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Is Bumble Free?

Is Bumble free? The short answer to this question is “yes.” Like Tinder, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel, Bumble is a free downloadable app you can use to match with other singles and find dates.

What makes Bumble unique is that it forces women to make the first move. With Tinder, anyone can initiate conversation when you both swipe right. But with Bumble, men have to wait until a woman initiates contact to converse and, hopefully, set up the first date.

Adopting a “ladies first” attitude encourages singles who are looking for more than a hookup to sign up for this app, which is why many relationship-minded people decide to choose Bumble over Tinder.



This is a good and bad thing for guys seeking a serious relationship. On the plus side, you get to choose from a larger pool of women who are seeking the same type of relationship as you. On the negative side, you are competing with more quality men who are bringing their A-game.

And if you’re feeling the pressure of not getting matches on Bumble, you may be tempted to up your chances my shelling out some cash.

Is Bumble Free? Well…

Although the answer to the question, “Is Bumble free?” is mostly a “yes,” there are some caveats to this answer. Like any business, the people at Bumble need to make money. 

So even though it is a free dating app, there are several features and options that cost money if you choose to use them. And in order to use these paid features, you’ll need to purchase Bumble coins while in the app.

Bumble Coins

Bumble coins give you the option to SuperSwipe or Spotlight – two awesome features that are really, really inexpensive. These virtual coins are quite lovely and almost make the app feel like a fun online game.

We all like the escapism that comes with video games, but you don’t want to get addicted to these paid features. Use them sparingly. 

For example, when you’re seeing a profile of a lady that has a lot of commonalities with you, SuperSwipe her. Or, if your dating funnel dries up – try Spotlighting your profile around 6pm local time (the busiest time of the day for dating apps). 

Do You Have to Pay for Bumble? 

If You Want to SuperSwipe

Bumble used to be entirely free, like many apps in their infancy. But as advertisements and other features made their way into the free online dating scene, it’s understandable why people (including many of my clients) would ask the question if Bumble is free. 

Piggybacking off of Tinder’s Super Like idea, Bumble created its own version — the SuperSwipe. A SuperSwipe appears as a cute little yellow heart on the profiles of women you’re swiping.

When these ladies see that you chose to use a SuperSwipe on them, they’ll know that you really, really like them. In other words, of all the bees in this dating app’s hive, you think that their honey is the sweetest.

So cute, right?



The thing is each SuperSwipe costs approximately $2. You can get a slight discount on this if you purchase SuperSwipes in bulk.

As tempting as it may be to choose this option in order to increase your match rates, it can easily backfire. Even if the woman matches with you and initiates contact, you’ve started things off by giving her the leverage. 

She knows that you spent money on her, a virtual (no pun intended) stranger, just to let her know you think you like her better than the other guys on this app.

Be Careful Not to Chase 

When you give women this type of leverage from the start, you’re basically telling her that you’re willing to chase her. And the thing is, you shouldn’t be chasing after women if you want to reach your dating goals and find the best possible partner. Moreover, there are expert strategies you can use to get women to chase after you. 

In short, SuperSwiping works, but you need to be careful not to give the woman any more leverage than she already has. 

You Also Have to Pay to Spotlight Your Profile

Spotlight is when Bumble moves your profile to the top of every woman in your area’s queue, for 30 minutes. The caveat is they need to be logged in and swiping to see you. 

Therefore, you’ll want to Spotlight at popular times of the day. Based on our test user data, I’d recommend you Spotlight from 6pm to 8pm in the fall/winter, and 7pm to 9pm during the summer. 

Spotlighting is a fantastic and economical way of getting a few matches in less than 30 minutes. 

Spotlight will cost you two coins, around $2.50 to $3.60, depending on which coin package you purchase. It’s well worth it if you’re down in the dumps, wanna fill up your dating pipeline, or just don’t have anything lined up for the weekend. 

You’ll Also Have to Pay if You Want Bumble Boost 

This app goes from cost-free to costly when you go with Bumble Boost. Bumble Boost is Bumble’s premium option that claims to “double your matches.” Here’s what it offers:

#1: Access to Profiles of People Who Have Liked You

Rather than swipe through various profiles attempting to match, this feature gives you immediate access to all the profiles of your admirers who have already liked you. Using this feature, you can instantly match with someone rather than wait for them to show up in your feed.

#2: Rematch

This feature allows you to rematch with your expired connections. Bumble enforces a time limit on how long you can let a match sit in your queue or how long you can go without keeping a conversation going.



Here are my thoughts on this:

  • Women make the first move. If a woman lets you sit in her feed and doesn’t initiate contact, it likely means that she is either uninterested in starting a conversation or has stopped using the app. You don’t need to waste your time rematching with this person when there are so many other options out there. Moreover, this once again puts you in the position of chasing after a woman, giving her leverage.

  • When you use certain strategies for turning online connections into real life dates, the conversations you have online shouldn’t last very long. Thus, there’s no reason you should have allowed a conversation to go silent long enough for it to expire without having a date plan set up.

#3: Unlimited Extends

With the free version of the app, you can only extend one match per day when the match expires. But with the Unlimited Extends feature, you extend as many matches as you like.

The thing is, if you use certain tactics, you’re not going to have to worry about a bunch of women matching with you only to return your mutual interest with radio silence.

Below are some of my expert strategies when it comes to getting more matches and messages on Bumble.

Bumble Boost will cost you $10.99 for 1 week, $24.99 for 1 month, $54.99 for 3 months, or $149.99 for a lifetime membership. 

What if You Can’t Afford to Pay for Bumble? 

Set a Swiping Goal

I recommend swiping the same number of times each day. For example, you could swipe 50 times a day, which will add up to 350 swipes per week. That means 350 chances to match up with a woman every seven days.

Swiping a set number of times per day helps you track your progress. You’ll know how effective your response rate is and when to make changes to your profile if it’s low. You’ll also be less likely to experience online dating burnout.

Setting a daily swiping or outreach goal is one of the first things I have my clients commit to. It’s a very important tip for using Bumble.

Why is it important? Well, when done correctly reaching a consistent outreach goal helps to build your dating funnel and get you on more dates. And isn’t that the goal of dating apps like Bumble– to get on more dates?

Of course it is. So set a daily swiping goal, actually track it, and see your date acquisition numbers skyrocket!

Create a Killer Profile

You’re going to want to outshine the competition with an amazing Bumble profile. Make sure that you fill out every section in your profile (yes, it matters) and choose the best photos possible.



How Do I Choose the Best Photos?

When choosing photos, make sure that they are high quality (no blurry pics!), recent and ordered in the following way:

  • The first photo should be a close-cropped headshot where you show off your pearly whites and killer eye contact.

  • The second photo should be a full-body shot of you smiling, striking a confident pose (don’t fold your arms!) and wearing a flattering outfit.

  • The third photo should be a social shot of you having a great time with friends and/or family. Women want a man who can hang, so show her that you’re the type of guy she can introduce people to.

  • The fourth photo should be a hobby shot showcasing one of your biggest passions, like fishing, art and so on. This will help you attract women who share your interests.

  • The fifth photo should be of you and a cute animal because cute animals make everything better.

Want to learn more about choosing the right photos for online dating and how to avoid common online dating photo pitfalls? Check out my article, The Top 5 Online Dating Photo Tips for Men.

Make Sure That Your Bio is On Point

Yes, women do read your bios and taglines and what you put in your bio does matter regardless of how really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking you are.

Bumble gives you 300 words for a bio, so make them count.

Make sure that you don’t do anything too generic with your bio. Dating apps and other online fodder basically program people to have limited attention spans, so make sure you grab her attention immediately.

Some of the most important things to remember when crafting a good bio is to:

  • Stay upbeat and positive

  • Use positive where appropriate

  • Pepper emojis into your profile but don’t overdo it

  • Be authentic and honest

  • Don’t be shy about talking about your interests, including any nerdy or quirky interests

Connect Your Instagram and Spotify to Your Bumble

Another free way to increase your match and message rates is to connect your Bumble account to your Instagram and Spotify accounts.

Women tend to get bombarded with creepy messages when it comes to online dating and can be particularly wary when using the apps. If you have a Spotify and Instagram, it gives a woman more information to evaluate and more opportunities for her to relate to you, making her more compelled to swipe right.

And if you follow my first date tips for men blueprint, you know that the first step in dating is to build trust and rapport through shared interests.

Expand Your Distance Preferences

Another way to improve your number of matches on Bumble is to expand your distance preferences. There could be a great woman living just a few miles outside of your city, but you’ll never know if you have very narrow preferences.

If you live in a city, try expanding your search about 10-15 miles outside city limits. There are a lot of potentials who could be trying to move into your city, so keep an open mind. If you live in the country or a rural environment, I recommend expanding your settings a bit further, maybe up to 30-40 miles, or more. This way you’ll get more possible matches – but be realistic with yourself on how far you’re willing to travel to meet a date.

Consider Dating Outside of Your Comfort Zone, Age-wise

It’s common for men to set their age preferences to women their own age or a little bit younger. But doing this may prevent you from connecting with a really compatible partner that you wouldn’t meet otherwise.



To test this out, give yourself a wide age range. Usually, an age gap of a decade or an age gap that follows the rule of half your age plus 7 is a pretty good range. But there can be a lot of benefits of dating both younger or older women, as well as those your age.

Basically, keep your options open so you can get as many matches and enjoy as many informative dating experiences as possible.

Switch to a Different App if You’re Getting Burned Out

Outside of the caveats that come with the question “Is Bumble free?” Bumble is a great online dating tool to add to your dating arsenal, but it shouldn’t be the only thing that you rely on if you want to get the most success out of online dating.

If you’re not having any luck with Bumble, turn off the app for a while and switch to another free dating site or app, like Tinder, Hinge or Coffee Meets Bagel. See if your luck is different on those apps and also consider how you could apply your success on these other apps to your Bumble account.

Moreover, you want to use tools outside of the interwebs and app world to help you find a mate. Learn more about the various ways you can attract women out and about by reading my article, 11 Best Alternatives to Online Dating.

Utilizing several different methods to wrack up dates and meet a variety of interesting people is part of the EmLovz strategy known as MegaDating.

Try MegaDating?

MegaDating is a dating strategy that involves going on dates with several women at the same time in order to diffuse energy by keeping your calendar full. When you MegaDate, you see firsthand that there is a lot of fish in the sea and that you don’t need to settle for the mediocre when it comes to relationships.

MegaDating is not about being a player or sleeping around. In fact, you can hold off on sex completely until you decide to become exclusive with someone. This strategy simply allows you to practice your dating approach and grow through different experiences so that you can attract the perfect long-term partner.

I used MegaDating during my 100-date experiment. By the end of the experiment, I was enjoying a satisfying relationship with a man who is still my boyfriend years later. MegaDating helped me find a compatible partner and it can do the same for you!

Wrap-up

Along with the question, “Is Bumble free?” I get a plethora of inquiries from male clients all over the world. As a dating coach, I’ve been able to answer those questions and also teach men expert strategies on how to attract the girl of their dreams. I can do the same for you.

If you’re ready to get started, head over to my calendar and book a 1-on-1 Skype session with me today! During our session we will diagnose your dating history, create an action plan to help you overcome your dating roadblocks, and discuss if my 3 month coaching program is right for you. Hiring a dating coach and working with them 1-on-1 over a course of 3 months is the quickest way to jumpstart your dating life.

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