How to Build a Dating App Like OkCupid?

Do you know the majority of people find it difficult to approach people? The prominent reasons behind this behaviour are their personality, social anxiety, communication skills, and past experiences. 

However, every person’s search for love is a never-ending journey. The search for Mr. or Mrs. Right has been a common theme throughout history, shown in several movies and books. However, the ability to see true love as an achievable goal is still there today.

According to recent reports, the global online dating market was valued at approximately $9.65 billion in 2023, and it is projected to reach $13.45 billion by 2027. Around 20% of user penetration for online dating services is expected to come from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Dating apps like OkCupid have gained immense popularity and transformed how we build romantic lives. Focusing on this, it is time to develop a dating app like OkCupid that will generate value for businesses and users. 

In this detailed guide, you will learn how to build a dating app like OkCupid, including features, the development process, and the cost. This will help you understand why embracing dating apps is not optional—it’s essential. 

Let’s get started! 

3 Reasons Why to Invest in Dating Apps like OkCupid

Below, we’ve listed why investing in dating apps like OkCupid. Let’s discuss: 

1. Rapidly Growing Market

In 2024, global online dating app revenues are estimated at $6.18 billion, with $3.5 billion coming from Match Group platforms alone. The broader online dating market report values the dating app market at $9.2 billion in 2024, projecting growth to $22.6 billion by 2033 with a 10.5% CAGR. With around 350 million active users, the industry is booming. Furthermore, annual revenue from dating apps is forecast to rise from $3.15 billion in 2024 to $3.60 billion by 2028, growing at nearly 2.65% per year.

2. Demand for Digital Connections

Did you know that around 300 million people are currently using online dating platforms like OkCupid and Tinder? People seek convenient and flexible ways to meet others, resulting in a high demand for digital dating, eventually leading to the growth of the online dating market. 

3. Diverse Monetization Models

OkCupid has more than one revenue stream and provides the features of subscription services, in-app purchases, and ads. Understand this with an example: OkCupid is a web-based dating service earning over 150 million USD from its only membership plan. 

Features to Include in Dating App Development Like OkCupid

We’ve listed the top dating app features you can incorporate into dating app development. Let’s learn:

1. AI-based Chatting

Data suggest that 64% of people are interested in using  AI to write pick-up lines/conversation starters. 

Integrating AI-based chatting enhances user interactions by offering personalised suggestions. It helps to keep conversations engaging and works as an icebreaker. This innovation boosts user satisfaction and retains users by providing smooth communication experiences, especially for shy users. 

2. Matchmaking Algorithm

Incorporate advanced algorithms for precise matching to evaluate user profiles, interests, and behaviours. 

For highly individualised recommendations, preferences, previous interactions, and current behaviour can be evaluated using compatibility scores, machine learning, and even AI-powered data analysis. 

For example, location-based algorithms ensure that matches are physically convenient, which may result in deeper relationships. 

3. Gamification

Integrating gamification in dating apps encourages users to stay engaged and foster a sense of accomplishment. Features like rewards, quizzes, daily challenges, or unlocking badges can make the app experience more interactive. 

By integrating playful elements, you create a competitive yet enjoyable environment, encouraging users to spend more time on the app. Gamification can help boost income through in-app purchases, such as trading tokens for virtual gifts or obtaining access to premium content. This strategy increases user retention and enhances the whole app experience.

4. Voice & Video Calling

Voice and video calling capabilities allow users to converse more easily and securely. It adds a more personal touch to digital conversations. 

These qualities are particularly important for creating stronger friendships because users may evaluate one another’s personalities and sincerity outside of text messaging. Offering options like icebreaker games or virtual dates during calls can enhance the experience even further. 

Utilise end-to-end encryption and moderation technologies to prevent misuse and ensure user protection. These features boost user engagement and make your app a trustworthy source for meaningful relationships. 

5. Push Notifications

Push notifications can be intentionally designed to boost user engagement by providing timely and relevant updates. For instance, notify users of new matches, unread messages, or special app events like discounts on premium features. 

Personalised notifications, such as recommendations based on user behaviour or prompts to complete their profile, can further enhance the user experience. Allow users to customise their notification preferences so they may choose the type and volume of alerts they receive. 

This ensures a balance between user satisfaction and engagement and prevents notifications from being intrusive.

6. Social Media Integration

Social media integration expedites onboarding, allowing users to sign up more quickly and conveniently. Users may bypass lengthy registration procedures and begin using the app immediately by connecting accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Google. 

Additionally, this aids in profile verification, lowering the possibility of fraudulent profiles and boosting community trust in the app. 

Social media integration makes richer user profiles possible since individuals can display photographs from their social media feed and common interests and pastimes. This gives the app’s matchmaking algorithm additional information to produce relevant and accurate pairings. 

Social media integration increases the app’s visibility and organic growth by encouraging users to tell their friends and followers about their great app experiences. 

Also Read: Top 10 Best Dating Apps in the USA: A 2025 Guide

Step-by-Step Development Process of Dating Apps like OkCupid 

Understanding the overall custom dating app development process is essential. Here we discussed step by step process – let’s get into details:

Step 1: Dive into Market Research

Conduct thorough market research as your initial step. You must understand your target audience, their preferences, pain points, and expectations. After that, analyze your competitors to identify what and where the features work well and where the gap exists. Later, gather all the insights on user demographics, trending features, and successful monetization strategies like premium subscriptions, ads, etc. 

You must also examine user behaviour data, including their average time spent on dating apps and their interactions with the most. After following this research process, the development process will be easy. You will build an app that meets users’ needs, and the success rate of your dating app will be enhanced. 

Step 2: Pick the Right Platform

After deep analysis while researching, the second step must be followed: choosing the right platform. Identifying the right platform, including iOS, Android, or both, you’re interested in developing your dating application is crucial for your app’s success. You must decide which reliable platform based on your budget, target audience, market trends, and geographical location. 

Understand this with an example: iOS attracts a user base with higher spending; on the other hand, Android dominates in regions with a broader range of smartphone users. 

To target both audiences, you must use cross-platform app development, which involves building apps for both platforms. Today, it is also possible to develop a cross-platform app using technologies like React Native or Flutter, saving time and money without impacting performance across devices. 

Step 3: Decide on Features That Wow Users

After picking the right platform, decide on features and functionalities to incorporate into your application. Choosing the core features will differentiate your app from competitors and enhance user engagement. Wondering what core features are? They must be AI-based matching algorithms, voice and video calls, real-time messaging, notifications, etc. 

Additionally, features like virtual gifts, gamified interactions, interactive quizzes, etc., can make your app unique from competitors’ apps. Also, don’t ignore features based on user research and market trends because they create a compelling app experience that keeps users returning. You can incorporate data security features like end-to-end encryption to secure your dating app. 

Step 4: Design a Seamless User Experience

One essential step to creating an engaging dating app is designing a seamless user experience (UX). This procedure contains wireframes and mockups that help outline the app’s structure, user flow, and interface. This step ensures that the design is visually appealing and easy to navigate. 

UI/UX designers focus on incorporating essential elements like consistent layouts, responsive designs, clear buttons, and compatibility with every screen size. Designers create and test different prototypes to gather feedback, which helps them define the interface based on the insights they receive. A seamless UX keeps users engaged and enhances the chance of high retention, positive reviews, and app success. 

Step 5: Bring Your App to Life

Now, it’s time to bring your app to life. Yes, it’s the actual development of your dating app. To develop your application, you must choose the right tech stack (e.g., Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android, or cross-platform frameworks like Flutter). Choosing the right tech stack ensures robust and scalable development. 

Implement core features that were decided earlier to focus on functionality and performance. Here, choosing experienced developers who have expertise in developing dating apps is essential. They can easily integrate complex algorithms for matchmaking and ensure that every feature, including chat, voice and video calling, etc., runs smoothly. They also conduct frequent testing throughout the development phase to identify and fix any bugs and errors. This leads to high-quality and engaging app development that attracts users at the global level. 

Step 6: Launch and Post-Maintenance

Finally, it’s time to launch your dating app on the market. Before launching your app, you must create a marketing plan to reach your target audience. The plan must leverage social media marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, app store optimization, email campaigns, press releases, etc. 

After making your app live, get user feedback and determine the improvement that needs to be done. Indeed, apps need post-maintenance steps to upgrade app features and functionalities for a seamless user experience. 

Developers also ensure they fix bugs while adding new features based on users’ needs. The step to guarantee the app’s success in the current competitive environment includes data analytics to monitor user activity and spot market trends.

Also Read: How to Patent a Mobile App Idea?

Factors Influencing Cost of Dating App Development Like OkCupid

During dating app development, you’ll find several factors that influence overall development costs. We’ve listed some of them that will help you to stay within your budget.

1. Platform Selection

Choosing between iOS and Android platforms costs you differently. Creating a dating app for the App Store costs you more than creating one for the Play Store. Also, building a native app for a single platform is less expensive than building an app for a cross-platform. 

2. Features & Functionality

The complexity of the features influences the overall app development cost. For example, the development cost will be higher if a dating app incorporates advanced matching algorithms. Integrating AI and ML leads to higher costs, and the number of core and basic features and functionality also influences development costs. 

3. UX UI Design

A well-designed interface is the key to user retention but requires skilled designers with years of design experience. Creating a simple but engaging design that can enhance the user experience and give seamless navigation also requires more time and affects the overall development cost. 

4. Backend Development

Backend development is the underrated part of the app development process that is essential for the app’s performance, managing user data, and scaling. This factor needs robust databases, servers, and API integration for notifications, communication, and real-time updates, which affect overall development costs. 

5. Security & Privacy

Securing personal user data with sensitive information in a dating app is important, but it requires additional costs. Incorporating security measures, including end-to-end encryption, data protection measures, and compliance with regulations like the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). 

6. Third-Party Integration

Third-party integration is an essential step in app development that affects development costs. An app like OkCupid has third-party integration services such as social media logins, payment gateways, and location-based services. In this case, connecting two apps through the Application Programming Interface (API) facilitates the integration of third-party services.

7. Testing & Quality Assurance

Developers test the dating app during the development phase, which needs more time and resources, affecting the overall development cost. They follow quality assurance steps to fix bugs and ensure they build an app that can run seamlessly across devices.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Dating App Like OkCupid?

Let’s now discuss the most asked question: What’s the cost to build a dating app like OkCupid? There’s no fixed answer to this question, mainly because it depends on several factors. 

This includes project complexity, UX UI design, tech stack, development team, and more. So, all these factors determine the overall development cost of dating apps like OkCupid. 

However, to give you a rough estimate of the cost of developing a dating app, it ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 for a basic app with limited features.

The cost ranges from $30,000 to $80,000 for medium-complex dating apps with advanced features. Finally, the cost ranges from $80,000 to $120,000 or above for highly complex dating apps. 

Also, here is the alternative option: You can opt for MVP (Minimum Viable Product). It is an affordable option that you can choose if you are starting with dating app development. Here, we will build a dating app like OkCupid with basic features and launch it into the market. 

Over time, when your dating app establishes itself in the market – you can reach out to investors to obtain funding for your dating app development with advanced features. Contact our Apptunix experts and start your MVP dating app development process at an affordable cost. 

Partner With Apptunix to Build a Dating App Like OkCupid

Join Apptunix, a leading dating app development company, to step into a profitable dating app business.

When developing dating apps, Apptunix brings unmatched expertise and innovation. From advanced AI-driven matchmaking algorithms to seamless UX/UI designs, our dating app developers & designers craft solutions tailored to your vision.

With a track record of delivering high-performing apps, we ensure your platform is scalable, secure, and ready to thrive in a competitive market. Partner with Apptunix today to transform your dating app idea into a profitable business venture that will revolutionise how people connect.

With the right technology and strategy, your app can stand out, offering personalized matchmaking and innovative features that drive engagement and retention. The demand for unique dating experiences is higher than ever—don’t miss your chance to lead the next big trend in online relationships.

Bonus Read: Top Dating App Development Companies