135 dating apps from 128 developers, 76 clearing $20k a month, and the top 14 all sit at $250k+. BLK: Black Singles Dating App has led since August 2017 and adds 5,095 ratings a month on top of 550,545. Eleven of the 14 leaders charge $9.99 to $99.99 a month and eight charge $5.00 to $99.99 a week, while not one sells a yearly plan. Five apps launched in the last 18 months for 0% of the review pace and one holds $50–250k on 168 ratings. Paying to see who liked you runs 34 times through the one star reviews of four leaders.
Appaloma readings · Dating apps · 2026-09-01
- OpeningEstablishedOpen when a quarter or more of the niche launched in the last 18 months
- Demand95Revealed by rating velocity across the niche, 0–100
- Crowding68How much of the niche the top apps already hold, 0–100
- Apps13576 researched over $20k a month
- New5launched in the last 18 months, holding 0% of the niche's review pace
- Floor$7.1M+a month, adding the band floors of 135 researched apps
What the niche is
A profile, a stack of faces, a swipe, a chat window, then money to be seen and more money to find out who already liked you. All 14 top apps sell that visibility as a consumable.
The niche sits one level under Dating and splits into 25 children. Only 29 of the 135 apps swipe on everyone and the other 106 each pick a rule: hookup apps at 10, dating clubs you apply to join at 5, faith and values dating at 5, a few matches a day at 4, photo hidden until you talk at 4, marriage-first matchmaking at 3 and crossed paths at 2. All 14 top earners are all-round swipe apps, so those 106 are where the last five entrants launched. The 177 AI companion apps sell the chat window without the match, and five of them clear $50k a month. The 115 looksmaxxing apps sell a score for the photo that goes on the profile and 69 of them launched in the last 18 months.
Who leads
| App | Since | Ratings | Stars | Prices | Band | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  BLK: Black Singles Dating AppAffinity Apps, LLC | Aug 2017 | 550,545 | 4.6 | $2.99–$29.99 | $250k+ |
| 2 |  Tagged Dating: Chat & Go Live!Ifwe Inc. | Mar 2010 | 461,916 | 4.5 | $1.99–$99.99 | $250k+ |
| 3 |  Chispa: Dating App for LatinosAffinity Apps, LLC | Nov 2017 | 372,682 | 4.5 | $14.99–$119.99 | $250k+ |
| 4 |  Hily Dating App: Meet. Date.Hily Corp. | Aug 2017 | 360,883 | 4.4 | $4.99–$24.99 | $250k+ |
| 5 |  Wink Dating: Meet, Chat & Date9 Count, Inc. | Nov 2019 | 309,368 | 4.5 | $0.99–$14.99 | $250k+ |
| 6 |  Boo App: Dating. Friends. ChatBoo Enterprises, Inc. | Feb 2020 | 205,270 | 4.2 | $5–$47.99 | $250k+ |
| 7 |  Skout Dating App & Live ChatSkout, Inc. | Feb 2009 | 189,065 | 4.4 | $1.99–$99.99 | $250k+ |
| 8 |  Instinct: Casual Dating AppInstinct Dating Company | Nov 2021 | 131,841 | 4.9 | $2.49–$49.99 | $250k+ |
| 9 |  DOWN: The Casual Dating AppDown App, Inc. | May 2013 | 125,741 | 4.3 | $4.99–$39.99 | $250k+ |
| 10 |  Zoosk - Social Dating AppZoosk, Inc. | Jan 2010 | 105,292 | 4.2 | $9.99–$74.99 | $250k+ |
| 11 |  Casual Dating & Flirt - KasualYUMI LIMITED | May 2019 | 102,252 | 4.5 | $4.99–$59.99 | $250k+ |
| 12 |  Duet Dating App: Chat & MeetWINK TECH LIMITED | Feb 2023 | 99,650 | 4.6 | $4.99–$119.99 | $250k+ |
Band: our researched estimate of peak monthly revenue, published only for apps we have researched one by one. Every app in the catalog sits above the $5k a month floor.
BLK: Black Singles Dating App, from Affinity Apps, LLC, launched in August 2017 and holds 550,545 ratings at 5,095 a month, the largest count and the fastest pace of the 14. It sells Elite at $17.99 and $19.99 a week. Affinity Apps, LLC runs Chispa: Dating App for Latinos beside it, launched November 2017 and holding 372,682 ratings at 3,558 a month.
The four oldest leaders still take the ratings. Skout Dating App & Live Chat from Skout, Inc. goes back to February 2009 with 189,065 ratings, Zoosk - Social Dating App to January 2010 with 105,292, Tagged Dating: Chat & Go Live! from Ifwe Inc. to March 2010 with 461,916 at 2,348 a month and Waplog - Dating & Video Call from VLMedia Inc. to February 2013 with 55,354.
Wink Dating: Meet, Chat & Date from 9 Count, Inc. runs second on pace at 3,821 ratings a month on 309,368 since November 2019, and Hily Dating App: Meet. Date. from Hily Corp. holds 360,883 at 3,347. Boo App: Dating. Friends. Chat sells personality matching on 205,270 ratings at 4.2 stars, the lowest of the 14 with Zoosk and The League: Intelligent Dating.
Duet Dating App: Chat & Meet from WINK TECH LIMITED launched in February 2023, the newest of the leaders, and holds 99,650 ratings at 2,406 a month. Eleven of the 14 come from a developer with one app in the catalog, all 14 shipped an update in 2026, and the three dormant apps sit outside the top 14.
How they make money
The month carries the niche. Eleven of the 14 leaders charge monthly, from $9.99 at Tagged Dating, Skout and Wink to $19.99 and $29.99 at BLK, $29.99 at Kasual and Waplog, $49.99 at Chispa and $99.99 for The League's Premium Membership. Eight sell a weekly plan: Boo runs it from $5.00 to $23.99, Wink from $8.99, Hily to $24.99, Chispa at $29.99 and The League at $59.99 and $99.99.
Five leaders sell a three month plan, from $29.99 at DOWN: The Casual Dating App to $119.99 for Duet's Supreme tier, and Chispa sells the longest plan anyone lists at $119.99 for six months. Not one of the 14 sells a yearly plan.
All 14 sell consumables beside the plans, from The League's $0.99 Time Out to Tagged Dating's $99.99 gold pack, with Kasual's 25 Super Flips at $19.99. Five leaders run a named currency and four of those five launched before 2014.
Boo prices the identical Boo Infinity week at $5.00, $7.49, $15.00 and $23.99 and its month at $14.99, $15.00, $19.99 and $47.99. The League sells one week twice, as $59.99 Premium Membership and as $99.99 Weekly Membership, Kasual marks its $19.99 1-Month Elite 35% OFF against its own $29.99, and Hily writes the trial into the plan name at $14.99 for "7 days FREE" and $19.99 for Elixir. Instinct: Casual Dating App lists plans to $49.99 and Zoosk to $74.99 without saying how long any of them runs.
The angles that get installs
- a human picks the match4 apps
- dating with no swiping3 apps
- dating for singles over 503 apps
- dating for Christians2 apps
- dating for Latino singles2 apps
- your friends swipe for you2 apps
The ten named angles cover 26 of the 135 listings: four hand over one match at a time, four put a human in the loop, three drop the swipe, three sell singles over 50, two run on Christians, two let your friends swipe for you, two expire matches after 7 to 10 days and two take no account at all.
Only three of the 14 leaders carry a named angle, Chispa on Latino singles, Kasual on anonymous hookups with no phone number or email and DOWN on marking each profile casual or serious, while the other 11 sell the open swipe. Two apps book the date first and skip the chat, cutting the screen where five leaders sell a currency.
What the one star reviews keep saying
“Not sure if I’m banned or it’s a bug. I saw in another review the same issue. Randomly can’t log in. Can’t make a new account and I can’t even find an email for support. I did nothing wrong. Waste of time”BLK: Black Singles Dating App, 2026-09-11
“waste time” recurs in 5 of the top 12 apps“How do you make a BLK dating app, then update it to put ethnicities on there. It’s a BLACK dating app! Everytime yall update the app it gets worse. Filters still don’t work and never did, distance doesn’t work. Flooded w”BLK: Black Singles Dating App, 2026-09-11
“behind paywall” recurs in 5 of the top 12 apps“Atleast make a free trial so people know what to expect I can’t even see my matches without having to pay $20+ dollars lol”Hily Dating App: Meet. Date., 2026-09-11
“can't see” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“This app charges you to see who liked you. It is full of fake profiles. It says black singles but there are several white men sending me messages. Was hoping for a better experience. Deleting this app and never downloadi”BLK: Black Singles Dating App, 2026-09-13
“fake profiles” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“This app charges you to see who liked you. It is full of fake profiles. It says black singles but there are several white men sending me messages. Was hoping for a better experience. Deleting this app and never downloadi”BLK: Black Singles Dating App, 2026-09-13
“see liked” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“Can’t even see who likes without having to pay. You should at least let people see who likes them by having them watch an ad at least, not everyone wants to pay just to see who wanted to add them bro…it’s dumb.”Wink Dating: Meet, Chat & Date, 2026-04-06
“pay see” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“I really was enjoying the connections and friendships I was forming until the app kept crashing, glitching and having way too many catfish profiles popping up even after you block them .. BOOM you see them again! The com”BLK: Black Singles Dating App, 2026-09-12
“social media” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps
Phrases that recur in one and two star reviews across 7 of the niche's top 12 apps.
Seven of the leaders pool reviews and three complaints run through them, starting with the price of a like.
You pay to see who liked you. "Can't see" runs 13 times in four apps, "see liked" 11 times in four, "pay see" 10 times in four and "behind paywall" seven times in five. A Hily reviewer could not see their own matches without spending $20 and asked for a free trial first, and a Wink reviewer offered to watch an ad instead.
The account disappears. "Waste time" runs 20 times in five apps, with "deleted account" five times in four and "banned reason" four times in four. BLK banned one reviewer after a single day with no explanation, and a second paid for three months, deleted the account, then got "something went wrong" for over a month with no support address.
"Fake profiles" runs 12 times in four apps and "social media" seven times in four, from reviewers who paid to see their likes and found the wrong people.
What works, from the five star side
"Best dating" runs four times in four apps and the review under it praises not having to pay to meet anyone. "Highly recommend" runs three times in two, behind a Boo reviewer who named the matching on shared interests.
New in the last 18 months
- Sequel: Real Dating 50+May 2026 · 235 ratings · $20–50k
- Yeet: Dating without SwipingMar 2026 · 168 ratings · $50–250k
- Tenr Dating: Elite MatchmakingApr 2025 · 157 ratings · $10–20k
- mylo AI - Meet, Date & LoveDec 2025 · 155 ratings · $10–20k
Five apps launched in the last 18 months for 0% of the niche's review pace and four are past 100 ratings. Yeet: Dating without Swiping from DATING OASIS LIMITED launched in March 2026 and reached $50–250k on 168 ratings in six months. Sequel: Real Dating 50+ from Primula Capital LTD reached $20–50k on 235 ratings four months after a May 2026 launch. Tenr Dating: Elite Matchmaking holds $10–20k on 157 ratings since April 2025 and mylo AI - Meet, Date & Love $10–20k on 155 since December 2025. Not one of the four swipes on everyone.
Six leaders run cached ad creative, BLK on one static image for 124 days with "Be with someone who 'gets' it and gets you".
What to copy and what to avoid
Copy: the month at $19.99 to $29.99, which 11 of the 14 leaders charge while not one of them sells a yearly plan.
Copy: the narrow launch. Four of the five new apps run one of the ten named angles, Yeet reached $50–250k on 168 ratings that way, and 11 of the 14 leaders carry no angle at all.
Avoid: charging to see who liked you, where the phrases for it draw 13, 11 and 10 mentions in four leaders each and the top five star review praises not having to pay.
Avoid: the silent ban, where "waste time" runs 20 times in five leaders, "deleted account" five times in four and "banned reason" four times in four.
Our read: 29 of the 135 apps swipe on everyone and all 14 of the $250k+ apps are in that group, while the five entrants of the last 18 months came out of the other 106 and four of them reached $10–20k or better.
FAQ
Is the dating app market saturated?
No. 135 apps from 128 developers, 76 clearing $20k a month as of September 2026, and five launched in the last 18 months with four past 100 ratings. Yeet: Dating without Swiping reached $50–250k on 168 ratings six months after launch.
Which dating apps make the most money?
All 14 of the leading apps sit at $250k+ as of September 2026. BLK: Black Singles Dating App leads with 550,545 ratings at 5,095 a month, ahead of Tagged Dating: Chat & Go Live! at 461,916 and Chispa: Dating App for Latinos at 372,682.
How do dating apps make money?
Eleven of the 14 leaders charge by the month, $9.99 at Tagged Dating, Skout and Wink up to $99.99 at The League, and eight charge by the week, $5.00 at Boo to $99.99 at The League. Five sell a three month plan and Chispa sells six months for $119.99, while not one sells a yearly plan. All 14 sell consumables from $0.99 to $99.99.
What do people complain about in dating app reviews?
The bill on a like first, where "can't see" runs 13 times in four leaders and "pay see" 10 times in four. Bans come second at 20 mentions in five apps and fake profiles third at 12 in four.
Can a new dating app compete with the big swipe apps?
The five that launched in the last 18 months all went narrow: no swiping, singles over 50, elite matchmaking and an AI matchmaker, and four are past 100 ratings with bands from $10–20k to $50–250k. All 14 of the $250k+ apps are all-round swipe apps and the newest launched in February 2023.