Is Badoo Review Right For You? Full Guide Explained in 2025

Badoo isn't just a dating app -- it's also a social discovery app. It mixes up the usual dating website conventions with a few twists that go a very long way. With its array of ways to communicate and find things in common, it makes Tinder look boring and restrictive. Is Tinder even worth it anymore?

If you're fed up with all the other options, you'd do well to ask "what is Badoo used for?" Basically, it's used for a more casual social experience without all the usual pressure that comes with online dating.

Badoo's Features and Functions

The Badoo app is different from other dating apps in that it's actually fun to use. It's packed with features and functions that are fun to mess around with. You just happen to get new friends as a result. Isn't that how socializing is supposed to work?

Badoo doesn't give you a couple pictures and a blank screen on which to invent an interesting conversation out of nothing. It gives you so many other ways to interact. Here are some of the features and functions of the Badoo app:

1. People Nearby. This feature puts Badoo users in touch with people they've crossed paths with.

2. Encounters. This allows users to swipe on users profiles who have the same interests.

3. Selfie request. Women have the option to get a selfie from the man they're talking to whenever they want, helping to prevent catfishes. Is Badoo safe? In this way, it is.

4. Linking social media accounts. This lets you see people with mutual friends. Let's face it, it's quite strange to message randos on Facebook. With Badoo, you have an in. You can let them know you're interested without feeling like a creep!

5. Video chat or voice chat. Omegle is quite a popular platform, but there's nothing stopping you from getting bullied -- or losing touch with someone you thought was really special. Badoo fixes that with their way of safely voice/video chatting with other users who have had photo verification.

6. Crush. When you show someone you have a crush on them, they'll be notified and be given the chance to swipe on your Badoo profile.

7. You don't have to match in order to message. This answers one of the biggest criticisms of Tinder dating. In real life, you don't have to be "matched" with someone to speak to them.

All of these little features Badoo offers. They make you want to use the app, and before you know it, you're talking to someone interesting. It makes online dating feel so simple. We think the Tinder vs. Badoo competition is quite a close one.

Is Badoo a good dating app? It has seen a lot of success in one specific area: casual dating and flirting. That's how the majority of Badoo users have been using it.

Is Badoo free to message? Yes, and you don't even need to match to message! That's one reason it's been so popular. Just make sure you've looked up tips on what to text your crush before pulling the trigger.

How Does Badoo Work?

While the Tinder dating app gives you a stack of seemingly random people, Badoo is all about capitalizing on what you already have in common. That's why everyone in the Encounters feature is someone you share interests with. Swiping means a whole lot more when you know you have a lot to talk about!

What if you want to message without swiping or matching? Badoo lets you do that when checking People Nearby. When viewing a profile, go to the bottom-right to find a button for chatting. You can just start talking! Badoo dating is so much simpler, isn't it?

Badoo's Unique Dating Features

Encounters lets you swipe just like on all the other dating apps, but there's far more promise with Badoo. That's because this feature only gives you people that you have things in common with. These are all people you basically already have an in with. Instead of making online dating awkward and impossible to navigate, Badoo streamlines it, far more than other dating sites do.

What's more, Badoo lets you see who's liked your profile. It encourages you to interact with them right away, whereas another online dating site like Tinder doesn't specifically show you who's liked you. It's all shuffled in with all the other potential matches.

Badoo Premium features might enhance your experience and get you in touch with more Badoo members. If you're thinking about paying, read on.

What is Badoo Premium?

Badoo premium gives you a leg up over other Badoo members by increasing your visibility and letting you browse without ads. But -- and this goes for all dating websites -- the benefits of a paid membership pale in comparison to simply having the right kind of profile photo and profile. What is Badoo premium? A glorified ad remover, if we're being honest.

Badoo Live Stream

While the Badoo dating app no longer offers Live Stream, it shows that the Badoo app goes above and beyond where other dating apps fall short. Hopefully there are other similar features Badoo will introduce in the future, ones that put people in direct contact with as little fuss and awkwardness as possible. Online dating should be about having fun first.

As with any dating website, Badoo takes measures to keep users safe and their information private. As with all other dating sites, there are some precautions you should take while using the app, too.

Is Badoo Safe?

Any online dating website has its fair share of risks, but Badoo at least ensures that you're talking to real people. They do this by making you link social media accounts and making you do photo verification for your Badoo account. The other user won't see your social media accounts if you don't want them to, and they have no way of getting in touch with you outside of the Badoo dating site.

Women have the ability to request an immediate selfie from men, holding them more accountable for their personal appearance and general behavior. Guys, if you think this is unfair, consider that the userbases of most dating websites are overwhelmingly male. A woman who downloads the app is basically inviting a bunch of hungry apes to drool over her pictures. Cut 'em some slack.

Badoo also ensures that your data is deleted completely after you delete your account. Look up how to delete Badoo account on iPhone if this is something you're thinking of doing. The only data that they keep is block preferences, in case someone decides to subvert a block by making a new account.

Managing Your Badoo Account

Managing your Badoo account is just as easy as on other apps. What's more, you can change your location without having to pay. The phone app will calibrate with your phone's GPS, but you can log into the web version and change your location that way.