Badoo review
A free-first dating app with swipe matching, chat, calls, and location filters.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Sep 2026
Badoo is a dating and social discovery service for people who want to meet nearby, date, chat, or make friends. Available on web, iOS, and Android, it combines a swipe-based Encounters feed with Discover and location, age, and gender filters. Mutual likes create a match, after which users can text or make voice and video calls. Profile interests, prompts, and settings for sexual orientation and who someone is interested in add ways to describe preferences. Its free plan covers core dating, making Badoo a fit for people who want to start without a subscription, as well as those open to paid options for additional visibility and browsing controls.
Discovery is the product's central strength: users can move between swiping and filtered browsing rather than relying on one matching path. Premium adds the ability to see who liked a profile, undo a pass, browse privately, and use expanded filters. Credits are a separate paid option for visibility boosts and other interactions. According to the vendor's pricing information, subscription and credit prices appear in the in-app payment flow and vary by region. That structure may suit people who want to pay for specific extras, but it gives less of a fixed public price comparison than a single published subscription price would. The free plan is the clearer starting point for cost-conscious users.
Badoo also includes safety controls that matter in a service built around meeting people: photo verification, blocking, reporting, and unmatching. In-app voice and video calls provide a way to talk within the service after matching, while Apple Music is the listed integration. Choose Badoo if you value free access to core dating, location-based discovery, and chat or calls across web and mobile. It is a less natural fit if you want a publicly stated, region-independent cost for paid use or do not want a service where visibility boosts and browsing options are monetized separately.
Badoo pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free plan includes core dating features and messaging.
- Offers in-app voice and video calls after matching.
- Photo verification, blocking, reporting, and unmatching support safety.
- Where it doesn't
- Premium and credit prices vary by region in the in-app payment flow.
- Premium features and visibility boosts require paid options.
- Apple Music is the only listed integration.
Badoo fact sheet, pricing and score →
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