Whether you’re new to online dating or you’ve been here before, you might find yourself overwhelmed with options. One of the consistently popular options is Bumble, but it also has its fair share of horror stories. So you might find yourself asking, “Is Bumble worth it?”
With all the dating apps out there for men to choose from, Bumble seems like one of the more popular apps for women. So should you bother using it? Should you invest some of your money to increase your odds on the platform? Or should you strictly stick to the free version since it has all the features you want anyway?
In this article, we’ll take a look at answering why people like Bumble, is Bumble worth it for free users, and whether or not Bumble is a worthwhile site to use for paid subscribers.
Why Do People Like Bumble?
Bumble is a popular dating app for good reason. As of the latest stats in 2021, Bumble has over 40 million users - quite a jump since its modest beginnings of 1 million users only five years previous.
With such a growing user base, why do people like Bumble? The answer is that there are plenty of reasons that Bumble is taking up such a large share of the market and attracting more users. Let’s look at the reasons why people like Bumble
Bumble empowers women
If you’re looking for more quality women and experiences, Bumble is the perfect app to use. Women choose the app as a better option because it is up to a woman to contact a man first to initiate a conversation. This helps women sift through countless profiles that swipe right or swipe left, only engaging men that they find attractive.
Incidentally, this helps men find more quality matches than just the fickle women found on apps that are predominantly geared towards hookups. Men are only given ten matches per day for unpaid subscriptions, whereas women receive unlimited matches every day, but they don’t have to pay anything if they don’t want to.
Bumble is less of a hookup app than Tinder
Bumble's primary role among dating apps is to create better relationships versus just looking for short-term hookups. In fact, Bumble developers designed the app based on the feedback of other apps and revamped the UX (User eXperience) aspects to help users find better dates and form closer relationships. This, combined with an ELO-ranking algorithm, helps pair you with better matches.
Bumble has fewer scammers
As with many other dating apps like Tinder, there comes a point for the user where you will come across scamming profiles. Tinder is notorious for this, as you can see in our list of the most rampant Tinder scams.
But Bumble has a better vetting policy for profiles. This vetting process requires users to upload five unique photos and provide verifiable personal information – all of which drastically reduces the amount of clandestine behavior.
Bumble keeps users safe during COVID
For those looking to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bumble offers a Vaccination Badge. For users who believe this is a dealbreaker, this helps sift through profiles more easily and without wasting time.
Is Bumble Good for Guys?
Now that we’ve covered the main reasons why Bumble is popular, it’s time to ask if Bumble is worth it for guys, specifically. Let’s talk about whether you, as a single man, will enjoy using Bumble.
It expands your digital dating pool
If you use Bumble in conjunction with all of the other dating apps out there, such as Tinder and Plenty of Fish (PoF), you can vastly increase your dating pool. Many women use multiple dating apps for the same aim, casting the widest net on Bumble and elsewhere. If, for example, you missed a profile on Tinder, she might have a separate profile on Bumble where you can try to catch her eye again.
Uses the ELO rating system for better matches
If you’re looking for women of comparable attractiveness, the free version of Bumble uses the standard ELO rating system. This system sorts people according to an attractiveness rating to present only relevant profiles for either user to see. If your profile and pictures are deemed attractive, you’ll see similarly/rated profiles; if you’re not deemed attractive, you’ll have a harder time finding viable dates.
Pro Tip: If you make a new profile, you'll have the largest variety of profiles to choose from until your profile is rated by other users (i.e. those who swipe right on you). This is why new users to Bumble are often surprised to initially have more profiles to choose from. Then, after their profile has been rated by other users, the quality of profiles being offered begins to dwindle.
Women make the first move
Got anxiety making the first move? On Bumble, women have 24 hours to start chatting with a man they’ve matched with before the connection disappears forever. This alone makes lots of men believe that Bumble is indeed worth using.
- If they dislike your profile, they can swipe left and reject you, and you won’t even know it happened.
- If they like your profile and swipe right, they will send you a chat request (known on Bumble as a “buzz”) which gives men a chance to respond. If a man is not interested in a match, he can swipe left on her profile picture to “mute”.
The advantage of this is that men don’t have to continually respond to women who are on the fence or time wasters. Plus, it helps reduce approach anxiety - a significant factor for men even in a digital space.
Now that you’ve got a good overview of how Bumble works, we will explore whether a paid subscription on Bumble is worth it.
Paid Bumble Features
If you’ve decided to explore Bumble’s paid options, you have a few options:
- SuperSwipe
- Spotlight
- Bumble Boost
- Bumble Premium
Let’s look at an overview of Bumble’s paid features to see if they’re the right match for you.
SuperSwipe
Bumble offers a feature of letting other users know that you’re really interested in them with SuperSwipe. Women are more likely to respond to SuperSwipes and it helps set yourself apart from other users.
SuperSwipes also come with a few features to make Bumble more accessible:
- Allows users to swipe right on almost anyone (regardless of their relationship status)
- View profiles without sending a message first.
- Removes ads from your screen while using Bumble.
Free users don’t get these features, having to either purchase SuperSwipes individually in packages or as part of the other paid subscription plans.
Current rates as of this writing include:
- 2 SuperSwipes: $3.50 each
- 5 SuperSwipes: $2.40 each
- 15 SuperSwipes: $1.73 each
- 30 SuperSwipes: $1.53 each
It should be noted that SuperSwipes only last a week after purchasing them, so make the best of them asap!
Spotlight
As a relatively new feature from Bumble, Spotlight enables pod users the ability to be seen for 30 minutes ahead of other profiles - perfect when you want to stand out during high-traffic times on the app (think nights and weekends).
Spotlight gives users a number of mobile-only benefits and premium features. These include:
- Unlocking unlimited Super Likes
- Access to the exclusive “Loud Places” feature on the app, which helps find users at busy locations like concerts or sporting events.
- Unlimited swiping on Bumble
Current rates as of this writing include:
- 1 Spotlight: $6.99 each
- 5 Spotlights: $3.00 each
- 15 Spotlights: $2.27 each
- 30 Spotlights: $1.83 each
It should be noted that Spotlights only last a week after purchasing them, so make the best of them asap!
Bumble Boost
As one of the cheaper paid subscription options on Bumble, Bumble Boost offers a number of features that can dramatically increase your odds of landing a date.
Bumble Boost includes:
- Change your username
- Add up to 10 photos or videos (up from 5)
- Use Backtrack (enables users to look at skipped or expired connections)
- Remove the BFF tag on all of your existing photos and videos (up from 2)
- Adds an additional 24-hour time extension on your current matches
- Unlimited right swipes
- One Spotlight per week
- Five SuperSwipes per week
Current rates as of this writing include:
- 1 week: $8.99/week
- 1 month: $16.99/mo
- 3 months: $33.99 ($11.33/mo)
- 6 months: $54.99 ($9.17/mo)
Bumble Premium
For all of the paid subscription features of Bumble, Bumble Premium gives men all of the tools they need to find the best matches and largest dating pool on the app.
Among the features of Bumble Premium are:
- Access to advanced filter options
- Match exclusively with other Bumble premium members
- Use Incognito Mode to only appear to users you’ve swiped right on (not available on Bumble Web)
- Access your Beeline to see your admirers
- Travel mode, which allows you to switch to a different city based on your location.
- Backtrack to review expired or left-swipes profiles
- Ability to extend time on your current matches
- Unlimited swipes
- One Spotlight per week
- Five SuperSwipes per week
Current rates as of this writing include:
- 1 week: $19.99/week
- 1 month: $39.99/mo
- 3 months: $76.99 ($25.66/mo)
- Lifetime: $229.99
Is Bumble Worth it?
The truth of the matter is that more and more people have gravitated to dating apps as a method for finding a partner. In response, these businesses have to make money, so they offer access to more women and increase your likelihood of finding a match.
Bumble is no different. Unfortunately, this means that you may need to ante up some cash on a monthly basis to interact with desirable women. Unless you have model-tier looks and excellent photographs that display your Adonis-like qualities, it’s never a bad idea to increase your odds of finding a match on Bumble.
That being said, if you’re finding success with talking to women without a paid subscription on Bumble, then don’t worry about a paid profile. Still, a paid membership to Bumble comes with a number of benefits that open up a wide world of available women to chat with - something even the most attractive men can agree on is a good thing!
