Is budgestudios.com safe?

http://budgestudios.com/

Moderate RiskStatus

Coveragestrong2 of 4 applicable core capabilities

Verdict

Budge Studios site promotes children's apps that rely on subscription monetization and are subject to a class-action lawsuit over alleged dark-pattern marketing.

The site is the official landing page for Budge Studios, a Canadian developer of licensed mobile games for children. While the website itself shows no malware or phishing indicators, the apps it promotes have drawn legal and user complaints about manipulative in-app purchase prompts and the conversion of previously free content to paid subscriptions.

Parents should review in-app purchase settings and subscription terms before allowing children to use the apps; the website itself is low-risk for malware but the monetization model carries documented consumer-protection concerns.

Read full analysis

Loading saved screenshot

Preparing the saved page preview.

Saved site captureCaptured safely during this scan No antivirus detections across 92 engines

Calibrated safety spectrum

Where this site sits

Dangerous1–20
High Risk21–44
Moderate Risk45–69
Low Risk70–84
Safe85–100

The score combines saved evidence strength and analysis quality. Coverage is reported separately.

01 · Investigation Brief

Investigation Brief

Legal and user complaints

A class-action lawsuit alleges that Budge Studios uses manipulative design techniques and dark patterns to encourage children to initiate in-app purchases.

App-store reviews specifically criticize the shift from free gameplay to a paid subscription model, with one user noting a nearly £7 monthly charge for content that was previously free.

Technical assessment

The domain is over 14 years old and hosted on infrastructure with a clean abuse-confidence score, indicating no active malware distribution or phishing infrastructure.

The site displays a standard cookie banner and promotes legitimate app-store downloads rather than direct executable files.

Why the score is 62

Ongoing class-action suit alleges dark-pattern marketing toward children. Coverage remains separate so missing sources cannot be mistaken for clean results.

02 · Security Evidence

Security evidence

Collected signals and independent provider data for this URL.

Antivirus Engines

0/ 92

No detections

Saved result - stale

No detections across 92 engines

No antivirus engine in this saved scan raised an adverse result. This is one signal, not a guarantee.

Malicious: 0
Suspicious: 0
Total: 92

All 92 engine results

0xSI_f33d - unrated - Clean
Abusix - clean - Clean
Acronis - clean - Clean
ADMINUSLabs - clean - Clean
AILabs (MONITORAPP) - clean - Clean
AlienVault - clean - Clean
alphaMountain.ai - clean - Clean
AlphaSOC - unrated - Clean
Antiy-AVL - clean - Clean
ArcSight Threat Intelligence - unrated - Clean
AutoShun - unrated - Clean
Bfore.Ai PreCrime - unrated - Clean
BitDefender - clean - Clean
Bkav - unrated - Clean
BlockList - clean - Clean
Blueliv - clean - Clean
Certego - clean - Clean
ChainPatrol - unrated - Clean
Chong Lua Dao - unrated - Clean
CINS Army - clean - Clean
Cluster25 - unrated - Clean
CRDF - clean - Clean
Criminal IP - unrated - Clean
CSIS Security Group - unrated - Clean
CTX AI - clean - Clean
Cyan - unrated - Clean
Cyble - clean - Clean
CyRadar - clean - Clean
desenmascara.me - clean - Clean
DNS8 - clean - Clean
Dr.Web - clean - Clean
EmergingThreats - clean - Clean
Emsisoft - clean - Clean
Ermes - unrated - Clean
ESET - clean - Clean
ESTsecurity - clean - Clean
Forcepoint ThreatSeeker - clean - Clean
Fortinet - clean - Clean
Fortra - unrated - Clean
G-Data - clean - Clean
GCP Abuse Intelligence - unrated - Clean
Google Safe Browsing - clean - Clean
GreenSnow - clean - Clean
GreyNoise - unrated - Clean
Gridinsoft - unrated - Clean
Guardpot - unrated - Clean
Heimdal Security - clean - Clean
Hunt.io Intelligence - unrated - Clean
IPsum - clean - Clean
Juniper Networks - clean - Clean
K7AntiVirus - unrated - Clean
Kaspersky - clean - Clean
LevelBlue - clean - Clean
Lionic - clean - Clean
Lumu - unrated - Clean
Malwared - clean - Clean
MalwarePatrol - clean - Clean
MalwareURL - unrated - Clean
Mimecast - unrated - Clean
Netcraft - unrated - Clean
OpenPhish - clean - Clean
PhishFort - unrated - Clean
Phishing Database - clean - Clean
Phishtank - clean - Clean
PREBYTES - clean - Clean
PrecisionSec - unrated - Clean
Quick Heal - clean - Clean
Quttera - clean - Clean
Rising - clean - Clean
SafeToOpen - unrated - Clean
Sangfor - clean - Clean
Sansec eComscan - unrated - Clean
Scantitan - clean - Clean
SCUMWARE.org - clean - Clean
Seclookup - clean - Clean
Snort IP sample list - unrated - Clean
SOCRadar - unrated - Clean
Sophos - clean - Clean
StopForumSpam - clean - Clean
Sucuri SiteCheck - clean - Clean
ThreatHive - clean - Clean
URLhaus - clean - Clean
URLQuery - unrated - Clean
Viettel Threat Intelligence - clean - Clean
VIPRE - unrated - Clean
ViriBack - clean - Clean
VX Vault - clean - Clean
Webroot - clean - Clean
Xcitium Verdict Cloud - clean - Clean
Yandex Safebrowsing - clean - Clean
ZeroCERT - clean - Clean
ZeroFox - unrated - Clean

Security Scans

Browser Threat Feed

Not flagged on major threat lists

Checked against the browser threat feeds available to this scan — no hit.

What we observed

Loading saved screenshot

Preparing the saved page preview.

CAPTURED PAGE

budgestudios.com

What our review noticed on this page

1This website uses cookies to understand traffic to our site and improve user experience. Learn more

Visual analysis

Visual context from the captured page

This website uses cookies to understand traffic to our site and improve user experience. Learn more

Context only

What the captured page showed

1 observation

01
This website uses cookies to understand traffic to our site and improve user experience. Learn more

03 · Investigation Story

Investigation story

The behavior, reputation, and operator evidence that explains how this site may affect a visitor.

What the site claims
Budge Studios | Apps for Kids
What we observed
The page content was captured and checked alongside 92 antivirus results.
What independent research found
2 external findings were saved and compared with the page evidence.
What remains unverified
2 of the 4 applicable core capabilities did not complete, so those gaps remain visible in the coverage ledger.

What kind of site and risk is this?

Threat category

Subscription Trap

Service and business model

Content

Subscription

Observed behavior

No disruptive browser behavior saved

Evidence behind this classification

01Ongoing class-action suit alleges dark-pattern marketing toward children.
02Multiple user reviews cite unexpected subscription charges after free-to-play transition.
03Subscription App

Web research findings

Independent findings for budgestudios.com, including public complaints, named review sources, registration records, and look-alike-domain evidence. A missing result is shown as unverified, never converted into a clean bill of health.

Business registration

No public record found

Could not match the site to a registered company — common for small sites.

Clone check

No clone detected

The completed research found no supported clone indicator.

Typosquat check

No look-alike match

The completed research found no supported look-alike match.

Web mentions

2 scam reports

Scam reports (2)

Direct quotes from public scam databases, forums, and news.

ClassAction.orgopen
"Budge conditions advancement or further gameplay on in-app purchases that are foisted on the child user through various manipulative design techniques and dark patterns"
Google Play Storeopen
"I am not paying nearly 7 pounds a month for something that used to be free. When I used to play it it was free and so fun. But now your charging for a kids game?"

Reputation Sources

How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.

Google Safe Browsing

Not listedCheck ↗

VirusTotal

Not listedCheck ↗

AbuseIPDB

Not listedCheck ↗

Also verify:Spamhaus ↗DNSBL / SURBL ↗PhishTank ↗

04 · Domain & Infrastructure

Domain & infrastructure

Timeline · identity · encryption · redirects · hosting

The plumbing behind the site — who registered it, how it’s encrypted, where it’s hosted, and where it links out. A valid certificate or a calm server doesn’t mean the business is honest — scam sites pass these checks too. Use this to corroborate the verdict, not to overturn it.

Infrastructure map

How the saved page connected to the wider web.

Domainbudgestudios.com
Redirects tobudgestudios.com
Hosted byCloudflare, Inc.
Referenceswatermark.deuxhuithuit.com · google-analytics.com

Domain Timeline

Oct 18, 2011
Domain registered
First appeared in WHOIS records — 15 years old today.
Sep 1, 2026
Saved security review — Flagged as suspicious
The completed checks from this saved scan are detailed above.

budgestudios.com is an established domain now carrying threat signals. An older domain that starts tripping security checks is a classic pattern for an asset that was sold, repurposed, or compromised — the age alone is not reassurance.

Contact Verification

Saved contact details can help identify the operator. Their presence supports traceability; it does not prove the business is trustworthy.

What We Found

Has contact info, but not on the site's domain

Emails on site's domainNone

Phone numbers(916) 445-1254

Postal addressNot listed

Linked social profiles0

Signal Summary

Contact details look reasonable

Phone number listed ((916) 445-1254).

Domain & Encryption

Domain History

Age15 years old

RegistrarAmazon Registrar, Inc.

RegisteredOct 18, 2011

ExpiresOct 18, 2026

Owner privacyUnknown

Encryption Certificate

StatusValid

ProtocolTLSv1.3

IssuerGoogle Trust Services · WE1

ExpiresOct 29, 2026 (58d)

Self-signedNo

Hosting & Technology

HostingCloudflare, Inc.

Server locationUS

Web servercloudflare

Redirect Chain

Hops

Cross-domain

Lookalike

Punycode

1301http://budgestudios.com/
2302https://budgestudios.com/
3206https://budgestudios.com/en/

Server Reputation

Abuse Intelligence

Confidence score0%

Reports on file0

ISPCloudflare, Inc.

Usage typeContent Delivery Network

Referenced Domains

Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.

watermark.deuxhuithuit.com google-analytics.com maps.googleapis.com f.vimeocdn.com youtube.com fonts.googleapis.com googletagmanager.com esrb.org facebook.com twitter.com instagram.com static.cloudflareinsights.com

05 · Evidence Ledger

Evidence ledger

Coverage, provenance, and source freshness remain separate so a missing check is never mistaken for a clean result.

Antiviruspartial
Browser threat feedcomplete
Page contentcomplete
Analysispartial
Visual evidencecomplete

Completed analysis

The conclusion is supported by the evidence saved with this report.

Technical threat

unknown

Malware, phishing, credential theft and hostile infrastructure.

No confirmed evidence in this dimension.

Operator / customer risk

suspicious

Complaints, withdrawals, business conduct and commercial traps.

Additional evidence review · Additional evidence review

Source coverage and freshness

Status shows whether usable evidence was saved; finding shows what that evidence observed.

Source coverage
Source	Result	Completion	Finding	Freshness
Antivirus	0 of 92 engines flagged	Limited	No saved finding	stale fallback · Sep 1, 2026
Browser protection	No browser threat-list match	Completed	No adverse finding	Not available
Page content	Page fetched · HTTP 200	Completed	No adverse finding	Not available
Visual evidence	1 visible observation saved with the page capture	Completed	No adverse finding	Not available
Independent research	2 independent findings were saved	Completed	Adverse	Not available

Antivirus: Result0 of 92 engines flagged; CompletionLimited; FindingNo saved finding; Freshnessstale fallback · Sep 1, 2026
Browser protection: ResultNo browser threat-list match; CompletionCompleted; FindingNo adverse finding; FreshnessNot available
Page content: ResultPage fetched · HTTP 200; CompletionCompleted; FindingNo adverse finding; FreshnessNot available
Visual evidence: Result1 visible observation saved with the page capture; CompletionCompleted; FindingNo adverse finding; FreshnessNot available
Independent research: Result2 independent findings were saved; CompletionCompleted; FindingAdverse; FreshnessNot available

06 · Your Next Move

Your next move

Proceed with caution

Our automated review flagged enough risk that you should treat this site as unverified.

Analyst recommendation
Parents should review in-app purchase settings and subscription terms before allowing children to use the apps; the website itself is low-risk for malware but the monetization model carries documented consumer-protection concerns.
Treat budgestudios.com as unverified
Do not enter credentials or send money until you have independently verified the business.
Verify the business through independent channels
Check the company's social profiles, registry records, and search for recent news or reviews that are not hosted on the site itself.
Never use irreversible payment methods
Crypto, gift cards, wire transfers, and cash apps offer zero buyer protection. Use a credit card or PayPal if you must pay.
Share your experience
If you have additional context, drop a comment below or post on the MalwareTips forum.
Open

07 · Safety FAQ

Safety FAQ

Common questions, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers reflect the saved verdict and evidence in this report.

Is budgestudios.com a scam or is it safe?

There isn't enough evidence yet for us to give budgestudios.com a confident verdict, so treat it with caution. The domain is 14.9 years old. Until it can be independently verified, don't enter passwords, card details, or send money, and confirm the company through channels you find yourself rather than links on the site.

Is budgestudios.com safe to use?

budgestudios.com has a Safety Score of 62/100 (Moderate Risk). Analysis coverage is strong at 83%. Do not trust blindly; analysis may be limited.

Has budgestudios.com been flagged by antivirus engines?

No — all 92 antivirus and blocklist engines in our malware network currently report budgestudios.com as clean. That's a good sign, though antivirus coverage is only one of the many signals we weigh, and brand-new scam sites can appear clean before vendors catch up.

Is budgestudios.com on any phishing or malware blacklists?

No — budgestudios.com is not currently on the major browser blocklist feeds that Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge rely on. Note that blocklists can lag behind brand-new scam domains, so "not listed" is reassuring but not a guarantee on its own.

How old is the budgestudios.com domain?

budgestudios.com is 14.9 years old, registered on October 18, 2011 through Amazon Registrar, Inc.. A multi-year registration history is one of the stronger signals against a scam, though it's never a guarantee on its own — established domains can still be misused.

Does budgestudios.com have a valid SSL certificate?

Yes — budgestudios.com presents a valid TLSv1.3 certificate issued by Google Trust Services · WE1, valid for another 58 days. Important caveat: SSL only encrypts the connection between you and the site — it does not verify who runs it. Almost all scam sites now have valid SSL too, so a padlock alone never means "safe".

Where is budgestudios.com hosted?

budgestudios.com resolves to an IP operated by Cloudflare, Inc. in US (Content Delivery Network). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad — but hosting that doesn't match a brand's claimed country, or that sits on networks known for abuse, is one of the many signals we weigh alongside the verdict above.

How often is the budgestudios.com report updated?

This report is a record of the scan run on September 1, 2026, and the verdict reflects that point in time. Scam sites change fast — they can go live, get flagged, or vanish within days — so if you believe something about budgestudios.com has changed, MalwareTips staff can run a fresh scan that re-checks every signal from scratch and republishes an updated verdict.

08 · Final Verdict

Final verdict

The saved conclusion, decisive evidence, and practical action in one final view.

Verdict score

62/100

Moderate Risk

Budge Studios site promotes children's apps that rely on subscription monetization and are subject to a class-action lawsuit over alleged dark-pattern marketing.

Captured during this scan. Opening this report does not revisit the site.

Conclusion

Recommended actionParents should review in-app purchase settings and subscription terms before allowing children to use the apps; the website itself is low-risk for malware but the monetization model carries documented consumer-protection concerns.

Continue toCommunity

09 · Community

Community

First-hand experiences add human context after the scanner has reached its conclusion.

Is budgestudios.com safe?

Budge Studios site promotes children's apps that rely on subscription monetization and are subject to a class-action lawsuit over alleged dark-pattern marketing.

Legal and user complaints

Technical assessment

Why the score is 62

What the captured page showed

What the site claims

What we observed

What independent research found

What remains unverified

Technical threat

Operator / customer risk

Proceed with caution

Analyst recommendation

Treat budgestudios.com as unverified

Verify the business through independent channels

Never use irreversible payment methods

Share your experience

Budge Studios site promotes children's apps that rely on subscription monetization and are subject to a class-action lawsuit over alleged dark-pattern marketing.

More reports in this category