Ashley Madison review: free profile, credits, privacy and safety

What Ashley Madison is

Ashley Madison is a dating service for adults, including people who are already in a relationship, and its homepage calls it "the world-leading dating app for ethical discretion, designed for those who believe that private exploration between consenting adults can be honest, authentic, and self-directed." The terms put the contract with Ruby Life Inc. of Toronto, Canada for members in Canada and with Ruby Life International Limited of Limassol, Cyprus for members elsewhere. The App Store and Google Play list Ruby Life Inc. as seller and developer.

The site says it was formerly the leading married dating site and that "we've evolved beyond our origins in affair dating." It replaced the tagline "Life is Short, Have an Affair" with "Where Desire Meets Discretion", and the pages checked give no date for the change.

The homepage reports 91 million member accounts created since 2002 and availability in 40+ countries. Its footnote reads "Number of Member accounts joined since launching in 2002," so the figure is cumulative sign-ups and says nothing about active members. Google Play shows 1M+ downloads. No gender ratio or age split is published.

Who Ashley Madison is for

The homepage lists who it expects: singles "looking for dates, in an open relationship, exploring polyamory or ethical non-monogamy, interested in casual dating, or seeking alternative dating experiences." Google Play says "EVERYONE IS WELCOME." The terms speak of members who "explore their fantasies," and the site calls itself a "judgment-free space."

It is not positioned as an LGBTQ app, and couples profiles are not mentioned in the sources read. People who want an open setup can start from the open relationship app picks, and couples who want shared profiles can look at dating apps for couples.

Dating or hookup

The App Store subtitle is "Casual Meet & Chat," and the homepage puts "interested in casual dating" next to open relationships and polyamory. The word hookup does not appear in the sources read. What the pages describe is a discretion-focused dating service, and sex-positivity is not stated as a positioning.

For a search on casual dating or discreet dating apps, the wording matches. For a search on hookup apps or one night stand apps, the listings make no direct claim, and the picture of how the category works is in how hookup apps work.

Matching and messaging

Members search with Search Filters and Interests and Desires tags. Google Play says "Discreet Match matches you with others who value privacy like you do." Contact is made with messages, Winks and Private Key Requests, and the listings name Winks without describing them.

Credits come in at this point. The terms say that "in certain jurisdictions, you may need to spend credits or other units to use certain features, such as initiating communications with other members." Free profiles can communicate with other members subject to the other terms, but what a free account can do in each country is not listed, so free messaging is not confirmed.

Message history has a limit: the terms say "your message history will become unavailable after ninety (90) days," and a positive credit balance or subscription may be needed to see past messages. The pages checked list no disappearing-message feature.

In-app video chat is not confirmed. The safety page names "Video calls" among interactions that "take place outside of our platform," which suggests no in-app video without saying so outright. Voice messages and group chat are not mentioned. Apps that do confirm video are collected under dating apps with video chat.

Search and filters

The store descriptions name Search Filters and Interests and Desires Tags. Whether any filter is paid is not stated. A side-by-side with other apps is in dating apps with advanced filters.

Location

The privacy policy says the service lets members "find other members' profiles based on preferences or member location." Distance display and precision are not stated, and travel mode is not mentioned in the sources read. Other apps are sorted under location-based matching and travel mode.

Privacy and incognito

The homepage lists "photo encryption, permission-based private image sharing, stealth mode for iOS devices, and anonymous billing." Google Play adds "private photo masking" and Private Key Requests. Together, the photo privacy tools and Private Key Requests control who sees private images, and which plan includes them is not stated. Other apps with the feature are listed under private photos.

The App Store lists "Stealth Mode for iOS," but what it hides is not described, so no profile-visibility mode is confirmed. The privacy policy says members can hide certain profile information in Profile and Settings on the website or in Profile Options in the apps. Where an incognito mode is confirmed, the incognito mode feature page lists the apps.

Billing statements show "AMDA" unless the bank or card company overrides it, and the homepage FAQ lists private payment options.

The privacy policy, effective May 12, 2026 and read from an Internet Archive copy dated May 13, 2026, says personal data is never sold to third parties. Ruby Life Inc. is the data controller for Canadian residents and Ruby Life International Limited for everyone else. The gender a member seeks is treated as sensitive data because it indicates sexual orientation. Messages are not routinely reviewed but may be monitored for fraud. Two-factor authentication is optional, and members can request access to their data or its deletion. Accounts inactive for 12 months are deleted unless a subscription is active, according to the terms. The wider picture is in dating app privacy.

2015 data breach and FTC settlement

The US Federal Trade Commission's press release of December 14, 2016 describes a breach of the operator's network, with intrusions between November 2014 and June 2015. Hackers published profile, account security and billing information of more than 36 million AshleyMadison.com users in August 2015. The FTC's figure counts users whose information was published and says nothing about current membership.

The same release says the operators, then trading as ruby Corp, ruby Life Inc. and ADL Media Inc., settled FTC and state actions over the breach. They paid a total of 1.6 million US dollars and agreed to a comprehensive data-security program with third-party assessments. The 1.6 million is the settlement total as the FTC gives it, and the pages checked do not split it between the FTC and the states. Dates are as the release reports them, and no later regulator action is recorded in the sources checked.

Verification and safety

Google Play lists "Verify Your Profile: Build trust, boost credibility and prioritize communication with other Verified Members." The safety page says Ashley Madison directs members to "our third-party ID verification service." The store text does not describe the method, and whether free members can verify is not confirmed.

The store listings, privacy policy, homepage FAQ and safety page add these tools: reporting a profile from the three-dot menu, blocking contacts, optional two-factor authentication, photo privacy tools, a discreet billing descriptor and published security and privacy guidelines. Nothing there replaces ordinary caution with strangers, and the safety guide and the page on dating app scams go further. Other apps that check profiles are under profile verification.

Free version

Google Play calls the app "100% free to download and easy to get started." The terms say a member must set up a "free member profile" and then has "access to some, but not all, of the Services' features." The rest are unlocked by credits or a package. Which messaging actions are free differs by country and is not listed, and no free trial is mentioned in the sources. See also free dating apps.

Pricing

All prices below come from iPhone App Store listings, checked on November 5, 2026. On the US App Store, Ashley Madison Preferred is listed at USD 32.99 with no period stated, which makes it the lowest listed plan. The US App Store also lists a 50 Credit Promo at USD 14.99, the Introductory Package at USD 71.99 and USD 84.99, and the Ultimate Package at USD 249.99.

The terms describe two ways to get more features: "a subscription package" or "credits and/or other units." The App Store item names are Introductory, Premium, Elite and Ultimate Package, plus Ashley Madison Preferred. The listings do not say whether the packages are credit bundles or time-limited subscriptions, how many credits each holds or what period it covers, so no price per credit can be worked out. On the UK App Store, Preferred is listed at GBP 23.99 and Preferred Plus at GBP 64.99. The full breakdown by country is on the Ashley Madison pricing page.

Cancelling and deleting

The terms let a member end the contract in the account on the site or app, or by written or email notice. Unused credits or paid subscription fees are not refunded when the member ends the contract on their own initiative, except where a statutory cancellation right applies. Per-store steps for stopping auto-renewal were not read. The general steps for any app are in the guide to cancelling a dating app subscription.

Members can delete or deactivate the account. The terms point to a section whose full text was not in the copy read, so the exact steps are not confirmed. A store subscription would need cancelling separately, and how to delete a dating app account covers the common route.

Platforms and age

Ashley Madison has an iPhone and iPad app titled "Ashley Madison Discreet Dating" and an Android app (package com.ashleymadison.mobile, 1M+ downloads on Google Play). The terms cover both AshleyMadison.com and the mobile applications, and members can sign up and log in on the site. Options that skip the download are collected under dating sites without an app. The App Store lists the app in 36 of 45 storefronts checked and not in Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia or Vietnam. No country list was found, and the store listings only say 40+ countries.

The terms say the services are "ONLY intended for persons 18 years or older and who also have attained the age of majority and legal consent in the jurisdiction of their residence, where such age is higher than 18." Members in Alabama, British Columbia, Nebraska and several other places must be 19, in Taiwan 20 and in Mississippi 21. The App Store shows 18+ and Google Play shows Mature 17+.

Pros and cons

Alternatives

Readers who want a head-to-head can start with Ashley Madison vs Tinder or the AdultFriendFinder comparison. For privacy-first apps, the discreet dating app picks and the list of anonymous hookup apps rank the field, and our list of other apps for the same need sorts apps by what a reader wants instead.

Ashley Madison review verdict