Ashley Madison Review 2026: Pay-Per-Message Credits, a Mobile Fee and the 2015 Breach

Ashley Madison runs on credits. Credits pay for messages, Winks and Private Key Requests, according to the help center.

The first message to a member costs credits, and later standard messages to the same member are free. Priority Messages are switched on by default and cost more.

New members are offered an Introductory Package of 100 credits. The help center states that Ashley Madison "doesn't currently offer free trials."

Prices That Could Be Checked

The US App Store lists an Introductory Package at $71.99 or $84.99, a 50-credit promo at $14.99, and bigger packs up to $249.99. Credit counts for most packs are not shown there.

Web prices appear only after login. Third-party review sites report roughly $59 for 100 credits, $169 for 500 and $289 for 1,000, but those figures are unconfirmed.

Extra Charges to Know About

• Mobile Access Fee: the help center calls it mandatory, with a price that varies by region.
• Subscriptions: Ashley Preferred is listed at $32.99 on the US App Store; Prime, Priority Man and Collect are also named.
• Auto Credit Top-Up: reloads credits when the balance falls to 12.

Refunds are tight: the help center says it does not refund unused subscription time and treats sales as final, apart from statutory cooling-off rights.

Many review sites say women use Ashley Madison free while men pay. The official help center does not state that rule.

It defines a "Full Member", who can message, as anyone with a positive credit balance, with no gender exception. Treat "free for women" as reported, not confirmed.

The ratio of men to women is also unpublished by the company, so claims about gender balance cannot be verified.

In July 2015 a group calling itself the Impact Team announced it had breached the company's systems. It later published user data.

A joint investigation by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Australian Information Commissioner put the number of affected accounts at about 36 million. The 22 August 2016 report found no documented information security policies and a misleading "trusted security award" trustmark on the site.

It also found data was kept indefinitely and that a C$19 "full delete" fee applied. The company committed to fixes, including free full deletion.

FTC and Class-Action Outcomes

On 14 December 2016 the operators settled with the US Federal Trade Commission, 13 states and the District of Columbia.

The agencies alleged that fake female "engager" profiles were used until August 2014, that the security award was invented, that security was lax, and that data was kept after the paid Full Delete.

The company paid $1.6 million against an $8.75 million judgment. A separate $11.2 million class settlement covering about 37 million users was announced on 14 July 2017, with no admission of wrongdoing.

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The company's own Trust and Safety page says "too many have slipped through" and apologises "without reservation" for fake profiles. It points to profile verification, AI detection and more human moderation.

Optional badges now exist: a Selfie-Verified status and an ID Verified status based on government ID. Text and photo changes are approved by hand, usually within about four hours and up to 24.

Privacy Controls

• 2FA: two-step authentication with time-sensitive codes.
• Stealth tools: an iOS Stealth Mode icon and Discreet Match are documented.
• Billing: the help center says the statement descriptor is discreet, though "some banks or credit card companies can override" it.
• Data policy: the privacy policy says it never sells personal data and that photos are AI-scanned for rule breaks, not facial recognition.

No end-to-end encryption claim was found in the privacy policy or help center, so do not assume messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Full deletion is now free in the app and on the web, according to the help center. It forfeits remaining credits.

Some payment and usage data is kept for up to 6 months. Deactivated accounts are deleted after 12 months of inactivity.

The old paid delete option was the subject of the 2016 regulator findings, so the free version matters. Turn off Auto Credit Top-Up and any subscription before deleting, since refunds are not offered for unused time.

Ashley Madison's tagline changed from "Life is Short. Have an Affair" to "Where Desire Meets Discretion", and the company claims 91 million members since 2002 across 40-plus countries. That figure is a company claim, not independently verified.

It does not verify marital status, so the mix of members is unpublished. It suits adults who want a discretion-led niche service and accept the per-message cost.

Single users looking for casual dating have flat-fee alternatives. See the AdultFriendFinder review, the Victoria Milan review or best affair sites.

The graphic below summarises the documented positives and negatives covered above.

For more detail on costs and legitimacy see how much Ashley Madison costs and is Ashley Madison legit.

This review is built from documents, not use of the service. In October 2026 the Ashley Madison homepage, terms, privacy policy, the help center articles on credits, refunds, accounts and safety, and the US App Store and Google Play listings were checked.

Records came from the FTC press release, the Canadian privacy commissioner's 2016 report and press coverage of the 2017 settlement. Help pages block automated access, so facts from them carry the 7 Oct 2026 check date.

No account was created, no credits were bought and the platform was not used. Sub-scores therefore rest on documented features and third-party records, which means lower confidence than a tested review.