Is Growlr safe?

What is Growlr?

Niche location-based app for the "bear" subculture (bears, cubs, chasers) within the gay male community; grid/proximity browsing with public/private photo galleries, ~10M+ members claimed.

Category: Gay/bi men, bear community specifically

Safety rating: Basic

Growlr is transparent about its own limits: explicitly no background checks, verification described by third parties as email-only (no photo/selfie verification confirmed), and reviewers note an active bot/scam-account problem. Does hold a Tier 2 rating under Australia's Online Safety Code, a real governance signal.

Ratings are qualitative (Strong, Moderate or Basic) and based only on safety features we could verify from the app’s own help pages and reputable reporting. How we rate apps.

Growlr safety features

• Tier 2 rating under Australia's Online Safety Code for Dating Services
• In-app reporting (harassment, assault, abuse, criminal records, threats) — reporter identity kept confidential
• Block feature
• Public/private photo galleries for discretion
• Community guidelines banning nudity/sex-act photos and under-18s
• No disclosed photo/selfie or ID verification beyond email; no background-check partnership beyond the Code; no AI scam detection

A red cross marks a feature that has ended, is missing or could not be confirmed.

Features and pricing

• Free: browsing, messaging (with ads)
• PRO (~$9.99/mo up to ~$71.99/yr): ad-free, video calls, unlock private photos, anonymous viewing
• Shout (paid radius broadcast) and Flash (paid boost)

How to report a scammer or harassment on Growlr

Report the profile inside the app first, then use Growlr’s own help and safety pages:

• growlrapp.com/online-safe-dating-code
• growlrapp.com/community-guidelines

Screenshot the profile and messages before you block or unmatch, because the conversation may disappear. If you have lost money, contact your bank straight away and report it to the police or national fraud service listed on this page.

Staying safer on Growlr

• Our research did not find a photo-verification feature on Growlr, so reverse-image-search a match’s photos before you invest time in them.
• Keep the conversation in the app until you have met. Scammers push early for WhatsApp, Telegram or text because the app can no longer see or moderate the chat.
• Ask for a live video call before meeting. Repeated excuses, a camera that never works or a face that looks off are all reasons to stop.
• Be alert to meet-up robbery setups: insist on a public first meeting and be wary of a match who will only meet at a private address.
• Never send money, crypto, gift cards or a verification code to someone you have only met online, whatever the story.
• Meet somewhere busy and public, arrange your own travel and tell a friend where you will be.

Scams to watch for

Meet-up robbery setups

Criminals use fake profiles to arrange a date at a private home, quiet park or isolated spot.

Sextortion and image blackmail

The criminal poses as an attractive person (often a young woman) on a dating app, social media or game, flirts quickly, and persuades the target to exchange nude images or join an intimate video call that is secretly recorded.

Fake ‘safety ID’ verification links

Soon after matching, the scammer moves the chat to an encrypted messenger and says that, for their safety, you must 'verify' on a third-party website before meeting.

Catfishing and impersonation

Scammers build profiles from photos stolen from real people – often soldiers, professionals or celebrities – and invent a life that explains why they cannot meet: deployed overseas, working on an oil rig, with an international organisation, or too famous.

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