How to Build Your Own Tinder Clone Dating App

This quote by Steve Jobs is an intriguing way to look at technology. Especially when you learn that this was said in 1985 - just 9 years after Apple was founded!

Today we know that Japanese technology is second to none. A true revolutionary, Jobs understood the importance of knowing your product from all perspectives possible; to study its features, mechanisms, and everything you could possibly know about it.

This outlook hasn’t changed today either. A dating app may not seem like innovation on a first look, but the path to innovation lies in starting from the principles. The market of online dating has expanded rapidly, making it even more exciting to build your own dating app. All it takes to get started is the right tools, and like the Japanese - an inspiration to reinvent.

So let us get started with our basics, cloning the Tinder Dating app.

Features and Components of Tinder App Clone

There are several components of the tinder clone app and each of these components makes up a feature that makes the app so unique and intuitive to use.

The App Wrapper

This is the wrapper component that will hold all the other components of the app within itself. Depending on which framework you prefer, this app component will look a little different, but regardless of which code you like to use - React, JavaScript or React Native, this wrapper will form the base for your entire application.

User Cards

This is the first and the most discernible component of the dating app clone. It’s the main card that users interact with. It displays another user’s profile picture right, allows you to look at their complete profile, and finally, swipe right or left depending on how you like them.

Of course, the main feature is the ‘swiping’, but what’s really good about this is the intuitive UI design that it brings to the table. The rule is simple, clear, and easy to follow. The best combination for a good design.

Matches

Knowing that a stranger on the internet likes you back is a great self-esteem booster, but Tinder isn’t just about boosting self-esteem. It’s about people making real relationships over chat. The matches component is what lists all of a users’ matches so they can talk to each other.

In-App Chat & Calling

Now comes the real champion of the Tinder app - in-app chat. This component is central to the functioning of the tinder app. The entire structure of this app relies on the means of communication deployed. This component shows all your messages with a given user and allows you to send messages, and depending on what features you have, even video call, send voice notes and exchange GIFs. You can even choose to monetize your dating app by offering select features to paying customers.

Users are expected to spend most of their time between the home screen and the messages screen and that’s why it’s so crucial to get right.

Register and Login

As the name suggests, this component of the app will act as the entry point to your dating app clone. If you’re comfortable setting up your application on Firebase, it will take care of user authentication. If you want to use something more advanced, there’s plenty of SQL databases to choose from like MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, etc.

This paired with a splash screen is the first look a user will have of your application. Making it easy to use will take priority in this case.

Tech Stacks to Build Your Tinder Clone

Building the Tinder dating app clone will require you to make 4 main decisions for your development process.

Front-End Framework

Front end frameworks will make it easy to code the visual half of your application and some of the popular choices are:

• React, Angular & Vue JS for Android apps

• Swift for iOS

• React Native, Ionic & Flutter for cross-platform apps

• CSS frameworks like Bootstrap and TailwindCSS

Of these, React and Angular are the most popular, and plenty of documentation as well as examples can be found online. Flutter is also really popular with people who want to develop the application for both iOS and Android at the same time without getting into Swift and Java.

Hosting and Server

Running an application like Tinder will require you to have a server that is responsible for communicating with the app to exchange data like login information, matches, pictures, etc. The most popular service right now is Google’s Firebase. If you want, you can also set up a SQL database like MongoDB over a hosting platform.

In-App Text & Video Chat

When cloning an app like Tinder, having access to SDKs and APIs will help you set up your messaging function along with voice and video calling features for users. Using a chat API or SDK will help save both time and cost it takes you to develop the app.

CometChat offers prebuilt chat widgets, UI Kits, and open source SDKs for any framework you need. Just sign in to our developer dashboard and start building for free.

Design Tools

These tools will help you design the app entirely. You’ll have to choose fonts, make PNGs for the hearts, crosses, and other minute details.

For fonts, we recommend using google fonts.

For the art and image work inside the app, it would be nice to be able to design it on photoshop, or have a designer make it for you - that said, we understand that not everyone has the resources, so using open source artwork available across the internet for icons and shapes is a great option.

Data Analytics

It’s important to keep an eye on how your app is performing. Google Analytics or HotJar are two great tools to collect real-time data from your app that provide you with detailed statistics about your users and their behavior. A great way to understand what’s working and what’s not.

If you are looking to speed up your development process even further, you might be interested in 13 APIs to help Build your Dating App.

Tinder Clone Tutorials

Let us now dive into exactly how you can build your tinder clone dating app clone. We have created a bank of tutorials for you to choose from based on your needs and skills. These are perfect for beginners as well as experts and will take you through a step-by-step process to build your own tinder-like dating app in less than an hour.

1. How to Build a Tinder Clone App with Vue.Js and Firebase

[

](https://www.cometchat.com/tutorials/how-to-build-a-dating-site-with-vuejs-tinder-clone)

This tutorial will take you through step-by-step instructions on starting on your Firebase application, setting up the environment, configuring the CometChat SDK, building each component, all while keeping your application secure.

The code available in this tutorial is easy to read and each step is thoroughly explained. It uses CometChats’ Vue UI kit for the graphics of the app and can be completed fairly quickly.

2. Make Your Own Tinder Clone App with Angular and MongoDB

[

](https://www.cometchat.com/tutorials/tinder-clone-using-cometchat-angular-ui)

If you are looking to build this app in Angular, this tutorial is perfect for you. It uses CometChat’s Angular UI Kit and MongoDB to set up the server. The code in this tutorial is broken down to be easily digested and explains user authorization and auth guard well. If you want an email verification API to go along with your app to maximize its potential checkout ZeroBounce.

3. Create an App like Tinder with React & TailwindCSS

[

](https://www.cometchat.com/tutorials/cometchat-tutorial-how-to-build-a-dating-website-with-react-tinder-clone)

Your app does not necessarily need to be on a mobile platform. If you want to develop it as a web application, using React is the way to go. This tutorial uses TailwindCSS, CometChat’s React UI Kit, and Firebase to develop the app. This tutorial will also take you through using the Chat SDK to its full potential by using the call, video call, and voice message feature as well. It is a great tutorial for web developers.

4. How to Create a Tinder-style Dating App Clone with React-Native and Firebase

[

](https://www.cometchat.com/tutorials/create-a-dating-app-with-react-native-and-cometchat)

If a cross-platform application is what you want, react native is the best framework to turn to. This tutorial helps you set up your environment, is hosted on an easy-to-access Github repository, and does a great job at breaking down the code into individual components.

5. Make Your Own Tinder App in Node JS & Javascript

[

](https://www.cometchat.com/tutorials/tinder-clone-dating-website-node-js)

If you want to move away from the frameworks and libraries, and take the Vanilla JavaScript approach, this tutorial will take you through building your web application using MySQL as your database, and vanilla JavaScript as the language for your codebase. Super in-depth, this tutorial even makes JavaScript seem easy!

Conclusion

Building your own dating app like tinder from scratch takes considerable time and effort and is by no means an easy task. These tutorials are meant to be a reference point for developers who want to get started on their app-making journey by cloning a pre-existing model and taking it forward from there.

If you’re ready to start building your tinder clone dating app for free, sign-up on the CometChat developer dashboard and pick a tutorial of your choice. All tutorials are easy to follow, are divided into well-defined segments, and are great for developers on any spectrum of their coding journey. If you have any questions, talk to us and we’ll address your concerns right away!

About the Author:

Pronoy Roy is a technology enthusiast and especially passionate about the future of technology. He enjoys writing about modern technical applications that help solve real-world problems.