Comparison
Local Cougars vs CougarLife
Two sites built for the same attraction, compared fairly: who runs them, how you pay and how each works on your phone.
- Free to join
- 18+ only
CougarLife is the best-known international name in cougar dating, with a long-running promise of "experienced women meeting younger men". Local Cougars has introduced older women to younger men since 2013, with members in the UK, South Africa, the USA and Australia. Both are built for exactly the same kind of attraction. The differences are in who runs them, how you pay and how easy they are to use on your phone today.
| What you get | Local Cougars | CougarLife |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Older women and younger men in the UK, USA, South Africa and Australia | Older women and younger men, international |
| Who runs it | HubPeople, a specialist dating platform | The group behind Ashley Madison |
| How you pay | Free account, then VIP or VIP Plus membership | Credits for most features; women can message free |
| Free messaging | A set number of messages a day for everyone, plus replies to paid members | Free for women; men use credits |
| ID checks | Free ID or video check with a verified badge | No published ID check found |
| On a phone | Works in any phone browser and installs to your home screen | iPhone app in the US, Canada, Ireland and Australia, not the UK; no Android app found |
| Members you can see | Real age mix published: women mostly 35 to 44 | No current figures published |
Who is behind each site
CougarLife belongs to the same Toronto-based group as Ashley Madison, the company formerly called Avid Life Media and renamed ruby in 2016. In October 2026 its UK web addresses were taking visitors to an Ashley Madison domain. Local Cougars runs on HubPeople, a dating platform that hosts many specialist sites, with its moderation, payments and round-the-clock support team behind every one of them. If it matters to you that a cougar site stands on its own rather than inside a married-dating brand, that is a real difference.
Credits or a membership
CougarLife lets women start conversations free and runs most other features on credits, so what you spend depends on how much you use it. Local Cougars gives every member, men and women alike, a free account with a number of messages each day and the right to reply to paid members. A VIP or VIP Plus membership then lifts the limit for a fixed price per week or month, set out on our pricing page. Many people find a membership easier to budget for than credits.
Easy on any phone
When we checked in October 2026, CougarLife's iPhone app was available in the US, Canada, Ireland and Australia but not in the UK App Store, and we could not find an Android app. Local Cougars runs in the browser on any phone and saves to your home screen as an app-style icon, so it is the same on an iPhone, an Android phone or a laptop.
Checks you can see
On Local Cougars, anyone can prove they are real with a free ID check or a live chat on video with a moderator, and wear the verified badge that follows. Uploads are screened by software and by people, nudity stays behind a blur until you tap to see it, and you get a warning if a match tries to switch you to WhatsApp. The whole list is on our safety page. We publish the real age mix of our members too: most women are 35 to 44 and three quarters of the men are under 35, so you can see who you are likely to meet before you join.
Which suits you?
If you want the best-known global brand and you are happy with credits, CougarLife is the familiar name. If you want a cougar site that is easy to use on any phone, with free ID checks, a free account for men as well as women and a clear membership price, Local Cougars is built for you.
Local Cougars or CougarLife: your questions
Is CougarLife the same company as Ashley Madison?
It belongs to the same group, the company formerly called Avid Life Media and renamed ruby in 2016.
Is CougarLife available in the UK?
When we checked in October 2026, its UK web addresses led to an Ashley Madison domain and its iPhone app was not in the UK App Store.
Can men message free on Local Cougars?
Yes. Every free account gets a number of messages a day and can reply to paid members at any time.
Which is cheaper?
It depends how you use them. CougarLife uses credits; Local Cougars has a free account and fixed-price memberships listed on our pricing page.