How to choose an AI companion app (2026), step by step

Here is the order I'd weigh things in, from most to least important for the average person:

• Memory. A companion who forgets you is a stranger with a nice face. This is the feature that separates apps most over weeks.
• The free allowance. It's your only real trial, since most refund rules on these apps are strict.
• Content level. Some apps allow adult content on every plan, others only on paid ones.
• Voice and pictures. Lovely extras, and usually where the monthly cost climbs.
• Leaving. How the plan renews, how you cancel and what the refund rule says.

Put the list in your own order, too. If pictures matter more to you than memory, that's a perfectly good answer, and it simply points to a different app.

My honest view: voice is the one people most often overpay for. It sounds like the heart of the experience, but on several apps it's a paid extra with its own meter. If calls matter to you, read my plain-words guide to AI companion voice calls before you pick a plan for them.

I'd also be kind to yourself about the choice. You don't need the perfect app on day one. You need one with a free start that lets you find out, and a cancel path that lets you leave without a fight.

The apps side by side, right below, puts all six apps from this guide next to each other. Use it to rule out anything that fails your number one need, then read the sections that follow for the rest.

• You want to talk and be remembered: Nomi AI. Reviewers praise its chat as fluid and human-like, and 50 messages a day come free.
• You want to design her look: Candy AI. Reviewers say its images look highly realistic and keep a character's appearance consistent.
• You want several characters in one story: OurDream AI, which lists group chat and custom characters.
• You want lots of free text roleplay: SpicyChat, with unlimited text chat on its free Default model, plus ads.
• You want video calls: Joi AI, whose live video calls are described as the most immersive feature reviewers looked at.

GirlfriendGPT is the odd one out for me. Its paid tiers are clear about message counts, 5,000 a month on Premium and 20,000 on Deluxe, but memory is paid only and reviewers describe a week-long Premium memory test with no recall of a planted detail. I'd only pick it if one of its specific plans fits you exactly. It does run on web and Android, which helps if you prefer an app to a browser.

If you are choosing for friendship and conversation rather than romance, my AI companion app rankings weigh the apps on exactly that.

Monthly plans cost more, and that is the price of flexibility. Nomi AI is $15.99 a month, OurDream AI's Standard Monthly is $19.99, and Joi AI's Premium is $13.99. At the top end, GirlfriendGPT's Elite plan is $50.00 a month.

My rule: never buy a year of an app you have not used for a month. The savings are real, but so are the refund rules, and a year of an app you have stopped opening is the most expensive plan of all.

The others are more mixed. Candy AI's character consistency is described as holding for roughly 10-20 messages before details slip. GirlfriendGPT lists memory as paid only, and a week-long memory test on Premium reportedly saw a planted personal detail forgotten entirely, with made-up details in its place.

SpicyChat takes a plan-by-plan approach: 4K memory free, a memory manager on Get a Taste, semantic memory 2.0 with 8K context on True Supporter and 32K context on Im All In. OurDream AI's Deluxe plan lists 3x chat memory. Joi AI's paid chat is said to hold context across a session, while the free chat feels forgetful.

My take: if memory is your top need, the choice is easy, and Nomi AI's free plan lets you confirm it before paying.

That doesn't make one group better. It just means you should pick the policy that matches what you want before you get attached to a character. If you want a warm, flirty companion and nothing more, every app here will do.

And if you share a device, a policy that keeps adult content off the free tier can even be a plus. If you want more, choose an app whose policy covers it on the plan you're willing to pay for.

I also like that this question is simple to answer honestly. No app changes its policy because you asked nicely, so there's no point hoping. For a ranked view of the apps as romantic partners, my AI girlfriend app rankings sort them by that.

Nomi AI's free plan is permanent: 50 messages a day, up to 400 characters each, no ads, and 2 images a day. SpicyChat gives unlimited text chat on its Default model, with ads, possible waiting lines, 4K memory and no images or voice. Those two are real trials.

Nomi AI's is the one I'd pick for a companion and SpicyChat's for roleplay, though its free replies are capped at 180 tokens.

The others are more like previews. A free-tier check of Candy AI on 2026-09-22 counted 3-5 messages and a similar number of images for the whole account, and nothing refills daily. GirlfriendGPT starts you with 20 bonus messages and 30 coins when you sign up, then Daily Login adds 10 more messages each day.

Joi AI gives 6 lifetime image generations, stored for 7 days, and free character creation. OurDream AI lists 55 Dreamcoins to start at 1 Dreamcoin per message, while its help centre says it doesn't currently offer free dreamcoins.

My view: a preview is fine if you already know you want that app. A real trial is better if you're still choosing. For a closer look at every free allowance, my free AI girlfriend rankings go app by app.

Two apps are a little softer. Outside the EU and UK, Candy AI accepts a refund request within 24 hours of paying, which is short but at least exists. OurDream AI has a 14-day "Quality Guarantee", with support deciding case by case on a credit, replacement, rectification or refund.

So treat the free tier as your refund policy.

GirlfriendGPT includes 400 coins a month on Premium. Joi AI uses Neurons, and its free account shows a balance of 10.

The detail I'd watch is what happens when something fails. Reviewers report that about 1 in 8 Candy AI image generations come back with visible errors and there's no free retry, and that a failed Joi AI image still spends Neurons. On OurDream AI, reviewers describe voice calls draining coins, including images made during a call that weren't requested.

My advice: once a paid plan is a week old, look at your balance and ask whether it went where you meant it to. If not, adjust before the renewal, not after.

It also helps to decide in advance what a currency is for. If your coins are for pictures, don't let calls eat them, and if they're for calls, skip the extras. A budget with a purpose is much harder to blow.

Joi AI uses a My Subscriptions section. SpicyChat's Profile > Manage Subscription sends you to the payment platform, and GirlfriendGPT cancels on the manage subscription page, or on the CCBill website if you were billed through CCBill.

All of these plans renew automatically, so set a reminder. SpicyChat adds a nice touch: subscribers are told in advance if the price rises. With OurDream AI and SpicyChat, you keep access until the paid period is over.

My view: an app that makes leaving clear is an app that expects you to stay because you want to. If you want answers to more practical questions like these, my help guides cover them one at a time.

The detail is in how far that goes on each plan. Joi AI's free account includes a free character to start. SpicyChat's Get a Taste plan allows up to 10 personas, and Nomi AI's Standard plan allows up to 10 active Nomis.

If you'd like more than one companion, or a few versions of the same one, those numbers matter more than the headline price.

My tip: before you pay, open the character builder on the free plan and see whether it leaves room for the person you have in mind, whatever their gender, look or personality. If the builder feels narrow on day one, it rarely gets wider later.

GirlfriendGPT shows NDAI.CC, SpicyChat shows NDAI.CHAT and Joi AI shows joi.com. If a quiet line on your statement matters to you, pick the name you'd be comfortable explaining, and make that part of the decision rather than an afterthought.

Billing names and builder features like these come from each app's official pages as checked in September 2026. Each of these apps has also been on my own phone at some point, free or paid, and the reviews tell those stories, but a fact like a statement name always comes from the source. My page on how I check the apps explains how the two sides stay apart.

Where it falls short is staying power. Reviewers describe character consistency holding for roughly 10-20 messages before details can reset or drop. If you're choosing an app for a long, evolving relationship, that's a real weakness, and I'd weigh it honestly against the design features.

Here's how I'd frame the decision. If you picture yourself opening the app to design a new look, try a new scene and hear a voice, Candy AI fits that habit well, and its voice notes are described as reliable too. If you picture a long conversation that builds over weeks, its reported memory limits will frustrate you, and no amount of polish fixes that. That's a fair trade for some people, and a deal-breaker for others.

The free account is a preview rather than a trial: a few messages and images in total, no daily reset, no video. Adult content is on paid plans only, so you'll be deciding on the paid experience from reviews and a first month. That makes the refund rule more important than usual. Non-EU/UK users have just 24 hours after payment to ask for a refund.

Pricing is where Candy AI is easiest to like once you've decided. The 12-Month Plan works out to one of the lowest monthly equivalents on this page, and there's a 70% discount on it, verified on 2026-09-23. I'd still take a single month first.

Choose Candy AI if looks and voice come first and you'll mostly enjoy shorter conversations. Skip it if memory is your top priority. It's a web app, and charges appear as EverAI. To plan her before paying, see my step-by-step on creating an AI girlfriend.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: €3.99 monthly (12-Month Plan)
• Allowed: mature chat, paid plans
• Runs on: web

The reviews give a balanced picture. Its images are described as looking AI-made rather than photographic, but scene adherence and face consistency are called strong. Video is described as short, uneven and coin-hungry, though still a surprising, well-integrated feature. Voice calls got a 3.6/5 rating, held back mainly by how fast they drain coins.

The free start is the weak point for choosing. The free plan lists 55 Dreamcoins to start at 1 Dreamcoin per message, but the help centre says it doesn't currently offer free dreamcoins, and one reviewer describes the free tier as effectively gone in 2026. You'll likely judge OurDream AI on a paid month.

Here's the question I'd ask before choosing it: do I want to direct a story, or be in one? OurDream AI shines for people who like setting up scenes with several characters and watching them play off each other. If you just want one warm voice at the end of the day, its strengths are wasted, and you'll pay for features you won't use.

That's why its refund policy matters, and it's one of the better ones: a 14-day "Quality Guarantee" where support may offer a credit, replacement, rectification or refund. It isn't guaranteed money back, but it's a genuine safety net that few rivals here offer. Cancelling is simple too, from your profile page, and you keep using it until the paid time runs out.

Choose OurDream AI if you enjoy stories with several characters or want both images and video in one app. Choose something else if you want a free trial or a single, low-cost companion. If you're starting from zero, my step-by-step guide on how to customize an AI companion's personality helps you plan each character before you pay.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: $9.99 monthly (Standard Annual)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web

It's also the easiest to choose without risk. The free plan is permanent, with 50 messages a day, no ads and 2 images a day, so you can spend real time with a companion before paying anything. It runs on web, iOS and Android, the widest platform list here, and adult content is allowed under its policy.

The Standard plan adds unlimited messaging, voice calls, up to 10 active Nomis, up to 10 group chats and 40 image credits daily. Per month, paying yearly is the cheapest way to have it. Just be sure first, because all payments are nonrefundable.

One more reason I like it as a first choice: it's easy to grow with. You can start on the free plan with one companion, move to Standard when you want voice or more room, and add more Nomis later without switching apps. Few apps here make that path so gentle, and I think that's worth a lot while you're still working out what you want.

The weaker spots are clear, and none of them are about chat. Pictures are picked from a fixed gallery, custom prompts aren't an option, and reviewers say it often refuses adult images. Voice calls come with a reported 15-20 second lag. And reviewers mention checkout taking up to three days to process, sometimes needing a US region to complete.

Choose Nomi AI if conversation and memory come first and pictures are a side dish. Choose Candy AI or OurDream AI if designing a look matters most. If the calls are what tempt you to upgrade, my explainer on how AI companion voice calls work will help you judge that lag before you pay.

• Starting free: Free tier, 50 free messages daily
• Lowest price: $8.33 monthly (Standard Plan Yearly)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web, ios, android