One of the most popular dating apps globally, Tinder, has built its name based on a freemium offering. Since its launch back in 2012, the company has acquired millions of free users across all continents and has gradually transitioned into offering premium services to up the ante and provide users with supplemental features such as an ad-free experience, unlimited likes, and Passport.
Passport allows users to match and chat regardless of borders simply by searching a specific location or dropping a pin on a map.
Before the new additions, Tinder was able to survive solely based on its free users. However, once it had a large enough user base, it could branch out into freemium services to provide extra incentives that encouraged users to pay.
Thus, the subscription-based service Tinder Plus was born in March 2015, and customers can pay for premium options like those listed above.
Having seen a significant return from Tinder Plus, the company took things one step further by introducing Tinder Gold in 2017, which offered even more premium services for a price. This service features all the same perks that come with Tinder Plus, with additional incentives, including seeing which users like you before you even swipe right or left.
Tinder is one of the best examples of a company that took a free version of a product and transformed it into a multi-million dollar empire. And it is still expanding on its freemium model with testing currently taking place for the app’s new top-level subscription service, Tinder Platinum, which provides users with even more exclusive offers.