Hinge Tests a Cheaper Subscription as Payer Growth Outpaces Tinder

Hinge is testing a lower-priced subscription tier, Match Group confirmed during its third-quarter 2026 earnings call on Monday. The company didn't say what the new plan will cost, but it will include additional filters and custom location boundaries, giving users more control over who they see and where they meet people.

The target audience is specific. "It's designed for women in particular, but also for price-sensitive users," said Steve Bailey, Match Group's chief financial officer. He framed the move with hard numbers: Hinge is one of Match Group's highest-priced products, with revenue per payer of around $30 — almost twice that of Tinder. At the same time, Hinge's payer penetration sits at only slightly more than half of Tinder's.

What do the numbers say about why now?

The move lands while dating apps struggle to convince users to keep paying. Subscription fatigue, endless swiping and frustration with the overall dating experience have pushed people to question whether premium features are worth the money.

Hinge, though, is Match Group's strongest performer right now, not its problem child:

• Global monthly active users grew 12% year over year.
• Direct revenue rose 19% to $221 million.
• Paying users climbed 23% to 2.3 million.

Tinder still earns more in absolute terms — $480 million in direct revenue — but that figure declined 2% year over year, and its 8.9 million paid users represent a 4% drop from a year earlier. Direct revenue counts money from subscriptions and in-app purchases.

The takeaway: Hinge is growing fast but monetizes a small slice of its base, and a cheaper tier could convert more users without asking them to spend as much upfront.

How does this change Hinge's pricing strategy?

The test reverses Hinge's 2023 experiment, when the company tried a more expensive tier aimed at users willing to pay extra for features that helped them get more from the app. Now it's testing whether a more affordable option can reach a broader audience.

Match Group hasn't shared pricing details. TechCrunch has reached out to the company for more.

One line of plain analysis: cheaper subscriptions alone won't fix the industry's deeper problem — user fatigue with the apps themselves.

What else is Match Group trying?

The company says it's seeing some signs of improvement, partly because it's trying to make its platforms feel less like traditional dating apps. Recent moves include Group Hangouts and Events, which give users ways to connect beyond one-on-one matching. Match Group plans to ramp up those efforts in the fourth quarter.

A bigger bet arrives alongside them: real-time adaptive recommendations. Announced at Match Group's CEO Connection presentation in September, the feature will let Tinder respond to user actions within seconds rather than hours, aiming to make recommendations more relevant and personalized. Testing begins in the fourth quarter.

If the cheaper Hinge tier converts at scale and adaptive recommendations land, Match Group will have two live experiments attacking both sides of its problem — what users pay and how long they stay engaged.