Relationship-focused dating app Hinge is now letting users create a full profile on the dating app for free.
The move comes almost six months after Hinge relaunched with a rebuilt app and a $7 subscription fee.
At the time, founder Justin McLeod said the price was lower than a monthly Netflix or Spotify subscription, and nowhere near a Match.com or eHarmony subscription, but “enough to make sure everyone is on the same page”.
But in an email to users over the weekend, McLeod announced that singles can now become a Hinge Member for free by completing their profiles.
In the message, McLeod called last year’s move to make Hinge a paid-only service a “difficult decision”, one that aimed to build a community where “everyone was equally invested in finding a relationship”.
However after looking at its data, and hearing from the Hinge community, the company has decided to let users create full profiles for free, McLeod said.
Users can now become a Hinge Member by completing their profile, after which they will be able to like 10 people every day, as well as filtering by height, religion and ethnicity.
McLeod said: “We at Hinge are on a mission to build the absolute best service for helping you find your next relationship. We took a big step forward last October when we replaced swiping with richer profiles and a new way to connect. Since then, we’ve seen connections turn into dates 17x more often.
“That said, we also made the difficult decision at the time to make Hinge a paid-only service. We believed this would create a community where everyone was equally invested in finding a relationship.
“But after hearing from you and examining the data, we’ve realized there’s a better way – one that doesn’t risk excluding people who are genuinely looking for a relationship while still maintaining our sense of community.”
The move comes after Hinge launched a new version of the app last week, bringing a more simplified design and improved matching algorithm, as well as the April Fools joke feature “Hinge Parental Controls” – a dashboard “for your mom and dad to access”, where they could set their own preferences.
This month, the company will also add video capabilities, an Instagram integration, and the ability to share profiles with friends.
The decision to backtrack on its bold “paid-only” strategy shows the move simply mustn’t have proceeded as hoped in the six months since it launched, and that the company believes it has a better future adopting the freemium model employed by fellow mobile apps like Tinder, Happn and Bumble.
It follows from Hinge offering a freemium membership to all “early members” a month after debuting its $7 subscription service.