Post Date: May 9, 2020

Swiping on a dating app is an addicting process. However, on the free plan, swiping right through profiles often comes to an immediate halt once you hit the limit.

Each dating app has different rules on how many swipes per day you get on their app.

In this article, we’re going to break down how each mobile dating app operates and how you can best use your free swipes to maximize your matching potential.

Limit On Likes

Dating apps put a limit on swipes because it helps with their overall business.

When dating apps first started, there was no limit on swipes. Users could go left and right for as long as they wanted to until they got tired or ran out of people in their area.

Dating app companies soon found that they could limit the number of swipes to become addicted to the process.

From there, they would be more apt to pay for a premium service, allowing them to have unlimited swipes.

Once one dating app adopted this style, it soon caused a rippling effect on all dating apps and dating sites.

It’s now the standard to have a threshold in swipes that a user must stay under.

Two dating app users who love eachother. this is not what you will see if your tinder chat disappeared

The Love Of Your Life Is One Swipe Away

Learn our dating app secrets to get more matches and find that one perfect connection.

Limiting Your Swiping

Each app is different in the sense of timing. Most mobile dating apps will often restrict your ability to swipe for free matches by 12-24 hours.

This cool-down period is long enough to make the user contemplate if they should buy the premium or not.

While the user is in the limbo stage of not swiping, a modal or a popup will often appear that entices the user to sign up for their premium service.

The sell is if they sign up, they will get unlimited likes and can swipe as much as they’d like.

How Many Free Likes Do You Get On Tinder?

Likes on Tinder

On Tinder, you’re allowed anywhere from 25 likes before it restricts your swiping for 12 hours. Once the 12 hours are over, Tinder will give you another 25 likes. Tinder will not penalize you for swiping to the left for dislikes.

Once the right swipe maximum is hit, a screen then shows up that prompts you to pay for Tinder Gold or one of their premium services.

What’s great about Tinder is it gives you a countdown of how long you’re locked out.

Other apps don’t give you a timer, so you have no clue when you are allowed to get back swiping on the app.

Bumble Likes Per Day

Bumble beeline

On Bumble, you’re allowed 25 likes per day before Bumble locks you out for 24 hours. After 24 hours, your account will unlock, allowing you to swipe again.

If you want unlimited likes, we recommend paying for Bumble’s premium service. Bumble Premium will allow you to see who likes you and there is no swipe limit.

Bumble was the front-runner for online dating apps until it created a paywall for users.

It remains one of the top apps; however, the paywall has aligned with the other paid mobile dating apps.

How Long Do Likes On Bumble Last?

When you swipe right on a user on Bumble, it will last until your profile picture appears in their feed.

Bumble users can set their range from 1 mile to country-wide, so if you swipe right on a user, they may not see your profile until you come within their range.

If the person you swiped right on has a Bumble Premium account, then they will be able to see your likes right away.

How Many Free Likes Do You Get On Hinge?

Hinge dating app likes

On Hinge, the user gets anywhere between 8 free likes before they’re prompted to pay. The user is then forced to upgrade to their premium plan for unlimited likes. The likes will reset at 4 am each day.

If you’re not looking to pay for unlimited likes, you’ll have to wait at least until 4 am before you’re able to get eight more free likes.

Hinge has significantly fewer likes available than Tinder & Bumble; however, it directly notifies them when you like someone.

Tinder and Bumble let the user know through blurred pictures that your profile has been liked.

Hinge’s motto is that they want you to delete their app, meaning they’re trying to help you find love so you can get off of it.

This often brings quality candidates to the app experience, so 6-8 may seem low, but they may also be better quality matches.


❤️ Pro Tip: If you’re sick of finding people who are just looking for one-night stands, we recommend trying eHarmony.

It’s one of the highest-rated online dating apps in the world. eHarmony users are actually actively looking for relationships. Give it a try here for free and see if you can tell the difference.

Is There A Dislike Limit?

Not that we’ve seen.

The closest thing we’ve seen ( and it’s since been patched up) is by Bumble, where they had the user on a total swipe limit for a short time – it seems as if they’ve gone away from that.

If the user isn’t happy with the profile on their face, mobile dating apps don’t typically penalize them by blocking their swiping.

The goal is for the user to see enough pretty girls and handsome guys stay on the platform for as long as possible.

The longer the user is on the platform, the better chance they will sell them on their premium service.

These companies are often publicly traded, such as match.com, Tinder, and Plenty Of Fish.

They are under heavy pressure to keep investors happy; they’re consistently finding ways to get money out of the user’s pocket.

Knowing this, these companies are experts in user acquisition and user interaction.

Conclusion

Swiping for free and for an extended period is a thing of the past. Users now get on average 50-75 likes on swiping platforms to get the user addicted to the process.

Once addicted to swiping on pretty girls/handsome guys, they will restrict users and ask them to pay money.

Mobile app companies are brilliant in user behavior and know the exact trigger when locking you out and asking for your credit card.

If you’re serious about dating, we recommend paying at least a month to see if you like it and if it’s worth it.

About the Author

Julia has over 10+ years in the mobile dating app space as a consultant and analyst. Her work has been featured on top websites like Mashable and Women's Health Mag. She writes these blogs to help singles find their true love and life long companion!