The cheapest new member is the one your existing members bring in. No advertising budget, no agency — you pay only for the result, and only after the result happens.

It works better on a dating site than almost anywhere else, for a simple reason: people join a dating site to meet people, and they already know who among their friends is single.

A member clicks Invite a friend on their profile page and types in a friend's email address.

The friend gets an email with a registration link that carries the sender's mark, so the system knows who to reward. When the friend joins, the bonus lands on the sender's account in your site currency.

You can edit the text of that email from the admin panel. It is worth doing: the default text is neutral, and a warm line from a friend converts better than a system notice.

Admin panel: Services > Customize your service > System > Referral links (/admin/referral_links/index/). There you switch the feature on and set the bonus amount.

Start from what a member is worth to you, not from what feels generous.

A working rule: the bonus should be smaller than what an average member spends on your site in their first month. If a member brings you ten dollars and you pay two for the invite, the maths works whatever happens next. If you pay eight, you are buying registrations at a loss and hoping.

Pay in site currency, not in cash. The bonus goes onto the member's balance and comes back to you when they spend it on gifts or paid services. You pay with your own product rather than with money, and the member stays on the site to use it.

Watch for abuse. The moment invites start paying, someone will try to register fake friends. Two cheap defences: give the bonus not at registration but after the new member does something real — confirms their email, fills the profile, logs in a second day. And cap how many invites one person can be paid for per month.

The invite feature above is part of the platform. Two add-ons go further — they are not in your plan and are bought separately.

Invite friends add-on — extends the built-in referral links. See it in the marketplace.

Referral system — a full affiliate programme rather than a one-off bonus: members keep earning from the people they bring, not just once at signup. This is what you want if you plan to build a group of members who actively promote your site. See it in the marketplace.

Current prices are on each add-on card and on the pricing page.

Does the invited friend get anything?
By default the bonus goes to the sender only. If you want both sides rewarded, that is what the referral system add-on is for.

What if the friend registers later, from a different device?
The mark travels in the registration link from the email, so the invite is credited as long as they use that link.

Can members invite by messenger instead of email?
The built-in feature sends emails. For sharing through messengers and social networks, see social login and share buttons.

Where do members spend the bonus?
On anything you sell for site currency: gifts, paid services, memberships.