Coffee Meets Bagel Review [2026 Cost, Features & How To Use It!]

Coffee Meets Bagel is a solid dating app for relationship-minded professionals who prefer curated matches over endless swiping, but it works best as a supplement to other apps rather than your only option. Men receive up to 21 "bagels" daily at noon; women only see men who've already liked them. The limited matches and 8-day chat window create urgency, but the smaller user base means you'll want to combine CMB with apps like Hinge or Bumble for faster results.

The app has two main sections for browsing profiles: Suggested and Discover.

Suggested Bagels

This feed shows the bagels CMB's algorithm has selected for you each day. Men receive up to 21 bagels at noon and can "Like," "Pass," or "Priority Like" each one.

A Priority Like functions like a Tinder Super Like—according to CMB, it gets you noticed 6x faster. Each one costs around 540 beans (the app's internal currency).

For women, it works differently. Women only see bagels who both meet their criteria and have already liked them. The app's founders designed this around the idea that "men love selection and women are selective," which has made CMB popular with female users.

Suggested Bagels are filtered by limited criteria: gender, age, height, distance, ethnicity, and religion.

You have 24 hours to like or pass on each profile. If you both like each other, you can start chatting.

The Clock Keeps Ticking

Once matched, you have 8 days to exchange messages before the conversation automatically closes. This creates pressure to swap phone numbers or make plans to meet—which is the entire point of dating apps.

If you want to reopen an expired conversation for an additional 30 days, you can spend beans to do so.

Discover Bagels

In this section, you browse profiles using advanced search filters. Beyond the standard preferences, you can filter by education level and whether someone's been active within the last 72 hours.

Many users filter out people who don't check the app frequently, so logging in regularly improves your visibility.

A word of caution: Coffee Meets Bagel isn't as popular as Tinder or Bumble. If you set overly specific filters (5'9" women with brown hair, green eyes, and a bachelor's degree within 10 miles), you may get few or no results.

The Discover section also shows whether someone has already liked you. If they have, you can start chatting immediately. If not, you can send them "Flowers"—which counts as a like and costs beans (Premium users get 8 free Flowers monthly).

Beans, the in-app currency, let you unlock features like reopening expired conversations, boosting your profile, and accessing more profiles. You can buy them in bulk:

CMB Beans 2026 Cost*
3000 Beans - $24.99
2000 Beans - $23.99
100 Beans - $1.99
*Pricing may vary by location

Earning free beans: Use the app regularly, invite friends, share on social media, complete your profile, or provide feedback on why you passed on matches.

Premium Membership ($35/month)

Premium unlocks:

• Full access to your "Likes You" feed
• 8 additional Flowers in Discover monthly
• Monthly profile boost
• Premium match preferences
• Activity Reports on bagels who interest you
• Message read receipts
• Unlimited rewinds
• 15% off bean purchases

Longer commitments reduce the monthly cost:

CoffeeMeetsBagel Premium 2026 Cost*
1 month - $35.00
3 months - $25.00/month ($74.99)
6 months - $20/month ($119.99)
*Pricing may vary slightly by location

Activity Reports show stats like how often someone chats with matches, whether they send first messages, and average response time. The catch: reports only update every 72 hours and calculate based on a user's most recent 15 connections—so newer or less active users may have inaccurate data.

Mini Membership ($14.99/month)

A lighter version of Premium that includes:

• Premium preferences
• Monthly profile boost
• Activity Reports
• Read receipts
• Unlimited rewinds
• Bean discounts

Mini does not include full "Likes You" access or the 8 extra Discover Flowers.

Want a more in-depth look at the features you get? Check out this Coffee Meets Bagel Premium review!

About 60% of CMB users are 30 to 49—skewing older than Hinge, Bumble, or Tinder.

If you fall outside that core age range, upgrading probably isn't worth it unless you're in a major city like San Francisco, LA, or NYC. Otherwise, you may find a larger pool of local singles on Tinder or Bumble.

Relationship-focused audience: According to CMB's internal data, 70% of users are looking for relationships while only 12% want casual hookups. This attracts a more serious-minded crowd than some other apps.

You can sign up via Facebook (which auto-populates your profile) or your mobile number.

Profile Sections

Your profile includes three statements with 276-character limits each:

• "I am…"
• "I like…"
• "I appreciate when my date…"

You can also answer CMB prompts to share more details. Since users receive only a handful of matches daily, your profile quality significantly impacts your success rate. 

If someone's hovering between "Like" and "Pass" after viewing your photos, an attention-grabbing profile can seal the deal.

These tips on how to write a profile will help boost your match rate!

Icebreakers

You can add up to 3 icebreakers—conversation starters that appear on your profile. These spark curiosity and give matches an easy opening line.

Photos

CMB allows up to 9 photos, pulled from Facebook or uploaded from your phone.

Our recommendation: Stick to 3-7 strong photos. Since it's nearly impossible to look equally attractive in 9 images, your weakest photo becomes memorable—and could send someone straight to "Pass."

Consider getting unbiased feedback on a site like Photofeeler to identify your strongest lineup.

Check out this expert advice on choosing your strongest photos!

PROS:

• Women are more responsive than on Tinder or OkCupid since they aren't overwhelmed with matches and messages
• Women tend to outnumber men on the app
• Minimal time investment—you can't endlessly browse, and you only get messages from people whose profiles you've liked
• Premium membership shows how active matches are and whether messages have been read

CONS:

• Limited daily matches mean limited control over how many dates you go on
• The matching algorithm is basic—only considering age, height, distance, ethnicity, and religion
• Smaller user base than Tinder, so options are limited outside major cities
• International presence is limited (Hong Kong, Sydney, and select other cities)

App Store: 4.5 Stars (150K+ ratings)

Reviews range from "just like every other dating app" to "my favorite dating app." Generally positive sentiment.

Google Play: 3.5 Stars (111K+ reviews)

Lower ratings overall. One user found a long-term girlfriend through the app but wasn't fond of changes when he rejoined later. Common complaints include bugs, glitches, and too few free features.

One user shared that he had found a long-term girlfriend through the app, but when he rejoined was not fond of the changes:

Bugs and glitches were a common complaint voiced by multiple Coffee Meets Bagel users, as was not enough of the features being free.

Trustpilot: 1.3 Stars

Negative reviews dominate, with complaints ranging from "very glitchy" to "blatant cash grab."

Reddit: Mixed

Some users report few matches in their areas; others have had success.

Redditors reported few users in their areas, while others had more luck. imakeitrainbow, for instance, wrote that "I've had some quality dates from it, I like that you sort of have to pace yourself, rather than being able to swipe endlessly. A friend met her husband on Cmb. They just bought a house and are expecting their first baby"

Giggles1000 reported a "high proportion of asians on CMB in my city. Apparently that's common; I think it was made by Asian women."

Note: Take online reviews with skepticism. People with negative experiences are often more motivated to leave reviews than those with positive outcomes.

CMB is good for:

• Relationship-seeking professionals who want curated matches over endless swiping
• Users who prefer quality over quantity and don't have hours to spend on dating apps
• Singles in their 30s and 40s in major metro areas

CMB is not ideal for:

• Anyone seeking quick hookups
• Users who want to go on dates frequently
• Singles in smaller cities with limited user bases
• People who want full control over their dating volume

Our recommendation: Use Coffee Meets Bagel alongside other apps like Bumble, Hinge, or Tinder rather than relying on it exclusively. The limited daily matches mean CMB alone won't generate many dates, but it's a solid supplement that attracts serious, quality-focused singles.

If you want to meet someone sooner rather than later, don't put all your eggs in the CMB basket.

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