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BeReal Pricing Breakdown: Is BeReal Free? What You're Actually Getting

Last updated: March 21, 2026

TLDR

BeReal is free and has never charged users. It was acquired by Voodoo in 2024 according to widely reported press coverage. There is no paid tier, no premium features, and no ads (historically). Its future development direction is controlled by a mobile gaming company. Truliv starts at $9/month with a 30-day free trial.

BeReal

$0

per month

vs

Truliv

$9–$19/mo

30-day free trial / $9/mo

BeReal Pricing Tiers

BeReal vs Truliv pricing comparison
BeRealTruliv Free TrialTruliv ($9/mo)Truliv Pro ($19/mo)
Price$0$0 for 30 days$9/month$19/month
Human verificationNoneLiveness checkLiveness checkLiveness check
Content postingYes — daily formatYesYesYes + Pro features
Platform statusActive (post-acquisition)LiveLiveLive
Bot protectionNoneStructural (liveness)Structural (liveness)Structural (liveness)
Parent companyVoodoo (mobile games)IndependentIndependentIndependent

What you don't get with BeReal

  • Platform uncertainty — Voodoo acquisition means unknown future direction
  • Limited feature development since acquisition
  • No human verification — friends list may include fake accounts
  • Data collected by Voodoo, a mobile advertising company

BeReal’s Pricing Is Simple: Free

BeReal has always been free. No subscription, no premium tier, no in-app purchases. Every user gets the same app with the same features.

This simplicity was part of the product’s identity — no algorithmic optimization for engagement, no ads to optimize for, no paying users to prioritize. One notification per day, two minutes to post, friends see it chronologically.

The business question that hung over BeReal throughout its rise was obvious: how does a free app with no ads sustain itself? The answer turned out to be acquisition — Voodoo bought the company in 2024.

What Free Means for BeReal’s Future

Voodoo is a mobile gaming company with a track record in free-to-play games supported by advertising and in-app purchases. Whether BeReal remains free indefinitely, introduces ads, or adds a premium tier is not public information at the time of writing.

What’s clear is that the original team’s vision — a small, non-monetized social app — is no longer steering the product. The acquirer’s business model and priorities will shape BeReal’s direction from here.

This isn’t necessarily a negative development, but it’s worth understanding when you’re choosing where to invest time building a social presence.

BeReal vs Truliv on Pricing

The direct monetary comparison is straightforward: BeReal is free, Truliv is $9/month after a 30-day free trial.

The more relevant comparison is what you’re getting for each price point.

BeReal is free, has a declining user base, was built without human verification, and is now owned by a company whose primary expertise is mobile gaming rather than social networking.

Truliv charges after the free trial. The $9/month is introductory pricing — testing whether people will pay for a human-verified social network. The rate locks in at signup, so early members keep that price.

If you want a free social app today, BeReal is a real option (if your friends still use it). If the bot and verification problem is what you’re trying to solve, BeReal never addressed that and Truliv is building specifically toward it.

The Verification Gap

BeReal’s format — simultaneous dual-camera capture — created a social incentive toward authenticity: you couldn’t pre-plan a polished photo because the notification was random and the window was short.

That’s not verification. Anyone could create a BeReal account. The spontaneity mechanism pressured human users to be genuine, but it did nothing to confirm that accounts belonged to humans at all.

Truliv’s approach is structural: verify first, then post. The 60-second liveness check happens once per account. No amount of clever formatting replaces the mechanical question of whether an account holder is a real person.

$0 — BeReal has always been free with no paid subscription

Source: BeReal app (iOS App Store and Google Play) — no in-app purchases listed

Q&A

Does BeReal cost money?

No. BeReal is free to download and use. There are no in-app purchases, no premium subscription, and no paid tier. BeReal has never charged users.

Q&A

Is BeReal free?

Yes. BeReal is completely free. The app is available on iOS and Android at no cost, and all features are available to all users without payment.

Q&A

Will BeReal ever charge for subscriptions?

Unknown. Voodoo, which acquired BeReal in 2024, is a mobile gaming company that relies heavily on ad revenue and in-app purchases in its other apps. Whether BeReal eventually introduces ads, paid features, or in-app purchases is unclear. At the time of writing, BeReal remains free with no announced monetization changes.

Q&A

How does BeReal make money?

As of the time of writing, BeReal has not had a clear monetization model. This was one of the persistent questions about the company's sustainability before the Voodoo acquisition. The acquisition by Voodoo suggests the acquiring company sees monetization potential — whether through ads, data, or feature expansion — though nothing has been formally announced.

Want a platform that actually verifies humans?

Try Truliv free — no credit card required.

BeReal Truliv
Monthly cost $0 $9–$19/mo
Setup fee Varies $0
Contract None None
What happened to BeReal?
BeReal peaked in popularity in 2022, briefly becoming the top downloaded app in multiple countries. User growth slowed through 2023. In June 2024, BeReal was acquired by French mobile gaming company Voodoo according to widely reported press coverage. The app continues to operate and has added new features, but its user base and engagement levels have declined from their 2022 peak.
Is BeReal still active in 2026?
BeReal continues to operate after the Voodoo acquisition. Whether its user base has stabilized or continued to decline is unclear from public information. The platform has been adding features including a public discovery tab, moving away from its original friends-only format.
Does BeReal have ads?
BeReal historically had no ads. Whether this changes under Voodoo ownership is unknown at the time of writing.

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