Annual report · FY2025
The State of the Dating-App Industry
Mainstream dating revenue is being propped up by charging a shrinking number of payers more — while intent-led and niche apps grow.
| Company | Revenue | Growth | Payers | Net income | Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match GroupMTCH | $3,487.2M | ~flat (+0.2%) | 14.2M (FY avg)−5% (Tinder −7%) | +$613.4M (17.6%) | $625.5M (~18%) |
| Bumble Inc.BMBL | $965.7M | −9.9% | 3.67M−11.5% | −$693.1M (−92.7%)† | $165.5M (~17%) |
| Grindr Inc.GRND | $439.9M | +27.6% | 1.26M (avg)+16.9% | +$94.8M (21.5%) | $11.6M (~2.6%) |
† Bumble’s FY2025 loss is dominated by a $1,039.0M non-cash impairment; operating performance is far less negative than the bottom line.
* Market caps are secondary-market data (≈2026-06-04), NOT from the filings — verify on the trade date.
Five findings
1. Legacy swipe is contracting
Tinder −4% (first annual decline), Bumble app −10%, Badoo −11%, Match’s Evergreen & Emerging −8%.
2. Intent/niche is growing
Hinge +26%, Grindr +28% (and Grindr swung to profit).
3. Payers are falling industry-wide
Match total payers −5% (Tinder −7%); Bumble paying users −11.5%. Grindr is the exception (+17%).
4. The lever is price, not growth
Match RPP +5% offset payers −5% → revenue flat; Bumble ARPPU rose while paying users fell.
5. Marketing intensity varies wildly
Match ~18% of revenue and Bumble ~17% on marketing, vs Grindr ~2.6% — a sticky niche network needs almost no paid acquisition.
What we won't repeat without a source
- The widely-repeated “$6B industry, first-ever −5.2% decline” figure is NOT in any SEC filing; Tinder’s decline is −4% as-reported (−5% FX-neutral). The “$6B” market size is a third-party estimate, not a filing.
- Market caps are secondary-market data and move daily — they are not from the filings.
Next edition will fold in anonymised, consented inputs from our cost calculator— the “Real Cost of Dating Apps” dataset.
Get next year's report first
Plus the quarterly numbers as the filings drop.