# Tinder 7 Hacker News commenters recommended Tinder and 25 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Praised for simple, accessible design and real matches; critics say its paid tiers are favored over matches, plus privacy and bot concerns. ## Why people recommend it - Simple, accessible original interface (3 comments): "credit to Tinder for making their app so accessible long ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48192921)) "It was so much simpler and actually led to matches." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49604583)) "Original Tinder was the best dating app UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49748298)) - Can lead to real matches (2 comments): "giving tinder full access to your photos is scary, even if it could result in meeting your soulmate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45874293)) "It was so much simpler and actually led to matches." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49604583)) ## What people warn about - Business model favors paying users (4 comments): "There are truly few types of services where the interests of users and commercial operators are so totally misaligned." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49931447)) "they are incentivized not to make matches that lead to marriage, because then you will stop paying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916724)) "the focus was selling on absolutely useful and even harmful features that generated money" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47079479)) - Privacy and data concerns with photos (3 comments): "giving tinder full access to your photos is scary, even if it could result in meeting your soulmate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45874293)) "This is a breach waiting to happen, from someone you already know you can't trust due to all the past shadiness." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45845423)) "That's an interesting way to scam people into allowing them to mine your phone for training data." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45845720)) - Bots and irrelevant matches (2 comments): "figure out how to get rid of all the bots and maybe not show me matches from Cape Town when I'm in New York" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45828765)) "extreme superficiality, not background checking users, not addressing bots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46637548)) - Superficial, frustrating experience (3 comments): "Now that it's a much bigger business, it makes it much more difficult to actually meet someone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49933569)) "extreme superficiality, not background checking users, not addressing bots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46637548)) "Tinder is very much intentionally trying to frustrate you to make you pay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49934977)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [OkCupid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/okcupid.md): 29 recommend - [Bumble](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bumble.md): 6 recommend - [Singapore government dating service](https://hackerapproved.com/p/singapore-government-run-dating-service.md): 6 recommend - [Facebook Dating](https://hackerapproved.com/p/facebook-dating.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://tinder.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Tinder", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tinder/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).