Why Dating App Usage Is Declining: What’s Behind the Drop in Tinder and Bumble Users
✨Key Points
Dating apps aren’t just slowing down — they’re losing users and revenue across the board.
Big players like Tinder and Bumble are seeing long-running drops in paying subscribers.
The industry’s downturn is clear, raising the real question: why are people moving away?
Tinder has reported nine consecutive quarters of declining paying subscribers.
Bumble’s valuation fell from $20 billion at its peak to $2.7 billion.
The UK’s top 10 dating apps lost nearly 16% of their users in a single year, according to Ofcom data from November 2024.
These are not isolated figures. They point to a sustained contraction in an industry that once seemed unstoppable.
The question is no longer whether dating apps are losing ground. The data confirms they are.
The more pressing questions are why users are leaving and where they are going.
The Numbers Tell a Consistent Story
Bank of America research found that global users of Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge declined 6% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Match Group, the company behind Tinder and Hinge, has seen its stock fall nearly 70% over the past five years.
A January 2025 analyst note from Citi described overall sentiment toward dating apps as “largely negative.”
Match Group’s Q1 2025 earnings report reinforced this trend. Total revenue of $831 million declined 3% year over year.
Paying subscribers fell to 14.2 million, down 5% from the previous year. This marked the fifth consecutive quarter of payer decline.
Tinder’s performance was weaker still. Direct revenue in Q1 2025 was $447 million, down 7% year over year.
Paying subscribers declined 6% to 9.1 million.
Monthly active users dropped 9% compared to the same period a year earlier.
In the UK alone, Tinder lost 594,000 users.
Bumble dropped by 368,000.
Hinge declined by 131,000. Grindr lost 11,000 users.
Relationship Preferences in a Fragmenting Market
Users leaving mainstream platforms are not abandoning online dating altogether.
Many are moving toward services that cater to specific relationship types.
Someone seeking an older partner may turn to a sugar daddy app rather than scroll through thousands of incompatible profiles on a general platform.
This fragmentation explains part of the decline at major apps.
As user intentions become more defined, they gravitate toward tools built for those purposes. General-purpose dating apps struggle when they fail to deliver that level of specificity.
Gen Z Has Little Interest
A 2024 Forbes Health survey found that 79% of Gen Z users reported fatigue with dating apps, citing time investment without meaningful results.
An Axios survey from 2023 found that 79% of college students were not using dating apps at all.
The retention problem has intensified. Mobile analytics firm AppsFlyer reported that 65% of dating apps downloaded in 2024 were deleted within one month.
By 2025, that figure rose to 69%.
Statista data from 2023 showed that users aged 30 to 49, largely millennials, accounted for 61% of dating app users, while Gen Z made up only 26%.
The generation once expected to fuel the next growth phase has largely disengaged.
The reasons cited for burnout remain consistent.
According to the Forbes Health survey, 40% of respondents said they could not find meaningful connections.
Another 27% pointed to rejection, and 24% cited repetitive conversations.
Leadership Acknowledges the Problem
Industry leadership has acknowledged growing dissatisfaction among users.
A senior Match Group executive stated publicly that dating apps were beginning to feel like a “numbers game,” reinforcing the perception that engagement metrics were prioritized over real connections.
User sentiment reflects this shift.
Louise Mason, a millennial marketing professional from Doncaster, UK, told Fortune that she did not want a pen pal—she wanted in-person interaction. Her experience mirrors that of many who have stepped away from apps.
Bumble has faced its own internal challenges.
Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd returned to an executive leadership role in late 2023. In January 2025, the company announced she would resume her role as CEO, replacing Lidiane Jones.
One Platform Grows While Others Shrink
Hinge stands out as an exception.
The platform recorded a 23% increase in direct revenue in Q1 2025, even as Tinder posted declines.
Match Group data later in 2025 showed Hinge delivering 27% year-over-year growth, reaching $184.7 million in revenue.
Paying subscribers increased 17% to 1.87 million.
Under Match Group’s ownership, Hinge grew from $8 million in revenue in 2018 to $550 million in 2024, according to Business of Apps.
Its positioning as a relationship-focused platform has resonated with users seeking more intentional connections.
Even so, this growth does not offset broader losses.
Match Group reported a 17% rise in revenue per payer in 2024, driven largely by higher pricing.
Companies are earning more from fewer users, a model that has limits.
AI Is Not the Answer Users Want
Tinder has introduced AI-powered tools for discovery and engagement, while Match Group has invested heavily in artificial intelligence.
The expectation has been that smarter algorithms might reverse user declines.
Gen Z remains unconvinced.
A Bloomberg Intelligence survey from July 2025 found that younger users were less comfortable than millennials with AI-generated prompts, automated messaging, or photo enhancement tools.
The generation raised alongside digital technology appears increasingly wary of its role in forming personal relationships, complicating efforts to use AI as a solution.
Companies Try New Approaches
Acknowledging the limitations of swiping, Hinge launched a $1 million initiative in March 2025 to fund Gen Z-focused social events in London, New York, and Los Angeles.
The goal is to bridge online matching with real-world interaction.
According to the Pew Research Center, 1 in 10 partnered adults met their partner online.
Among those under 30, the figure rises to 1 in 5.
These outcomes confirm that apps still facilitate relationships, though not at expanding rates.
Market Projections Remain Positive
Statista projects that the global dating services market will generate $8.28 billion in revenue in 2025, with annual growth of 1.92% through 2029.
The United States alone is expected to contribute $2.60 billion in 2025.
Revenue growth no longer depends on user growth.
Higher subscription prices and premium features allow companies to sustain earnings even as user counts decline.
Match Group’s rising revenue per payer illustrates this shift.
The industry is not collapsing. It is contracting and consolidating.
What Users Actually Want
Many young singles say dating apps no longer feel spontaneous. Instead, they feel transactional.
Safety concerns, privacy issues, and repeated negative experiences have driven users away.
While platforms acknowledge these frustrations, aligning business incentives with genuine outcomes remains difficult.
Users want authenticity and meaningful interaction. Whether large platforms can meet those expectations consistently remains uncertain.
Conclusion
Dating apps are not disappearing, but their cultural dominance is clearly weakening.
Subscriber declines, user fatigue, and shifting expectations suggest that the industry has entered a phase of contraction rather than expansion.
Users are not rejecting digital dating itself; they are rejecting inefficiency, inauthenticity, and emotional fatigue.
The future likely belongs to platforms that prioritize intention, clarity, and real-world connection over endless engagement.
Popularity, once driven by scale, now depends on relevance.
