What Hubstars does

Hubstars, operated by HubPeople Ltd and headquartered in Douglas, Isle of Man with a second office in South Ayrshire, Scotland, is a dating-as-a-service technology provider that has operated a white-label dating platform since 2005. The platform enables affiliate marketers, entrepreneurs, and SMBs to launch and monetize branded dating websites and apps across both mainstream (Affinity) and casual (Excite) verticals, while Hubstars manages customer care, conversion optimization, billing, and the underlying software stack. The technology base was overhauled with the July 2021 launch of the Next-Gen platform, which added mobile-first progressive web app (PWA) delivery, a partner-facing Site Designer Tool with Google-optimized templates, and community features such as Blogs, Forums, Status updates, and Chatty. The company also operates more than ten in-house niche brands including Date Player Two (gamer), Grounded (countryside), Curvalicious (BBW), The AdultHub, Tabby (cat lovers), and D8U, and runs the Million Dollar Dating Project funding program offering up to $1 million in marketing investment for new niche brand entrepreneurs.

The business model is a hybrid of recurring revenue share and CPL pricing. Partners earn a minimum 50% share of subscription revenue collected from their branded sites, with no setup or ongoing fees; alternatively, in-house dating offers are available on a CPL basis at $2-5 per Single Opt-In in primary geos (UK, Australia, Canada, USA). Additional revenue is generated through free-to-paid VIP upgrades, where product iterations such as the login popup redesign drove a 20% daily upgrade lift and the messaging swim-lane design delivered an 80% increase in messaging-area revenue. The platform supports billing in 17 currencies with 24/7 global support, serves more than 50 million customers across 2,000+ partner brands, and adds roughly 1-2 million new members monthly. Trust-and-safety infrastructure includes ID verification (Blue Tick), Member Rating algorithms, Copied Message Detection, and External Contact Detail Censoring, the first of which was introduced to comply with Mastercard's enhanced requirements for explicit content merchants effective October 2021.

Operationally, the company is privately held with no disclosed external institutional funding, employs 11-50 staff, and is led by business owner Michael O'Sullivan. Distribution is global with named operating geographies in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and the platform attends major industry events including GDI Europe and TES Affiliate Conference. Customer and partner segments include affiliate/partner marketers seeking turnkey traffic monetization, mainstream relationship-oriented consumers, casual dating consumers, and a long tail of niche communities (countryside, gamer, BBW, adult, pet owners).

Name

Hubstars

Legal name

HubPeople Ltd

Website

https://hubstars.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hubstars is a dating-as-a-service technology provider, operated by HubPeople Ltd since 2005, that runs a white-label platform powering 2,000+ branded dating sites across mainstream and casual niches for affiliate marketers and niche entrepreneurs, serving 50M+ customers globally via revenue share and CPL monetization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Dating Software Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Media Buying Agencies (541830)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Dating & Relationship Networking (MPACAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Dating & Relationship Networks (BPAMABAF), Creator Commerce & Affiliate Monetization Platforms (MPACAFAF)

Keywords

• White label dating
• Dating platform software
• Affiliate dating network
• Dating SaaS solutions
• Branded dating apps

Headquarters

HQ city

Douglas

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue Share: Partners promote their branded dating sites and receive revenue share from subscriptions collected. Partners receive 50%+ of revenue collected, with rates starting at 50% in the partner's favour.
2. CPL (Cost Per Lead) Offers: In-house dating offers available for promotion on revenue share or CPL basis. Typical CPL rates are $2-5 for SOI (Single Opt-In). Primary geos: UK, Australia, Canada, and USA.
3. VIP Membership Upgrades: Platform generates revenue from free-to-paid upgrades. Popup redesign drove 20% daily increase in upgrades; 80% increase in messaging area revenue with Next-Gen swim-lane design.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

HubStars operates a white-label dating-as-a-service platform that enables partners to launch branded dating websites and apps. The platform manages end-to-end infrastructure including customer care, conversion optimization, billing (in 17 currencies), and the software stack, while partners drive traffic and share in revenue at rates starting at 50% in the partner's favour. The offering spans mainstream (Affinity) and casual (Excite) dating sub-platforms unified under a Next-Gen platform, complemented by in-house niche dating brands and a Million Dollar Dating Project funding program for entrepreneurs.

Product overview

HubStars operates as a dating-as-a-service technology provider with a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core HubStars Platform provides white-label dating infrastructure with customer care, conversion optimization, billing, and revenue sharing (starting at 50%). The platform spans two primary sub-platforms: Affinity (mainstream dating for long-term relationships) and Excite (casual dating), both now powered by the Next-Gen Platform technology launched in 2021. The product portfolio includes multiple in-house dating brands (Date Player Two, Grounded, Curvalicious Dating, The AdultHub, D8U, Tabby, The Date Hub, From Venus Dating) targeting niches including gamers, countryside/farmers, BBW, adult, mainstream, and pet owners. Partners receive access to tools including the Site Designer Tool for brand customization, Link Builder Tool for Google Ads tracking, and a comprehensive Anti-Fraud System. The company also runs the Million Dollar Dating Project funding program for entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Affinity: Mainstream dating platform for meaningful relationships
• Excite
• Tabby
• The AdultHub
• The Date Hub
• From Venus Dating
• Curvalicious Dating
• Grounded
• Date Player Two
• D8U

Products and services

• HubStars Platform Core white-label dating-as-a-service SaaS platform providing end-to-end infrastructure (customer care, conversion optimization, billing in 17 currencies, and revenue share) for partners operating branded dating sites serving 50M+ customers worldwide.
• Next-Gen Platform Modernized platform technology spanning mainstream and casual dating markets with community-based social spaces, mobile-first design, partner lander customization, and advanced matching capabilities.
• White Label Dating Solutions Fully managed SaaS offering for individuals and businesses to launch bespoke online dating websites; HubStars handles brand creation, marketing campaign design, and platform setup while partners drive traffic acquisition.
• Affinity Platform Mainstream dating sub-platform for partners seeking long-term relationship-focused dating brands, powered by the Next-Gen technology stack with mobile-first design and community features.
• Excite Platform Casual dating sub-platform focused on hookups and more casual interactions, offering Progressive Web App technology with niche verticals including BDSM, LGBTQ+, and couples.
• Tabby - Cat Person's Dating App Mobile dating app specifically designed for cat lovers and pet owners, available on iOS App Store and Google Play as part of the pet owner niche vertical.
• Date Player Two Top in-house brand within the gamer dating niche, reaching 122M views and posting a +52.31% upgrade rate improvement on the Next-Gen platform.
• Grounded Countryside dating brand appealing to farmers, rural residents, and countryside enthusiasts, generating over 10,000 matches and 20,000 messages monthly.
• Curvalicious Dating Top-performing in-house brand within the BBW (Big Beautiful Women) niche, hosting a vibrant community of curvy women and men looking for connections in an inclusive space.
• The AdultHub Adult dating brand bringing like-minded adults together, in the Hubstars portfolio for 20 years serving the adult dating vertical.
• The Date Hub Dating brand within the Hubstars in-house portfolio serving the mainstream dating market.
• From Venus Dating Dating brand within the Hubstars dating offers portfolio.
• D8U Dating Brand In-house mainstream dating brand serving as one of the first brands on the Next-Gen Platform with Feed, Match Area, Search, and Chatty community features.
• Million Dollar Dating Project Funding and mentoring program offering a $1,000,000 marketing investment fund plus 12 months of advertising budget and mentoring for entrepreneurs building niche dating brands on the HubStars platform; the entrepreneur retains 100% brand ownership.

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Farming FunnyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPodcast partnership with Farming Funny, a popular comedic and lighthearted podcast aimed at farmers in the UK and beyond. Grounded brand featured on and partnered with the podcast to reach a wider countryside audience.
• Farmers WeeklyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Farmers Weekly, the UK's leading agricultural media brand reaching 77% of people working in agriculture in the UK. Print campaign and e-newsletter partnership with QR code driving readers to Grounded landing page.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationCompliance with Mastercard's enhanced requirements for explicit content merchants. Hubstars implemented ID verification to comply with Mastercard's mandate requiring banks to certify merchants have controls to monitor, block, and take down illegal content.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Venntro / WhiteLabelDating: Largest direct competitor offering white-label dating software and affiliate revenue-share programs powering thousands of branded dating sites globally — same business model and target customer base as Hubstars.
• Dating Factory: White-label dating platform provider offering turnkey software, hosting, and monetization tools for affiliate partners; competes head-to-head with Hubstars for the same affiliate/marketer segment.
• PG Dating Pro (Dating Pro): White-label and self-hosted dating software platform serving niche dating sites with similar SaaS + partner economics to Hubstars.

Broad incumbents

• FriendFinder Networks: Established adult/casual dating incumbent (AdultFriendFinder, Cams.com, etc.) operating proprietary and partner-branded dating properties with overlapping niches to Hubstars' Excite platform.
• Match Group: Owner of Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OkCupid and others — dominates mainstream dating and exerts downstream pressure on Hubstars' affiliate partner acquisition costs and consumer mindshare.
• Bumble Inc. Public dating platform (Bumble, Badoo, Fruitz) competing for mainstream dating consumers and increasing paid user acquisition costs across the category.
• Ashley Madison (Ruby Life): Long-running niche dating brand focused on married/affair dating; comparable to Hubstars' specialized niche approach and adult-leaning monetization.

Emerging players

• Snack Video / Tantan-style niche dating apps: Emerging mobile-first dating apps targeting specific demographics with video and gamified matching — relevant as a future competitive threat to Hubstars' PWA-led mobile strategy.
• Once (or similar curated dating apps): Niche curated dating apps (e.g., farmers, gamers, pet lovers) that overlap with Hubstars' verticalized in-house brands like Grounded, Date Player Two, and Tabby.

Others

• Online Dating Association (ODA): Industry body of which Hubstars is a member; relevant ecosystem/regulatory peer for understanding compliance and trust standards in the UK/European dating market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-yB0Nh33D3X9J4jNVLwXUg
• Xx.com/HubStarsDating
• Facebookfacebook.com/hubstars.dating
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hubstars-dating

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hubstars