Hinge Dating Site Review (2024)

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Hinge at a Glance

Best For

Finding deep connections

Number of Members

20 million

Favorite Features

• Profile prompts

• “Standout” compatible profiles

• Voice-note messaging

Video Chat

Yes

Recommended Age

24-32

How Much Does Hinge Cost?

Though you can use Hinge on a forever-free plan, you’ve also got three premium subscriptions to consider to find your ideal partner more quickly. You can pay $29.99/month on a rolling basis, $59.99 ($19.99/month) for three months upfront, or $89.99 for six months ($14.99/month).

Hinge’s price level is medium-tier, between Tinder Gold and Bumble Premium, and way more cost-effective than Match or eHarmony⁠—the latter of which starts at $419.40 for a six-month subscription. It certainly offers a lot of bang for your buck, so every penny is worth it.

What Can You Do with Hinge for Free?

It’s not only realistic to get high-quality dates on a free Hinge account, but you also get more unique features compared to competitor dating apps.

When searching, you can set basic preferences, like the gender(s) you’re looking to date, age range, and religion. However, most preferences, including height and smoking habits, are reserved for premium accounts.

Most interactions on Hinge are free, including messaging. You can like specific prompts and photos on a person’s profile and send witty comments alongside your likes, which can improve your chances of matching. Remarkably for a free app, you can see who’s liked you and like them back. You can even undo your last like or rejection for free, if you act quickly.

You get eight likes per day on a free account, which Hinge has found to be the sweet spot for high-quality dates. You also get a daily “most compatible” match, as well as Standouts containing cherry-picked profile prompts you’re likely to resonate with.

Best of all, with unlimited use of messages, voice notes, and video calls, you can communicate with matches til kingdom come⁠—but remember that chatting too much before arranging a date is one of the most common mistakes on dating apps.

Premium Features and Upgrades on Hinge

While there’s plenty to do on Hinge for free, a premium account can get you to your dream date faster. You’re able to target your search using a wider range of filters, including family plans, education level, politics, and smoking and drinking habits. 

Not only that, but you also get unlimited likes, and your Standouts selection is twice as large. Furthermore, you see all the profiles that have liked you all at once, rather than having to “yea or nay” one at a time as you do on the free account.

Separately, you can pay to Boost your account, which Hinge says will get you seen by 11 times more people. A one-hour Boost costs $9.99, and you can get 3 for $26.97 or 5 for $44.95. A 24-hour Superboost is $19.99.

How Hinge Works

Hinge uses a matching algorithm to suggest highly compatible profiles based on your personal details and preferences. People’s profiles contain a combination of photos and written prompts⁠—no bios⁠—which you can interact with, individually, via likes and comments.

How to Sign Up for Hinge

Once you download the Hinge app, you can join either by connecting with Facebook or using your phone number, both of which are relatively straightforward.

You must verify your name, age, and location, after which you go straight into adding content to your profile.

Setting Up Your Profile on Hinge

You must add six photos and three prompts to activate your Hinge profile. Photos can be uploaded from your device or from Facebook or Instagram, and can contain captions, such as “Woke up like this,” so you can show off your wit and personality. Prompts can be selected from a huge variety of options, including “My happy place is” and “Biggest risk I’ve taken.”

Adding personal details including height, religion, and smoking and drinking habits is optional, but it can help others learn more about you. 

Overall, the prompt-based profile setup is quick and fun, avoiding those head-scratching moments when writing profile bios on other apps. In no time you’ll be ready to start looking for that special someone.

How to Find Matches on Hinge

Before you start matching, you should set preferences such as the age range and maximum distance that should feature in your main Hinge list and in the Standouts. Hinge offers several ways to search for matches, all of which can be found at the bottom of your screen. 

In the Discover feed, you’ll be shown compatible profiles one by one and can make decisions by either tapping X to move on or liking (and commenting on) individual photos or prompts. Commenting on features helps create more in-depth connections, involving your values and sense of humor, and moves away from photo-based swiping. 

The next feed, Standouts, is a selected group of prompt responses from other users that the Hinge algorithm has chosen for you. You’ll get around 10 of these per day. If you are curious about a user based on their Standout prompt response, you can click through to see their profile. 

It gets a bit complicated here, as to connect with people from your Standouts feed, you must send roses instead of liking. And you’ll only get one rose a week, so be extra picky with this list. However, extra roses can be purchased if you aren’t able to choose just one Standout.

Finally, you can also see everyone who’s liked/commented on your profile on a separate feed. On a free account, you will have to decide yes or no on one profile at a time, whereas on premium accounts, you’ll be able to see all the singles who have liked you before deciding on any of them. 

To match with someone who’s liked you, just send them a message directly⁠—this doesn’t even count towards your eight free likes per day.

Safety & Security

Hinge has advanced tech-powered safety and security features. Messages are scanned for indications of harmful or illegal behavior, and user reports are investigated manually. Hinge’s Help Center also contains detailed information on avoiding fraud and staying safe on dates.

Hinge collects data on app usage, including features used and number of messages, as well as personal data like age and location. Some of your data, in hashed, non-human-readable form, may be shared with the Match Group and third parties for advertising purposes. Once you close your account, your data is stored for three additional months and then deleted.

Hinge App

Hinge can only be used on a mobile app, on iOS or Android, which has a seamless feel and is designed for you to get to know one person at a time, in-depth.

It’s really easy to use, even if you haven’t used a dating app before. The app’s main features are easily accessible from the bottom menu: your Hinge suggestions, Standouts, who liked you, messages, and your profile settings. Interacting with others is highly intuitive: you reject a profile by pressing X, you like prompts or photos by clicking the heart, and start chatting to your matches in Messages.

Some newer features could benefit from some explaining, though. It’s not clear how sending a rose differs from liking, or why the Standouts are higher-quality than the standard list of Hinge suggestions. 

Hinge Customer Service

You can contact Hinge by submitting a request and file attachment to its support team, but the process is made cumbersome by speaking to a chatbot and performing an unnecessary amount of clicks.

The Hinge Help Center contains a huge knowledge base spanning app features, account settings, and safety and security tips. A modest blog contains only a handful of articles.

Hinge customer support can’t help users with refunds, as these must be requested from either the Apple or Google app store.

How to Cancel or Pause a Hinge Subscription

To cancel your paid Hinge subscription, you must go to the Google Play Store if you’re using Android, or the App Store if you’re on iOS. In either case, go to your Subscriptions list, tap on Hinge, and then tap Cancel subscription. 

Pausing your Hinge account is also an option. It will not pause or cancel your subscription, but it will stop your profile from showing up in other people’s searches. To pause, tap your Profile icon in the Hinge app, then tap Settings and switch the Pause option to On.

How Hinge Compares to Other Dating Sites and Apps

Hinge vs Match

Like Hinge, Match uses matching technology to suggest compatible dates, but its user experience is different. You can browse a catalog of local profiles containing photos, personal characteristics, and a bio. If you prefer dedicated time with each dating prospect and an insight into their personality and values, Hinge might be better for you.

Hinge vs Tinder

Tinder is famous for kickstarting casual relationships and establishing matches by swiping left or right on profile photos. It shares common features with Hinge, including video calling and advanced search filters, but, ultimately, you should go with Hinge for an online dating experience prioritizing deeper connection over instant gratification.

Hinge vs Bumble

Bumble is famous for its women-led approach. Men can’t send the first message in heterosexual matches, and there are bountiful prompts about mutual respect. Bumble profiles also feature photos, interests, and prompts, but, on Hinge, prompts are much more varied and can be interacted with in a more personalized way.

Does Hinge Work?

It really does. Firstly, you get an outstanding amount of features for free, from unlimited messages, voice notes, and video calls, to seeing who’s liked you and undoing your previous matching selection.

Premium plans are affordably priced relative to the competition and allow you to use unlimited likes, see everyone who liked you at once, and see a wider range of Standout compatible profiles. 

Its different approach to online dating—eliminating swipes and showcasing personality and values via profile prompts—gives Hinge an edge for connection-based relationships.