Free AI companion apps: what 11 of them give before you pay

OurDream AI gives 55 Dreamcoins at 1 per message, so its free start is short, but the paid plan behind it is strong.

Two free plans further down go wider still: Dippy AI, sixth here, and Perchance both list unlimited messages and images at no cost, paid for by ads.

My take: pick by what you'll use every day, not by the word free on a button. If you also want no content filter, my uncensored AI list covers that question.

Next came the companion side, because a free chatbot and a free companion aren't the same thing. Memory, voice calls and the option to create your own character all count, since a companion should feel like the same person tomorrow. Then price: which paid plan is worth it once you outgrow free. Content level mattered least here, but I still note it for every app.

The order weighs these facts from official pages, not my own months with the apps, although every one has been on my phone, free or paid; where other reviewers add something, it is labelled as theirs. The full method is on my page about how I check the apps.

In every entry I cover the free allowance in plain numbers, how long it lasts, the first plan worth buying and the catch. My advice: open two free plans side by side for a week before you pay anyone. Readers after a story more than a companion will do better with my AI chat roleplay list.

For a companion, the free plan has limits worth knowing up front. Memory is 4K, replies stop at 180 tokens, and there are no images or voice at all. Other reviewers say free memory reaches back roughly 30 messages, so a long friendship will need the odd reminder.

You can build your own character, choosing looks, personality and backstory, or start from someone in the huge community library.

Its policy allows adult content, and outside reviews say a signed-in free account can switch adult text on in settings, while a signed-out visitor stays in a clean mode.

Outgrow free and Get a Taste costs $5.95 a month, or $60 a year, which removes the ads and the queue and adds a memory manager for key details. Pictures only start at True Supporter, $19.95 a month.

The catch: once you've used a paid account, refunds are for exceptional cases only, so stay free until you're sure. Skip it if you want a free companion you can also see or hear. My SpicyChat review has every tier.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: $5.00 monthly (Get a Taste)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web

That is a free plan you can live on. Fifty messages is a proper evening chat, and the daily reset means you're never locked out for a month. What you don't get free: voice calls and group chats, which are paid features.

Memory is why it wins the companion side for me. Other reviewers report that it remembers proactively, generating a "Mind Map" on its own after about 500 messages, and they call the conversation fluid and human-like. At 50 messages a day, 500 messages takes 10 days, so the free plan can get you there.

When you upgrade, Standard Plan Monthly at $15.99 gives unlimited messaging at 800 characters, voice calls, up to 10 active Nomis and 40 image credits a day. All payments are nonrefundable, so let the free plan be your trial.

The catch: you pick images from a ready-made set and can't write your own prompts. Skip it if pictures matter most; my Candy AI review covers an app whose images reviewers rate as highly realistic.

• 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

Why keep it on a free list at all? Because those few messages preview something strong. Reviewers call its images and videos highly realistic, with a consistent look across them, and its voice and phone-call audio top-tier and expressive. They also say free replies are much slower than paid, 15-30 seconds versus 3-5.

The one to try is the 1-Month Plan, €13.99, which covers text messages without a cap, custom companions and 100 tokens monthly. Longer terms cost €26.97 for the 3-Month Plan and €47.88 for the 12-Month Plan. Outside the EU and UK the refund window is just 24 hours, so I'd start with one month.

Two weak spots stand out in the reports: character consistency lasts roughly 10-20 messages before details slip, and about 1 in 8 image generations shows visible errors, with no free retry.

Skip it if free is non-negotiable for you. For every topic I rank, from girlfriends to roleplay, see my top lists.

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

The rest of the free account is vaguer. It shows a balance of 10 Neurons, a free video option is advertised, and the official pages list no message cap for free chat. I like that no cap is listed, but I'd like it better if the free limits were written down.

Free chat quality is the weak spot. Reviewers describe it as stiff and forgetful, and say it only turns warm and holds context across a session on Premium. So treat free as a test drive of the character you built, not as the final experience.

Premium Monthly at $13.99 is the upgrade I'd consider, with better chat models, improved memory and about 50 free image generations a month. Subscriptions are generally non-refundable once activated, and if a payment is still unpaid 7 days after it falls due, you drop back to Basic.

Skip it if you want a long free chat with published limits. Adult content is allowed as a policy, and my NSFW AI chat picks compare that side.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: $13.99 monthly (Premium - Monthly)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web

Here is what free really means. Creating an account and browsing cost nothing. The free plan lists 55 Dreamcoins to start, and chat costs 1 Dreamcoin per message, so that is 55 messages. The help centre also says non-subscribers get no free dreamcoins by default, and one reviewer describes the free tier as much thinner in 2026 than in 2025. Use those messages to decide, not to settle in.

If it clicks, the $19.99 Standard Monthly plan removes the message meter entirely, adds image and video generation and drops 1,000 dreamcoins into your account each month. Standard Annual at $119.88 works out to $9.99 a month. I'd pay monthly first, and the 14-day Quality Guarantee gives you a case-by-case safety net.

The catch: voice calls and videos draw on coins, and reviewers say calls drain them fast.

Skip it if you want to stay free for good. If a romantic partner is what you're after, my AI girlfriend list ranks companions on that.

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

The free plan uses the basic model, lets you chat with any character and shows Google interstitial ads.

For a free AI companion, that's a lot. You can create your own character, and reviewers name the character creator its best feature, with backstory, relationship traits and voice set in separate steps. Memory and voice calls are listed as features too. One review also says a realistic-style portrait matched the prompt closely on the first try.

The content level leans soft. Reviewers describe it as favouring slow-burn relationship roleplay, with chats that kept to suggestive and never turned graphic. There is no content policy on record, so I won't promise more than that.

Paid is where it gets murky. Dippy Super costs $12.99 a month, $119.99 a year or $6.99 a week, and an ads-free option is $4.99 a month. The weekly plan works out to $30.29 a month, which I'd avoid.

The contents of Dippy Super aren't itemised on the listing; secondary sources mention better chat models, in-chat images, unlimited memory and video.

The bigger catch for me is the exit. The Terms only describe closing your account by emailing support, with no published subscription cancel path, and there is no refund policy of its own beyond Apple's. That is why I'd stay on the free plan here, where there is nothing to cancel.

Skip it if you hate ads or want clear paid terms. If you are still shopping for a free home, my SpicyChat review is the next one I'd read.

• Starting free: Free tier, unlimited
• Lowest price: $4.99 monthly (Dippy Super Ads Free (Monthly))
• Allowed: unconfirmed
• Runs on: web, ios, android

My take: on a free list, the best paid plan is the one you never need. Nomi AI, Dippy AI and Perchance are the three I could imagine staying free on. Watch the weekly plans too: Dippy AI's weekly option costs $30.29 a month. If your taste runs to anime characters, my anime AI chat rankings are worth a look.

Nomi AI, Joi AI, OurDream AI, Kindroid and Soulkyn allow adult content as a policy. Candy AI and Uncensy keep it on paid plans only. EVA AI Soulmate has a soft policy, and Dippy AI and Perchance have no content policy on record. Reviewers say Dippy AI chats stayed suggestive rather than graphic.

So what does an adult AI companion cost? On Candy AI, adult content starts with the 1-Month Plan at €13.99. On Uncensy, the Spark plan at $7.99 lists NSFW, images, video and voice next to unlimited chat, which makes it the cheapest paid-only unlock here.

Nomi AI's policy allows adult content with no paid-only rule, but reviewers say its image gallery often refuses adult content.

My take: for adult chat in words, Nomi AI's free plan is where I'd start, since its policy has no paid-only rule. For pictures, budget $7.99 on Uncensy or €13.99 on Candy AI, plus diamonds or tokens. Uncensy's free plan needs no credit card, which I like.

Refunds deserve a look before you upgrade. Uncensy only refunds fees where the law makes it, Candy AI gives 24 hours, Nomi AI's payments are nonrefundable, and OurDream AI's 14-day Quality Guarantee is the most forgiving. If you want one more app to compare outside this list, my CrushOn AI review sets out its prices and refund rule.

For a free companion you chat with each evening, Nomi AI wins, easily. If you mostly want to see the character you create before deciding, Joi AI is the better free sample. Here's what I'd tell a friend: start with Nomi AI, and add Joi AI only if pictures matter. For more free-first apps, see my free AI chat rankings.

• Account or not. Perchance's official page title says no sign-up, so you can chat without handing over an email. Uncensy's free plan needs no credit card.
• Billing names, for when you upgrade. Candy AI bills as EverAI and OurDream AI as DREAM STUDIO LLC AL, neither naming the app. Nomi AI shows NOMI.AI and Joi AI shows joi.com, which do.
• The way out. Nomi AI on the web: Profile icon, then the Subscription tab, then Manage Subscription and Cancel Subscription. Dippy AI's Terms only describe closing the account by email.
• Your own details. A companion can learn your tastes without your surname, your address or your workplace.

My take: a free plan with ads is a fair trade for many people, but treat anything you type as something that could be kept. The less real-world detail in your chats, the less you need to worry. And if you do upgrade later, a neutral billing name is worth more than a small discount, in my book. For a paid app's full billing and cancel steps, see my OurDream AI review.