Tinder
Ranked 2 of 5 dating apps by recommenders
Praised for simple, accessible design and real matches; critics say its paid tiers are favored over matches, plus privacy and bot concerns.
Praised for simple, accessible design and real matches; critics say its paid tiers are favored over matches, plus privacy and bot concerns.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 25
- approval share
- 22%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, accessible original interface
“credit to Tinder for making their app so accessible long ago”
Comment from 19 May 2026 in “New accessibility features powered by Apple Intelligence” “It was so much simpler and actually led to matches.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Why don't we bring back old school OkCupid?” “Original Tinder was the best dating app UI.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Vibe Coding is the new Internet Dating?” Can lead to real matches
“giving tinder full access to your photos is scary, even if it could result in meeting your soulmate”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Tinder's AI plans to find matches by going through your photo gallery” “It was so much simpler and actually led to matches.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Why don't we bring back old school OkCupid?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Business model favors paying users
“There are truly few types of services where the interests of users and commercial operators are so totally misaligned.”
Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “How Singapore's government-run dating service works” “they are incentivized not to make matches that lead to marriage, because then you will stop paying”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Singapore govt dating app uses Gale-Shapley stable marriage algorithm” “the focus was selling on absolutely useful and even harmful features that generated money”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Mark Zuckerberg Grilled on Usage Goals and Underage Users at California Trial” - Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “How Singapore's government-run dating service works”
Privacy and data concerns with photos
“giving tinder full access to your photos is scary, even if it could result in meeting your soulmate”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Tinder's AI plans to find matches by going through your photo gallery” “This is a breach waiting to happen, from someone you already know you can't trust due to all the past shadiness.”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “Tinder's AI can find better matches by scanning your camera roll” “That's an interesting way to scam people into allowing them to mine your phone for training data.”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “Tinder's AI can find better matches by scanning your camera roll” Bots and irrelevant matches
“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”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Tinder is testing an AI feature that learns about you from your Camera Roll” “extreme superficiality, not background checking users, not addressing bots”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?” Superficial, frustrating experience
“Now that it's a much bigger business, it makes it much more difficult to actually meet someone.”
Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “How Singapore's government-run dating service works” “extreme superficiality, not background checking users, not addressing bots”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?” “Tinder is very much intentionally trying to frustrate you to make you pay”
Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “How Singapore's government-run dating service works”
Other dating apps people recommend
The four most recommended other dating apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OkCupid | 29 | 25 | 54% | 7 | 12 yrs3 owners | — |
| TinderThis page | 7 | 25 | 22% | 5 | — | — |
| Bumble | 6 | 11 | 35% | 4 | — | — |
| Singapore government dating service | 6 | 2 | 75% | 1 | — | — |
| Facebook Dating | 5 | 2 | 71% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
31 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Tinder focusing on return-users metrics”
“Tinder is very much intentionally trying to frustrate you to make you pay”
“Now that it's a much bigger business, it makes it much more difficult to actually meet someone.”
“There are truly few types of services where the interests of users and commercial operators are so totally misaligned.”
“where you see only pictures”
“they are incentivized not to make matches that lead to marriage, because then you will stop paying”
“it feels so much better than Tinder”
“Original Tinder was the best dating app UI.”
“algorithms picking sexual partners, with a known history of favoritisms for the founder”
“It was so much simpler and actually led to matches.”
“the apps and/or data collection were broken”
“Tinder and swiping are a phone thing. No real investment.”
“Tinder's detection mechanism was laughably bad”
“Take out Tinder and gambling while you're at it.”
“credit to Tinder for making their app so accessible long ago”
“everyone despises Tinder and Bumble, at least that's what I'm hearing left and right”
“the focus was selling on absolutely useful and even harmful features that generated money”
“so much less and so much more fun than the footing the subscription on the other platforms”
“they can make more if you swipe forever”
“they’ve done it with measurable deleterious effects”
“extreme superficiality, not background checking users, not addressing bots”
“godawful Tinder and its clones”
“For me, tinder does not serve my needs, and neither does linked in.”
“Instead, it makes things worse, because a small number of paying users will get an outsized opportunity to swipe your profile!”
“giving tinder full access to your photos is scary, even if it could result in meeting your soulmate”
“That's an interesting way to scam people into allowing them to mine your phone for training data.”
“This is a breach waiting to happen, from someone you already know you can't trust due to all the past shadiness.”
“Sounds like a blackbox that assumes I want to ski”
“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”
“the most absurdly over the top, yet somehow also the most wholesome, party I've ever thrown”
“Otherwise the new account will get instantly banned too.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.