Bumble Ends Women-First Messaging Rule and Extends Match Response Time

Bumble is ending one of the dating app’s most recognisable rules by allowing anyone in a match to send the first message, moving away from the women-message-first approach that helped define the service for more than a decade.

The company announced Tuesday that either person will be able to start a conversation. Bumble is also extending the amount of time users have to respond to a match from 24 hours to 72 hours, giving people more flexibility before a match expires.

Bumble ends its women-first messaging rule

The change represents a major shift for Bumble, which launched in 2014 with a model designed to give women greater control over heterosexual dating conversations. Women traditionally had to initiate the conversation before a match could progress.

Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd described the new approach as an evolution ofBumble’ss original mission rather than a departure from it.

“While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect,” Wolfe Herd said.

Bumble said its research indicated that many women wanted greater flexibility. According to company survey data, 66% of women surveyed preferred men to send the first message, with many respondents saying the approach could make online dating less stressful.

More than half of surveyed members also said the longer response period improved their experience. Bumble said the 72-hour window should reduce pressure on users to check the app before a match disappears continually.

Bumble had already started relaxing its original rules

The company began moving away from its strict first-message requirement in 2024 with Opening Moves. The feature allowed women to place a question on their profiles that matches could answer, creating another way for conversations to begin without requiring women to compose the opening message themselves.

The latest update takes that approach further by eliminating the first-message restriction.

Wolfe Herd said Bumble’s community is seeking more flexibility and less pressure while trying to form meaningful connections. She maintained that the changes remain consistent with the company’s broader women-first philosophy.

Bumble looks to revive growth

The product overhaul comes as Bumble works to improve its business performance amid a broader slowdown in online dating. Thecompany’s second-quarter revenue declined 15.2% from a year earlier to $210.5 million, according to its latest earnings report.

Bumble also expects the number of paying customers to decline during the third quarter. The company has been exploring ways to address dating-app fatigue and attract younger users, particularly Gen Z.

Those efforts include considering experiences that rely less on traditional profile swiping, expanding in-person events and developing additional AI-powered features.

Ending the women-message-first requirement removes a feature that distinguished Bumble from competing dating apps since its launch. The company is betting that giving users more control over who starts a conversation, along with additional time to respond, can reduce some of the pressure associated with making connections online.