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Cost for various membership and subscription options can range from $9.99 to $59.99 depending on how many months you are buying. The "Preferred Member" membership allows you to send unlimited links and set stricter filters. While it’s free, there is a paid version as well. Unlike other apps where you have to both agree to match before a message can be sent, people on Hinge can message you an opener to get the conversation going. In some cases, they might show you someone you already know which can be slightly uncomfortable. Many times they’ll choose someone extremely far away or with wildly different political affiliations. The algorithm's daily pick for your best match is also notoriously not helpful. It all feels very much like an episode of The Bachelor.
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The app is free but wants people to pay, asking them to pay for virtual "roses" meant for standout matches the service chooses for you based on what you’re looking for. It gives you people’s last names and usually their neighborhood, age, height, job, hometown, and college. Hinge shows you more information about people, so if you’re uncomfortable meeting strangers from the internet, this makes it easier. Profiles offer prompts to get the conversation started like “If loving this is wrong, I don’t want to be right…” and “The one thing I’d love to know about you is….” Users can choose to connect with someone by tapping the conversation button and matching or leaving a comment on a page. Now, it simply connects users with people near the neighborhood they have chosen.
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When it was founded by CEO Justin McLeod, the app showed people profiles based on proximity as well as Facebook friends they shared in common. Hinge started as a way to connect friends of friends and people in your network.
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