What is Hinge? Explaining the dating app that’s ‘designed to be deleted’

Hinge is the dating app that’s “designed to be deleted.” The app, which was acquired by Match Group in 2018, promises a more relationship-finding focus for its members — hence the tagline.

While Hinge is owned by the same parent company as Tinder and OkCupid, it’s emerged as a popular contender in the space. This year, Hinge has shown growth in direct revenue and paying users, whereas for Tinder, they’ve decreased. Despite Tinder trying to shed its hookup reputation, it seems that Hinge doesn’t have that issue.

“Hinge’s intentional app design makes it easier for daters to express themselves and more quickly connect with people they’re compatible with through detailed profiles built around Prompts (short questions that allow people to showcase who they are),” a Hinge spokesperson told Mashable last year for an article about dating app fatigue. “And it’s working. Currently, we’re setting up a date every two seconds.”

How does Hinge work?

Hinge is free to sign up and get started. Like every other dating app, there are premium features at a cost. (More on that below.) Unlike Tinder, Hinge doesn’t have a swipe model. You can see one profile at a time and “like” an aspect of it — a photo, or an answer to a prompt — instead of “swiping right.” 

Speaking of prompts, they’re a feature that is very popular on Hinge and one of its defining characteristics (despite the fact that other apps have introduced prompts due to how popular they are on Hinge. This is a phenomenon of dating apps becoming more and more alike as they struggle to maintain their user bases.)

Hinge profiles are built around prompts; these are questions or phrases written by Hinge designed to get your creative juices flowing — and tell more about yourself than a black box “bio” section would. Some of Hinge’s top prompts (based on how frequently they lead to conversation) are:

Earlier this year, famed relationship psychotherapist Esther Perel created prompts with Hinge, including “In my friend group, I’m the one who…” and “Something my pet thinks about me.” 

Hinge also recently introduced AI prompt feedback to help users craft better answers to prompts — because everyone who’s been on Hinge recognizes the dull one-word response to a question that requires a bit more thought.

You can also share private details only with matches with a feature called Match Note.

On Hinge, free users are limited to eight likes per day. Hinge also limits the number of unanswered messages anyone, both paid and free users, can have at one time.

In 2020, Hinge launched Roses, its version of the Tinder Super Like (aka, an indication that you like them before you match). You can send someone a Rose on the Standouts feature, which is an algorithmically-driven set of potential curated matches for you. Users get one free Rose a week (and don’t accumulate), but they’re also available for purchase in packs of 3, 12, or 50.

A meme online is that Hinge keeps the best profiles in “Rose Jail” — though there’s no real proof of that.

Hinge also has a Boost feature, which makes you more visible to potential users for one hour. Superboost does the same for 24 hours. You have to pay for Boosts.

Hinge+ and Hinge X

Hinge has two paid tiers: Hinge+ and HingeX. 

With Hinge+, users get:

• Unlimited likes

• Ability to view all incoming likes at once

• Advance filtering preferences — the ability to filter users by traits like height, family plans, whether they drink or smoke, and more

With HingeX, users get the above, as well as:

• Enhanced recommendations 

• Skipping the line (Always-on Boost)

• Priority likes (similar to Roses)

The prices of these, according to the most recent information Mashable has as of publication:

• One month of Hinge+: $32.99

• Three months of Hinge+: $64.99 ($21.66 per month)

• Six months of Hinge+: $99.99 ($16.66 per month)

• One month of HingeX: $49.99

• Three months of HingeX: $99.99 ($33.33 per month)

• Six months of HingeX: $149.99 ($24.99 per month)

Is Hinge a good dating app?

Hinge is represented on Mashable’s lists for best dating apps for women, best dating apps for men, best overall dating apps of 2025, and more. It’s not just us; with increasing paid users, users are getting value out of Hinge.

In addition to photos and prompts, users can also add voice notes to their profiles and they’re able to video chat with other users. Hinge is also pretty inclusive, with the ability to choose from a variety of gender identities and sexualities on the platform. 

As previously stated, Hinge is owned by Match Group, which has been in the news a lot recently for different reasons. In Aug. 2025, Match agreed to pay a settlement to the Federal Trade Commission for fake advertisements. In Sept. 2025, two U.S. senators sent a letter to the Match Group CEO asking for evidence of what the company is doing to stop romance scams on the platform.

So if you want an “indie” app, per se, Hinge isn’t the one. But to truly know what Hinge is like, you’ll have to try it for yourself.