Bumble
Review 2024
Designed for Women to Make the First Move
11 Million users in the US
55% Male | 45% Female
- Designed for Women to Make the First Move
- 11 Million users in the US
- 55% Male | 45% Female
In-Depth Review of
Bumble
Founded in 2014 by former Tinder employee Whitney Wolfe, Bumble was created with the idea of creating a safe space for singles to converse and date. Straying from the matching formula of Tinder, Bumble is unique because it requires women to make the first move when two people match.
By giving female users the power to initiate conversations, Bumble intends to create a safer space for everyone in the dating world by mitigating the influx of messages to which female users of dating applications are often subject. This philosophy also helps male users by giving them security in knowing their match is genuinely interested in talking.
A novel idea in the world of dating platforms, but does it live up to the hype? We created a profile to find out. Read our review to see if Bumble rises to the occasion!
Pros
Women message matches first
Easy to use application
Free version is feature-rich
Cons
Men can’t make the first move
Pricey premium plan
How Much Is Bumble?
1 MONTH
Per month: $29.99
Total: $29.99
6 MONTHS
Per month: $16.67
Total: $99.99
LIFETIME
Per month: N/A
Total: $149.99
Signing Up for Bumble
Signing up for Bumble is a relatively straightforward process, made even easier by recent changes. Initially, potential users could only sign up if they had a Facebook account. This allowed Bumble to automatically draw information from your Facebook account to create a general profile for you.
It also enabled Bumble to more easily identify legitimate users since a Facebook account provided a simple verification. However, the necessity of having a Facebook account was a common complaint about early application users. Luckily, new users can now use a phone number to sign up. This simplifies the process for users without a Facebook account or those who prefer not to link there. Using a phone number also allows Bumble to verify who legitimate users are.
Still, this process has no way of auto-generating personal information for your profile, so you might have to spend some extra time once you begin fleshing out your profile. After signing up, Bumble will ask you for a user location so it can start presenting potential matches. This will match your phone’s location setting; once this is done, you can start swiping.
Member Structure
Bumble has become a staple of the dating app world, expanding to a broad user base within the United States. In 2023 Bumble had roughly 58 million users.
The gender ratio is nearly equal on Bumble, with men represented slightly more than women at 55% to 45%, respectively. This might be surprising for a dating app where women must initiate matches, but the idea has proven popular enough to draw many men to the service.
Most users are in their early 20s to early 30s. Women are mainly represented in the 18 to 34 range, while men are more equally distributed from 18 to 44. As you might expect, the vast majority of users are looking for short-term flings, but many long-term relationships have also begun on Bumble.
Matching Process
The basic process of matching on Bumble is the classic ‘swipe left for yes and right for no’ process. Bumble seeks out other active users in your area and then presents them to you one at a time. The match is initiated when both users have swiped right on each other.
At this point, the female user has 24 hours to send a message, while the male user has 24 hours to respond to any messages they receive. If neither user messages back, the match is terminated. Once both users have responded, the match and conversation will exist indefinitely in your inbox.
Bumble’s popularity is partly due to its many free features. You will have access to everything you need to start matching as a free user. Chat and messaging services are included, and the service will still offer you the occasional match suggestion. Since matches expire after 24 hours if nobody communicates, free users can ‘re-match’ with one expired match daily.
Bumble offers a fee-based subscription model, which provides unique services to justify the price. One such perk is ‘Beeline,’ which allows users to see a list of the other users who have swiped right on them. This cuts out some of the searching and enables you to choose interested matches.
Two other perks are ‘Rematch’ and ‘BusyBee.’ Rematch allows you to ‘re-match’ with matches that have previously expired. Unlike a free profile, this isn’t limited to one a day. BusyBee provides similar support, allowing you to extend the expiration period of a match by 24 hours. This is great if you are interested in a match but don’t have the time to focus on replying.
Subscribing users will also get access to the use of SuperSwipes. This feature is an ultimate swipe right, alerting your interested match directly that you like their profile and hope the feeling is mutual.
When it comes down to it, the free membership on Bumble is sufficient for your average user to begin matching. However, the fee-based subscription does have a lot of potential for increasing your matches and providing a more effortless user experience.
Contact Options
Contact options on Bumble are relatively simple. If you have a match, the female user can initiate while the male user will need to respond. If both users are the same gender, either can message first.
For those nervous about initiating a conversation, the service offers a few emojis that can be sent as ice breakers. This is an easy way to provide a response and ensure a match doesn’t expire.
Bumble also provides voice and video calls within the application. Users can apply a “Virtual Dating” badge to their profile to signal interest in communicating beyond messaging. Bumble video calls also benefit from a partnership with Snapchat, allowing for the use of AR backgrounds and fun filters during video calls (though “beautifying” filters are not supported).
Bumble Website
Bumble as a service was initially designed as a mobile application. For that reason, you can download Bumble for free from iOS and Android stores and have access to all of the abovementioned features. If you would still prefer to use a computer, Bumble Web is available to provide all the same features as the app version on an easy-to-use website.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a new dating app that values community and consent, then Bumble might be the ideal service for you. While Tinder is still the most popular dating app on mobile, Bumble succeeds at building a less toxic, more user-friendly dating experience.
If you want to give online dating another chance and don’t want to pay a fee, then Bumble is one of the best places out there to start swiping right.