Dating Apps are Growing Fast - But Not the Ones You Expect
This is a single insight from This Week in Apps - Growing Fast. Check out the full article for more insights.
Dating apps Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge are some of the highest earning apps in the US App Store having been in the top 15 earners for years!
That means they're making a lot of money, but revenue isn't growing nearly as fast as it used to.
I don't doubt there's more growth here, but it seems that users may be looking for something else…
A new class of dating apps have seen revenue rise drastically in the last year(ish) - exclusive dating apps. The kind you need to be approved to join.
Disclaimer - there are many dating apps that target a specific demographic (by skin color, sexual orientation, and there's even one for farmers). I'm not talking about those because they're pretty specific.
According to our App Intelligence, Raya, The League, Inner Circle, and Luxy are currently the leading exclusive dating apps in terms of revenue. And because Raya is only available on the App Store I'm limiting my comparison to the App Store.
The three have earned an estimated $119M of net revenue since the beginning of 2022 from the App Store - and net means after store fees so it's what those companies actually get from Apple and Google. $7M of that came in April alone.
Trend-wise, the smallest, Luxy, doubled its revenue in that period. The biggest, Raya, saw revenue explode 13x.
Luxy started 2022 with 248K of net revenue in January and ended April of 2024 with $584K of net revenue. Raya's revenue rose from $323K in January of 22 to $4M in April, according to our estimates.
The US is the biggest driver of revenue for all but Inner Circle, which gets its revenue from Brazil and the Netherlands. All four are earning internationally, though.
Given the proliferation of dating apps at this point and combined with how most singles have forgotten how to talk to strangers, this makes sense.
That's why Bumble acquired Fruitz Back in 2022. I expect to see more of this Goliath acquiring David in the next few years, making dating apps a potential gold mine for investors - just like 2015!
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
