Simple clones of the popular app Tinder can be cost as little as a few thousand dollars. There are plenty of companies out there which will add your preferred branding, logo and colour scheme and upload it to the app play store. Of course with no unique selling point making your app stand out from the crowd and become a success will be difficult. On the other hand developing a unique idea will make your dating app cost more but it might have a better of a chance of success. This is where the location of the developers you chose is going to make the biggest difference in costs.

Whilst there are advantages with using devs in your home country; no language barrier, no time difference, face to face meetings etc. For most startups the costs will outweigh the benefits. These days skilled developers can be found across the globe and you no longer need to be in one of the traditional “tech hub” cities (London, San Francisco, Berlin etc.) to get the talent you need. To get a basic to mid level app launched using western developers is going to cost between $70-150,000.

How much a dating app costs to develop can vary widely depending on how complex your idea is and where you chose to have your app developed

Eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and Ukraine have strong up and coming development scenes, Poland in fact is quite mature with a lot of multinationals and big corporates basing their IT departments in the country. Eastern Europe also has the benefits of being on similar time schedules for Western Europe and the Middle East with only a couple of hours difference. Prices in Poland will be higher than Romania which are higher then Ukraine. Romania is probably one of the most popular options because of it’s low cost, EU membership and deep pool of developers with great technical skills as well as English language ability. Developing a dating app in Romania is going to cost between $30-70,000. Some of the feedback from those who have outsourced to Romania is the devs generally have a good grasp of the big picture and will help anticipate problems and adapt flexibly.

Outsourcing dating app development to India is something a lot of founders consider. India has long marketed itself as a strong destination for all kinds of dev work with hardworking engineers, lots of competition and low prices. Initial quoted prices in India can even come in below Eastern Europe. However there might be associated costs which increase the overall price of developing your dating app in India. Language, time zone and cultural differences might delay delivery of your dating app, or mean it doesn’t quite meet the spec you intended leading to project over runs so consider this when forecasting your overall costs.

Once you have your app up and running the next biggest cost will be getting users onto the app. User acquisition for dating apps is more difficult and more costly than gaming apps and dating apps are dependant on the network effect to be successful. Gamers can be half the world away and it won’t affect game play, if daters aren’t within

As a rough guide expect a similar price to Eastern Europe at around $40-80,000 to develop your dating app when factoring in a few adjustments

15km of each other they won’t see much value in each other. Add to that the paradox of success, that a happy couple will leave your app unlike most apps where happy customers stay longer or pay for an upgrade and you have to be very particular with your acquisition spending. For more advice see our guide on keeping user acquisition costs to a minimum.