Badoo Review 2026: Legit or Waste of Money?

By The Dating Gal · Published October 8, 2026

Badoo is a legit online dating app: it has been running since 2006, belongs to Bumble Inc., and you can create a profile, swipe and chat with matches for free. Paying is only worth it in short bursts, because Badoo publishes no fixed prices, sells two subscription tiers plus Credits that expire, and the most common complaints are about surprise charges and far-away or fake profiles. It suits adults who want a big, casual, free swipe-and-chat app; if you want a relationship-first app or verified-only matches, there are better picks.

What is Badoo, and who runs it?

Badoo is a dating and social app founded in London in 2006 by Andrey Andreev. It launched in the US in 2012 and is now a brand of Bumble Inc., the company behind the Bumble app, according to Wikipedia’s Badoo page, which also says it operates in 190 countries and 47 languages. The Badoo homepage confirms both points: “part of Bumble Inc.” and bringing people together “since 2006”.

The history is not spotless. Wikipedia notes that a 2009 Cambridge study gave Badoo the lowest privacy score among 45 social networks, and that a 2019 Forbes investigation into the workplace culture at its then parent company led to an outside inquiry and policy reforms. None of that makes the app unsafe to use today, but it is worth knowing who you are giving your data to.

You can use Badoo on the web, on iPhone and on Android. The Google Play listing lists the developer as Social Online Payments Limited in Dublin, and the App Store listing lists Badoo Software Ltd. Both describe Bumble Inc. as the parent company.

Who Badoo online dating is for (and who should skip it)

• Good fit: adults who want a free, casual app to swipe, chat and maybe make friends; people who like setting an intention (date, chat, friends) and changing it later; and people who travel, since the same account works in any of the countries Badoo serves.
• Poor fit: anyone who wants deep compatibility matching, anyone who hates upsell prompts, and people in small US towns, where several 2026 Google Play reviewers say they mostly see profiles that are far away or abroad.
• Not for: under-18s. Badoo is rated 18+ on the App Store and Mature 17+ on Google Play, and its ID verification page says it may ask for a government ID and a live selfie to confirm you are over 18.

How Badoo works: Encounters, Discover and chat

When you sign up you pick what you are looking for, then fill in a profile with photos, interests, a mood and up to three profile questions. After that, there are two ways to meet people:

• Encounters: a swipe deck, one profile at a time. Tap the heart to like, the cross to pass; if both of you like each other, it is a match and you can chat. Badoo’s Encounters help page says free members have a daily vote limit that resets 24 hours after you hit it; Premium removes the limit.
• Discover: a grid of people nearby, plus a “For You” selection Badoo picks for you. You can like a profile or tap the speech bubble to chat right away, but the Discover help page says that “chat before you match” needs a verified profile and Credits.
• Chats: once you match, messaging is free. You can send GIFs, voice notes, and start a video or voice call inside the app without sharing your number.
• Filters: age, distance and gender for everyone; “unlimited” advanced filters are a Premium perk.

There is no compatibility quiz. Matching is mostly photos, distance and filters, which is why Badoo feels closer to a swipe app than to a dating site with long profiles.

Is Badoo free? What you get without paying

Yes, the core is free: profile, Encounters, Discover, matching and messaging your matches. The marketing makes it sound more open than it is, though. These are the limits Badoo’s own help center lists:

Sources: Badoo help center pages on paid features, seeing who liked you and Invisible mode, checked October 2026.

So you can date on Badoo without paying, but you will see blurred likes and upgrade prompts all the time. A Google Play review from March 2026 titled “SCAM! It says free but you actually have to pay” sums up how some people feel about that gap between the pitch and the paywall.

Badoo Premium, Extra and Credits: what they cost in 2026

Badoo sells three things, and it is easy to mix them up:

• Badoo Premium: see who liked you, your messages go to the top of the other person’s inbox, unlimited filters and votes, one Crush a day, no ads, undo, private browsing, snooze, and bonus Credits on Credit purchases. Lengths: 7, 30, 90 and 180 days, and Lifetime.
• Badoo Extra: a cheaper tier with one Crush a day, no ads, undo and bonus Credits, but not who liked you or unlimited filters. Lengths: 7 to 180 days.
• Credits: a top-up balance, not a subscription. You spend them to rise to the top of Discover, get extra shows in Encounters, unlock a chat without a match, send a Crush or buy read receipts.

Badoo does not publish a price list. Its Google Play listing says prices “vary by country and may change without notice”, and you see the real price only on the payment screen. The closest public numbers are the in-app purchases on the US App Store:

Prices checked October 2026 on the US App Store listing. Google Play shows in-app items from $0.49 to $239.99 without naming them. Bumble’s second quarter 2026 results give a useful reality check: average revenue per paying user in the “Badoo App and Other” segment was $11.21.

Three money traps the listings do not mention, all from the paid features page:

• Credits expire 6 months after you buy them (except Credits bought through Apple), and you lose any you have left if you delete your account.
• Auto refill: on the web and on Android, a checkbox at checkout tops up your Credits whenever your balance falls below 200. Leave it unticked, or turn it off in Settings, Payment settings, Auto refill.
• Auto-renewal: subscriptions renew unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date, per the App Store listing and Badoo’s subscription page.

If you want to try paid features, the cheapest sensible test is a short Premium plan (one week or one month) bought in the app, so cancelling is one tap in your phone’s subscriptions. Skip Lifetime and big Credit packs until you know your area has enough active people.

Is anyone still on Badoo? What the numbers say

Badoo is big but shrinking. Google Play shows 100M+ downloads and 6.66 million reviews, and the App Store shows 149K ratings; both apps were updated in the days before October 8, 2026. The trend is down, though: Bumble’s second quarter 2026 results report 1,080.1 thousand paying users for “Badoo App and Other”, down from 1,277.4 thousand a year earlier, and revenue down from $46.8 million to $38.8 million.

Badoo’s base has always leaned international: Wikipedia notes that Wired called it a “mass phenomenon” in Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain and Italy as early as 2011. That fits the US complaints: in May 2026 a Google Play reviewer said that without a pricey subscription they saw mostly people 60+ miles away or overseas, and a July 2026 reviewer asked Badoo to stop people abroad from setting a US location. Badoo’s location help page says the browser version sets your location by GPS when location services are on, but lets you type one in when they are off.

Fake profiles, scams and complaints

On the App Store, Badoo has 4.6 stars from 149K ratings; on Google Play, 4.0 stars from 6.66 million reviews (October 2026). On Trustpilot it scores 2.9 from 14,761 reviews, split between 47% five-star and 32% one-star. The complaints repeat across all three:

• Billing: charges for a second month after trying to cancel, with cancel instructions that did not match the app (Google Play, March 2026); Credits spent with no refund (Trustpilot, October 2026).
• Scammers and catfish: fake and overseas profiles posing as local (Google Play, July 2026; Trustpilot, September and October 2026).
• Blocked accounts: accounts suspended with no clear reason and no way to appeal (Trustpilot, September 2026).
• Pushy upsells: blurred likes and constant Premium prompts (Trustpilot, December 2025).
• Preferences ignored: distance or gender filters that seem not to stick, and blocked people showing up again (Google Play and Trustpilot, 2026).

Badoo is not a pay-to-chat trap: you can message matches without paying, so a fake profile cannot cost you money unless you buy Credits to reach it or send money yourself. The fakes you meet are mostly there for romance scams, which is why the next section matters more than the price.

Safety and verification on Badoo

This is where Badoo is better than many free apps. Its help center lists:

• Photo verification: you take a selfie copying a gesture, checked by software and humans, and get a blue checkmark (how it works). The App Store listing says you can then choose to interact only with verified profiles.
• ID verification: a government ID plus a live selfie, which adds a badge; Badoo can require it to confirm age.
• Deception Detector: machine learning that flags fake, spam and scam accounts, backed by human moderators (Badoo’s page). Badoo says a team works 24/7 on fake profiles and spam (safety features).
• Private Detector: blurs photos that may be explicit, so you choose whether to open them.
• In-app calls: video and voice calls without sharing your number.
• Block and report: tap the three dots on a profile or chat, then Block and report. Reports are anonymous (reporting steps).
• Privacy: the App Store privacy label says location, contact info, identifiers and usage data may be used to track you across other companies’ apps and sites.

Verification is optional, so plenty of profiles have no checkmark. My rules: match with verified profiles first, ask for a short video call before meeting, meet in a public place and tell a friend. Never send money, gift cards or crypto to someone you met online, and be wary of anyone who cannot meet, lives “abroad for work” or pushes you to another app; the FTC’s romance scam guide lists exactly these patterns. If it already happened, Badoo’s romance fraud page says to call your bank first, save evidence before you block, report the profile, and ignore anyone offering to “recover” your money for a fee.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Free to match and message, with video calls built in.
• Real safety tools: photo and ID verification, Deception Detector, Private Detector, anonymous reporting.
• Huge international user base, 100M+ Android downloads, web and app.
• Short Premium plans (from 7 days) let you test paid features without a long commitment.

Cons

• No published prices, and four kinds of purchases (Premium, Extra, Credits, unexplained “Super Powers”).
• Credits expire after 6 months, and auto refill is easy to tick by mistake.
• Paying users down about 15% in a year; thin and far-flung profiles in parts of the US.
• Recurring complaints about scammers, surprise charges and blocked accounts.
• Constant upgrade prompts and blurred likes on the free tier.

How to cancel Badoo Premium and delete your account

Where you paid decides where you cancel, and deleting your account does not cancel a subscription. Cancel first, then delete.

1. Paid on iPhone: Settings, your name, Subscriptions, Badoo, Cancel Subscription (Apple’s steps). Refunds go through Apple’s reportaproblem.apple.com.
2. Paid on Android: Play Store, your profile, Payments & subscriptions, Subscriptions, Badoo, Cancel (Google’s steps). Refund requests are made from the same screen.
3. Paid by card or PayPal: in the app, your profile, Plans, Cancel Subscription; on the website, Settings, Payment settings. Refunds are handled by Badoo’s support team (Badoo’s cancel page, refund page).
4. Paid by SMS: your mobile operator manages it; Badoo says it cannot cancel those.
5. Delete the account: Profile, Settings (gear), Account, Delete account. Badoo’s deletion page says you can restore it for up to 28 days, after which your data starts being deleted. Deleting the app or going inactive does not delete your profile. If you only need a break, “Hide account” in the same menu keeps your matches.

After you cancel you keep your paid perks until the end of the period. Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal, and turn off Credits auto refill separately.

Badoo vs Tinder and other alternatives

Badoo and Tinder work the same way at the core: swipe, match, chat. On Badoo, free members also get a nearby grid (Discover) and in-app video calls, and its verification tools are well documented. Its weak spots are a smaller and shrinking paying base and, in many US areas, fewer local profiles. If Badoo looks thin where you live, try Tinder, the app people most often compare it with; if you like Badoo’s safety tools but want a more relationship-minded crowd from the same company, try Bumble, where women make the first move.

• Hinge: profile prompts and a relationship focus, for people tired of swipe apps.
• OkCupid: question-based matching with much deeper profiles.
• Plenty of Fish: another large app where you can get far without paying.
• MeetMe and Tagged: free social apps for chatting and meeting people nearby, closest to Badoo’s “friends, chat or date” mix.
• Happn: shows people you crossed paths with, best in dense cities.

No big dating app is 100% free: they all make money from upgrades or ads. Badoo, Plenty of Fish, MeetMe and Tagged are the ones where the free tier still lets you match and talk. For relationship-first options, see my serious dating apps ranking, or browse all reviews.

How I rate it

My 3.5 out of 5 is based on public pricing, features, safety tools, app store reputation and value, not on hands-on use. Value for money 3.5 (free matching and messaging, short plans available, but likes and pre-match chats are paywalled and Credits expire), safety and verification 4 (photo and ID verification, Deception Detector, Private Detector, 24/7 moderation, anonymous reporting, though verification is optional), evidence of an active user base 3 (100M+ downloads and 6.66 million Google Play reviews, but paying users down about 15% in a year and many US complaints about distant or overseas profiles), features for its audience 3.5 (Encounters, Discover, video calls, intentions, web and app), transparency 2.5 (no published prices, unexplained App Store items, opt-in Credits auto refill, billing complaints, though cancel and refund steps are clearly documented). Average 3.3, rounded to 3.5.

Frequently asked questions

Is Badoo a good dating site?

Badoo is a legit, large dating app run by Bumble Inc., with free matching and messaging and solid safety tools like photo verification and Deception Detector. It works best for casual dating and meeting new people. In parts of the US, recent reviews complain about thin or far-away profiles and scammers, so a relationship-first app may suit you better.

How much does Badoo dating cost?

Badoo does not publish prices and says they vary by country. On the US App Store in October 2026, Premium items cost $5.99 to $8.99, a 7-day Premium plan $13.99, and 100-credit packs $1.99 to $3.99. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before renewal.

Is Badoo a free dating site?

Yes, you can create a profile, swipe in Encounters, browse Discover, match and message your matches for free. Seeing who liked you, unlimited swipes, undo and invisible mode need Premium, and messaging someone before you match needs Credits and a verified profile.

Which is better, Tinder or Badoo?

Both are free swipe-and-chat apps. Badoo adds a nearby grid, in-app video calls and well documented verification tools, but its paying base shrank about 15% in the year to mid-2026 and some US users report few local profiles. If Badoo looks thin where you live, Tinder is the obvious app to try next.

Which dating site is 100% free?

No major dating app is fully free: they earn money from upgrades or ads. Badoo, Plenty of Fish, MeetMe and Tagged are among the ones where the free tier still lets you match and talk without paying.

How do I cancel Badoo Premium?

Cancel where you paid: in your iPhone's Subscriptions, in the Play Store's Payments and subscriptions, or in Badoo's Plans or Payment settings for card and PayPal. Deleting the app or your account does not cancel the subscription, and your perks last until the end of the paid period.

Written by the Dating Gal. Reviews and rankings are independent and based on each platform's own pricing pages, terms and app store listings, plus hands-on testing where a review says so. TheDatingGal does not own or operate any of the platforms mentioned and may earn a commission when you sign up through a link, at no extra cost to you. This site is for adults 18+.