Coffee Meets Bagel Review – Is CMB Dating Worth It?

What Is Coffee Meets Bagel? Is CMB A Good Dating App? How Does Coffee Meets Bagel Work? Is Coffee Meets Bagel Free? Coffee Meets Bagel Review

Coffee Meets Bagel has been around since 2012 and famously appeared on Shark Tank where it declined an offer to be bought out by Mark Cuban for $30 million (latest valuation is $150 million).

It’s been widely marketed as a relationship focused app with an emphasis on quality over quantity. It’s popular among early 20s to mid 30s.

Despite the odd naming, CMB has done well for itself and the latest series B funding has allowed it build out the product, grow the customer base and make a name for itself in the crowded dating app market.

It’s gained a solid reputation among its users and it’s one of the top apps I recommend to clients in addition to Hinge and Bumble.

To view a Coffee Meets Bagel profile template with questions, prompts, read this.

Coffee Meets Bagel Review: Is Coffee Meets Bagel A Good Dating Site?

It’s one of the top apps I recommend to clients alongside of Hinge, Bumble and to lesser extents the League, Match and OkCupid. It really depends on your age, location, orientation, height, lifestyle etc. It does require patience as limited profiles are served to you.

Similarly, it’s not a good app if you are seeking something casual or a hookup.

Is Coffee Meets Bagel A Hookup App? Is Coffee Meets Bagel For Serious Relationships?

No, it’s for relationship focused individuals but with that said, there are people on the app that will hookup with you asap and forget about you shortly thereafter if you let them. Like all dating apps, it requires good judgment, patience and ability to screen profiles and read people.

With that said, there are a few things I often hear from clients when using the apps.

How Does Coffee Meets Bagel Work?

Every day at noon, the algorithm picks a limited number of potential matches for you. Once you and your bagel have liked each other, you can start a chat by using personalized icebreakers.

Is CoffeeMeetsBagel free? Do You Have To Pay For Coffee Meets Bagel?

The basic functions of the app are free but it costs extra beans (in app currency) to get more profiles visible to you each day so that you can message them. There are ways to get some free beans by performing certain activities but those are limited.

How Much Does Coffee Meets Bagel Premium Cost Per Month?

Depending on the subscription term, the cost for CMB Premium ranges from $20 per month (6-month term) to $35 per month (monthly subscription). Subscribers get 6,000 beans with their subscription.

Update: There is a promotional sale, discount starting 10/23/2020 for Halloween on 3 month subscriptions.

Coffee Meets Bagel Beans: In App Currency

Coffee Meets Bagel operates on a bean currency kind of like Monopoly money. This approach has a gaming element to it which may cater to the young demographics of the app. While the basic service is free, it costs beans for certain premium features like read receipts, extra bagels and more.

Unlike other apps, the free part of the app is rather limited and paid services are recommended to have a fighting chance on the app whereas Hinge, Bumble, The League are apps where you can do well on without paying for anything.

CMB offers free beans if you do certain activities in the app if you refer people, follow them on social media and provide feedback on matches.

I think these are great but the underlying recurring focus on using the bean, bagel and coffee lingo is a bit odd. Beans are needed to like extra profiles than allotment provided.

CMB Lingo: Discovery vs. Suggested Tabs

The terminology is a bit nauseating. CMB refers to people in the Discover tab as “the schmear on top.” There is no explanation given and a bit confusing other than beyond those in your suggested queue.

According to Coffee Meets Bagel, they might be those outside of your preferences but still good possible matches.

A bagel is a potential match. Suggested are profiles the app deems are the most compatible to you and are served at noon (well after most people consume bagels in real life). Liking bagels in the suggested tab is free, no cost to you.

Coffee Meets Bagel Likes You Tab

Premium offering that allows you to see everyone you likes you at once and allows for instant matching.

How To Use Message With A Like Feature On Coffee Meets Bagel

If a bagel has not yet liked you, you might see a speech bubble next to the like. When the person sees you in discover or suggested, they will see your message. Messages with likes get more replies!

How To Message, Comment On Coffee Meets Bagel (UPDATE)

In order to send a message, you need to get matched first (two mutual likes).

Coffee Meets Bagel Activity Reports, Read Receipts, CMB Premium

The premium version of Coffee Meets Bagel offers additional perks including activity reports that note how many times someone initiates a first message, read receipts so you can see who reads your messages.

These features nudge users to rely on apps to help make decisions and further distances users from analyzing queues, asking questions, taking risks and putting oneself out there – the pillars of dating that have worked for ages.

Another feature of the premium account is ‘Unlimited Woo’. This allows you to send flowers and expedite when someone you like can see your profile. Sometimes there is a delay in the process. There is also an opportunity to receive an additional 15% beans in the bean shop on purchases.

The most valuable part of the subscription is daily free takes on discover (up to 8 per day). In contrast, users can expect up to 21 profiles in the suggested tab. This can change (lower) depending on your location, demographics, and filters/preferences.

Communication skills and reading people are life-long skills, offline and online and dating apps that suggest you trust them to make these decisions is unsettling. There is no need to know if someone read your message. If someone is interested they will reply, promptly.

There is no need to know what percentage of the time someone messages first (it could be they are proactive and send a high number of messages or it can mean they are super popular and receive tons of messages first). There is no context provided with this metric.

Coffee Meets Bagel Bios, Answers to Prompts – I Am, I Like, I Appreciate When My Date

Prompts for bios can be great, they can inspire creativity, quirkiness and random anecdotes. They also can encourage people to be brief or unoriginal.

If you Google ‘CMB prompts’, you will get lists of suggested answers to use. If you are brave, you can really create a stellar bio and answers but if not, you can look like every other profile on the app given the limiting 3 question prompt of I like, I am, I like it when my date.

As for the bios themselves, I have noticed Coffee Meets Bagel profiles are a bit thin especially at the free level (especially compared to Hinge and Bumble). Many people have incomplete bios, vague answers or lack important details that are essential in evaluating a potential date.

I am all for not pouring out your life story and every detail about yourself including job title, company, etc but there is a bare minimum amount of information users need to provide to be thorough and interesting and CMB does not encourage this minimum threshold.

Coffee Meets Bagel claims those accounts with longer bios tend to fare better than others so that is one thing to keep in mind when crafting your bio.

P.S. Saying you will fall for someone if they trip you is a cliche response.

Coffee Meets Bagel Demographics, Average Age, Gender Ratios

CMB is primarily popular in larger cities i.e. SF, LA, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Boston etc. and tends to feature users in their early 20s to mid 30s.

There are certainly users in the late 30s and over but it tends to thin out a bit. The whole notion of nudges, beans, bagels etc. seems a bit young and youthful so it makes sense older folks are not as eager to try the app as let’s say OkCupid, The League, Bumble, Hinge or Match.

What Age Group Is Coffee Meets Bagel For? Who Uses Coffee Meets Bagel?

How Many Prompts Can You Have On Coffee Meets Bagel

Users can now add up to 5 profile prompts to their dating profile on Coffee Meets Bagel.

Coffee Meets Bagel, New Prompts (May 18, 2020) 

CMB updated both iOS and Android apps but with different new features on each platform. Main updates below.

iOS update 5/18: New Prompts!

Good CMB Prompts

I’m hopelessly bad at:

What terrifies you?

The bravest thing I’ve ever done:

Who should pay on the first date?

A book everyone should read.

Best CMB Prompts

What never fails to make you laugh?

Favorite weird food combo:

The most important traits in a partner…

What makes a relationship special?

My perfect Sunday morning

Something new I want to try:

Bad CMB Prompts

What’s your love language?

What’s one thing you love about your self?

Before we go on a date, you should know…

What would you title this chapter in your life?

You know you’re having a great first date when…

Among my friends, I’m best known for

Usually a set up for biased feedback

Does the one exist?

Android update 5/21:  Now, you can send a message with your Like even before connecting.

How To Update, Change Delete Prompts On Coffee Meets Bagel

Select My profile (Silhouette Person Icon in Corner) > Pencil Icon > Prompts Tab On Top > Pencil Icon on bottom right of prompt > Select Edit Answer or Delete Prompt > Confirm Change.

Coffee Meets Bagel Ice-Breakers

CMB has an ice-breaker section that is hidden in which you are asked to provide 3 fun facts about yourself. These icebreakers will appear after a match is established and used to kick-off a conversation.

Coffee Meets Bagel Demographics, Customer Base, CMB Ethnicities

The most notable things I have heard from people using Coffee Meets Bagel is the lack of profiles on the app, not enough men or the amount of Asian users on the app.

Coffee Meets Bagel has a high level of women on the app compared to Tinder but the limited number of profiles has led some users to rely more on Hinge and Bumble. This chart was from 2014 and although it is dated, it is likely the similar story today.

How To Get More Beans on Coffee Meets Bagel

Filling out your profile, referring friends, sharing on social media and providing feedback on why you passed on bagels can help you get more beans.

Occasionally CMB will have offers for free beans if you log into the app or reply to a bagel. Years ago, CMB offered you additional beans for logging in each day for up to the first 7 days of creating a profile.

Accidental Unmatching on Coffee Meets Bagel

If you managed to unmatch a bagel there is a small chance you can match again. Contact customer service for assistance.

Coffee Meets Bagel is a great app and the relationship focus mantra is great for those that prioritize something meaningful in their lives but please note the traction is not as high as other app alternative and the Discover vs Suggested, bean currencies and limited information on profiles might be too much for you to put up with.

Coffee Meets Bagel suggests treating your entire profile like an icebreaker. Make sure you fill your profile thoroughly and thoughtfully to make it easier for matches to initiate conversations and reply to messages.

What is Coffee Meets Bagel Re-Match? How Does CMB Rematch Work?

Once a chat goes inactive, it becomes archived. You can click on the expired chat to renew it for 30 days (for a cost of beans). If there are any issues, contact customer support.

Pro-tip: If you accidentally unmatched with a bagel under chat, CMB can usually manually undo this action. Contact the support team at contact@coffeemeetsbagel.com.

Bagel Has Left The Chat Room, CMB Has Left The Chat Room

When you see “left the chat room”, someone chose to end the conversation. Move on and focus on your other matches. Don’t try to figure out what happened or hope it was accidental. It’s better to focus on those that are interested in you rather than those that are not.

That said, if you receive “has left the chat room” often, you may want to get help on your messages or ability to screen profiles and read people.

Related read: Unmatching Etiquette On Dating Apps

Skip The Line, Send Flowers, CMB Flowers

CMB has a feature where users can ‘skip the line’ by buying flowers to move more quickly through lengthy queues of users they have liked. Coffee Meets Bagel claims users can be seen up to 3x faster with this feature but just because you might be seen faster doesn’t mean it will improve your profile.

My advice, work on yourself, photos, prompts, interests, career, wardrobe, style passions etc to be seen in the best light.

Is Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) Premium Worth It? Is CMB Free To Use?

Yes but only if you have realistic expectations. This app can be buggy and the free part is rather limited. Like match.com you can’t really do much unless you pay for it.

There are limited profiles you can send comments to and like but for those that don’t have patience, paying for the app is your best bet.

The 7 day trial offer (details below) claims premium subscribers get up to 2x more dates. There is a possible selection bias here (people who are committed and put in effort are more likely to pay than lazy folks who are just dabbling in dating apps).

What Is The Likes You Tab On Coffee Meets Bagel?

The Coffee Meets Bagel ‘Likes You’ tab is a subscriber benefit that allows users to see who has already liked them.

Further Reading, Coffee Meets Bagel vs. Hinge

The dating app that Coffee Meets Bagel gets compared to most often is Hinge. Hinge is a good app and has a larger user base, more diversity and less confusion around currency, beans, etc. Check it out here. When trying to asses the better of the two apps Hinge vs Coffee Meets Bagel, one should factor things like demographics, cost etc. One may be better than the other based on preferences, lifestyle and the like.

CMB Reddit, Coffee Meets Bagel Reddit

Coffee Meets Bagel Reddit is useful for monitoring updates, releases, promotions and more.

Which Dating Site Has The Highest Success Rate?

There is no right answer. The best dating app depends on your age, location, gender, orientation, height, lifestyle, education etc. as well as your ability to screen profiles, be patient, ask questions and read people. Dating apps are merely introduction apps, they are not ordering apps.

Which Is Better Bumble Or Coffee Meets Bagel?

That really depends on your age, location, height, race, and lifestyle. I recommend Bumble in some situations while other folks I recommend CMB more often. There is not one best app for all cases.

Is Paying For Coffee Meets Bagel Worth It?

It definitely can be but it’s not for all demographics, locations. Most people end up using Hinge (lesser of the two evils).

2020 Update – Glitches, Bugs, Down Time etc. Coffee Meets Bagel Buggy App

There have been many glitches on CMB lately, and it coincides with several key departures on the technical and product teams. Hopefully this will be ironed out in Q4 2020 but will keep everyone posted.

-chief technology officer left in December 2017, previous one left in July 2016, interim one before that in December 2012, contract CTO before then left in September 2012. Currently, on their 5th one in 6.5 years according to LinkedIn.

-chief product officer of 4+ years left in November 2019

-product manager left in 2019

-product designer left in 2019

-android engineer left in 2019

-senior machine learning engineer left in 2019

-engineering manager left in 2019

-technical advisor left after 6 years in 2018

-head of talent left in september 2018

-vp of analytics left in december 2019

-head of growth left in march 2020

-head of customer experience left in July 2020 (previous head of customer experience left in June 2018 and the one before that in left in March 2017)

Coffee Meets Bagel Valentine’s Day Data Breach 2019

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/14/18224702/coffee-meets-bagel-data-breach-valentines-day 

Coffee Meets Bagel Privacy Overview

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/coffee-meets-bagel/ 

CMB Down, Coffee Meets Bagel Not Working, CMB Outage, Coffee Meets Bagel Down

I warned you all about the tech for CMB for a long time. Coffee Meets Bagel was down for several days.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66654657 

https://old.reddit.com/r/coffeemeetsbagel/comments/169pjrz/they_were_hacked/ 

CMB Reddit, Coffee Meets Bagel Reddit, CMB Status, CMB Outage, Coffee Meets Bagel Status

https://old.reddit.com/r/coffeemeetsbagel/ 

Can Guys Start Conversations On Coffee Meets Bagel? Sending A Message With A Like. 

Yes, they can! You can send messages with a like to users in your suggested profiles.

Do Girls Have To Message First On Coffee Meets Bagel?

It’s not required like on Bumble but those that do usually have better success in the long-run on the app.

Coffee Meets Bagel 7-Day Free Trial

If you are on the app long enough, a pop-up will surface inquiring about a 7 day free trial. If you don’t cancel right away, you will incur recurring billing at the regular rate.

Coffee Meets Bagel: Suggested vs Discovery (What Is The Discover Section On CMB)

Discovery are those bagels that are just outside your preferences and would not appear in suggested. To like a bagel in discovery, you must use beans (in-app currency).