In one of his songs, Elvis Presley asks: “Are you lonesome tonight?” Many things have changed since then, but people keep looking for connections and relationships as they always did. It’s human nature to love and to be loved. 53% of single men and 68% of single women aged 18-34 want to build a romantic relationship.
At the same time, they struggle to find ideal couples. Given this, it’s no wonder that dating apps quickly gained their popularity and continue to march across the planet, transforming the ways we build our romantic lives.
With that in mind, it’s a good moment to leverage the situation and create a dating app that will generate value for both businesses and users. So let’s see what to consider before approaching dating app development.
Key Highlights
- Dating apps like Tinder let you choose the location of your ideal match, so you can select how close the potential partner should be to you.
- Mathematical algorithms can effectively connect people according to their common interests, values, and preferences.
- Development of the dating app with the basic functions may range between $74,480 to $211,680.
- The best way to monetize your dating app is to consider in-app purchases, premium subscriptions, ads, and partnerships.
Reasons to Develop a Dating App
In the beginning, there were only mail-order bride services. Further, in the 1990s, dating websites appeared. Now, since we spend a humongous amount of time on our phones, dating apps are as wanted as ever. They allow users to find each other, chat, and if both like to engage further, go on a first date.
Applications like Tinder, Bumble, or Plenty of Fish enable people to browse photos, message each other, and make video calls. Moreover, gamification elements included in dating apps make our search for love fun and stress-free. Needless to say, it’s one of the reasons why these apps are so successful.
But what exactly makes the online dating market so attractive for users? Below, we’re providing a list of benefits that entice people from all over the world to majorly install and use a dating app or site. Here they are:
- Diversity of the user base
- Less effort in making connections
- Good for busy people
- 24/7 availability
- No unwanted interactions
- Possibility to search by location
Yet, if you feel uncertain about developing a dating app and need more reasons to clear up doubts, let’s take a look at the numbers. The revenue of the global dating app market is projected to grow steadily in the following years.
By 2030, this sector is expected to reach $14.4 billion.
Hopefully, now you’re more inspired to build a mobile solution of that kind. Thus, we can move to the next part and discover what types of dating apps are present on the market.
Choosing a Winning App Development Strategy
Watch our webinar to uncover effective mobile development approaches and launch your app.
Types of Dating Apps
Depending on the principle of matching people, there are primarily four groups of apps that currently exist. Usually, modern dating mobile solutions are a combination of several types.
1. Geolocation
As derived from the name, this type of matching is used to connect people based on their location or proximity to each other. For example, Tinder offers you the ability to choose how close your possible match should be to you. Another option available in the app now is to go global and see people from around the world.
2. Questionnaire-Based
Some dating apps’ architecture includes a questionnaire-based matching algorithm. It means that they first ask users to answer a set of questions about their interests and expectations. Then, in accordance with their responses, the app connects people with similar personal values and goals. eHarmony illustrates this type of dating application really well.
3. Traditional
A traditional dating app represents an addition to a web platform that looks like an online catalog of people. OkCupid is a good example in this category. Their application complements the website and replicates its main features.
4. Niche-Based
This group of dating apps aims to match people with certain common interests. Pet owners, jogging lovers, veggies, or even people with the same dislikes, there are plenty of options to choose from and find your niche. If you’re looking for an example, check out Veggly.
How to Create a Dating App: 7 Easy Steps
Once you’ve decided what kind of dating app you want to develop, you might wonder what steps to take next.
Step 1: Know Your Target Audience
First of all, you need to understand your target audience. App users may vary, depending on the type of dating solution and its business goals. Users can be of different ages and have their unique objectives and specific preferences. Know your audience and ensure you’re heading in the right direction to meet their requirements.
Step 2: Analyze Market Competition
Every business initiative related to the launch of a new product requires market research. The world has already seen a plethora of dating apps. Some of them are extremely successful in general; some found a particular niche to thrive in, and others deliver value by implementing exclusive features. Take time to analyze your competitors and explore the ways to take advantage.
At the moment, the US dating app market share looks like this:
Source: Business of Apps
Step 3: Choose the Right Development Team
When you’re ready to transform your dating app idea into reality, you need to choose a reliable software partner. With so many IT service providers out there, it might be challenging to decide on which one suits you best.
Prior to all, consider the qualification and experience that the software vendor has in dating app development. Check the company’s portfolio, read reviews, and ask for references.
Learn more about How to Choose a Mobile App Development Company
Make sure your team provides a relevant technical background and expertise sufficient to address your requirements and deliver a reliable architecture for your dating app.
After you’ve partnered with an IT company, you can explain your app idea to the development team in all details and move to the discovery phase. Your software vendor will help you do the rest, building a dating app based on your preferences, needs, time, and budget.
Lack of Developers
Find out how to deal with the lack of IT talents without compromising project delivery.
Step 4: Select a Set of Features
As we’ve just mentioned, your development team will help you make your app efficient and intuitive. At this stage, choosing features and functionality to include is one of the most crucial steps since it affects the user experience, overall attractiveness of the solution, and value it delivers to users.
Later on, we’ll talk about essential features that you can consider for implementation. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to embrace them all. Try to come up with something unique, and keep in mind your app’s type and goals, target audience, and budget.
Step 5: Define Your Dating App Tech Stack
While building your solution, it’s vital to ensure that the chosen tech stack supports the utmost performance. You can certainly rely on your team to lend you a hand here. However, make sure their expertise is sufficient.
With that in mind, when you outsource mobile app development to build a digital dating solution, look for a team with the following technical skills:
| Programming languages | Swift, Kotlin, Java |
| Frameworks | React, Node.js, Express.js, Next.js |
| Database | SQL, Redis, MongoDB |
| Cloud storage | AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud |
| Web servers | Nginx, Apache |
| Payment gateways | PayPal, Stripe |
Step 6: Focus on an Intuitive UI/UX
The next thing is paying attention to the way your app will look and feel. The UI/UX design is the focal point to make users stay with your solution. Think about smooth navigation, aim for coherent fonts and colors, and ensure seamless transitions between the app’s elements.
A team of experienced UI/UX designers and a range of various instruments, like wireframes and mockups, will come to help. Remember that to deliver a consistent experience, the visuals should be intuitive and simple.
User-Driven Approach
Watch our webinar and learn the top ways of reducing poor user satisfaction, low adoption rates, and decreased loyalty.
Step 7: Build, Deploy and Validate
With all the above-mentioned factors in mind, you can confidently start building your app. However, the development process is always prone to errors. So, regardless of your team’s skills and right chosen tech stack you should be ready to handle bugs. And the best way to get there, is testing your app thoroughly.
Specifically, you may conduct QA tests, usability and regression tests to ensure your application is bug-free, compatible across multiple devices, and meets strict security requirements.
Unleash the power of QA to Enhance Your App’s Quality
Additionally, it’s a wise move to run beta tests during the deployment phase to assess the engagement level of your app among different users and make final improvements before it goes live. Only this way can you develop a truly competitive product.
Primarily, you need to meet strict regulatory requirements, such as CCPA, CPRA, or GDPR, depending on your country. This ensures you collect, use, and store users’ private data securely. It’s also critical to employ strong security measures such as 2FA and biometric authentication. Another thing to consider is the age restrictions. Typically, dating apps require users to be at least 18.
Finally, it’s wise to have robust moderation. This way, you can ensure all content on your app follows your platform guidelines. Plus, robust moderation helps promptly identify and remove harmful or abusive content.
11 Key Features for Your Dating App MVP
Trivial as it sounds, but to make your dating app successful, you need to incorporate a set of features that users will find valuable and engaging.
On the one hand, chances are the more features you include, the more expensive your dating app development will be. On the other hand, you can always start with an MVP. First, offer key basic features to provide users with the main functionality and add more later, if needed.
Here, we’re listing the most common features a dating app should have to stay competitive in the market.
1. Signing In
Asking users to fill out the long form in order to sign up doesn’t seem like a very good idea. It’s cumbersome and takes quite a lot of time. On the contrary, social login ensures a smooth and effortless process of registration in a couple of clicks. Alongside the access via Facebook or Google accounts, there’s another seamless way of signing in to your app, through a verified phone number.
Additionally, before asking new users to create a profile, provide them with short but effective onboarding. Introducing key features will make the first interaction with your app transparent and intuitive. This will help you engage and retain users.
2. User Profile
A complete user profile is something more than just a bio description taken from an existing social media account. To make the matching process accurate, smooth, and quick, it’s essential that a user can give more details about his or her dating preferences, hobbies, lifestyle, and values. Thus, include the option for users to insert this information when creating a profile.
Moreover, it’s hard to imagine digital dating without profile pictures. Enabling users to upload photos from their devices or choose pictures from Instagram is an important functionality of a dating app.
Similarly, connecting your app with, for example, Spotify offers an opportunity to share music tastes and increases the chances of meeting a like-minded person.
Learn about the Development of a Dating App with Video Profiles
3. Matching Algorithm
No match, no date. Only after matching can users decide to chat and see if they’re willing to communicate offline.
There is a wide variety of matching algorithms that dating apps can apply. For example, they can be based on the location of users or their mutual interests. It is a key factor differentiating your app, thus it must be properly planned and incorporated into the app architecture.
Of course, your development team will guide you on how to create a flawless matching algorithm. However, you should understand the differences between the options to choose the right ones for your solution.
Mathematical Algorithms
In general, matchmaking techniques depend on the type of app you choose to create. For example, mathematical algorithms connect people according to mutual interests, values, and preferences.
Behavior-Based Matching
Another option can be behavior-based matching. In this case, big data and AI technologies help find and analyze patterns in user behavior and activities outside the app, social networks, music apps, etc.
Need assistance in AI development services?
CONTACT USLocation-Based Rules
Usually, dating apps incorporate location-based rules to make a match between users. It’s a common practice to combine this algorithm with the others since most people search for matches within their area.
4. Geolocation
Many dating apps use geolocation as the main principle to show and connect people with each other. Naturally, we tend to choose and meet others if they’re located in close proximity to us. Provide your future users with an option to select a city, region, or distance range where they want to find a match.
5. Swiping
In digital dating, one of the most common ways to express your interest in someone or show indifference is swiping. This is one of the most used gamification features in dating apps, along with achievement badges, quests, and virtual gifts, that significantly enhance user experience and engagement. Depending on whether users like or dislike a profile of a potential match, they swipe to the right or to the left accordingly.
6. In-App Messaging
This is a core feature of a dating app. After all, how else can people communicate to know each other better when they’re matched?
In-app chat enables users to send text messages or stickers and share videos and other content they like. With more options to diversify conversations, your mobile app will have more opportunities to keep users engaged and help them express their intentions.
7. Voice and Video Calling
It’s natural to feel nervous or uncomfortable before going on a date. It’s even more intense when you’ve never met a person in real life. Yet, voice and video calling features can help eliminate this awkward sense and prepare users for what to expect further.
On top of that, if people live in different countries, they can leverage this option to get to know each other better and get close to real-life experience.
8. Push Notifications
If you want to drive your dating app engagement and user retention, then don’t forget to implement push notifications. It’s a great way to notify users when they have a match or new messages. After all, you can just remind them to check the app or stay up-to-date with the latest news.
9. Settings
This feature allows users to change various settings and adjust their personal preferences. Generally, the options include upgrading subscription plans, controlling data usage, and managing notifications and payments. Also, there should be a possibility to alter discovery settings related to age, gender, distance, etc.
10. Admin Panel
As the name suggests, an admin panel is a hub to administrate your application. So it’s basically impossible to skip this feature because it allows you to control what’s going on with and within your app, from user analytics and payments to technical issues and content management.
11. Data Security
It would be reckless to leave out security. Users should feel safe sharing their personal data and be sure the app’s well protected against malicious attacks. Double-check that your mobile solution complies with all security standards and protocols, especially if it has in-app purchases and processes financial data.
Ready to Build Your Dating App?
CONTACT US NOW
If you’re building an MVP for a dating app and want to come up with a well-performed and competitive product, consider including these key features:
• Sign-In
• User Profile
• Matching Algorithm
• Geolocation
• Swiping
• Push Notifications
• Settings
• Admin Panel
• Data Security
Dating App Monetization Strategy
Another significant moment to consider when you’re about to build a dating app is how it will generate revenue. Even if there can be slight differences between iOS and Android monetization strategies, dating apps for both platforms use the same revenue sources.
Below, we’ve picked the most common approaches that app owners usually go for to make money. All of them allow companies to attract, engage, and retain users, which eventually drives revenue.
In-App Purchases
In-app purchases, if they are enticing enough, make it easy to show interest in someone and steer the conversation in the right direction. For example, it can be a virtual gift.
Premium Subscriptions
The next way to monetize your app is to include premium subscription plans that enable users to boost their accounts, get unlimited likes, and unlock additional features.
Ads
There’s a good old method you shouldn’t leave out: advertising. However, try not to burden your audience with too many ads, as it can be intrusive and lead to increased uninstall rates.
Partnerships
Finally, you can enable third-party companies to promote their products and services through your app and charge them according to the cost-per-click or cost-per-mile model. Relevant offers such as flower delivery, restaurant and hotel booking, or taxi orders help users plan their first date right in the app.
How Much Does It Cost to Make a Dating App?
As a complex and comprehensive process, mobile dating app development includes many aspects that impact the final cost of the solution. Since every custom-built application is unique, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to estimate the budget.
Learn more about the Cost of Mobile Application Development
In general, the cost depends on the app requirements, the scope of work, and, of course, the rates of software vendors. However, there are several key factors to take into account when calculating the total dating app development cost, design complexity, functionality, set of features, and the number of active users you expect after the app’s launch.
Based on our profound experience, building a dating app requires a team of at least 6 specialists: 2 developers, a business analyst, a project manager, a QA specialist, and a UX/UI designer. On average, the project implementation can be estimated as follows:
| Analysis and prototyping | 200 hours |
| Project management | 180 hours |
| Frontend | 520 hours |
| Backend | 680 hours |
| QA testing | 180 hours |
| Deployment | 80 hours |
On top of that, we recommend considering 10% of the frontend and backend development cost for contingency in case any unforeseen project circumstances appear.
With that in mind, designing a dating app requires around 1960 hours. Depending on the outsourcing location and team qualification, the average hourly rate varies between $38-108. Thereby, the approximate cost of a dating app with a basic set of features can be $74,480 to $211,680.
Need to Estimate Your Dating App?
WE CAN HELPThe cost of developing a dating app highly depends on the core functionalities it requires. Overall, you may craft a product with basic features in a range of $74,480 to $211,680. And, probably, you guess that the team quality and outsourcing location will also play a critical role in budget estimation. So, consider these factors to come up with a realistic estimate.
Ready to Build Your Dating App?
Increasingly, people search for love using the latest technologies and turn to digital dating through their mobile devices. Despite the competition in the dating app market being tough, there are still plenty of opportunities to seize.
With various mobile solutions for any taste out there, it’s important to find unique features that will serve you as a competitive differentiator.
The goal is to develop such an app that will deliver value to users, meet their requirements, and show them new benefits. It will help your dating solution become a breakthrough.
If you already have an app idea in mind, all you need to do is validate it and choose a trusted software vendor. Our team’s extensive expertise supported many companies with the development of efficient and engaging dating apps.
Still don’t know how to start a dating app? Velvetech will be happy to provide you with first-rate mobile development services and guide you on how to design, code, and launch a dating app. Contact us today to build a robust dating solution that will melt hearts.
Get the conversation started!
About the author
