Tinder vs Badoo: what separates the two apps

Stated goals and audience

Tinder's Google Play listing names three goals: it "helps you find a date, a serious relationship, or meet new friends." The App Store description opens with "Tinder is the place to meet someone new and see where a spark might lead." Casual dating is not named as a goal in either listing.

Badoo's App Store description asks whether you want to "date, make new friends or just casually chat", and Google Play adds "date around for a while, or just have good conversations". Casual dating is on Badoo's list and absent from Tinder's. A long-term relationship is one aim among several for Badoo.

The word hookup does not appear in the Badoo store listings or homepage that were read, and Tinder's listings neither position the app as one nor rule it out. On that evidence neither belongs in the hookup column. Apps sorted for the search are in casual connection apps, and low-commitment dating apps covers the space between.

Audience figures are company statements. Tinder's own page calls it "the preferred dating app for singles under 30", and its store listings claim over 100 billion matches. Badoo's Google Play listing says "Join millions of monthly active users", a usage claim with no number, so downloads are the only count the two share. The same listing calls Badoo "a safe space for all sexual orientations (lesbian, queer, gay, and beyond)"; the sources read for Tinder do not address orientation. LGBTQ+ hookup and dating apps lists where it is stated.

Chatting before a match and after one

Here the two listings disagree most. The Badoo homepage says "There's no need to wait for a match." Tinder's wording runs the other way: "You can only match and chat when both people are interested."

Badoo's Encounters shows one profile at a time, with a heart to like and a cross to pass, and a mutual yes opens chat. Discover lists people nearby plus a For You list, and Shared Intentions, interests and filters narrow it. Tinder uses swipe-style Likes, says it learns your type with every swipe and adds Double Date and Events in selected cities. Subscribers can send a compliment before a match: "Feeling flirty? Send a compliment before you match."

Past the first message, Badoo lists in-chat games and video chat ("face to face video calling" in the App Store), plus a Rude Message Detector. Premium moves your sent messages to the top of the recipient's inbox. Tinder blurs chat messages that look inappropriate, and its two listings do not mention video chat. Voice messages are not confirmed for either app. Neither app states a daily limit for free Likes. Apps with video calls compares the wider field.

Free accounts and what Premium adds

A free Tinder account sends Likes, matches and chats. Tinder's subscriptions add unlimited Likes, weekly Super Likes, compliments before a match, unlimited Rewinds and monthly Boosts (Boosts and Super Likes are also sold separately on iOS). Google Play names Incognito Mode ("Only be seen by people you've already Liked") and Passport Mode, and the listings do not say which plan includes either. They do not mention advanced filters.

Badoo's Google Play text reads "Badoo is free, but these upgraded features give you even more flexibility". Free accounts browse Discover and Encounters, match and chat. The paid side is Badoo Premium, Badoo Extra and credits, per a help-centre article updated on November 28, 2025. Premium adds unlimited Advanced Filters, a set of private-browsing options (viewing profiles without notifying them, snoozing your profile, hiding it from everyone except matches), and the inbox priority described above. The App Store names the private-browsing set Invisible Mode. The free limit on filters is not stated, and the pages checked give no price split between Premium and Extra.

So the paywalls differ in shape: Tinder keeps Likes, matching and chat free and sells reach, while Badoo keeps chat free, including before a match, and puts filtering and privacy behind Premium. More apps are in filters across apps and hidden mode in dating apps.

Tinder vs Badoo prices in the US and UK

The US App Store lists Tinder Plus from USD 9.99 and Tinder Gold from USD 13.99 with no billing period on any row, and Badoo Premium from USD 5.99 with no period, plus a row labeled 7 days at USD 13.99. On the UK App Store, the lowest listed prices are GBP 3.99 for Tinder Plus, GBP 7.49 for Tinder Gold and GBP 4.49 for Badoo Premium, with a 7-day Badoo Premium row at GBP 9.99.

Prices as listed in the store on November 5, 2026. They change by country, platform, account and promotion.

Prices as listed in the store on November 5, 2026. They change by country, platform, account and promotion.

The order of the cheapest rows depends on the country. On the US App Store the lowest listed Badoo Premium price (USD 5.99) is under the lowest listed Tinder Plus price (USD 9.99); on the UK App Store it is over it (GBP 4.49 against GBP 3.99). Tinder Gold's lowest row is above Badoo Premium's lowest row in both countries. Since none of those lowest rows states a period, no monthly cost can be worked out from them. On the US App Store, USD 13.99 is both Tinder Gold's lowest row and Badoo's 7-day Premium row, and only Badoo's states a period. All rows are iPhone listings, and Tinder Platinum has no US or UK row. Full lists are on Tinder pricing by country and Badoo pricing.

Verification and safety tools

Badoo's photo verification asks for a selfie copying a gesture, which automation and human reviewers check before a blue checkmark appears. Phone and ID verification also exist, and how ID Verification works is not described in the pages checked. The App Store describes a three-step verification process after which you can interact only with verified profiles.

Badoo also lists Deception Detector against fake, scam and spam accounts, Private Detector (blurs explicit images that others send), Screenshot Block for messages, and block, report and unmatch. The Badoo Safety Centre adds guides and helplines.

On Tinder, Google Play names Photo Verification and the App Store says "We include multiple ways to verify profiles". Whether verification is optional or required is not stated. Share My Date tells a friend where and when you are meeting. Tinder also lists unmatching, message flagging, and a Report User link on profiles and in messaging, with reports treated as confidential. Content rules are enforced by automated tools and human reviewers, with warnings first and bans for severe or repeated violations. Blocking is named by Badoo and not named in Tinder's terms or guidelines.

The pages checked name these tools without figures on how well they work. How to spot a fake profile and safety on dating apps cover the patterns, and dating apps with profile verification lines up the other apps that check profiles.

Location, privacy and leaving the app

Badoo's help centre says that with location services on, your location is detected by GPS "and cannot be changed manually"; it can be edited only when location services are off. No travel mode is described. Tinder lists Passport Mode: "Match local, or go global". Tinder's privacy page says it can collect latitude and longitude with your permission, and that features relying on precise geolocation are unavailable if you decline. Travel mode apps is the place for others.

Tinder says it gives certain information to third parties, including advertising partners, and describes an opt-out toggle for sale or sharing of personal information and for targeted advertising. Retention includes a safety window of three months after account closure or one year after an account ban and 10 years for transaction data. These points come from a summarized copy of the Tinder privacy page checked on November 5, 2026, so confirm the wording there.

Badoo's main privacy policy on badoo.com is a JavaScript page that could not be read. What is known comes from its Washington Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (last updated March 28, 2024) and the help centre: Badoo collects biometric data for photo verification and health-related details that members choose to share, and consumer health data may be shared across the Bumble Group and with service providers. Google Play's data safety section says the app may share location and personal info with third parties. Privacy on dating apps sets this beside other apps.

To delete a Badoo account in the app, go to Profile, the Settings gear, Account, then Delete account; on the web it is Profile, Settings, Delete account. The profile stays hidden for 28 days and can be restored in that window, and deleting does not cancel a subscription. Tinder's route is Settings, then Delete Account, with store subscriptions cancelled separately. Cancelling follows the store that billed you on both apps, as laid out in how to stop a dating app subscription and deleting a dating app account.

Platforms, ages and availability

Badoo is on iPhone and iPad, on Android (100M+ downloads) and on the web at badoo.com. Tinder is on iPhone and Apple TV, on Android (500M+) and on tinder.com, which its terms count as part of the service. Badoo's help centre says only that it is not available in all countries, and neither app has an official country list.

Both apps carry an 18+ rating in the App Store and Mature 17+ in Google Play. Tinder's terms set the minimum age at 18. Badoo's terms page could not be read, so its minimum of 18 rests on the App Store rating and a help-centre snippet that mentions everyone "aged 18" (the snippet is cut off). The operator behind Tinder is Tinder LLC, and the contracting entity depends on where the member lives. Badoo's App Store seller is Badoo Software Ltd, and the listing names Bumble Inc. as its parent company, the owner of the app in Tinder vs Bumble.

Which app fits whom

Badoo fits people who want to talk first. Its listings describe chat before a match, video chat, Advanced Filters and a photo check with a blue checkmark, and they name casual dating.

Tinder fits people who want the larger audience and the app that names three goals (a date, a serious relationship, friends). It also lists Passport Mode, Share My Date and Double Date, none of which appears in Badoo's listings.

The single-app pages are the Tinder review and the Badoo review. Tinder alternatives and Badoo alternatives sort other apps by need, Tinder vs happn is a location-based pairing, and dating app comparisons has the rest.