Hinge is a popular online dating app that was established in 2012. It’s since grown its user base to surpass the 5,000,000 mark, and while it’s used primarily for long-term dating, it’s also possible to use it to meet new people and make new friends.
It works like Tinder in that it’s essentially a swipe app where users must match each other before they can send each other messages. Unlike Tinder, though, Hinge has a bit more depth to it as it genuinely wants to help people find their life partner if possible. Indeed, its tagline is “the dating app that’s designed to be deleted.”
But is Hinge the right dating app for you?
I signed up for it and tested it out. In this Hinge review, I’ll be taking a look at its pros and cons, its key features, as well as who it might be for and who it might not be for. By the end of the article, you should be in a better position to decide whether or not to sign up.
Hinge Review
Pros
- Free to send and receive messages
- Users take it very seriously
- Clean user interface
Cons
- Very limited daily likes for free members
Who’s Hinge For?
Serious daters – Hinge is aimed at people who are looking for something serious.
Mature adults – Hinge’s user base is made up mainly of people aged between 30 and 45. Most of its users have already graduated college/university, have promising careers and are at the stage in life where they’re looking to settle down.
Educated people – Most of Hinge’s users have a college degree, so it’s fair to say that if you’re well-educated and enjoy a good conversation, this might be for you.
Anyone who never knows what to say – Hinge comes with automated questions and icebreakers that make it so much easier to start conversations.
People who know what they want – If you’ve reached that stage in your life where you know exactly what you wish to, Hinge might be the best dating app for you.
Who’s Hinge Not For?
Time wasters – Hinge’s users generally know what they want, and they’re not here to play games.
People who hate swipe apps – Hinge is a straight-up swipe app that lacks a search function.
Casual daters – Hinge is strictly not for casual sex encounters.
How Does Hinge Work?
Hinge works similar to most dating apps where profiles are queued up for you, and you just have to choose whether to swipe left or right on them. If you match with someone, you can start chatting, but it has unique features like prompts. Whereas apps like Bumble and Tinder require you to add bio, Hinge doesn’t. Instead, it requires you to answer 3 prompts and add them to your profile – such as “what’s the last Netflix show you binged on?” Unlike other apps, you can like the specific part of someone's profile.
To know more in details you can read our how does Hinge works guide.
Getting Started On Hinge
Hinge gives you two ways to sign up: You can sign up using your mobile number or your Facebook profile. Whichever option you choose, you will need to verify your profile with your mobile number.
I mentioned earlier that Hinge is more straightforward than other “long term dating sites” such as Elite Singles. But the sign-up process does take a little while because it’s a step-by-step process – and each step needs to be completed.
The good news is that you don’t have to add too much to your profile at this point. Creating a profile at Hinge is a piece of cake, even though it feels like filing a questionnaire at the first glance. Hinge asks for basic info, as well as your location, and it will also give you several prompts that you can fill in (such as “what’s the funniest joke you ever heard?”). However it’s easy enough to fill these in, and most users say that answering prompts is much easier than coming up with a bio from scratch. Moreover, you only need to answer one (although most users answer several).
Perhaps the most time-consuming part of the sign-up process is the “My Virtues” section. This is where the app asks you what you feel about topics such as drugs and drinking. Even though you need to answer these questions, it’s up to you to decide which of them are shown on your profile.
Lastly, you must upload at least six photos to your profile, and your profile won’t go live until you’ve completed this section.
Hinge Profiles
Because every user must fill in at least one prompt, you can guarantee that every profile will have something in it. Moreover, users must disclose their age and location, as well as upload at least six photos. And because Hinge users are generally looking for something serious, most profiles are reasonably detailed.
Unlike other apps, profile photos on Hinge are scattered up and down a user’s profile. And unlike most other dating apps, Hinge’s profiles don’t have a traditional “bio.” Instead, a profile is made up of prompts that the user has answered.
When looking at someone’s profile, you can see both the prompt and their answer, and you can also respond to their answer.
What's Prompts on Hinge?
Hinge has built prompts for users to break the ice and bring users with similar interests together. These are nothing but questions regarding your interests and life in general. To finalize setting up your account you’ll need to have at least the answered prompts on your profile. Ideas won’t be much of a problem because Hinge offers over 75 prompts to choose from and answer to complete your profile. Change them whenever a wave of inspiration hits you and you feel like you’ve got something more interesting to add to your profile.
It’s also worth mentioning that, while some of the prompts are designed to elicit funny, one-line answers (some are even designed to be answered with a pic), others encourage insightful, detailed answers. As a result, you’ll find that many profiles give you tremendous insights into a person, which helps you decide whether or not to like them.
All profiles are free to view, meanwhile, and you can see all information regardless of whether you’ve matched with someone or not.
Starting a Convo On Hinge
Once your profile is up and running, it’s time to make contact with other members.
There are a couple of ways you can make contact on Hinge. The first thing you can do is swipe left or right on profiles before matching with someone. Then, you can send them a direct message.
Alternatively, you can “like” either one of their photos or their answers to a prompt – or even reply to their answer/leave a comment on their photo. You can do this before you match with them. If they decide to respond to your “like” or message, the two of you are a match and can continue chatting.
You can also have video calls on Hinge, although you can’t video call someone until you’ve matched with them first. You can also view all the profiles of the people who have already liked you, and choose whether or not to like them back and send them a message.
“Liking” someone is, of course, the easiest way to get more matches. Premium members actually get to send as many likes as they want, but free members get limited to 10 per day.
You can read this article to find the Best Hinge prompts answers. 😉
Design & Interface
Hinge’s app is one of the best dating apps around in terms of its user experience. It’s super simple, clean and fuss-free. The icons clearly indicate what they represent, and jumping from – for example – your profile to your inbox is effortless to do. Hinge is easily one of the most uncluttered dating apps, and it also loads quickly and works intuitively.
And with a white background, it’s very easy on the eye. Most Hinge users download the app because the only alternative is to use Hinge on your mobile browser. Indeed, unlike a lot of other dating sites, you can’t access Hinge on a desktop.
Is Hinge Free?
It’s free to sign up and send and receive messages. However, there is also an upgrade package available which gives you extra features which we discussed in the paid features section.
Free Features
- View profiles – As a free user, you can see complete profiles.
- Send and receive messages – You can send and receive as many messages as you want without upgrading.
- Have a video call – If you want to have a video chat with a potential date, you can do it for free on Hinge.
- See who’s liked you – It’s fantastic that you can see who’s liked you as a free member because many other apps – such as Tinder and OkCupid – only let premium members see likes.
Paid Features
- Unlimited likes – Free members are limited to just 10 likes per day, while premium members can send out as many daily likes as they wish.
- Advanced preferences – If you upgrade your account, you’ll be able to set advanced preferences, which is meant to improve the quality of your matches.
- Who Liked Me – As a free member, you can kind of see likes. But it’s only as a premium member that you can see them all neatly collected together in one place, where you can then decide whether or not to like someone back. This stops you from endlessly swiping.
- We Met – We Met is a relatively recent feature that gives you the chance to report back to Hinge on how any of your Hinge dates went. The purpose of this is to allow the app to tailor you better profile recommendations in the future.
Hinge Membership Price:
- 1 month – $25
- 3 months – $17 per month
- 6 months – $15 per month
Is It Worth Paying For Hinge?
Since Hinge lets you send and receive messages for free and view other profiles and even have a video call, many users can get what they need out of it without upgrading.
So is it worth paying for?
Unlike some other dating apps, Hinge’s upgrade “Hinge preferred” doesn’t offer you much more than you get as a free member. You’ll be able to “like” more people, but that doesn’t automatically guarantee more matches.
What are The Hinge Alternatives?
- eHarmony
eHarmony claims to be responsible for over 600,000 marriages worldwide, and it also boasts 15,000,000 new matches per day. Its success is largely down to its highly developed matchmaking algorithm that pairs you up with people on your level. Before anyone signs up, they have to complete a lengthy questionnaire, and this goes some way to help eHarmony create high-quality matches. eHarmony, then, is similar to Hinge in that most users who sign up are looking for something serious. However, eHarmony’s profiles are generally much more detailed, and you can also use eHarmony on both your desktop and your mobile device.
- Match.com
Match.com user base is broader than Hinge. Most members are looking for something more serious, but you’ll also find that there are people looking for friendship and hookups. Match is currently used by around 8,000,000 premium members around the world, and in addition, it has millions more free members. However, unlike Hinge, you can’t send or receive messages on Match until you’ve upgraded your account. You also can’t see who’s viewed you or shown an interest in you. Some will prefer Match, though, because it has an advanced search function – it’s not a swipe app.
Is Hinge Safe?
One of the best things about Hinge is that there are very few fake profiles on here. This is mainly because creating an account takes a lot of effort. However, there are concerns related to security and confidentiality. Your personal information is shared with over 45 other dating apps of the Match Group, including OkCupid and Tinder. And, if suddenly you’d like your data to vanish entirely, it’ll take a while until this is done.
Verdict: Does Hinge Work?
As I mentioned earlier, I signed up to Hinge to see what it’s all about myself. The sign-up process took a few minutes, and I made sure to upload six photos and answer a few prompts to help make my profile more attractive to other users.
Once my profile was up and running, one of the first things I noticed was how similar Hinge is to Tinder. Both are swipe apps, have no search function, and are free to send and receive messages. The most significant difference is that Hinge’s user base comprises way more serious daters than there are on Tinder.
Moreover, it seemed a lot easier to land matches on Hinge – possibly because people who are genuinely looking for something serious use the app. Within a few days, I was already talking to a few different women and planning dates.
Overall, my experience using Hinge was a positive one. The prompts/questions help to break the ice when you don’t know what else to say other than “hey,” and while Hinge doesn’t have as many users as Tinder, there are still more than enough people to match with provided you live in a dense area, such as a city or a busy town.
Below are our interesting comparisons that show how Hinge stands against two other most popular dating apps: