Which Dating Apps Aren't Owned by Match Group?
Entry No. 021 ·
By The IF Team
As of September 2026, the main dating apps not owned by Match Group are Bumble and Badoo (both run by Bumble Inc.), Facebook Dating (part of Meta), Grindr (run by Grindr Inc.) and eharmony (part of ParshipMeet Group), along with smaller independents such as Feeld and IF, the app we make so that people can say how they feel, honestly, whatever their relationship status. Match Group owns Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, The League, HER and several others. So moving from Tinder to Hinge changes the app, but not the company behind it. One change is under way: in October 2026 Bumble Inc. agreed to be bought by Ithaca Holdings, which would take it private.
If you have deleted Tinder, downloaded Hinge and felt you were starting somewhere new, it is a small jolt to learn that both answer to the same company. Wanting to know who is behind an app is a reasonable instinct, not a paranoid one: perhaps you want to know who holds your data, or you are looking for a genuinely different way to meet people. IF, for instance, differs in what it lets you do, not only in who owns it: you can match with singles as on any app, and you can also tell someone how you feel when one of you is taken, with nothing opening until you are both single.
Dating apps not owned by Match Group
Bumble, Badoo and BFF: Bumble Inc.
Bumble belongs to Bumble Inc., which also owns Badoo and the friendship app BFF. As of October 2026 it is still a separate, stock-market-listed company, but on 13 October it agreed to be bought by Ithaca Holdings, a holding company for technology businesses, in an all-cash deal that would take it private. Either way, Hinge and Bumble are rivals, not relatives.
Facebook Dating: Meta
Facebook Dating lives inside the Facebook app and is run by Meta. It has nothing to do with Match Group, but it is not a small independent either: your dating profile sits with Meta, alongside your Facebook account.
Grindr: Grindr Inc.
Grindr, the best-known app for gay, bi, trans and queer people who want to meet someone nearby, is run by its own company, Grindr Inc. As of October 2026 it is still listed on the New York Stock Exchange and reports its own results; a 2025 offer by its largest shareholders to take it private ended in November that year. It has never been part of Match Group; the two are competitors.
eharmony: ParshipMeet Group
eharmony sits outside Match Group, but outside is not the same as independent. It belongs to ParshipMeet Group, the dating business of the German media company ProSiebenSat.1, which also runs Parship. Leaving Tinder for eharmony moves you from one dating group to another.
Independent apps are rarer than they look
Several smaller apps that feel independent are not. HER, built for lesbian, bisexual and queer women and non-binary people, joined Match Group in 2025. Lex, a text-based social and dating app for LGBTQ+ people, was bought in 2024 by 9count, which runs several social apps.
Feeld, an app built around non-monogamy and other kinds of relationship, is one well-known app that is still privately owned, with its founder and its chief executive together holding a majority. IF, made for singles and people in relationships alike, is independent as well. Many smaller apps are run by their own companies, but check before you assume. For the LGBTQ+ apps in depth, see our guide to choosing an LGBTQ+ dating app.
Which dating apps does Match Group own?
Match Group is the company behind many of the best-known names in dating. In a 2022 Pew Research Center survey of US adults, Tinder was the most-used of the eight dating sites and apps it asked about, and it is only one of the group’s brands. As of September 2026, its brands, as Match Group lists them, include:
- Tinder, the best-known swipe app
- Hinge, the prompt-based app built for relationships
- Match, one of the oldest dating sites, launched in 1995
- OkCupid, known for its matching questions
- Plenty of Fish, part of the group since 2015
- The League, aimed at ambitious professionals
- HER, which joined in 2025
- Meetic in Europe, Pairs in Japan, and the video-chat app Azar
- BLK, Chispa, Upward and Salams, smaller apps for particular communities
Is Hinge owned by Tinder?
No. Hinge and Tinder are sister companies, not parent and child. Hinge began as an independent start-up. Match Group took a majority stake in 2018 and bought the rest of the company in 2019, and has run Hinge alongside Tinder ever since, as a separate app with its own team and members.
So if your reason for switching is to leave Match Group, Hinge will not do it. If your reason is the experience, Hinge is built around prompts instead of swiping, and fewer, slower matches; our Tinder vs Hinge comparison sets out how they differ. And if you want an app that handles everyday matching and also lets you say how you feel to someone you already know, single or taken, that is IF, which sits outside Match Group as well.
What ownership changes, and what it does not
A shared owner does not make two apps the same, and a different owner does not make an app better. Five things to know:
- Members are not shared: joining Hinge does not put you in front of Tinder’s members.
- Paid plans are separate. Every app sells its own subscription, whoever owns it.
- Leaving is app by app. Deleting Tinder does not close a Hinge or OkCupid profile, so to leave the group entirely, delete each account and cancel each subscription.
- Data can travel within a group. Sister apps may share some information, as their privacy policies set out, so read the section on affiliates. Which dating apps sell your data explains what else to look for.
- Ownership is a snapshot. Hinge was independent until 2018, HER until 2025, and in October 2026 Bumble Inc. agreed to be taken private. Any app could change hands tomorrow.
What changes how dating feels is an app’s rules: how a conversation starts, how long it has, and whether there is any room for a feeling about someone who is not single. That last one is where IF is different.
How to check who owns a dating app
Ownership maps go out of date, this one included. Here is how to check any app yourself:
- Look at the developer or seller named on the app’s page in your phone’s store. A subsidiary often trades under its own name, so this may show the operating company rather than the parent.
- Open the terms of use and the privacy policy. The opening lines name the company you are contracting with, and a section on affiliates or group companies usually names the parent.
- Check the parent company’s own list of brands, usually on its investor-relations site.
- Search the app’s name with “acquired” for recent news: one deal can change everything above overnight.
Where IF fits
IF is made by IF App, Inc., an independent company outside Match Group and every other dating group, as of October 2026. But who owns an app matters less than what it lets you say, and that is where IF truly differs. It exists so that you can be honest about your feelings, whoever they are about and whether either of you is single. Legacy dating apps, whichever group they belong to, work within the same narrow rules — two single people, a match, a chat — and have not moved with the times on how much honesty about feelings counts for now.
On IF you can do all of that, and Liking, matching and chatting with singles cost nothing. You can also say the things other apps have no place for: the friend you have quietly liked for years, the colleague who is spoken for, the person you met at someone else’s wedding and never followed up. If either of you is in a relationship, what you send is an IF, a private message of up to 250 characters, kept sealed and unable to start a conversation until you are both single. Cheating and lying would both be wrong, and an IF is neither: existing relationships stay protected, the feeling still gets said, without judgement, and sending one is your own business.
To reach one particular person, Search works from an email address, phone number or Instagram handle that they shared with you, and the person you look up is never told; anyone who would rather stay unfindable can turn off Discoverable in Search for free. Whoever receives your IF may hear that one is waiting, though not who wrote it or what it says until it opens, and people can sometimes guess. Profiles can carry an optional selfie badge, moderation covers photos and text, and Report and Block sit on every profile you can identify.
Your first IF is free, the membership page covers the plans, and our guide to Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and Grindr shows where IF sits beside the big names. Independent ownership is a good start; room for every honest feeling is what widens your chances of ending up with the right person.
Questions people ask
Is Bumble owned by Match Group?
No. Bumble Inc. is a separate company and one of Match Group’s main competitors, and it also owns Badoo and BFF. In October 2026 it agreed to be bought by Ithaca Holdings, which would take it private, so its owner is changing, though not to Match Group. Moving from Tinder or Hinge to Bumble or Badoo does take you to a different owner, with its own members, subscription and privacy policy.
Does Match Group own eharmony?
No. eharmony is not part of Match Group, though it is not independent either: it belongs to ParshipMeet Group, which also runs Parship. As with any app, the opening lines of its terms of use name the company you would be contracting with.
Does Match Group own Plenty of Fish and OkCupid?
Yes. OkCupid has been part of the group since 2011, and Plenty of Fish since 2015. Both still run as separate apps, so deleting one does not close the other, and leaving the group means closing each account.
Are all the big dating apps owned by the same company?
No, though it can feel that way. As of September 2026, many of the best-known names sit with three owners — Match Group, Bumble Inc. and Meta — alongside Grindr, other dating groups such as the one behind eharmony, and a few independents, IF among them. Our guide to apps like Tinder goes through the alternatives app by app.
Are there any independent dating apps left?
Yes, though fewer than you might think. IF, the app we make, comes from an independent company, and as of September 2026 Feeld is still privately owned, majority-held by its founder and chief executive. Plenty of smaller apps are independent too, but ownership is a snapshot: Hinge and HER were both independent until they were bought, so check the developer name and the terms before you assume.
Whoever owns your next app, make sure its rules have room for what you actually feel. On IF they do: match with singles, or say it to the person whose timing is wrong. Right person, wrong time? Wait for them on IF.