Tinder estimations
How much would it cost to develop an app like Tinder?
Let's review the main sections of the application, and try to figure out how much we would need time and cost to build an app like Tinder.
Note: you can deselect features that you don't need, it will decrease the total price.
hourly rate
let's select an hourly rate first:

$45 per hour

Strong middle developers. Way more experience, much better understanding of possible edge cases and weak points in the project, so they can make sure project will be stable and fast.
platforms
select what you target

login and registration

Usually, average Login and Registration process has next screens:
• Registration for new users
• Login for existing users
• Integration with 3rd-party services: Facebook, Twitter, and so on.
• Forgot Password feature
Tinder is not an exception here. Purpose of each screen should be more or less transparent, so let's see how much it takes to develop those:
login and registration estimates
select only features you need
InterfaceLogicBackendTotal (h.)
Provides different Login options.
6208
Facebook integration and registration/login process.
24410
Getting user's phone, sending SMS, creating an account.
64616
Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and others.
2002
Estimated time (hours)62
Estimated costs (USD)$2790

User Account and Settings

When signed up, Tinder allows users to edit their profile, set photos, describe people he is looking for, change notification settings, and much more. To do this, Tinder has an Account section which is pretty that complex.
Account screen only shows the user's current profile, so he can understand how it looks like to other people.
Edit Profile is a complex screen, which helps users customize look and feel of profiles. Main features are:
• uploading new photos;
• updating basic profile info;
• set the user's occupation, education, and other info;
Settings screen can be used to select whom the user is looking for: age, location, gender.
To lower the cost to create an app like Tinder, you can deselect features ad settings that you will not need in your project.
User Account and Settings estimates
select only features you need
InterfaceLogicBackendTotal (h.)
62210
76720
67720
42410
Estimated time (hours)100
Estimated costs (USD)$4500

matches

And now, let's continue to the most exciting part - swiping users, matching with them, and chatting!
Under the hood of Tinder is a complex mechanism, that helps you to find best peoples around you. It will try to find and suggest only people who are in a given location, within your selected age range, etc.
It will try to show the first most interesting profiles - those that have all the info provided, so user's engagement would be higher.
This is the core of the app, and if we want to know real cost for creating a Tinder like app, it is better not to deselect these features. Otherwise, we won't be able to match users with each other.
matches estimates
select only features you need
InterfaceLogicBackendTotal (h.)
Screen which shows you users around, and allows you to swipe (like or dislike) users.
77620
Screen shows users with whom you’ve already matched, and with whom you can start a chat with.
67417
96419
Actual chat screen, which allows users to exchange messages. Images are not allowed due to safety concerns.
661123
Estimated time (hours)133
Estimated costs (USD)$5985

additional features

To enhance user's experience, Tinder has Instagram and Spotify integration, web profiles, and much moreInstagram Integration will allow your users to show their latest photos in their profiles. It helps your users to find the best match, and you to increase user's average app usage time
Spotify Integration would work similarly - it shows the user's favorite artists. Not that important, but helpful to most of the users. It is fun to find somebody who even listens to similar music, right?
Of course, we also have to add a way for users to report profiles - it is a mandatory feature for iOS these days. Also, users who already found somebody, or just accidentally created a profile should be able to remove themselves from the application.
If you are curious to know the cost to start an app like Tinder, but don't want any additional features, you can just deselect them, to keep the price lower.
additional features estimates
select only features you need
InterfaceLogicBackendTotal (h.)
Show user’s Instagram photos in profile.
44614
Show user’s Top Artists in profile.
44614
Allow user to send a link to a profile to his friends or other users.
1124
Allow user to have a profile on the web as well.
64616
62210
2226
It is a good idea to gather reasons why users delete the account and improve the app accordingly.
44210
Estimated time (hours)122
Estimated costs (USD)$5490

premium features

To generate some revenue, applications usually have some premium features. Tinder sells subscriptions and some interesting features that would help your profile stand out, or to find matches faster.
For example, the Rewind feature would allow you to undo previous Like or Dislike. Subscriptions would remove ads, enable users to select custom locations when looking for matches, and add many more exciting features.
premium features estimates
select only features you need
InterfaceLogicBackendTotal (h.)
Without paid subscription Tinder will show its users some ads. An excellent idea to have some profits without asking users to pay.
4206
Show user’s Top Artists in profile.
47617
66416
Accidentally disliked an awesome profile? Just rewind, and like it!
2204
Inform another user about your like.
2248
Show user's profile on top of others.
24410
Estimated time (hours)104
Estimated costs (USD)$4680
Selected platformsiOS and Android
Summary:
Total price for an app similar to Tinder (for both iOS and Android) with a selected set of features would be around $23,445.
Development itself would take 521 hours (or around 16 weeks).
Total Costs
Hourly rate: $45 per 1h.
$23,445
Total Time
521 hours
~16 weeks