Plenty of Fish review: free version, paid tiers, privacy and safety

What Plenty of Fish is

Plenty of Fish, written POF on its own pages, is a dating app from Match Group with swipe-style matching, search filters and a ladder of paid tiers. The Google Play and App Store descriptions both open with "The best dating app to let you really be you and choose how you want to date online." The homepage tagline is "The most welcoming friendly sociable playful relaxed fun way to date," and it calls the audience "a community of singles."

The terms name two operators. POF is run by MTCH Technology Services Limited for users in the European Union, the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and by Plentyoffish Media ULC for everyone else. Google Play lists 50M+ downloads and the App Store shows about 1.8M ratings. Both are store counts, so they say nothing about active users. No gender ratio or age split is published, and the launch year is not stated anywhere in the sources checked.

Who Plenty of Fish is for

Google Play says POF will "help you effortlessly connect with cool local singles," and it speaks twice of finding and building relationships. The help centre calls the free community "relationship builders." The app's own best-fit line is daters who want broad search filters and free matching and messaging, with paid upgrades as an option.

That is a general dating audience. Readers comparing it with other mainstream apps can start from the best dating apps, and free-tier dating apps sets the free tier next to its rivals.

Dating or hookup

Dating, by the app's own wording. Casual-dating language does not appear in the sources checked, and nothing in the description or the product design calls POF a hookup app. Sex-positive framing is absent too, although the safety page has a section on sexual health and consent. Open relationships and an LGBTQ focus are not mentioned.

So for a search on hookup apps or one night stand apps, POF does not qualify on its own words. The hookup app picks and the casual dating app list cover apps that say otherwise, and the mechanics of hookup apps explains where the two categories split.

Matching and messaging

Meet Me is the swipe screen. Google Play describes it this way: "Swipe right if you're into someone. If they swipe right on you too, it's a match!" A match opens chat, and matched members have "unlimited online messaging with each other." Interested in Me shows "who's liked or viewed your profile," and the features page names Super Like as well. Search filters, Likes and recommendations also decide who you see.

A message before a match is called First Contact. Google Play says "You get one of these messages per day," and the plan that grants it is not stated; the Prestige tier lists unlimited first contacts. Safe Message Filters screen incoming messages, and the App Store listing describes a setting to "Restrict your first message count so you don't get 1 and 2 word intros."

The safety page lists "A POF call (available in app), FaceTime, or Skype video call" as a screening step before meeting someone. Whether the in-app call is voice or video is not stated. Voice messages, group chat, couples profiles and disappearing messages are not confirmed.

Search and filters

Filters are one of the few features that stay free. Free members can filter by gender, location, age, distance, religion and more, and Meet Me has its own age and distance settings. Extended profile content, such as whether someone has or wants children and their lifestyle habits, is a POF Plus perk. Apps with the same feature are collected under what filters cost.

Location

Google Play describes "connecting with real people near you," and its Data safety label says "Shares Location." The privacy policy says latitude and longitude are collected if you give permission, and that approximate location is part of the profile. Exact distance display is not stated. A travel mode is not confirmed either, so the pages checked do not say whether you can browse another city. The feature pages for nearby matching across apps and travel mode across apps compare how other apps handle both.

Privacy and incognito

Incognito is the privacy feature, and it costs money. The help centre calls it "a privacy feature available in Plus, Premium and Prestige tiers." With it on, your profile is shown only to people you like or message. A help article titled "Controlling who sees your profile and photos" exists, but private photos are not confirmed from the sources checked.

The privacy policy that applies from March 11, 2026 names Plentyoffish Media ULC as the data controller outside the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. With your permission the app collects precise device location, and it collects face geometry data for Selfie Verification. Sensitive details such as sexual orientation may be processed if members provide them. Data is shared with service providers, advertising partners, Facebook tools and other Match Group companies, and the terms say the services carry advertising. The wider picture is in the what dating apps collect, and the apps for keeping things discreet rank apps on this need.

Verification and safety

Selfie Verification matches a video selfie to the main profile photo and puts a badge on the profile. Changing the main photo means verifying again. The help centre calls it optional and says "we're rolling out" the feature, so not every account may see it yet. The terms add that POF does not run criminal background or identity checks on users, so the badge confirms a face against a photo and nothing more.

Share My Date sends date details to friends or family. The links expire 7 days after the date, and the date history is visible for 90 days. The other tools are Safe Message Filters, block and report on profiles and in messages, and dating safety tips with crisis and support resources on the safety page. Caution with strangers still applies: the hookup app safety guide and the page on scams on dating apps cover it, and verification across apps lists other apps that check profiles.

Free version

POF is free to download. Free members can filter searches, Like members in Meet Me, and see and message their Mutual Matches. The terms say the services carry ads. The paid tiers add:

• unlimited Likes
• no ads
• seeing everyone who Liked you at once
• Incognito
• extended profile content (a POF Plus perk)

The sources tie only three things to named tiers: Incognito (Plus, Premium and Prestige), extended profile content (Plus) and unlimited first contacts (Prestige). The help centre text comes from archived copies dated between January and May 2026, so tier details may have changed since.

Pricing

All prices below come from iPhone App Store listings, checked on November 5, 2026. On the US App Store, a subscription item with no tier named is listed at USD 19.99 for 1 week and USD 29.99 for 1 month. On the same US App Store, POF Premium is listed at USD 29.99 with no period, and an item called Upgrade at USD 19.99 and USD 38.99, also with no period. The lowest listed price for a subscription on the US App Store is therefore USD 19.99.

The UK App Store lists the same two subscription items at GBP 19.99 for 1 week and GBP 29.99 for 1 month, and Upgrade at GBP 19.99, GBP 29.99 and GBP 39.99. No row carries the name POF Plus. Google Play and web prices are not covered, and tokens are sold as separate items. The country-by-country table is on the Plenty of Fish pricing page.

Cancelling and deleting

Where you cancel depends on where you subscribed. The App Store route is iPhone Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions, then cancel POF. Google Play subscribers open Payments and subscriptions in the Play app and choose cancel subscription. Website subscribers go to Manage Account, Membership, Account Type, then cancel membership. Subscriptions are final and non-refundable except where law or special terms apply, and refunds for Apple purchases go through Apple. Cancelling does not remove the profile.

To delete an account, log in on the website or in the app, go to Help, click Delete account and follow the steps. A store subscription has to be cancelled separately with Apple or Google. The steps for any app are in cancelling a dating app subscription and deleting a dating app account.

Platforms and age

POF has an iPhone and iPad app (App Store title "Plenty of Fish : Dating App"), an Android app (package com.pof.android) and a web version: pof.com has Sign In and Register, and the help centre describes desktop steps for Incognito, cancelling and Meet Me preferences. For options without a download, see browser-based dating sites. The App Store lists POF in 36 of 45 storefronts checked. It is missing from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. No official supported-country list was found, and the terms bar users located in countries under a US government embargo.

The terms (section 2a) require users to be "at least 18 years old," and the privacy policy says "Our service is restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age or older." The App Store shows 18+ and Google Play shows Mature 17+.

Pros and cons

Alternatives

Head-to-head reads start with Tinder vs Plenty of Fish and Plenty of Fish vs OkCupid. Our list of other apps sorts alternatives by what POF's pages leave out, such as casual or hookup wording.

Plenty of Fish review verdict