Bumble makes money primarily through paid subscriptions and one-time in-app purchases across its dating apps. The company generated roughly $741 million in revenue during the first nine months of 2025, with the vast majority coming from users who pay for enhanced features beyond the free experience. A smaller slice comes from advertising, brand partnerships, and affiliate revenue.
The Free App vs. Paid Features
Bumble’s core dating app is free to download and use. You can create a profile, swipe through potential matches, and send messages without paying anything. The business model relies on a familiar playbook in the app world: give away the basics, then charge for features that make the experience faster or more effective.
The free version has enough functionality to attract a massive user base, which is essential for a dating app to work at all. Once people are active and invested, a percentage of them convert to paying customers. That conversion rate, multiplied across millions of users worldwide, drives the company’s revenue.
Subscription Tiers
Bumble offers two main subscription levels: Premium and Premium+. Each unlocks features that free users don’t get access to, like seeing who has already liked your profile, unlimited swipes, and the ability to rematch with expired connections. Premium+ includes everything in Premium along with additional perks designed for the most active users.
Pricing varies depending on the plan length. A one-week subscription costs more per week than a six-month plan, following the standard app pricing logic where longer commitments come with steeper discounts. Bumble doesn’t publish fixed prices publicly because costs can differ based on your location, device, and other factors, but you can see your specific pricing inside the app before committing.
Subscriptions are the company’s largest revenue source by a wide margin. When Bumble reports its earnings, the vast majority of revenue from the Bumble app comes from subscription purchases and renewals.
One-Time In-App Purchases
Beyond subscriptions, Bumble sells individual features you can buy without a monthly commitment:
- SuperSwipe: A way to signal strong interest to someone before they swipe on you. Instead of a regular right-swipe, a SuperSwipe notifies the other person that you’re especially interested, which can help your profile stand out.
- Spotlight: Temporarily pushes your profile to the front of the queue in your area, increasing the number of people who see you during a set window of time.
- Boost: Functions similarly to Spotlight by increasing your visibility, though the specific mechanics and duration differ.
These are sold in packs, and buying larger bundles lowers the per-unit cost. For users who don’t want a recurring subscription but occasionally want a visibility boost before a weekend, these à la carte options are the alternative. They also generate revenue from subscribers who want to stack extra features on top of their existing plan.
Revenue From Badoo and Other Apps
Bumble Inc. isn’t just the Bumble dating app. The company also owns Badoo, a dating app that’s particularly popular in Europe and Latin America. Revenue is reported in two buckets: the Bumble app and “Badoo App and Other.”
During the first nine months of 2025, the Bumble app brought in about $602 million, while Badoo and other properties contributed around $139 million. That means the Bumble app accounts for roughly 81% of total company revenue, with Badoo and everything else making up the remaining 19%.
The “Other” category also previously included Fruitz, a dating app popular in France, though Bumble sold that subsidiary in July 2025. Revenue from third-party apps using Bumble’s technology also falls into this bucket.
Advertising and Partnerships
Bumble does earn some money from advertising, brand partnerships, and affiliate relationships, but this is a minor revenue stream compared to what users pay directly. The company bundles advertising and partnership income into its “Badoo App and Other” reporting category rather than breaking it out separately, which tells you something about its relative size.
You won’t see traditional banner ads cluttering the Bumble dating experience the way you might on a free mobile game. The company has historically been cautious about in-app advertising because intrusive ads could drive users away from a product built around personal connection. Brand partnerships tend to take the form of sponsored experiences or collaborations rather than standard display advertising.
How the Numbers Add Up
Bumble Inc. reported $246 million in total revenue for the third quarter of 2025, down from $274 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The full nine-month total of $741 million was also below the prior year’s $810 million, reflecting increased competition in the dating app market and shifts in user behavior.
The revenue decline highlights a key tension in Bumble’s business model. Dating apps depend on a steady flow of new users, since successful matches eventually leave the platform. Growth requires either attracting new users, converting more free users into paying customers, or increasing how much each paying user spends. Bumble has been adjusting its subscription offerings and pricing strategies to address all three.
Nearly all of this revenue flows through Apple’s App Store and Google Play, which take a commission (typically 15% to 30%) on in-app purchases. That platform fee is one of Bumble’s largest costs and a reality shared by virtually every app-based subscription business.