To Badoo Or Not to Badoo?

To Badoo or not to Badoo? That is the big question if you’re single and looking for your next meaningful relationship or hook up on a dating app.

Online dating has been booming over the last decade and even more so since the pandemic started.

However, there’s loads of free dating sites out there so it can be quite overwhelming when trying to choose the best one, depending on what you’re looking for.

In this article, we will be looking at Badoo UK, one of the largest dating platforms in the world. With over half a billion users, you will be able to find more choices than you could ever imagine when searching for a potential match!

But is it the right dating site for you?

We’ve looked into Badoo’s most important aspects below to help you save time!

Getting Your Account Set Up!

Creating a dating profile can be time consuming and tedious with long registration processes and multiple personality tests.

In our case, the Badoo sign up process is super quick and easy!

There's two ways you can follow when registering:

- Linking your Facebook account
- Using your email address

Both options are straightforward and you can have your account ready within minutes.

Once you register, you can begin to chat and meet girls and guys, even if your profile is not 100% complete!

Once your account is completed and verified, you will instantly gain access to all of Badoo’s free features!

Badoo’s Top 3 Features

As mentioned above, the online dating industry is large and very competitive. For this reason, features are a great way for dating apps to stand out.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at Badoo’s top 3 features:

Encounters

Encounters is an interactive way to look for matches. If you’ve ever used the Tinder swipe right feature, that would probably be the most accurate comparison.

You are shown photos and some basic information of potential partners and you can ‘’like’’ or ‘’skip’’ them. If you both ‘’like’’ each other, then your “likes” turns into a “Match”!

Your Matches appear in the ‘’Matched’’ tab so you can message them without the fear of rejection!

This feature is designed to be a fun way of browsing through multiple Badoo users without wasting a lot of time.

People Nearby

Contrary to its name, with this feature you can meet people online, not only nearby, but anywhere in the world!

Although this feature can be found on most dating sites, the fact that you can choose the location is pretty cool! The Tinder equivalent (Tinder Passport) is only available to Tinder Premium members so it’s nice to see it as a free feature on Badoo.

Traveling or moving to a new city or country? Not to worry! You can still find like-minded people or a sex date before you even get there! Now that’s what I call efficiency!

Video chat

This feature is quite unique as it’s not found on many dating sites. It adds an extra element of verification and safety, as you’re able to see people before your meetup.

Plus, you can have some naughty fun on video before meeting up with your favourite person! ;)

However, it can also add unnecessary pressure when you’re looking to take things slow and your matches are asking for video calls too soon.

As seen above, Badoo offers users some cool features both for free and for a fee. You can read more about all of Badoo’s features here, if you’re still unsure about using it.

How Safe Is Badoo?

After the infamous data breach of Ashley Madison (popular affair site), safety in online dating is on the top of everyone’s mind. Let’s see how secure Badoo dating really is.

Badoo uses two ways of profile verification and members who complete both get a ""Badoo blue checkmark" on their profile to show this. This ensures that you won’t be meeting up with any catfishes!

You can also see how many other social media accounts each user has linked to their Badoo account, so you can decide for yourself how much you trust them.
You can also visit their other social media profiles, so you get a better idea of who you’re chatting to.

There is also a safety and security section on their Help Centre where you can see more "Badoo safety tips". Additionally, they have a "Customer Care" team that you can contact for any related issues.

Pricing - How Much Does It Cost?

Badoo users can enjoy browsing through profiles and chatting with others for free!

However, Badoo also offers some additional features which require a type of payment:

- Badoo Credits packages (Pay As You Go)

- Badoo Premium packages (Monthly Subscription)

The big difference between the two payment methods are:

• Credits allow you to get seen more by other users.
• Premium membership allows you to use more features on Badoo!

Badoo claims that users with a Premium membership or credits, get 2 to 8 times more interactions on the site. Even if this is true, we advise you to not spend more than you can afford, because no one wants to be in love and broke!

Tips:

• Don’t forget to disable the automatic credits top up! This happens once your credits go below 200.
• If you’re concerned about privacy, don’t worry, Badoo has your back. Any payments made will show up on your bank statements as Social Online Payments Ltd (so you don’t have to worry about your wife finding out!).
• It’s worth mentioning that any features related to “Credits” require at least 100 credits each.

Pros and Cons

Let’s recap Badoo’s advantages and disadvantages.

Pros

• Large user base
• Easy to use (online and Badoo mobile)
• Decent amount of free features
• Safe verification process

Cons

• Constant reminders to upgrade or buy credits
• No compatibility features
• Credits expire after 6 months
• Very generic - Does not specify what type of dating it’s for (one night stand, serious relationships, mature dating, etc)

Bottom Line - Is Badoo really worth it?

Overall, Badoo seems very appealing with their great design, ease of use and cool features.
However, it lacks a clear message as to who it’s for.

For instance, if we take Go-Milf as an example of a niche dating site, it’s specifically designed for users who want to hookup with MILFs or cougars (mature women).

Additionally, the Badoo dating site doesn’t have any compatibility features, so if you’re looking to find the love of your life, or at least a serious relationship, you might want to look elsewhere.

Similarly, if you’re looking for casual sex or naughty meetups, you will be better off choosing a more adult oriented site, such as our top choice site, e-hookups.

Having said all this, as Badoo is so generic, it is a great choice for online-dating newbies just getting their feet wet and looking for something fun

If you’re past this stage of dating online, you can read about how Badoo compares with other top dating sites here, so you can choose the best one for you.