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Scruff
Owned by Perry Street SoftwareBest for a community-minded, travel-safe Grindr alternative
Scruff is the community-minded Grindr alternative, notable for ILGA-built travel safety alerts and granular pricing.
Key facts
Owner: Perry Street Software.
Free tier: Scruff's free tier is rated Usable; you can message your matches without paying.
Cost: The cheapest premium tier costs $3.99/mo in the US.
App Store rating: On the Apple App Store, Scruff holds 4.37 out of 5 from 27,065 ratings. source
Safety: No cited data-breach incidents are on record for Scruff.
Scruff is the main alternative to Grindr for gay and bisexual men, and it positions itself as the more community-minded of the two. Profiles carry pronouns and health fields, and its safety alerts, built with ILGA, warn travellers in countries that criminalise homosexuality.
The free tier is usable, and Scruff sells its Pro features in unusually granular add-ons rather than one bundle. It is owned by Perry Street Software, independent of the larger groups.
Scruff's granular pricing is worth exploiting. If all you want is unlimited browsing, buy the standalone Browsing Pro add-on at about $3.99 a month instead of the full SCRUFF Pro bundle near $14.99. That keeps costs well below Grindr's paid tiers, and since the free version already covers messaging, most users can pay little or nothing.
US position: Editorially positioned as the second-largest dedicated gay dating app in the US behind Grindr (category, not overall) [src]
Pricing (US)
| Tier | Per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Browsing Pro | 3.99 USD | Standalone browsing add-on [src] |
| SCRUFF Pro | 14.99 USD | Multiple durations up to $119.99 (annual-equivalent); range $3.99-$39.99 by term [src] |
Cheapest premium floor (cost-to-connect): $3.99/mo
Free tier
- Message matches for free: Yes
- Free likes/day: not capped / unknown
- Paywalled: unlimited profile browsing, advanced filters, ad-free, see who Woofed you, albums/private photo sharing
Safety & privacy
| Photo verification | Yes |
|---|---|
| Screenshot blocking | — |
| Incognito mode | Yes |
| Encryption notes | Optional selfie-pose verification badge; ILGA-built safety alerts in ~100 countries that criminalize homosexuality; Mozilla could not confirm message encryption. |
Breach & privacy ledger
No cited data-breach incidents on record.
Feature matrix
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| identity_fields | Gender identity, pronouns, and HIV status/health fields [src] |
| woof | 'Woof' gesture to signal interest [src] |
| safety_alerts | ILGA-partnered alerts warn users in countries criminalizing homosexuality [src] |
Screenshots
© Perry Street Software, Inc, via the Apple App Store listing — editorial/nominative review use
Head-to-head
Frequently asked questions
Is Scruff free to use?
Scruff's free tier is rated Usable; you can message your matches without paying. Paid features include unlimited profile browsing, advanced filters, ad-free, see who Woofed you, albums/private photo sharing.
How much does Scruff cost in the US?
The cheapest premium tier costs $3.99/mo in the US. That is the lowest effective monthly rate, usually on a longer plan; single-month plans cost more.
Who owns Scruff?
Scruff is owned by Perry Street Software.
Has Scruff had a data breach?
No cited data-breach incidents are on record for Scruff.
What is Scruff's App Store rating?
On the Apple App Store, Scruff holds 4.37 out of 5 from 27,065 ratings.