Tinder · B2C · dating app
Offer several paid tiers and convert users fast when they won't stay long
Makes up for weak retention; guest gives no numbers
Workedpricingpaywall
What they did
Dating apps can't match other categories on subscriber retention, so they focus on converting new users quickly and offering several subscription tiers that capture as much willingness to pay as possible in the first 3-6 months.
What happened
Guest says this makes up for retention that will never match category leaders elsewhere.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Using Subscription App Benchmarks to Make Better Growth Decisions — Phil Carter, Elemental Growth“Tinder and some of these other top dating apps have gotten really, really good at both converting new users into subscribers and offering different subscription tiers that maximize the amount of consumer surplus they're capturing”
Related topics
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More from Tinder
All 24 Tinder tactics- Price the 7-day feature pass the same as a 7-day subscription, shown side by sideLess cannibalization and more revenue, but still not good enough
- Put a toggle in the top bar that opens a new paid tierAbout $50M in revenue from one small A/B test
- Give each paid feature its own paywall and check its sales every morningShowed 2-3 features drive most new subs; weak ones were made free
- Offer three subscription levels and sell extra boosts on topFormer CPO calls it one of the best ways to price consumer apps; no revenue split given
- Interview users spending $100-250 a month, then build a top plan for themLed to Tinder Platinum; no results shared
- Test many prices for each plan and add-on, country by countryHundreds of price SKUs live at once; no test results shared
More from this episode
- Compare your last 12 months of metrics to similar apps to find your weakest spot
- When users stay but few pay, fix onboarding, the paywall and price firstSeveral wins; no numbers given
- Survey free and paying users about what the free and paid versions are worthFound the free version was so good people didn't need to pay
- Give a bigger annual discount and nudge more users to the yearly plan
- Move a Facebook-dependent app toward word of mouth and SEO
- Buy users with ads that pay back in 45 days, even with low retentionProfitable despite 30% annual retention; guests warn it won't reach a big outcome
- Duolingo: Spend the first 5 years on the free product, then add a subscriptionBuilt a moat; now worth over $10B
- Duolingo: Show more ads to free users so they either earn you money or upgrade