Want to use Grindr’s AI products? You might have to cough up nearly $500 a month.
Grindr is in early testing of a new, more expensive subscription tier called “Edge,” the company confirmed to Business Insider. The company has already piloted this tier in Australia and New Zealand, and is now rolling it out to some U.S. cities.
As part of this test, Grindr is experimenting with different price points for different users. Test prices start at $80 per week and can go up to hundreds of dollars.
Screenshots posted online show monthly subscription costs of $349.99 and $499.99. At these prices, one year of Grindr Edge costs between $4,199.88 and $5,999.88.
“This early pilot is part of our broader strategy to make Grindr smarter, faster, and power more meaningful connections,” a Grindr representative wrote to Business Insider.
So what do you get for spending so much money?
Edge’s three main AI features are Discover (personalized matches), Insights (“pre-message signals”), and A-List (recommended feed of old chats). It also includes all the features of Grindr Unlimited (currently Grindr’s most expensive tier) and no third-party ads.
For reference, Grindr Unlimited’s pricing varies by user, but the App Store lists monthly fees between $27.99 and $44.99. That’s several hundred dollars cheaper than the Edge test price.
Grindr’s competitors also vary their prices on a per-user basis, making direct comparisons difficult. From my own accounts, the most expensive tiers for Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble all cost less than $100 per month: $49.99, $54.99, and $99.99 per month, respectively.
Edge is another step in Grindr’s mission to bring “gAI” (pronounced “gay-eye”) to its approximately 15 million monthly active users.
The pilot is coming because Grindr needs momentum. The company’s stock price has been mostly rising for more than two years after falling post-IPO, but is currently on a downward trend, dropping 38.06% in the past six months.
