Dating app Bumble is considering a sale, according to a Reuters report on Thursday. And new data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, shared with Mashable, may help explain why.
Bumble has experienced the biggest decline in global downloads among the top dating apps over the past year and a half, according to Sensor Tower.
What’s happening on Bumble?
It’s no secret that Bumble has been going through a tough time over the past few years. Its stock is down 96 percent from its IPO at the time of this writing, even given the boost given news of a possible sale.
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Bumble started with the distinction of having women initiate the conversation (in heterosexual games). But the company decided to change it in 2024, allowing men to send a message first with the “Opening Moves” feature.
The app has since removed Opening Moves in Mexico and Australia, indicating that it was not a blow to users.
During Bumble’s Q4 2025 call, founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd announced that Bumble will be testing an AI-powered dating experience, even as numbers showed the app’s revenue and paying users were down year-over-year. The year-over-year decline in total revenue and paying users continued in Q1 2026.
Wolfe Herd also recently shared that Bumble is removing its swipe feature. While he doesn’t yet know what will replace it, his talk of an AI assistant and game developer proved to be a strong sign for many Bumble users. Their reaction was less than positive.
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Sources close to the company told Reuters that Bumble is working with investment bankers Morgan Stanley on a potential sale process. It’s not a done deal, however, and the app can remain independent.
Bumble did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Morgan Stanley and asset manager Blackstone, which reportedly owns 22 percent of Bumble, also declined. Mashable has also reached out to Bumble for comment.
The popularity of Bumble numbers
Sensor Tower data analyst Kara Lee reported that in 2025 and the first half of 2026, Bumble’s downloads worldwide dropped by 23 percent and 15 percent year-over-year, respectively. Between Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, Bumble saw the biggest drop in downloads worldwide, Sensor Tower said.
Tinder downloads declined during the same period, Lee wrote, but by 4 percent and 2 percent year-over-year, respectively. Hinge downloads, on the other hand, increased by 14 percent and 25 percent during this period, respectively.
This is consistent with financial reports. Tinder and Hinge are both owned by Match Group, and according to their Q1 2026 earnings, Hinge’s direct revenue from paying users is increasing year over year. For Tinder, those metrics were down in the past, but now they’re making a bit of a comeback, as net revenue was up 2 percent year-over-year.
Hinge also beat its two biggest competitors in monthly active users (MAU), according to Lee. They are up 23 percent year-on-year in 2025 and 25 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026.
Bumble’s user base, however, has been in steady decline over the past five quarters, Lee reports. While its active users rose 4 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, they fell 14 percent year-over-year thereafter.
Tinder’s monthly active users are down slightly, but the average mobile user base is 2.5 times larger than Bumble’s.
So while Bumble isn’t the only dating app struggling, it might be the worst right now.
