For short-term incentives, you could have some kind of scheme where you monetize dates. Eg when you match someone the app proposes you a list of partner bars, restaurants, parks, etc.

In theory, this could create a perverse incentive for the app to set you up for matches that last just long enough for a few dates, but not long enough that you get off the app. In practice, I don't think matching algorithms are precise enough that the app could act on that incentive.

The bigger problem is that most users would completely ignore the monetized dates.

Good idea! I'm not entirely sure it helps though. You still need to keep people on the dating treadmill to make money, not get them off and onto the remainder of their shared life experience as quickly as possible.

Unless you interject before people get a chance to talk to each other. You might even be able to spin this as a safety feature, you matched with this person - Click here to join our dating even next Tuesday that they are going to...

> You still need to keep people on the dating treadmill to make money,

If that's truly the attitude of apps (albeit a disgusting one), they could simply take the view that there's always a "new crop" of money being born each day and will be ready for their churn in 18 or so yrs.

> I wonder if there is an alternative business model which would put users and the business on the same side.

Hookup apps. Apps for non-monogamous people. You're looking for repeat customers.

The only other way is paying when the couple gets into something long-term, but the fee would probably be higher than people want.

Definitely hookups, but also not just hookups; I've found gay Tinder to be a really great way to meet people in my area from all walks of life and parts of town who have overlapping interests with me.

I definitely agree that if your service depends on a subscription model and is explicitly aimed at people whose goal begins and ends with finding a life partner and deleting their account, then there is really no easy way to reconcile this.

Heterosexual non-monogamy is difficult for those people who aren't, let's say, conventionally attractive.

The people I knew who could pull it off didn't really need an app!

But apps increase their options, which puts the rest of us at a disadvantage.

Additional "relationship management" services? Anniversary reminders/suggestions to counseling to help on any possible angle of being a couple. Probably also access to lawyers (possibly paired with more dating).

A subscription that converts to free membership after n years.

At that point why not just sell lifetime memberships by default?

But then that's not a stable SaaS business.

There's a pretty reliable flow of new people aging into the dating world or entering it for the first time.

In any event, "pay a regular subscription for X years and free thereafter" is just a lifetime subscription paid in installments, not a fundamentally different business model.

It seems different. You may no longer need the service after a few mnonths. Or decide you don't like the service, and look for another one. In either case, you pay far less than what you'd pay for lifetime service.

Upfront price

Honestly, I think this is a great idea. It would probably cost next to nothing but would work well as a marketing ploy.