For $499 per month, you can now be part of Tinder’s one percent. Tinder Select, the company’s invitation-only membership, launched on Tuesday. For those still doing that math, that’s roughly $6,000 a year to hopefully find love.
Tinder claims that “membership spots are limited to less than 1% of users to ensure you receive the most exclusive experience possible.” Users who meet certain criteria, like having a profile picture and specifying a relationship goal, can apply, though the company didn’t specify how it will choose who to accept. The “perks” include being able to send direct messages to people without matching (but only two times a week); having people you like see unblurred photos of you on the “Likes You” page for up to seven days; and, of course, being able to show off that you have the Select membership with a badge on your profile. “See and be seen by Tinder’s most sought after profiles, so you can enjoy more exceptional connections,” the company promises.
Paying for dating memberships isn’t new — Hinge, Raya, Match, Grindr, Bumble, and others offer various tiers of paid options that range from $9.99 a month to about $50, but Tinder Select’s price tag had people on X and TikTok baffled. Compared to the League, which users can spend up to $1,000 per week on, though, things could be worse. Maybe you can put a price on love, after all.