What is the Age Limit for Tinder?

There is no age limit for dating. People of all ages can find themselves single for one reason or another and it is never too late to find love. But what about this new era of dating apps? Is there a lower or upper limit to use these things? When is it too late to find love online? Is there a legal or practical age limit for Tinder?

For most dating apps, there is a legal minimum age limit of 18. You need to be an adult to use dating apps even if some people have a hard time acting like one. As for the other elements of age and dating, that is up for debate.

Age limits and Tinder

For a while, Tinder used a two-tier pricing structure where users aged between 18 and 30 paid $9.99 for Tinder Plus or $14.99 for the entire package depending on their subscription. Users over the age of 30 were charged $19.99 for Tinder Plus. This was recently found to be illegal so there is now a flat pricing structure for all.

The previous pricing structure wasn’t very popular. It indicated that Tinder valued younger users over older ones. Anyone in their 30s was penalized for using the app purely because of their birth date. Thankfully, that’s now a thing of the past.

Ageing and dating

According to some sources, there are millions of over 50s on Tinder. All happily using the app to swipe and find a hookup or love. That’s right, old people do want companionship too, in all of its forms. Once you’re over 30, age takes less of a precedence than it used to. As you experience more, you want to experience more and have fewer criteria around age, body type and all those superficial things that once seemed so important.

But should you lie about your age on Tinder?

People of all types lie about their age. When we’re young, we make ourselves older to get into nightclubs, to get served at the bar and to meet older partners. When we are older, we lie to be younger and then make jokes about it, ‘Yes I’m 40 for the fifth time’ or whatever. This is technically a lie but is so common that it is an accepted one.

The truth about age

I am an advocate of being as truthful as possible when it comes to dating. First, it means you don’t get caught in a lie if you’re not awake, not concentrating fully or have had a beer or two. Second, if anything longer term happens, there is less to have to explain. Most people won’t have a problem learning you’re a couple years older or younger than you initially said. Some people will though.

Mainly, being truthful about your age works because there are people out there who like older or younger people. Singletons who genuinely like much older or much younger partners and who can relate well despite the age gap. If you lie about your age, you would miss out on these people and these are the ones with which you would stand the highest chance of having something successful longer term.

Tinder may have begun as a young person’s dating app but it has evolved into something much more mainstream. Other dating apps by and large have done the same. They appreciate that there is a lot of money to be earned by appealing to all ages so they have done just that. Societal changes means more older people are single and want to date so it makes sense for a business to appeal to that demographic too.

Burying your age in Tinder

One trick I have seen quite often in Tinder is for someone to set themselves in a particular age category in their profile but then state their true age in their bio. There is a logic in this, especially if you like older or younger people.

Setting your age so your profile appears in a certain age bracket means you get those in your preferred range looking at you. Telling the truth in your bio means that those who actually take the time to read such things learn the truth but have already had their curiosity piqued enough to read it.

I can’t say I’m a fan of this method but I can see the logic behind it. It’s a bit like misrepresentation and if you did it on product packaging, you would get into serious trouble but do it on a dating app and it seems okay.

Tinder is a minefield that takes a long time to get to grips with and learn the rules and customs within. Fortunately, the app and others like it are now open to all ages, as are most people who are dating. So as long as you’re over 18, there is no age limit for Tinder.