Dating Apps Made Billions While You Questioned Matchmaking Prices
How matchmakers feel when consumers don’t understand our value
I’ve spent five years building Met By Nick from my personal savings. As I expanded my singles network to other cities and countries, my sister Melissa and I formed QUALITY in conjunction with Met By Nick.
I’m proud of what we’ve built. We’ve survived doing this full time and have a bright future in this industry.
But let me be real with you.
I sacrificed any financial gain to attract more people to matchmaking. I started at rates below $5,000 because I believed in this work. I wanted to expose singles to an alternative to the apps that are currently destroying our dating culture.
Through this period, I finally understand why my industry colleagues said never charge below $10,000.
Here’s what happened while you were questioning matchmaking prices:
Just three dating apps: Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge made $311 million in April 2025 alone. Those same three apps have generated $4 billion in user spending since January 2024. The dating app market made $6.18 billion in total revenue in 2024. These companies spend approximately $21 million per month on advertising.
Yet I, as a small business owner, and other matchmakers like me? We’re held to unrealistic standards these billion-dollar companies never face.
You better believe we have love for this work and care about our members deeply.
Because if the general public had to do our job full time and get the treatment we receive, they’d flip the fuck out.
The Unrealistic Standards We Face
Dating apps can take your money for years with zero results, and you keep paying. You blame yourself.
But if a matchmaker doesn’t find you someone perfect in two months? You blame us. Bad reviews. Refund demands. “They’re scammers.”
Here’s the comparison:
Dating Apps:
$4 billion from just three apps since January 2024
$6.18 billion total industry revenue (2024)
Hinge charges up to $45/month now (double what it cost in 2020)
$21 million per month in advertising spend
Can lose money for years with VC backing
Zero accountability to individual users
Designed to keep you single and paying
They profit off your data
Matchmakers:
Self-funded from personal savings
Lucky if we make six figures annually
Lucky if we spend $2,500 monthly on paid marketing
Need profitability within months or we shut down
Directly accountable for everything
Designed to get you coupled
Everyone questions us
Here’s what we’re expected to deliver:
Find you someone who:
You’re wildly attracted to
Meets all your criteria perfectly
Has instant chemistry with you
Is emotionally available and ready
Within 60 days
All while operating below costs, competing against companies making billions, managing constantly changing criteria, and investing our own money in your search.
It’s crazy that these apps make hundreds of millions monthly, yet matchmakers trying to provide real alternatives are treated so poorly.
If the general public faced these standards in their jobs, they’d lose their minds.
What You’re Actually Spending
Let’s break down what you’re really paying:
Hinge alone now charges up to $45/month. That’s $540/year, $2,700 over five years — just for one app.
But the real cost is much higher:
The Financial Toll:
App subscriptions (often multiple): $2,400-$6,000+
Professional photos: $300-$500
Wardrobe for dates: $1,000-$2,000
Fitness and gym: $3,000
Grooming: $6,000
Therapy for dating burnout: $1,000-$3,000
Endless first dates: $2,000-$5,000
Plus hundreds of hours of your time.
Total: $15,700-$25,500+
And what do you get for that investment?
You’re contributing to companies making billions that invest $0 specifically in finding YOU someone. Companies designed to keep you single so you keep paying.
Professional matchmaking works differently:
Services are curated and dedicated directly towards you
We don’t go on dating apps to find your compatible match
We invest $10,000-$20,000 recruiting specifically for you
We only succeed when you succeed
Self-funded small business competing against a multi-billion dollar industry
You’re spending MORE on apps over time; yet they’re making billions while we’re held to unrealistic standards on personal savings.
Why the $10,000 Floor Exists
Finding one compatible match costs $10,000-$20,000 when you account for:
Recruiting investment
Professional vetting
Time (15–20+ hours per qualified lead)
Operational overhead
Expertise
Ongoing support
At $10,000, you’re at break-even. Barely.
Below that? Matchmakers subsidize you from personal savings.
I did this for years because I believed in attracting more people to matchmaking. I sacrificed financial gain for the mission.
But it’s not sustainable long-term.
Sustainable pricing allows us to:
Actually invest in recruiting for you
Operate without constant financial stress
Deliver our best work without destroying ourselves
What I’m Telling You
Show matchmakers basic respect and understand what you’re supporting.
When you fund apps (You’re condoning): Companies making billions annually, charging for monthly subscriptions, gamifying your experience on the app to keep you addicted, spending $21 million monthly on advertising, with unlimited resources, designed to keep you single and paying.
When you question matchmakers (You look like an asshole): Self-funded small businesses who sacrificed financial gain to provide alternatives, held to unrealistic standards, designed to get you coupled.
It’s insane. These apps made $4 billion since January 2024. The industry made $6.18 billion in 2024. Yet matchmakers trying to actually help people find real relationships are treated poorly and constantly questioned.
You think matchmakers face no consequences for not delivering?
Imagine working with a client for six months to a year. The clients has told you they’re solely relying on you to find their perfect match; meaning they’re completely passive in the search process. You invest that entire period recruiting specifically for them, spending thousands of your own money.
Then they reject profile after profile because someone isn’t attractive enough, doesn’t have the exact career they want, or doesn’t share all their hobbies. After six months to a year of your life devoted to their search, they ask for a refund.
Experience that and come back to me about consequences. Actually, I’d probably never see you again; you’d escape to the middle of nowhere under an assumed name, curled up in a fetal position sucking your thumb.
We keep doing it because we have love for this work and care about our members deeply.
But we also need to operate sustainably.
To My Veteran Matchmaker Colleagues
I’ve learned what you meant about charging below $10,000.
You were right.
The Bottom Line
I believe in this work. That’s why I have sacrificed my personal life and my wellbeing to attract more people to matchmaking.
But here’s what consumers need to understand:
Human matchmakers aren’t going anywhere. We started a cultural movement. The billion-dollar dating app industrial complex will have a reckoning, and when it does, singles will seek out human matchmakers and realize our value.
Support matchmaking at sustainable rates if you want alternatives to exist.
Nick
Founder, Met By Nick & QUALITY
Still Believing Despite Everything
