We have written time and again that online dating and dating apps open up the dating universe. You get your name and face in front of more people and you get to check out and meet a lot of people. The speed dating aspect of online dating sites and dating apps is a big part of why they are so popular. Traditional speed dating is usually free as are many dating sites but in life you typically get what you pay for. So, is it worth your while to pay a little money for these tools? In short how much do you have to pay to get a date? Bloomberg writes about how apps are getting you to pay for dates.

Between the countless mobile dating services on the market-Bumble, Tinder, Grindr, Her, OkCupid, Scruff, and Hinge among them-today’s young lovers have access to more potential mates than ever. And they’re increasingly willing to pay for it.
Among millennials’ favorites are swipe pioneer Tinder, Sadie Hawkins-inspired Bumble, and Hinge, which boasts the most millennial-dominated user base. (Ninety percent of its users are aged 23 to 36.) These apps have gently begun to sway their user base to a paid model.

Tinder launched a paid monthly subscription-$4.58 to $9.99 a month, based on the length of subscription-and in-app purchases in spring 2015. Bumble was free until August, when it launched a monthly subscription service-$6 to $9.99 a month. The most recent convert is Hinge, which had been free since 2013 but this month began charging $7 a month for its paid service.

Despite often being without full time work and paying off student or other loans millennials are still willing to pay to get a date.  Of course online sites like eHarmony have been charging for their services for years. In fact match making services predate the internet era and have also been costly for quality service. So, if you want to use these services how much do you have to pay?

Cost per Service by Month

The realsimple.com site lists these sites with prices.

PlentyofFish.com: Free
Match.com: $30/month
True.com: $50/month
EHarmony: $60/month

However many services are available with discounts. Here is a list from the nextadvisor.com site with discounts built in.

Match: 12.79/month
OKCupid: Free, One month A list subscription-$7.95
eHarmony: $11.95/month
Zoosk: Free, subscription for 6 months for $12.49/month
PerfectMatch:$16.63/month
FriendFinder: Gold-$11.95/month, Silver-$10.95/month
Lavalife: Free, six month subscription for $10/month
Date.com: $11.66/month
Tinder: free, Tinder Plus-$9.99 for users under 30, $19.99 for users over 30
SpeedDate: $12.95/month

So if you end up with one real date per months you get by for free with a couple of these sites and pay $60 a date for eHarmony.
Of course the quality of the date is important whether you are looking for a hot first date or a long term happy relationship.  Either way you will get what you pay for and it does not hurt to shop around from one site to the next to see what fits your needs.