Bumble’s paying users are reeling as they bet on a change later this year

As Bumble prepares for a major overhaul that is meant to bring back Gen Z users (who are the most attractive of dating apps right now), recent findings they still say that their paying users are declining. In the first quarter of 2026, total paid users fell by 21.1% to 3.2 million, down from 4 million a year ago.

This has been an issue for several months now. However, on an investor call this afternoon, Bumble framed this as a deliberate change to its high-profile, intentional users.

So while net revenue fell 14.1% to $212.4 million (although it beat our expectations), and Bumble’s app revenue fell to $172.7 million, its total revenue per subscriber was up nearly 9%. It also reported strong profits: Net income rose to $52.6 million compared to $19.8 million in the prior year (primarily from reduced purchasing and marketing expenses).

In a company call, founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd explained the decline in paid users as part of a deliberate restructuring. “This is a time of real change at Bumble over the last few years,” he said. “We have deliberately reset our members. We made a clear decision to prioritize quality over quantity, looking for members who had good intentions, who were busy. This decision reduced the total number, but it helped to improve our environment.”

However, even with that design, the declining number of paying users is hard to ignore. That’s why most of the conversation on the phone was about what’s to come. Bumble is asking investors to oversee its major overhaul, which it hopes will eventually turn the tide.

“When do we start to see the repetition of the numbers you’re all looking for? Well, the answer is simple. When our technology and our next recommendation engine can better help connect people to be more connected and show people who want to see and go out on good dates. That’s where the magic happens,” said Herd.

The redesign means replacing Bumble’s legacy technology platform with a cloud-based, AI-powered one that can process matches and issue updates faster. This feature has already started rolling out to some users and will expand over the next few months.

The most visible changes, however, are coming later. Bumble said on Tuesday that a “reimagined” membership experience is expected to launch in Q4, with a wider rollout to follow later this year and early next year. This is slightly less than our previous expectations and suggests that this may be a slower release than a major reboot.

And those changes feel very important. The company is making a big bet that the conversion process is outdated and most matches will not convert to real dates. The company wants to fix this by updating the profile, changing the way people interact, and focusing on getting users to interact with them in real life.

AI is a big part of this system. Earlier this year, Bumble be explained something called “Bee,” is a built-matchmaker that studies daters’ preferences, relationship goals, and communication style, then suggests matches based on those factors. In an episode called “Dates,” Bee is able to explain why two people are right for each other before hooking up.

History is changing again. Bumble has been experimenting with detailed, “chapter” profiles that go beyond photos and short profiles.

Additionally, Bumble is seeing some growth outside of dating. Its peer-to-peer program, BFF photoadded a Groups tab last year where users can join chats, organize hangouts, and schedule events. According to Herd, dating is on the rise, especially among Gen Z women. The group interacts about twice between December and March, the company says.

For now, Bumble is kind of a wait-and-see. The hope is that by improving how people go from comparing to dating, it can bring back users. But until that new experience is implemented out there, it’s still just a guess.