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Image: Meta
When we think of online dating today, names like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble often dominate the conversation.
But tucked inside the main Facebook app is a quietly growing contender: Facebook Dating. In an announcement earlier this week, Meta revealed that across 52 countries, the feature now reaches 21.5 million daily active users, a surprising number given its low-profile positioning.
For many, Facebook Dating has always been the oddball: a built-in feature rather than a standalone app, living in the bottom navigation bar of Facebook’s mobile interface. But the numbers suggest it may be catching on, especially among younger adults.
In the US alone, some 1.77 million users aged 18–29 were active on the platform, according to TechCrunch. This is not yet in Tinder territory (7.3 million), but that gap appears to be narrowing.
Meta sees an opportunity in the fatigue many users feel with the classic swipe-left/swipe-right model.
The company is introducing AI-enhanced features: a “dating assistant” chatbot and a weekly “Meet Cute” surprise match, designed to reduce the grind of endless swiping and instead spark connection more organically.
Because Facebook Dating is wrapped into Facebook’s larger ecosystem, it may benefit from the network effect of existing profiles, friends-of-friends overlaps, and location data, perhaps offering an alternative logic to the standalone dating apps.
It should be noted that Meta hasn’t publicly broken out how many of those 21.5 million users are monthly active users versus daily, how many are in markets like South Africa (or Africa more broadly), or how many convert to meaningful interactions versus casual chats.
For younger users, there’s still brand perception to climb in that Facebook, as a platform, has struggled to retain Gen Z’s attention for years, and Facebook Dating carries some of that baggage.
Competition remains fierce and Tinder remains far ahead in the US active-user counts, and other apps are doubling down on niche features, safety, authenticity and non-swipe models.
According to a report by Sensor Tower, the top five dating apps in the US in the second quarter of 2025 are:
Tinder's weekly revenue peaked at approximately $12.1 million in early June; weekly downloads rose to around 155,000.
Hinge's revenue rose steadily, peaking around $7.7 million, and downloads exceeded 144,000 in June.
Bumble showed stable weekly revenue, trending down toward $4.9 million at the end of June, with downloads reaching 87,000.
Grindr's revenue peaked at around $2.8 million, with downloads at 49,000 in June.
Beyond the headline players, a wave of newer, niche dating apps is gaining traction, particularly among Gen Z users who are looking for alternatives to the swipe-heavy, volume-based model. These smaller apps are giving Tinder, Hinge and Bumble a run for their money as they are just designed to serve their niche really well.
HER, a dating app focused on queer women and nonbinary people, touts 15 million users across 115 countries in 2024.
Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, also operates several community-based apps, including Archer (for gay men), BLK (for Black singles), Chispa (Latinx singles), and Upward (for Christian singles).
These newer entrants share a few common traits:
They emphasise intent and authenticity over sheer match volume.
They often integrate social or community features (e.g., friend-based matching, “side-hustle” style connection, in-app events).
They often lean into video, live chat, interest-based matching, and aim to reduce the fatigue of endless swiping.
Gen Z-friendly niche apps signal a shift in how younger singles view digital connections.
It seems that younger users do not just want to get as many matches as possible but want to make the matches count and find a platform that reflects who they are.
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