Hinge is picking up popularity in the online dating market. More and more users are making profiles everyday.
It was developed as the long term dating competitor to Tinder.
“The app designed to be deleted”.
A new way of online dating.
No more swiping & better connections.
But how does it compare with online dating juggernaut Tinder?
Well, in this guide, I’ll be going over both apps.
Everything from making a profile to the intent of the users.
At the end I’ll go over my experience with both apps and what I like better.
Popularity
Both Tinder & Hinge were launched in 2012. Tinders popularity skyrocketed, while Hinge was always behind the scenes.
Tinder is in 190 countries and is translated around 35 languages.
Hinge on the other hand is in only 4 countries.
So globally, Tinder is dominating Hinge.
And currently, Tinder has around 6x the amount of users as Hinge.
Take a look at this Google Trends graph
Ever since the match group purchased Hinge, its popularity has been increasing.
If you’re wondering what the Match group is? It’s the company that owns Tinder.
So there is a conflict of interest to make Hinge more popular than Tinder.
It will definitely increase popularity, but won’t compete with the juggernaut of the dating world.
Types of Users
Before going into the details of the app, let’s go over the users each app attracts.
Hinge goes more towards the professional crowd and those who want to date rather than hookup.
Users tend to screen more before deciding to like a profile. And there are better pictures uploaded to the app.
Users just take the app more seriously than Tinder.
Tinder on the other hand is more of a just for fun app. Users here tend to just want to hookup or have quick flings. You can find relationships from Tinder, but chances are it’s not going to happen.
Interestingly enough, 50% of Tinders users never been on a date with a match. A lot view it as a way to kill time or have fun than go on dates.
The most popular age range for both apps tend to be between 18-32. With an abundance of users lying in the 24-30 age group.
60% of Hinge’s users are guys, where Tinder has 80% guys.
Quality of the Users
I can say both apps have really attractive girls on them. At times, I like hinge better than Tinder.
I feel that a lot of the attractive girls that don’t want to be associated with the hookup culture join Hinge instead of Tinder, although there are girls on both apps.
This also goes back to the expectations of what you are going to find on the app.
Profiles
It shouldn’t be a surprise that both platforms have completely different profiles.
Let’s take a look at the differences.
Pictures
On Tinder, users can upload up to 9 pictures. You can delete any picture and you need to have 1 at the minimum to get your profile going (although I highly recommend at least uploading 5-6)
Hinge on the other hand allows for users to upload 6. But you can also add prompts and videos.
Hinge makes you upload 6 images before deleting one. Once you do have 6, you need to find a replacement before removing the image.
You are also able to leave comments on your pictures so that you can personalize them or clarify what is going on in the picture.
BIO
Tinder allows for each user to have a bio, Hinge on the other hand, doesn’t have a bio section.
The way to get to know a user on Hinge is through answers to the question prompts.
Questions
Instead of a bio, hinge has 3 questions each user needs to answer. This allows for the user to show more info than a boring bio (most guys have horrible bios, learn how to write an interesting bio here).
You can select the 3 questions you want to answer from Hinge’s library of 30+ questions.
You shouldn’t struggle to answer these questions. They are all straight forward and can give someone a ton of info about you.
Virtues/Vitals/Vices
While tinder gets someone’s first name, age, and work/education, Hinge goes way in depth.
It asks users everything from drinking habits to ethnicity (I go over all of these later under search filters)
This way you can get all the info you need before deciding to swipe right or left.
You can choose what info to make public, but hinge will still use your hidden answers to find compatible matches.
Liking a profile (Swiping)
On Tinder, you can swipe right, left, or superlike.
On Hinge, you can like individual photos or profile answers.
On top of that, you can also leave comments to start a conversation.
If you don’t like a user, you press the big X button.
Tinder limits free users to 50-100 right swipes a day which resets after a 12 hour timer. Hinge on the other hand has a limit of 10 likes per day.
Messaging
Tinder allows for either the guy or the girl to start the conversation.
Hinge is the same, but you can start the conversation when liking a profile.
What i find happening the most is the girl asking the guy to initiate the conversation.
On both apps, messaging occurs when both users swipe right (or like) each other.
You can’t have a conversation going without there being a match.
Paid Features
Tinder has two paid features Tinder Plus and Gold (along with one off app purchases).
Both add more features for a user to use such as superlikes, rewinds, passport, and boosts.
Tinder paid users also get unlimited likes.
Paid Tinder Features – the following apply to both Tinder Gold & Plus unless mentioned.
- Unlimited Likes
- Rewind
- 5 Super Likes a day
- 1 Boost a month
- Passport
- No ads
- See who likes you (Gold)
- Top Picks (Gold)
Plus starts at $9.99 a month and gold starts at $12.50 a month.
Each plan can be purchased from 1 month to 1 year.
Hinge Preferred
You don’t get as much with Hinge preferred as you do with tinder plus or gold. It’s mostly helpful for unlimited likes and advanced features.
- Unlimited Likes
- See everyone who “liked” you in one view
- Unlock the advanced preferences
- Get access to Hinge experts
Hinge Preferred starts at $4.99 a month for a 6 month commitment.
Most Compatible & Top Picks
Both apps have features to select the most compatible profiles.
For Tinder it’s top picks & for Hinge its most compatible.
With top picks, Tinder selects 10 profiles a day to show you. If you are a Gold member, you have the option to like all 10 profiles and purchase to see more. Free members can only like 1 top pick.
With most compatible, Hinge will find a profile once a day and say it’s the most compatible match for you. Hinge claims that you are 8x more likely to go on a date with your most compatible
I find Hinge does a way better job with this. At times, I think the Tinder one is random.
Social Media
Tinder has more social media options than Hinge. While both Hinge and Tinder allow for a user to connect their instagram account to their profile, Tinder also allows for a connection to spotify.
This allows a user to showcase their favorite song along with their favorite artists.
I really like this feature and feel as if Hinge would greatly benefit from it. Having similar music tastes is a reason alone to like a profile.
Ad Free
Hinge doesn’t advertise on the app. Tinder on the other hand, has ads after you swipe on so many profiles.
While this doesn’t bother me, it is nice to not be advertised to while looking at potential dates.
Tinder does allow you to get rid of ads by purchasing a plus or gold membership, but looking at a few ads doesn’t entice me to upgrade to a paid version of the app.
Search Filters
On Tinder you are pretty limited on your filters.
You can filter with the following
- Gender
- Location
- Max Distance
- Age
On Hinge this capability is expanded greatly.
You can filter from religion to family plans.
You have the options of hard preferences (Hinge won’t show the profile) or soft preferences (Hinge will show this profile less often).
Access to some of these filters is only available to paid members.
Free Filters
- Gender
- Location
- Age
- Max Distance Range
- Height
- Ethnicity
- Religion
Hinge Preferred Filters
- Children
- Family Plans
- Education
- Politics
- Drinking
- Smoking
- Marijuana
- Drugs
In my time using Hinge, I didn’t really look over the filters. I like to filter out matches through messaging or on dates.
Also having filters can cause you to miss potential matches. It’s up to you if you have any big deal breakers, but for me I don’t use it.
Tinder Web App
Tinder has a web app built so that you can go to their website and start swiping. You don’t have to only use the app on your phone.
Hinge does not currently have this feature. So you need to use your phone to like profiles and messages.
We Met
We Met allows you to provide feedback for the dates you went on.
I’m not too sure that it actually affects anything, but it’s a novelty for dating apps.
It’s probably only built in as a safety feature and can affect a profile if it receives multiple bad reviews.
User Interface/Experience
Both apps have great UI/UX. They are sleek, easy to use and have aesthetics that are geared towards the mid 20s audience.
You don’t need a tutorial to figure out how to use the apps.
Creating an Account
Creating an account on Hinge or Tinder is simple.
While in the past, Facebook was the only way to create an account, today both apps make it easy to join.
All you need is a phone number and you are good to go. This allows for users who don’t like using Facebook to join the platforms.
See Who Likes You
With Hinge, you can see one profile at a time that has liked you. If you want to see all of them at once, you need to purchase the paid plan.
For Tinder, free users can’t see who liked them unless they get a secret admirer card. Otherwise they need to upgrade to Tinder gold to see all of the current likes.
Final Thoughts
Deciding what app to use really boils down to what you want with online dating.
If you just want to hookup and have casual relationships, Tinder is going to be your better option.
If you would rather have a long-term relationship and go on more meaningful first dates, Hinge is your app.
If you don’t know what you want, or are undecided, download both apps and give them a try.
Online dating is a lot of trial and error. You aren’t going to be successful right away. There’s a learning curve that comes with it.
And with that in mind, what you want today, might change tomorrow depending on who you meet on the apps.
You can download both apps today for free in the Apple and Google Play Stores
