With offices in Russia, London and Malta, Badoo is the “largest social discovery network” in the world. Their mission is to offer the best technology for people to meet and their motto seems to be that “happiness is better shared.” Upon landing on the homepage, we noticed a familiar layout. The page is non-scrollable and doesn’t bombard you with information. Similarly, we found this same layout on Mamba.

Badoo has a running count of how many members have joined the site. There are seven variations of how you can sign in and it is always nice to have options. You can also create an account from the homepage, starting with the selection of your gender.

After you select your gender, you are prompted to fill in your name, date of birth, location, email and password. This is all standard information that most dating sites will ask for and no cause for alarm. Please note that when you select your location, it automatically reverts to Russian. One found it strange that Badoo asks if you want to receive special offers and free loans. 

After you fill out the sign up information, Badoo makes it mandatory for you to upload a picture. They also give you the option to upload a picture from Facebook, Instagram and another social media platform. They state that profiles with more than 6 photos are the most popular so take note of this handy tip. 

Subsequently, Badoo asks you to check your email to complete your registration. We did not get the link right away. It did take 5 minutes for us to receive the registration link and it did not show up in our primary inbox. Instead, it was located in the social inbox of our gmail account. Moreover, the entire email was in Russian so you will have to click the “translate” button to read in English. Once you have confirmed registration, Badoo will ask you to verify who you are.

As a part of the verification process for Badoo, you have to send a picture taking the same pose they show you. This method promotes a high level of security and proves that they go above and beyond for the safety of all users.

This is the only site we’ve reviewed that goes through this level of verification. Because there are ample scams in the dating industry, this is an excellent method of security. We would recommend every international dating site to have this type of verification process. 

In terms of profiles, there isn’t much information provided. Badoo doesn’t ask any questions of you or of other members on the site like religion, politics, education, etc. It only allows a member to choose their interests from a list. Unfortunately, if you are looking for a serious relationship, Badoo may not be the site for you.

We got the vibe that it’s more of a “date for fun” social network instead of a platform for long-term relationships. Profiles were purely based on appearance, as other information about the member is lacking. We found it interesting how Badoo offers extensive verification on profiles, but doesn’t offer any real information about its members.

Badoo does offer a mobile app for its users. There are many more features on the mobile app than on the website. This leads us to believe that Badoo spends more time on the mobile platform. Even the layout of the profiles have better design than what is shown on the website.

This feature allows members to do live video streams for any member to watch. Members who stream can gain credits based on how many people tune in. Badoo also encourages streamers to have a credit goal in mind, where members can even opt to do something crazy if they reach their goal. For instance, maybe a member will sing a song or do something silly. This platform seems to be geared toward younger people so if you are older and looking for serious relationships, Badoo may not be the site you need.

When it comes to cost, Badoo is pretty average compared to other dating sites. There are two ways to purchase credits: monthly plans or buying strictly credits. If you go with a 1-month plan, it will be $12.99. Subsequently, going with a 3-month plan will be $10/66/mo (total of $31.99) and a 6-month plan will be $8.00/mo (total $47.99). 

On the other hand, if you only want 100 credits, it will cost you a total of $2.99. Moreover, 550 credits would be $9.99, 1,250 credits would be $19.99 and a whopping 2,750 credits would cost you $39.99.