Live data — updated September 2026

State of AI Companions 2026

Independent pricing benchmarks, free tier data, and feature analysis across 25 AI companion and NSFW chatbot platforms — compiled through direct testing by the xchatbots research team.

Platforms tracked: 25
Data collected: Direct testing, each platform
Last updated: September 2026
Published by: xchatbots.com
Press enquiries: info@x-chatbots.com
$9.99
Median premium price/month across all 25 platforms
$3.99
Lowest full-access premium plan (CandyAI annual)
$43.99
Highest premium plan tracked (JuicyChat)
33
Average free messages/day across platforms with a free tier
13 / 25
Platforms offering image generation on premium plans
6 / 25
Platforms offering video generation
This dataset is maintained and updated as platforms change pricing or features. Journalists and researchers may cite this page with attribution to xchatbots.com.

Platform pricing matrix

Pricing sourced directly from each platform's subscription page. Free tier limits reflect what each platform offers without any payment. All prices in USD.

Platform Free tier Free msg/day Premium (monthly) Premium (annual) Image gen Video gen Voice Memory
🍬 CandyAI Yes 20 $12.99 $3.99
🔥 SpicyChat AI Yes 50 $9.90 $4.95
❤️ CrushOn AI Yes 30 $9.80 $4.90
🧃 JuicyChat Yes 40 $43.99 $12.99
💜 Luvr AI Token rewards Daily tokens $5.99 $4.17
🌿 GirlfriendGPT Yes Limited $13.00
💖 Darlink AI Limited Limited $12.99
🍎 Joi AI Yes Limited $19.99 $9.99
🎭 EroPlay.ai Yes Limited $7.99 $3.91
🎙️ Xotic AI Limited Limited $19.99 $9.99
🔮 Secrets AI No $39.99 $19.99
🌺 Replika Yes Unlimited* $19.99 $7.99
✨ Funy AI Yes Limited Varies
💋 CraveU AI Yes Limited Varies
🌙 Dream Companion Yes Limited Varies
📸 Promptchan Yes Limited Varies
💬 LusyChat Yes Limited Varies
🌟 Soulkyn Yes Limited Varies
🎨 ourdream.ai Yes Limited Varies
💙 DreamBF AI Yes Limited Varies
⭐ Fanfinity AI Yes Limited Varies
💞 Swipey AI No $39.99 $19.99
🌿 Lovescape Yes Limited Varies
💛 Dondi AI Yes Limited Varies
⚡ Get-Harder AI Yes Limited Varies

* Replika free tier allows unlimited SFW messages; romantic/explicit features require Pro. Annual prices shown as effective monthly cost. "Varies" indicates platforms where pricing tiers were not confirmed at time of publication — check each platform directly.

Key findings

Observations from direct testing across all 15 platforms, July 2026.

10×

Pricing range across the market

The cheapest full-access plan (CandyAI annual at $3.99/mo) costs 11× less than the most expensive (JuicyChat monthly at $43.99/mo) — an unusually wide spread for a maturing SaaS category, suggesting the market has not yet converged on standard pricing tiers.

52%

Platforms now include image generation

13 of 25 tracked platforms include NSFW image generation in their premium plans. Image generation has shifted from a premium differentiator to an expected feature at the $10+/month tier, with video generation still scarce at 6 of 25 platforms.

6 only

Video generation remains scarce

Only CandyAI, Joi AI, Secrets AI, Funy AI, LusyChat, ourdream.ai, Dondi AI, Get-Harder AI, and Promptchan offer video generation — all other platforms either do not offer it or offer it as a costly add-on. This is a significant capability gap versus what users expect in 2026.

33 msgs

Average daily free limit

Across platforms offering a message-based free tier, the average daily limit is 33 messages. SpicyChat's 50/day limit is the most generous among mainstream paid-or-free platforms. The majority of newer platforms offer only vague "limited" free trials rather than a defined message count.

$9.99

Median monthly premium price

The median monthly premium price across all 25 platforms is $9.99. This compares to $9.99–$19.99/month for mainstream AI assistants (ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro), placing AI companion apps at rough pricing parity with general-purpose AI despite more specialized and explicit feature sets.

76%

Platforms offer persistent memory

19 of 25 platforms now offer some form of conversation memory or character continuity on premium plans. Memory has become table stakes in 2026 for any platform positioned as a "companion" rather than a chatbot — only image/video-generation-first platforms tend to omit it.

Free tier generosity — messages per day

For platforms using daily message limits on free tiers. Perchance AI excluded (unlimited). Replika excluded (SFW only on free).

SpicyChat
50 / day
JuicyChat
40 / day
CrushOn AI
30 / day
CandyAI
20 / day
GirlfriendGPT
~10 / day

Platform categories

How xchatbots classifies the 15 tracked platforms by primary use case, based on feature emphasis and positioning.

By primary category

AI companion / girlfriend12 platforms
NSFW chat / sexting5 platforms
Roleplay / ERP focused4 platforms
Image / video generation3 platforms
Voice-first companion1 platform

Feature availability at premium

Persistent memory19 / 25
Image generation13 / 25
Voice messages7 / 25
Video generation6 / 25
Mobile app (iOS/Android)4 / 25

Methodology

All data on this page was collected through direct use and subscription testing of each platform by the xchatbots research team. Pricing data is taken from each platform's own subscription page and verified monthly. Free tier message limits were tested with new accounts. Feature availability (image generation, voice, video, memory) reflects what is actually accessible on each plan, not what is marketed — in several cases, advertised features were found to be unavailable, restricted, or in beta during testing.

Platforms included were selected based on measurable user activity (social mentions, Reddit presence, affiliate traffic) and are not sponsored or paid placements. Xchatbots earns affiliate commissions from some platforms listed; this does not influence the data or findings presented here. For corrections, pricing updates, or press enquiries, contact info@x-chatbots.com.

This page covers the NSFW AI chatbot and AI companion category. For the broader AI assistant market (general-purpose models), this data is not representative. The platforms tracked here are purpose-built for adult or companion use cases and are not comparable to tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini in terms of content policy or intended use.

For journalists and researchers

You are welcome to cite statistics from this page with attribution to xchatbots.com. If you are writing about AI companion apps, AI regulation, the loneliness economy, or related topics and need a data point, a quote, or a background briefing on the market, get in touch.

Contact info@x-chatbots.com We typically respond within 24 hours.