Bumble vs Tinder: Choosing the Best Dating App

The age-old question, Bumble or Tinder? They’re both swipe-based dating apps with easy-to-make profiles, free and paid features, and a variety of ways to chat with your matches. But, there are a few key differences between the apps. Bumble is well known for matches that expire after 24 hours if a first message isn’t sent. Tinder has multiple ways to find matches — top picks, swipe night, discover, and more. This wikiHow article will go over the difference between the apps, Bumble vs Tinder!

Things You Should Know

You can send voice messages on Bumble. Tinder has song and contact info-sending chat features.
Tinder offers 1 free tier and 3 paid tiers with increasing amounts of benefits. Bumble offers 1 free tier and 1 paid tier.
Bumble is known for giving women more control over the conversation, as they message first when matching with a man. If you match with someone of the same gender or a nonbinary person, anyone can start the conversation.
Overall, Bumble tends to be a slower experience due to its extensive profiles and message restrictions. Tinder is often faster-paced and more casual.
Bumble offers a variety of models beyond dating, including Bumble BFF for finding friends and Bumble Bizz for networking.

Section 1 of 8:

Interface

Tinder and Bumble’s interfaces are pretty similar. They both have a profile edit menu, a swiping view, and a screen with all your chats and matches.
- The profile edit menus are both arranged linearly, allowing you to change your photos, interests, and bio. There’s an option to preview your profile in both apps.
- Swiping is where things start working differently. On Bumble, you look through profiles by swiping up to see more photos and information. On Tinder, you tap the left and right sides of a profile tile to quickly see more photos; there’s an info button that shows you their full profile.
- The chats and matches screens are arranged the same way on both apps. Matches in a horizontal carousel at the top, chats in a list below that. Bumble has an advantage with a search button, in case you want to look for a match by name.

Section 2 of 8:

Profile

Profiles are largely the same on both apps. They feature typical dating app components like photos, interests, bios, and social media integration.
- Photo limit: Bumble has a limit of 6, while Tinder is higher at 9.
- Pronouns: Bumble has a dedicated pronouns section, while Tinder does not.
- Prompts: Bumble’s profile editor has a list of prompts that integrate directly into your profile. For example, you could add the prompt “I’m a real nerd about…” and enter an answer like “board games.”
- Profile strength: Both apps feature a “profile strength” number, which measures how complete your profile is. Bumble goes a step further and guides you through profile completion — when you click the Bumble profile strength button, a menu pops up with what you’re missing.

Section 3 of 8:

Matching

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Bumble has a few unique features that help you find connections and start conversations.
- Bumble lets you rematch with someone if the match expires (a paid feature).
- On Bumble, messaging has a few intentional restrictions. Women make the first move when they match with a man. (If the user matches with someone of the same gender or someone who is nonbinary, either person can initiate the conversation).
- Another Bumble restriction is that someone has to send the first message within 24 hours of matching or the match will expire. After that, you can no longer message that person. Additionally, the other person has to respond to the first message within 24 hours, or the match will expire.
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Tinder has a stronger focus on different ways to find dates.
- Tinder has an Explore page where users can scroll through different interests and activities. Clicking on one will take the user to a swipe screen with people who share that interest. For example, clicking on the Coffee Date tile will show you other potential matches that want to go out for coffee.
- Tinder’s Top Picks page shows you a limited selection of profiles that the app thinks would be a good match for you.
- Tinder offers a range of paid features, including the ability to undo swipes and access more detailed profile information, which can be helpful in some situations.

Section 4 of 8:

Chatting

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Both apps have messaging systems — Bumble and Tinder both have:
- Text messaging
- Video chatting
- GIF sending
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Bumble has a few unique chatting features.
- Unlimited question prompts - you can send these at any time while talking with your match
- Voice messages - send a short audio clip of you talking to your match
- Covid preferences - click this in the more options menu to see your match’s covid preferences
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Tinder also has a few distinct chat options.
- One opening question - you can shuffle through the options, but you can only send this at the start of a conversation
- Send a song - you can search and send a song to your match
- Send contact information - quickly send you phone number, Snapchat, and other social media information to your match

Section 5 of 8:

Safety

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Bumble’s safety features range from personal safety to emotional wellbeing. There are informative articles, how-to guides, and resources in the “Safety & Wellbeing” section of the app.
- The categories of information include “Mental exhaustion,” “Feelings of rejection,” “Harmful behavior,” and “Bumble to IRL.”
- There are resources like the Crisis Text Line and National Domestic Violence Hotline. Each resource has a number to call or text, and a website with more information.
- The Get help from Bumble button allows you to report a safety concern directly to Bumble.
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Tinder also has several safety features in the app.
- There are guides on harassment, safety, meeting IRL, consent, and travel.
- Tinder has a couple quizzes to help you learn about safe online dating and the community guidelines.
- Tinder lists safety resources and their contact information. For example, Planned Parenthood and the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
- The Report Someone button lets you describe an experience you had on Tinder. Then, the Trust & Safety team at Tinder investigates the situation. Reporting someone removes their account from your match list and won’t appear while swiping.
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Tinder also partners with companies to provide additional safety features:
- Garbo is a non-profit background check platform. They provide 2 free background checks to every Tinder member.^{[1]
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- Crisis Text Line lets you text directly with a trained Crisis Counselor at any time, about any crisis.
- Noonlight is a platform for meeting people safely. In the Noonlight app, you can silently summon help to your location, save details of an upcoming meeting, and add friends to your network. Noonlight connects to your Tinder account. Tinder adds a badge to your chat threads indicating that you have Noonlight.

Section 6 of 8:

Free Features

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Bumble offers a fully functional dating app with the free tier.
- The basics are all in there: swiping, matching, and chatting.
- Bumble bff is completely separate from the dating component. You make a different profile (on the same Bumble account) and swipe on a pool of matches looking for friends. You can quickly switch between BFF and Dating in the app.
- Bumble bizz is another entirely separate matching pool. It’s intended for networking and meeting people who share similar career interests.
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Tinder is also a complete swipe-based dating app in the free tier.
- The basic features are the same as Bumble: swiping, matching, and chatting.
- Tinder allows you to upload a 2-second video called a Loop. It takes up a picture slot and plays on repeat when people view your profile. It’s a fun way to add a bit of personality!
- Swipe Night is an interactive choose-your-own adventure game. No spoilers, but it’s about what you would do if the world were ending. After completing the game, you can find matches based on the choices you made.

Section 7 of 8:

Paid Features

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Tinder has 1 free tier and 3 paid subscription tiers. You’ll start on the free tier by default. The paid tiers have 3 levels of increasing features^{[2]
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- Tinder Plus gives you unlimited likes and rewinds, the ability to swipe in any location, and hides the advertisements.
- Tinder Gold lets you see who likes you, gives you more top picks, 5 Super Likes a week, 1 Free Boost a month, and everything in Tinder Plus.
- Tinder Platinum allows you to message before matching with someone, have prioritized likes, see the likes you’ve sent in the last 7 days, and everything in Tinder Gold.
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Bumble just has 1 paid tier above the default free tier. It adds the following features:
- See who likes you in advance
- Apply as many advanced swiping filters as you want
- Change your location with Travel mode to swipe in different areas
- Enable Incognito mode to be shown only to people you swipe right on
- All Boost features (SuperSwipe, Spotlight, Backtrack, and more)

Section 8 of 8:

Which app wins?

It depends! Both apps offer a complete online dating experience. It comes down to what you’re looking for and what features you like.
- Bumble is the clear winner if you want an app with a more extensive profile builder and conversation-starting restrictions. These features might encourage users to include more personal information and message more people. The 24-hour first and second message aspect of Bumble adds a sense of urgency to messaging (which can be great for getting the conversation going). Bumble tends to be less casual than Tinder, being more intentional and respectful.
- Tinder is the champion app if you’re looking for a fast-paced swiping experience. The (typically) shorter profiles and quick photo viewing means you can go left or right faster than on Bumble. Tinder tends toward a more casual experience. If you're looking for a casual and streamlined approach to meeting new people, or prefer a more established and widely-used platform, this might be the better choice.
- It’s worth mentioning that the vibe and atmosphere of each app varies depending on where you live. If one app doesn’t quite seem like the right fit for your preferences, try the other one!