Cost estimation of developing a dating app like tinder

Did you know that the dating app installations and time spent on them rose to 18.8% and 13.6% year on year respectively? Also also…

Did you know that around 70% of individuals met someone on a dating app that became a full-blown romantic exclusive relationship? Surprising right?

For the next stat, all singles assemble!

According to a study, more people tend to join the dating app in the colder months between October and March.

So, it is the right time to hop on that dating app you were thinking about, you might find Harry to your Sally or Monica to your Chandler.

This data is evidence of why Tinder made 1.79 billion dollars in revenue in 2022 and it also showcases why the dating apps market size will keep on growing estimated to 6% of CAGR and make $12.65 billion in revenue by 2030. These numbers are due to the ease of finding a partner with a swipe makes it approachable plus the first-talk hesitation can also be masked so here’s your chance to impress that cute girl/guy online with your witty humour.

I agree there are so many dating apps developed are available in this market then why you should build one the reason is that although there are several apps the quality of the match is a little questionable. With this case study, we’ll tell you how to make one and what it would cost you.

In case you think we both are on the same page, hop on to our service page and see for yourself how we can work together.

I’m going to present a silly question but it is important.

Well, as everyone knows a dating app is an online platform or an app where you register, build a profile, add details about yourself including all the goofy ones, your likes and dislikes , and move to the most exciting part, swiping right or left according to your preference

Coming to the second question, Tinder was the first app that took the market by storm with 1 million monthly active users in less than a year from product launch. Some of the reasons are -

1. Good product, meaning Tinder really did land on the user expectations and if it was not, no matter how good their marketing would have been, the product’s hype would have died eventually.

2. Their marketing was top-notch, one of the strategies employed was the college-by-college technique where parties were organised where students with the Tinder app installed on their phones were allowed to enter and which college goer wouldn’t want to go to a party.

3. The look and feel of the app is user-friendly and eye-catching. The visuals, tag lines, and user interface are smooth like butter.

The above-mentioned techniques helped Tinder to rapidly grow their customer base and Grorapid Labs works on these techniques . So, don’t think twice, let's have a 30-minute discussion so we can together give a tough fight to these apps.

We hope you are excited to build your dating app but you might be worried about what the cost will be. Some other questions that you might face are -

• What will be the cost breakdown?
• How much will be charged for the different features?
• Are there any hidden charges that you might not know about?
• What if you overpay?

To overcome all these doubts, in this article, I’ll share the complete cost breakdown of building a dating app like Tinder.

What are the factors involved in the cost estimation of app development?

Nowadays, more and more people are willing to find a partner online. Looking at the industry trends, it is a booming business. Even statistics suggest that 27% of committed relationships start via the Internet.

Most of the younger generation have personal smartphones and this age is usually the time when they start meeting new people which increases the demand for even better dating apps. There is a huge market gap between the demand of the users and the present dating apps. However, there is a certain amount of investment required to make a better one. Below, we'll discuss important factors that determine the cost.

Development teams and roles

A skilled and determined development team is the key to building a successful app. A structured team will be able to efficiently determine the goals, challenges and find the solutions. Building a dating app is quite a task and that is why your team has to be experienced with expertise in building hybrid dating apps and this might be costly but they definitely are worth the price. A development team includes four roles

• Product Manager
• Developers - Front-end, Back-end and Database
• Designers - UI/UX
• Quality assurance (QA) engineers

A team of senior members with vast experience might charge more than others and the blocker is to find such a team. In order to hire such a diverse team, you need to have all the information at hand. Hence, we have just the right piece of content for you to judge if you should hire an in-house development team or outsource your project.

You need a team that solves the pain points of the users and Grorapid Labs does just that. ReHustle is a creator's app developed by Grorapid Lab’s development team. This app is one of its kind because of how it helps creators to build their own identity and monetise their services.

In case you are thinking that you might not need a quality assurance engineer or maybe a product manager, then I want you to stop right here and tell you that this might be a grave mistake. If you remove one of them, the other falls apart because the development team is interdependent.

Features analysis and cost estimation

Types of matchmaking

Dating apps such as Tinder employ matching algorithms as they play a key role in matchmaking. To pair the two users detailed mathematical data sets have to be analysed and based on that there are several types of matching algorithms present.

1. Geolocation-based pairing
   The matchmaking is done based on the proximity of the users.It is cost-effective and utilises GPS data.
2. Preference-based pairing
   The matchmaking is done based on the information provided by the users. Once the data is analysed the algorithm will show people with similar interests.
   It is moderately complex due to analysing the data, might be costly, and will require an exemplary user interface.
3. Compatibility-based pairing
   The matchmaking is done based on the compatibility surveys aiming to pair the users having similar values or traits. It is a complex process that requires advanced algorithm implementation.
   This is extremely costly because you might need researchers who can incorporate these tests into your app and study the data further to pair the compatible users.‍
4. Specific niche-based apps‍
   These apps are made for certain groups for example Dig which is a dating app for people who love dogs.
   Though these apps are costly but are surely cost-effective because of higher user engagement.

‍Assumption
‍Geolocation and preference-based matchmaking will be the highlight of our dating app.

User Profiles and Authentication

No matter the type of app you choose to create, certain features are mandatory to incorporate in a dating app, some of which are mentioned below -

1. User registration
   The option to register in the app should be provided to the user along with the option of how they wish to register on the app.

• Email registration
• Social media login
• Phone number verification‍

‍User profile creation‍
The apps that have options to upload more pictures and add a detailed bio are usually well received by the users. Using the interest and hobbies space, users can find people based on common grounds.

‍Authentication and security‍
To protect the users' data, the privacy settings should be robust and this can be achieved by having the two-factor authentication feature and setting up a rigid password recovery mechanism. A reporting system is also a must to protect the users against any kind of misconduct.

2. ‍Privacy settings‍
   These features might seem small but play a huge role in the success of the app such as the addition of a visibility control feature meaning the users choose people who can view their profile and who cannot.
3. ‍User Feedback‍
   Surveys, polls, or other methods should be incorporated to get regular feedback from the user, this will prove to be helpful to predict future advancements.
4. ‍Location
   ‍An option to search for people based on the user’s location should be included by asking permission from the user.
5. ‍In-app chat‍
   This is the primary feature of the app which has to be constructed well maybe with some addition of stickers or pre-built phrases such as “Hi!”, “How are you?”, etc.

‍Note : These features are the basic functionalities or must-haves which has to be included while building your dating mobile app.

Technology stack and development costs

Choosing the Right Development Approach

When developing a dating app like Tinder, the development approach has to be set in place.

1. Native app development
   ‍This implies that the development was done specifically for a particular operating system, Android or iOS.
   The development costs are higher end as the time and effort required are much more but the turnover is also high because of the superior performance and user experience.
   

2. Hybrid app development
   In this case, the mobile apps are developed for both, Android and iOS operating systems but these are easier to build due to the availability of a single codebase used, for example, flutter, an open-source framework by Google that helps in developing high-quality mobile applications on both the Android operating system and iOS operating systems.
   Though the development is cost-effective but doesn’t provide high quality experience to the users.

3. Cross-platform development‍
   With this kind of development, a single code is written in a particular programming language and deployed across different platforms, one framework that can be used is React Native. The price is relatively lower than the native app development but higher than the hybrid app development. The best part is it offers code reusability for the developers and good performance.

All in all, your budget and requirements will play an important role when choosing the type of development.‍

Assumption
We will be going forth with the hybrid app development.

Selection of technology stack

When building a dating app it is necessary to outline the technologies that will be used to build the app. But, before moving to the technology stack, you must decide if the app will be developed with code or without code.

• No-code such as AirTable and Webflow provide templates to build a mobile app without the use of code. Due to the availability of the templates, the cost is not much.
• Whereas, in the case of custom code, the app is built from scratch using a programming language such as Java, Kotlin, and Python.‍

Assumption
To estimate the cost, we will assume that the app is being developed using the custom code.
Once this is decided, we come back to the topic as it will play a crucial role in the determination of the app development cost.

Front-end development

It refers to the visuals you see on the screen of your mobile device. This is the interface that users interact with which is why it has to be smooth to drive user satisfaction. The front-end visuals include text, images, sliders, buttons, and more.
The technologies used are CSS, HTML, flutter, and others. The developers make sure that the design is intuitive and engaging along with being compatible with all the age groups and in case they have special abilities.‍

Assumption
For the front-end development, we will be using the Flutter platform and Dart language. 

Back-end development

‍Back-end development is the backbone of the mobile application as it supports the complete framework. It has three components, a server, a database, and an application. The responsibilities include database interactions, authentication, logic, etc.
The technologies used are node.js, Swift, Python, Javascript, etc.

Assumption
For our app, we will be moving forward with node.js, and the reason being highly efficient for real-time apps.

Database‍

Databases arrange, store, and retrieve the user's data in a structured manner, it includes numbers, texts, images, and more so that these are easily accessible.
The technologies include Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.

‍Assumption
To store the users’ data we will be using MongoDB for our mobile app.

Cloud services

‍There is a lot of information around and a limited place to store it. Cloud services provide access to computing resources and software applications without any physical hardware over the internet.
For example, Google Drive and Dropbox are cloud services.

Assumption
For the app, we will be using Google Cloud storage due to its flexibility and versatility.‍

Utilities

• Maps Integration
  As mentioned above, our app’s matchmaking will be done based on geolocation hence we must take care of certain integrations as well.
  
• Analytics
  To interpret the data an analytics feature is required.
• Payment gateway
  There are several in-app features or subscriptions available and in case the user wants to buy premium features, they can use certain payment methods.

Assumption
We will be incorporating Google Maps, Google Analytics, PayPal, and Stripe for geo-location, analytics, and payment gateway purposes to our app.

This just doesn’t end yet there are post-launch maintenance and support that are essential requirements of the app and all these factors play a vital role in app development and perform effectively to give the user a good experience. These will help the user to seamlessly move through the app while being matched with someone they are looking for.

Now that all the factors and features have been mentioned, we must address the main topic here. So, all these assumptions taken above will help us to prepare a rough estimation for our dating app.

How to prepare a clear budget?

You might be thinking oh okay, so we have all the features right here so it would be an easy task to calculate the price but allow me to break your bubble. 

The thing is that the cost estimation varies from project to project all the intricate details. So, what you can do to have a clear idea?

1. Discovery stage‍
   A thorough study of the project is necessary to understand a make a road map on how to proceed and what will be incorporated into the app.‍
2. Professional Expertise
   The app development team chosen also affects the cost of the app, more experience means a higher price but because of the right reason as they have vast experience and expertise.
   In case, the budget overruns and you want to cut costs you casually remove one of the roles from the team, let me tell you it might not be the desired result you want because these separate roles are intertwined and interdependent.‍
3. Hourly rates‍
   The location, team size, and remote or onsite affect the cost estimation to a great extent. For example, Asia is one of the continents with most tech agencies building software products, and that to at a much affordable price. The average rate for the app development is 20 dollars. This number will vary depending on other factors.

In essence, for the budget estimation process understanding of the project requirements is needed by someone who understands the project, has experience, and is familiar with the market space.

Evaluation of dating app development cost

Though developing a dating app is a significant investment but having a clear vision of the product along with an experienced development team can ease the difficulty. It is quite a task but your idea might be the one that takes Tinder and Bumble over. Considering the dating app giants, the approximate development cost can range between 20,000 to 100,000 US dollars or even more depending on the product.

Take all shots!

Now that we are well-versed with the factors and variables so let's move to the numbers now. We have already laid out the intricate details of our app, below you will find an Excel sheet of the estimation cost and time. This estimation will help you to get an idea and not step over your budget.

This was just a budget and timeline blueprint for a hybrid dating app but it can vary due to various other factors. In case you are still confused, hop on a quick consultation call with us to get a more concise idea

This is the era of virtual technology as more and more people are getting accustomed to the idea of virtual dating, one of the reasons is it helps to cut that awkwardness in between and is a godsend for introverted people. We know all the technical jargon might be a lot but Grorapid Labs does the heavy lifting for you so that you just focus on growing your business.