How Does Hinge Work?

Hinge is one of the most popular dating apps.

If you’re looking to meet someone through online dating, the odds are it’s worth trying Hinge.

But how does Hinge work? How do you make a good Hinge profile, match with other users, start a conversation, send engaging messages, and ultimately land a first date off the app?

Dating apps can be confusing, and an app like Hinge that has many features can seem intimidating.

Figuring out how to use Hinge is worth it.

Hinge is one of the best dating apps out there, especially when it comes to finding someone you’re compatible with and starting up meaningful conversations to determine whether it’s worth meeting in person for a date.

Hinge has it all, from fostering casual flings, to long-term relationships, to life partnerships.

On Hinge, you specify what type of relationship you’re looking for and can fill out a fairly detailed profile that says a lot about who you are and what type of person you would connect well with.

To get started using Hinge, you'll need to create a profile that includes six photos of yourself and three prompts. These photos and prompts work together to create a full profile that showcases your looks, personality, values, and interests.

To have a professional Hinge profile writer select your best photos and write your prompts for you, check out our dating profile writing service and select the Hinge app icon to get started.

The key to Hinge's success as one of the best dating apps lies in its interactive profile prompts that encourage users to share more about themselves in a creative and digestible way. These prompts, when written well, pave the way for deeper connections and meaningful conversations.

What Is Hinge?

Hinge is a dating app that goes a step above other popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid.

Hinge boasts a slogan that it is an app "designed to be deleted," meaning that it focuses on helping you find a long-term relationship rather than fostering casual dating.

When you start using Hinge, you'll be prompted to create a profile designed to showcase your personality and values, as well as six photos of yourself.

Instead of just swiping left or right to indicate your desire to match with another user, Hinge works by enabling users to send direct “likes” and to comment directly on specific photos and prompts within other users’ profiles.

That means you can get a conversation started on Hinge right off the bat at the same time you let another user know you’re interested in them. This way, Hinge does a great job of fostering meaningful interactions and helping you connect with people who share your interests.

To sign up on Hinge, you'll need a mobile phone number or a Facebook account. Hinge is available on both Android and iOS devices, making it accessible to a wide range of users. Hinge is part of the Match Group, which also owns other well-known online dating platforms like Tinder and OkCupid.

Overall, Hinge is not just a dating app but really a relationship app that prioritizes meaningful connection between users, with a focus on developing potential long-term relationships. Hinge works well at encouraging users find compatible partners by focusing on shared values and by enabling people to create profiles that tell a lot about themselves.

With its unique style of online dating, Hinge is worth checking out if you’re looking for a more engaging and user-friendly way to connect with potential matches, maximizing your chances of finding a successful relationship.

Creating a Good Hinge Profile

Hinge’s Sign-Up Process

To begin creating your Hinge profile, you can either sign up with your Facebook profile or use your mobile phone number.

If you choose to sign up with your Facebook profile, some of your information available on Facebook will automatically be imported to kickstart the process.

If you decide to sign up with your mobile phone number, you'll need to manually enter your profile information from scratch.

Either the Facebook or phone number method works just fine and won’t affect your experience on Hinge on way or the other.

Selecting Good Hinge Profile Photos

Once you've started signing up for Hinge, it's important to upload high-quality profile photos that make you look attractive, engaging, and authentic.

A Hinge profile has six photos, and you’ll want to use your best—and only your best—six photos on Hinge.

For tips on knowing which photos to use on Hinge, check out our Hinge photo selection guide.

To have a professional Hinge expert select your best six photos for you, upload your photos to our dating photo analyzer and we’ll do the work for you.

Good Hinge pictures should highlight your personality and make it easier for potential matches to connect with you and find common interests to bond over.

As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to have a mix of photos that show your face clearly, some full-body images, and pictures that show off your interests and hobbies, especially in ways that are unique and make you stand out from the crowd.

Answering Hinge Prompts

When creating a Hinge profile, you'll be asked to select and answer three prompts about yourself.

Hinge’s profile prompts are an alternative to the traditional dating profile bio. They’re designed to help showcase your personality and give potential matches a better understanding of who you are in engaging ways that prioritize quality over quantity of information.

Be thoughtful and genuine when selecting and answering these prompts. How you write your prompts will help Hinge's algorithm present you with more compatible matches, and will also make your profile more engaging to users who view you.

Here are some tips to help you with answering prompts on Hinge to attract high-quality matches:

Be honest and authentic.
Share anecdotes or personal experiences.
Be creative and original. Avoid clichés.
Keep your answers light and approachable.
Avoid bragging or exaggerating; be humble and relatable.
Showcase your sense of humor.
Use proper spelling and grammar.
Use three prompts that showcase three different sides of who you are.
Embrace your vulnerable side.
Show some emotional intelligence and maturity.

Writing good Hinge prompts is hard.

Heck, it can be difficult to know which three prompts to even use in your profile, as Hinge has so many prompts to choose from.

To have a professional Hinge profile writer select three ideal prompts for you and write your prompt responses in an engaging and authentic way, check out our dating profile writing service and select the Hinge app icon to get started.

How Hinge Works

Curating Compatible Matches on Hinge

Hinge is great at helping you find meaningful connections by focusing on shared interests and values.

Hinge’s algorithm works by curating personalized matches for you, presenting your with a seemingly infinite deck of profiles of other users who align with your dating preferences.

The way you create your profile, answer your prompts, and swipe on other users all give Hinge data, which it then uses to better understand what type of match you're looking for and what type of user is likely to be most compatible with you.

Liking and Commenting on Hinge

If you’re new to Hinge, you’re probably wondering how you even match with another user in the first place.

Each new match starts with two people “liking” one another.”

So how do Hinge likes work?

When swiping through potential matches on Hinge, you can either like or reject other users that appear in your feed.

The way likes work on Hinge is in many ways similar to other dating apps. However, Hinge is unique in how profile prompts allow users to comment on a specific part of someone's profile.

For example, you can select one prompt within another user’s profile and send them a like that is tagged onto that prompt, so they know that this prompt of there is what you’re especially compelled by. You can even write a short message replying to their prompt, which encourages more engaging conversations with your matches off the bat.

Starting Conversations on Hinge

Starting conversations on any dating app can be challenging. Starting up a convo on Tinder is notoriously difficult.

Hinge makes things easier.

Once you have liked another user on Hinge and they have liked you back, you'll be notified that you two have formed a new match.

Hinge encourages you to start a conversation by responding to the part of your profile, or their profile, that led to the match initially. That means that if another user sends you a like and tags that like onto a photo in your profile that is of you hiking, you can effortlessly start a conversation with them about hiking.

This approach helps foster more meaningful and authentic interactions between matches.

Messaging and Video Calls

After matching, you can continue the conversation through Hinge's built-in messaging system so there’s no need to get a match’s number immediately and text them.

As you get to know each other through messaging, you can take things up a notch with a video call if it feels right.

Hinge has a video call feature that allows you to have virtual video dates with a match through its app. This way, you can safely communicate and build your relationship before deciding to meet in person or before exchanging phone numbers.

Unique Features of Hinge

Hinge’s Most Compatible Feature

One of the key features of Hinge is its "Most Compatible" match feature.

Hinge generates and refreshes each user’s most compatible match on a daily basis, so every day, you’ll see a new user pop up at the top of your feed who’s tagged as your “most compatible” of the day.

How does Hinge most compatible work?

Using an algorithm, Hinge assesses your profile and preferences and then uses that information to identify another user who could potentially be a good match for you. The aim of Hinge here is to find you a match who you’re likely to hit it off with and have a higher chance of entering a relationship with.

Hinge’s most compatible feature is an excellent perk of the app and is worth taking advantage of.

Standouts and Roses

Another interesting feature in Hinge is Standouts.

Here’s how Standouts work.

Standouts on Hinge are a collection of profiles that the app's algorithm believes are particularly compatible with you. Standouts tend to be other users who are attractive and deemed by the app to be high-value users, whom a lot of other users have expressed interest in.

Standout profiles are also selected based on your past interactions and preferences, and are chosen to be especially attractive to you and pique your interest more than anyone else on the app.

In addition to Standouts, Hinge has a feature called Roses.

Hinge roses are a special type of “super like” that you can send to someone in your Standouts section or in your normal feed of profiles.

On Hinge’s free plan, you receive one free Rose per week, but you can purchase additional Roses if you wish.

Sending a Rose on Hinge signals that you’re particularly interested in a potential match and see them as standing out from the crowd in your eyes. When you send someone a Rose, they will see your profile at the top of their “likes” queue, helping you stand out amongst other users who have send this person a like.

We Met

Hinge's "We Met" feature is designed to gather feedback after you've gone on a date with a match.

A few days after exchanging contact information with a match, Hinge will often ask you how the date went.

This feature allows Hinge to learn more about your preferences and improve your future matches, with the goal of suggesting new users to you with whom you’ll have the highest chance of a successful first date.

The feedback you give to Hinge through this “we met” feature remains private and is not shared with the other person, so don’t worry about them finding out what you say.

Hinge Boosts

If you find yourself struggling to get any likes or matches on Hinge, then it might be because not enough other users are seeing your profile.

That’s where using boosts on Hinge can really help you out.

Boosts on Hinge are a premium feature that increase your visibility and show your profile to more other users. Essentially, when you use a boost, Hinge places your profile at the top of other users’ profile decks so they see you right when they open the app.

Boosts can go a long way toward helping you get more likes and matches on Hinge.

Using boosts can also provide valuable insights into how your profile performs on Hinge and how to improve it. You can boost your profile, see how many likes you get, and then change up a few photos or prompts in your profile and boost again and see if that got you more likes. This can help you refine your profile photos and prompts over time.

Choose an Optimal Time to Boost

Timing is crucial when it comes to using boosts effectively on Hinge. You’ll want to boost your profile during a time when there’s high app activity, so there will be a lot of other users on the app to see you. The best time to use a boost on Hinge is during the evening on any day between Sunday and Thursday. Avoid Fridays or Saturdays.

Hinge Algorithm and Matching Process

One of the best features of Hinge is its algorithm.

Now, how does hinge’s algorithm work?

Hinge’s algorithm plays a key role in providing you with potential matches based on your preferences and previous activity using the app.

Hinge's unique algorithm collects your answers to your profile prompts, tracks how you swipe left or right on other users, notes how other users respond to you, and takes into account which matches you end up going on dates with and how well you report back that those dates went.

This intricate data-driven process helps Hinge figure out your dating style and allows it to suggest potential matches who share your interests, values, experiences, or just general dating style and preference. The algorithm does a lot to figure out compatibility.

To make the algorithm has all the data it needs to work better in favor, make sure to interact with the app regularly and swipe on other users.

When you send likes on Hinge or pass on users, that helps the algorithm learn about you and update its method of suggesting you new users. It improves the quality of the matches it provides you and makes it more likely that you’ll find someone you’re genuinely interested who’s also interested in you back.

Your profile preferences on Hinge impact this algorithm matching process as well.

Put some thought into what preferences you select on Hinge to help the algorithm find more suitable users for you. Keep in mind that Hinge focuses on quality rather than quantity when it comes to matches, so take your time and be thoughtful in your behaviors on the app.

To sum up, here are some key tips for how to use Hinge so you make the most of it:

Answer the three prompts on your profile honestly and thoughtfully.
Use Hinge regularly and intentionally to improve the matching process.
Select your preferences thoughtfully to help the algorithm find better matches for you.
Focus on the quality, not quantity, of your swiping and interactions on the app.

By taking these steps, you can make the most of Hinge’s powerful algorithm and matching process, ultimately increasing your chances of finding a meaningful connection with another user.

Hinge Preferred/Premium and Upgrades

Hinge Preferred is a premium subscription plan that gives you access to a range of extra features that can give you more power in finding the right match for you.

When you subscribe to Hinge Preferred, you gain access to set advanced preferences and dealbreakers in your profile settings. This allows you to specify more nuanced characteristics of what type of people you’d like to meet on Hinge. You can filter your potential matches based on not just gender, age, and distance but also things like religion and political preference.

By giving you more filtering options, Hinge Preferred can help you connect with people who share similar values as you.

Though be careful not to assume that having more filters means better matches. It’s best to keep an open mind and only filter out other users if something is a really hard dealbreaker for you. You never know who you’ll connect with. It might surprise you.

Another big benefit of upgrading to Hinge Preferred is that you can send unlimited likes.

The free version of Hinge only lets you send 10 likes a day. However, as a Hinge Preferred subscriber, you can send as many likes as you want, which can improve your chances of connecting with other users and forming new matches.

If you feel you’d benefit from advanced profile filtering options, dealbreakers, and the ability to send unlimited likes, and if you’re willing to pay the extra money, then Hinge Preferred is a premium plan that’s definitely worth it. These features can help you find more compatible matches and make the most out of your Hinge experience.

Comparing Hinge to Other Dating Apps

If you’re still considering which dating app to use, you should know how Hinge compares to other popular apps like Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid.

Let's examine these dating apps and see how they stack up against one another.

Hinge vs Tinder

Tinder is known for its simplicity, fast-paced swiping action, mindlessness, high volume of users, and its casual nature.

On Tinder you swipe right to like a profile and left to pass. It’s simple as that. Unlike Hinge, you can’t message anyone unless you match. If both users swipe right on each other, then it's a match and you can start messaging.

Tinder has a reputation for being more focused on casual dating and hookups, while Hinge is more geared toward long-term relationships. The userbase of Hinge takes online dating a lot more seriously than folks do on Tinder.

While there are a good number of people who are looking for relationships on Tinder, it’s definitely on the whole not as conducive to forming as deep connections as Hinge is.

Tinder is an app of match quantity; Hinge is an app of match quality.

For a more detailed comparison of Hinge vs Tinder, and to see why Hinge is the better of these two apps, see our Hinge vs Tinder summary.

Hinge vs Bumble

Bumble is another popular dating app that is known to be higher quality than Tinder.

Bumble’s unique twist is that, when a man and a woman match on the app, the woman has to initiate the conversation within 24 hours, or the match disappears. Unlike on Hinge, or on Tinder, the man is unable to send the first message on Bumble.

This can be appealing for women who want more control over the interaction process. However, if you don't like time constraints and prefer a more open space where someone of any gender can send the first message, then Hinge might be a better option

In fact, where Hinge really shines in messaging is that you don’t even need to wait until you match with someone to send them a message! You can send someone a message at the same time you "like" their profile, and, when it’s written well, that message you send them can help you land that new match.

Hinge vs OkCupid

OkCupid is in a bit of a different league than Tinder or Bumble but is still a dating app many people compare to Hinge or use concurrently as they use Hinge too.

OkCupid is unique in that it has users fill out an in-depth questionnaire during the sign-up process, which helps the app's algorithm match you with compatible users. It also has many features to help you discover new profiles or filter searches based on specific preferences.

OkCupid can be a great choice if you value thorough compatibility assessments and want the app to pick out potentially compatible users for you automatically.

The more extensive sign-up process for OkCupid can be rather time-consuming compared to Hinge, though, as on Hinge you just have to upload six photos and answer three prompts. No questionnaire needed.

Tips for Success on Hinge

If you want to get high-quality matches on Hinge and convert those matches into first dates, then you’ll need to create a great profile, focus on having quality conversations, and know when it’s time to ask someone out.

Hopefully the tips and insights we’ve shared here have given you a good understanding of how Hinge works and how to use the app to achieve your dating goals.

Want Help Creating a Great Hinge Profile?

We at The Match Lab have spent years studying the science of how to write good Hinge prompts and how to select the right photos to use in a Hinge profile.

After years of research, we have developed a dating photo analyzer that uses an algorithm to select any person’s best photos for Hinge, or any other dating app. Just upload some photos of yourself, and our algorithm will reveal which photos you should be using in your Hinge profile and the ideal order they should go in.

We also offer professional dating profile writing services. Our professional Hinge profile writer can write your Hinge prompts for you and help your profile shine.

Get started now, or learn more about us on our website, so you can start getting more likes and better matches on Hinge.