Is Grindr Having Money Issues?

Is Grindr Having Money Issues?

It is no secret that our economy is a bit stressed right now, and just about all of us gays are feeling our wallets get a bit tighter. And while our wallets are getting tighter, our butts are not. Going out for a night on the town might be a bit more expensive than we'd like, so many of us are staying home more and looking for hot times from the comfort of our homes. Cue the hookup apps! Grindr has long been the hookup app of choice for us gays, and it has even become well-known in mainstream media. But lately, even the die-hard Grindr fans are starting to get fed up with all of the extra charges the app has been instituting.

Grindr putting taps behind a paywall now when the app is already damn near unusable from ad pop ups

— Austin (@austussy) March 31, 2025

We are gonna be honest, we power up Grindr a few times each day, so we pay our $19.99 per month for the X-Tra Grindr. This means no ads popping, expanded searches, and some other benefits that we haven't figured out yet. It's just easier for us to pay the fee and get to the guys faster. But, with the current economy, we have been noticing the charge stick out more and more, and that, on top of all of our streaming services, makes us think that maybe Grindr X-Tra isn't a necessity. But we have yet to pull the plug.

Lately, we've been seeing a whole slew of social media posts admonishing the hookup platform because of the number of ads and because of the high fees to enjoy the full experience. Apparently, for non-paying users, the ads have really stacked up, and it's almost impossible to use the app for more than a few minutes without being inundated with Candy Crush ads. LOL. Who knew? Lately, users can't even see taps without paying a fee. Hey! Some of us loved to be tapped!

We are X-Tra users, but we've seen the increase in fees to expand the hottie search, to look at who's viewed you, or to message outside of your area. You can also pay a fee to boost your profile. $20 is a bit much for a hookup app, especially if that isn't your only app. We've reported here that Sniffies is definitely catching up in terms of user numbers, branding, and overall satisfaction. Sniffies is straightforward and easy to use. Hookups can come in thirty minutes or less. Ha! We do pay the monthly fee for Sniffies, but it is only about $12.99 a month, and we've never had any issues using it.

That being said, Grindr has also rolled out many new features over the past couple of years. Depending on what city you are in, you can use the Right Now feature that is a copycat of Sniffies' chat roll, you can also avoid catfishers by timestamping uploaded pics, and you can roam and plan hookups in other cities and nations. They are also rolling out some AI features and traveling concierge services. So, it is a pretty robust app that no doubt costs them a lot to develop and maintain. So, you get what you pay for? Why should we expect the perfect hookup for free? But is Grindr having issues?

Me playing the Grindr game ads to see hungdaddy69’s message about plowing me to next Tuesday pic.twitter.com/2SyejSaPjC

— Sierra La Puerta | NYC (@SierraLPNYC) April 20, 2025

Some comments say that Grindr might be having some money issues, and that is why there has been an increase in fees. Many users have also commented on how glitchy the app can be, not loading or freezing, and then having to watch ads to get started. Whatever the case may be, the gays are starting to get vocal. Grindr needs to up its game, lower its prices, or Sniffies will win the hookup war!

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