Technology and members. Use one, or both.
Dating API isn’t just software. We have run hundreds of dating sites and apps ourselves, and the real people who joined them make up a shared network of millions of members. Plug your app into it on day one, use it to fill quiet areas behind your own members, or keep your members in a private, ring-fenced network of their own.
Free with your cost review: how many members you have in your top cities today, and how many you’d have with backfill.
Real people who joined real dating sites. Not bought lists, not bots.
We have built and run hundreds of dating sites and apps ourselves over 25 years. Every member in the network signed up to one of those brands to meet someone, and many stay active across the white label sites they belong to. That is the pool your members meet.
They joined to date
Every member created their own account on a dating site or app we run. Nobody was imported from a bought list, scraped from social media or made up to fill a screen.
They are active
The network only shows members who have used a site recently. People who have gone quiet drop out of the pool, so your members see people who can actually reply.
They are checked
New profiles go through the same moderation as your own members: automated photo screening, scam and bot detection, and ID checks where you require them. Accounts that fail are removed from every brand at once, except where a partner keeps its members ring-fenced.
Shared on clear terms
Members are shown across brands under each site’s terms and privacy notice, which explain the shared network when they join. Members choose whether to join the shared network, and can leave it at any time.
See it before you sign
Your pool report shows how many active members are near your own members, city by city. Under NDA we can also walk you through a random sample, so you can see for yourself that they are real.
Every dating app’s real product is other people.
The hardest problem in dating isn’t the code. It’s having enough of the right people nearby, at the moment a member opens the app.
Empty rooms lose members
When a member keeps seeing the same few faces, they stop opening the app. The fewer members you have, the faster it happens, and the faster the rest follow.
Filling the room costs more
The average dating app install cost $2.76 in 2025, almost double the year before. And 69% of installs are deleted within a month.
Most apps can’t fill every town
Big cities are fine at 8pm. Smaller towns, niches, older age bands and late nights are where members run out of people to meet.
Four ways to use it. See the difference.
The same member, in the same small town, on the same evening. Switch the mode and watch who they get to meet.
Your members first
Your members always see each other first. When the local pool runs thin, real members from the shared network fill the gaps, so nobody hits an empty screen.
Best for: smaller towns, niches, late nights and shrinking pools.
Your 3 members first, then verified network members, all shown in your app and your brand.
Private, backfilled, shared, or any mix.
Every partner gets the same technology. How much of the network you use is entirely up to you, and you can change it any time.
Private network
Your members only ever see each other. Nothing comes in and nothing goes out. Your data stays in your own space.
Best for: brands whose members are the product, and faith or community brands.
Your members first
Your members see each other first. When a member runs low on fresh people nearby, verified network members fill the gaps.
Best for: smaller towns, niches, late nights and shrinking pools.
Shared network
Launch straight into the shared network. Your very first member sees real, verified people nearby on day one.
Best for: new apps, new countries and relaunches.
Your mix
Any combination, by country, age band, plan or brand. Share across your own brands only, or open one market and keep another private.
Best for: groups and portfolios.
Your members first. Always.
Backfill never pushes your members down the list. It only fills space that would otherwise be empty.
Search your members
We search your own members first, using the member’s own filters, and rank them at the top.
Check the room
If there are fewer fresh people than your threshold, say 20 within 25 km, we top up.
Fill with real members
Network members who match the same filters fill the gaps. ID verified only, if you choose.
One experience
They appear in your app, in your design. Likes, matches and messages work across apps, with the same safety checks.
Six moments when members matter most.
Launching a new app
Skip the cold start. Members see real people nearby from the first day, and you spend your budget on your brand instead of filling an empty room.
Opening a new country
Launch into a market where the network is already busy, then switch to backfill as your own members grow.
Relaunching after a sale
Bought a brand whose database didn’t survive? Relaunch it into the shared network so returning members have people to meet.
A shrinking pool
Fewer payers means fewer people to meet, which means more people leave. Backfill breaks the cycle in the towns where it starts.
Faith and community brands
Some brands only work when everyone shares something. Keep them private, or share only with brands like them.
Groups and portfolios
Share members across your own brands and nobody else’s, backfill the thin ones, and keep your flagship private.
A shared network only works if it’s fair.
These are the rules every brand on the network plays by, including ours.
- Every network member is checked by our moderation before anyone sees them, and you can show ID verified members only.
- Blocks and reports work across the network. A scammer removed once is removed everywhere, unless a partner keeps its members ring-fenced.
- Members pay the brand they joined. No brand takes a share of another brand’s revenue.
- Your members are only shown to the network if you choose. Two-way sharing is a setting, not a condition.
- Private means private. In private mode your members’ data never leaves your own data space.
- Consent built in. Your privacy notice explains the network, and members choose whether to join it.
- Leave out who you like. Hiding your members from brands you choose: coming soon.
What your board will ask.
Will our members know someone joined through another app?
They see them inside your app, in your design. Network members are marked in the API, so you can choose whether to show a small label.
Can members of other apps message ours?
In backfill and shared modes, yes, with the same spam, scam and safety checks as any other message. In private mode, no.
Who keeps the revenue?
Each member pays the brand they joined. Nobody takes a share of anyone else’s revenue, and we never take a share of yours.
What happens to our existing members when we switch?
You choose on day one: a private network of their own, the shared network, or first in line with backfill behind them. Most apps start with backfill.
Can we change our mind later?
Yes. Change the mode any time in the console, by country, age band, plan or brand. No app release needed.
How big is the network?
Millions of members across 200+ brands, with the largest pools in the UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and Australia. Your pool report shows the real numbers for your cities.
Does it cost extra?
No. Network access is included on every plan.
See how full your app could be.
Your pool report shows how many members you have nearby in your top cities today, and how many you’d have with backfill. It comes with your free cost review.
- 1Your top citiesMembers nearby today, by age band.
- 2With backfillHow many more people each member would see.
- 3A fixed quoteWhat it would cost to run your app on Dating API.