), ban option, blacklist possibility. Make sure to block nudity and other inappropriate content.

• Data privacy & security - apply high-security standards in app development to avoid information leaks and misuses. As well, request permission to use personal data and state how and why this information is stored within the app. This aspect relates particularly to the European market, where apps should comply with the GDPR (General Data Protection Policy).

How to Make a Dating App, Technically?

A dating app is a subcategory of the social media app, only with relationship intentions. Thusly, general features resemble the functionality of most social apps.

Here, we cover the core tech components and aspects in terms of their importance for dating app development.

Key Features of a Dating App

So, you want to know how to build a dating app with a decent functionality? Consider the following components:

A matching algorithm is one of the most important functions in a dating application that derives from a set of attributes. If you want to know how to create a dating app with proper matching algorithms, you may choose from the following options:

• matching based on location by using geodata
• personality characteristics (e.g. age, gender)
• compatibility of interests (e.g. music taste, hobbies)
• physical state (e.g. height, physique)
• special questionnaires (e.g. place preferences, cats or dogs)
• matching based on friend connections to build better trust and user safety (uses data from social networks)
• behavior-based attribute

Creating clear filtering within the app allows users to get connected with preferred people and thus, use the dating app more regularly.

It is possible to implement advanced matching algorithms with the help of AI or AR. Similar to Netflix and Amazon, a dating app can base its recommendations on complex data analysis. Facial recognition, biological data use, and behavior analysis would definitely provide more efficient matching and predictions.

• Messenger & communication channels

A messenger is another core component in a dating app. Whichever matchmaking process you apply, the next step always involves communication. Let's find out how to build a dating app with a good communication channel.

A good way is to set some rules about who messages first or stimulate users for an initial message. As well, in order to cover the security side, it is recommended that you build a dating app with message encryption.

To improve the experience of using a dating app, consider implementing GIFS, symbols, stickers, or video calls for more advanced communication.

If you are interested in learning how to create a dating app with a unique functionality, you may also include some of the following features:

1. Feed

This feature is common in social networks, but most dating apps do not have a personalized feed. If you implement this, users can express their thoughts and ideas, and share photos so that they have a better chance of finding their soulmate.

2. Stories
It is possible to take advantage of stories that are so often shared, especially by millennials.

3. Missed connections
Users can be notified about missed connections to boost interest in a new dating app. Alternatively, reminders can be sent in the form of potential dates based on navigations throughout the city, visited places, and intersection points.

4. Advanced date suggestions
Based on personal data and collected information from services like Tripadvisor, the app can suggest a place to go on your first date.

5. Message editing
The feature may be life-saving for many users, since the mistyping of some words can hit hard on one's confidence.

6. Gift-giving option
During the initial steps of courtship, it would make a great experience to give or receive some signs of attention. It is possible to integrate with some gift services to deliver sweets, flowers, etc.

How to Build a Dating App: Tech Stack

In order to create a fully-featured dating app, these are the tools and tech services that can be incorporated.

Also, keep in mind the following aspect in executing a dating app:

• If you want to know how to create a dating app that performs well, then you should opt for the native dating app development approach rather than web or hybrid. This approach increases app operation, allows for the creation of a more suitable user experience and advanced interface, offers the application of innovative technologies, and more.

• Do not be misled by a free dating app template offering. There are online services that propose the ability to create a dating site or app for free. The result is not actually a properly working product, but one with ads and malware. It is impossible to launch apps like this in the app stores.

How Much Money Do Dating Apps Make?

As stated, statistically, the dating app market has money and users who are willing to spend some to find a partner.

If you want to know how to create a dating app that will make money for you, consider the following revenue streams:

1. Advertising
The most effective variant is via affiliate networks. You can show interesting and relevant deals from bars, cafes, shops, jewelry stores, florists, etc. Rewards are typically received from the affiliate company based on clicks or installs.

2. Freemium model
Users may be billed on a monthly or annual basis. This model offers additional features like unlimited swipes, profile showcases, ad-free app version.

3. In-app purchases and gifts
One option is to create virtual gifts. Another option is to go offline and hold some speed dating events, meetups or integrate with delivery or booking systems (e.g. selling tickets to concerts, taxi services, restaurant bookings, etc.).

4. Sponsorship
This option can be utilized later with growing app popularity and user base. Then, you can contact sponsors from related spheres to place their ads in the app.

Resources for, & Cost of, Making a Dating App

Any app development requires proper planning in terms of budget. In general, the cost of making a dating app depends on the following factors:

• development approach
• number of platforms (plus adaptation to devices - web responsiveness)
• location of a software development partner and their rates
• app design complexity
• number and complexity of features of the dating app in the first and subsequent app versions

If you plan to develop a dating app as a fully-featured product and want to launch it more quickly, a wise approach is to divide the full product into a few logical app versions. This means implementing the most crucial features and leaving all additional goodies for later versions.

Our experience shows that it takes approximately 3-6 months to develop the first version at a cost of around $50,000-$80,000 per platform (iOS or Android + back-end development + basic admin panel). This is the minimum budget for the first version that you should expect to spend. The cost of making a dating app may increase depending on your requirements and needs.

The subsequent app versions are planned out ahead of time along with the first version. This is due to the product scalability factor, which should be incorporated in the architecture. To keep things in perspective, be prepared to spend $120k+ if you plan on at least two versions of the product.

Extra note: How to create a dating app similar to Tinder is not a relevant question to ask. That company received investments of $50M dollars to develop, scale, and promote the Tinder app. Not every product can boast such a budget. However, you can have your own success story. Just don't intend to build an app like Tinder, as cloning an existing product will not result in a great outcome. Rather, try bringing a new idea to the market.

How to Create a Dating App: Final Thoughts

Be original! Duplicate products have no value when every investor and customer is after some kind of creative, worthy solution.

Here is a list detailing how to create a dating app step-by-step:

Step 1: Research the market and study competitors to find your niche
Step 2: Define the target audience in order to serve their needs exactly
Step 3: Conceptualize a unique dating app idea with great scope of functionality for the first and following app versions (matching algorithm, gamification elements, user interaction)
Step 4: Focus on creating appealing UX/UI design and branding materials (e.g. logo, icons)
Step 5: Ensure high-end app security, data protection, and verification processes to boost trust in a service
Step 6: Think bigger and apply innovative technologies like AI, AR, VR, etc. in subsequent app versions

Step 7: Spend enough time on app testing in terms of security, user acceptance, bugs, and freeze avoidance
Step 8: Develop and launch the first dating app version or, in the case of a limited budget, test the waters with an MVP
Step 9: Build revenue streams naturally and unobtrusively inside your dating app
Step 10: Launch an effective marketing campaign and invest in user acquisition

In order to execute this plan, it is necessary to find a reliable dating app development company. It is worth mentioning that our team has vast experience in building dating apps.

We helped to implement business goals and technical requirements for dating app projects such as:

GoBibbon - a dating app that matches users based on their favorite activities.

GoGibbon Dating App Screens

Sqyle - an exclusive dating app for people with high standards.

Frequently Asked Questions: