Thousands of Texans who once lived in California could be sitting on an unexpected payday from Tinder, and the clock to claim it runs out today. A $60.5 million settlement resolves claims that the dating app charged older users double for the same premium features younger subscribers got at a discount, and eligibility hinges on where someone was living when they paid — not where they live now.
The case traces back to a complaint filed by Allan Candelore against Tinder Inc. in the Superior Court of the State of California on May 28, 2015, according to MySA. Candelore sued on behalf of himself and others in a similar situation, alleging Tinder's age-based pricing violated both California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and the state's Unfair Competition Law. The outlet reports the parties eventually reached a multimillion-dollar settlement during mediation on September 10, 2025, and a court approved the agreement on June 4, 2026.
At the center of the dispute was a stark price gap. Before Tinder revised its structure, subscribers aged 30 and older paid $19.99 a month for Tinder Plus while those under 30 paid $9.99 for identical features, according to Justia. Tinder Gold carried an even wider spread, running about $15 more per month for older users. MySA's report specifies the eligibility window covers people who bought Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold in California between March 2015 and February 2019 while over the relevant age threshold — 29 for Plus purchases after March 2, 2016, and through February 10, 2019, or 28 for the earlier Gold-era window.
Why California's Civil Rights Law Mattered
The lawsuit only survived because of a specific quirk in California law. Under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, commercial businesses in the state are barred from using age-based pricing tiers without a compelling public policy justification, according to Dapeer Law. That standard set California apart from states where charging different demographics different prices faces far less legal resistance.
The case almost didn't make it this far. A lower court initially dismissed Candelore's complaint after accepting Tinder's argument that younger users face greater financial constraints and therefore deserved a discount. But in January 2018, the California Court of Appeal reversed that dismissal, ruling that charging older users double for the same premium features amounted to impermissible arbitrary discrimination under state civil rights law, according to reporting cited by FindLaw. A separate federal case, Kim v. Tinder, Inc., took its own winding path through the courts, with the Ninth Circuit repeatedly rejecting earlier settlement attempts in 2021 and 2023 over concerns about class representation and fairness, per Justia.
Why Texans Are Eligible
The reason this California court settlement matters to Texas readers comes down to one detail: eligibility is tied to where someone was located when they made the purchase, not where they live today. Former California residents who have since moved to Texas or elsewhere remain eligible for a payout if they bought Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold while located in California during the 2015-to-2019 window, according to Dapeer Law.
Tinder has denied any wrongdoing throughout the case, maintaining it did not violate any law and that class members were not injured by its age-based pricing policy, MySA reports. The settlement is non-reversionary, meaning none of the money reverts back to Tinder, and it covers an estimated 268,000 eligible California users, according to Top Class Actions. Net funds are split using a hybrid formula: 70 percent divided equally per capita among participating class members, and 30 percent distributed pro rata based on how much each person actually spent on premium subscriptions — meaning bigger spenders get bigger checks.
What Class Members Need to Do Today
The deadline to act is today, August 18, 2026. Class members who already received a settlement notice by email, text, or postcard do not need to submit proof of purchase, but they must choose a payment method — PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, ACH transfer, or a mailed check — by the deadline, MySA reports. Each participating class member will receive a share equal to the approved net settlement amount divided by the number of people who actually participate, with those who paid more for Plus or Gold receiving a larger cut.
Anyone who believes they qualify but never received a notice faces a tighter bar: they must submit a verification form on the settlement website by the same August 18 deadline, according to Settlemate. Questions can be directed to the settlement administrator at 1-888-808-8994, per MySA's report.
The fight also left a mark on Tinder's parent company. Match Group recorded a $61 million legal settlement charge in its third-quarter 2025 financial report to resolve the Candelore case, even as it reported $914 million in total quarterly revenue, according to a filing cited by PR Newswire. Match Group had already phased out age-based pricing algorithms for Tinder globally by 2023, following years of consumer pushback and litigation, according to Dating Industry Insights.
