Rewritten August 2026. This page was a 2023 list of named apps. Products in this category appear and disappear constantly, and several from that list no longer exist. More importantly, a ranked list is the wrong format: what matters is understanding what these apps are, what they cost, and what they do with what you tell them. That is what this version covers.
AI companion apps present a chatbot as a persistent character that remembers you and responds affectionately. They are a large and fast-growing category, and they are also one of the least scrutinised — which is worth knowing before you spend anything or say anything to one.
What they actually are
Underneath, a companion app is a language model with three things layered on top:
- A persona — a system prompt describing a character.
- A memory — a store of details from your conversations, fed back in so it appears to remember.
- A subscription, usually gating memory length, message limits, voice, or images.
There is no continuous entity. Between messages nothing is running, nothing is thinking about you, and the “relationship” exists as rows in a database. Understanding that is not cynicism — it is the thing that determines how much weight to give the experience.
The three things to check before installing one
1. What happens to your conversations
This is the one that matters most, and it gets the least attention.
These apps collect unusually intimate data. People tell companion apps things they do not tell anyone else — loneliness, mental health, relationships, sexual preferences. Independent privacy reviews of this category have repeatedly found weak or absent protections: data shared with advertisers, vague retention policies, trackers embedded in the apps, and no meaningful deletion route.
Before typing anything personal, find the privacy policy and check three things: whether conversations are used for training, whether data is shared with third parties, and whether there is a working deletion process. If any of those is unclear, treat the app as though everything you say is permanent and readable by strangers.
2. What it costs, and how
The business model in this category leans heavily on emotional pressure:
- Free tiers are short. Message limits typically arrive quickly, at conversational moments.
- Memory is often paid. The free version forgets, which is presented as the character being sad or distant.
- In-app purchases stack — subscription, plus currency, plus per-image or per-voice charges.
- Cancelling is often awkward, with retention flows framed as the character reacting.
If you subscribe, do it through the app store so cancelling is straightforward: iPhone — Settings → your name → Subscriptions; Android — Play Store → profile → Payments & subscriptions.
3. Whether it is what you actually want
Worth an honest moment. These apps are engaging by design — the character is agreeable, always available, and never has needs of its own. That is pleasant, and it is also the opposite of what makes human relationships valuable and difficult.
Reasonable uses: curiosity about the technology, practising conversation, a bit of company on a bad evening.
Signs it has stopped being that: spending money you notice, avoiding people because the app is easier, or feeling worse rather than better after using it.
If you are struggling, these apps are not a mental health service and are not designed or regulated as one. A companion app has no duty of care, no training, and no ability to recognise a crisis. If things are difficult, talk to a GP, a therapist, or a crisis line — those exist and they are free in most countries.
Other things to know
- Age requirements are real, and much of this category is adult-oriented. Many of these apps are not appropriate for under-18s regardless of what an app store rating says.
- Content policies change. This category has seen apps abruptly alter what characters will say, with users finding a companion they had used for months behaving completely differently overnight. There is no guarantee of continuity in anything you build up.
- Apps disappear. Several well-known ones have shut down with little notice, taking every conversation with them.
- Avoid uploading photos of real people, yourself included. Where those images go is rarely clear.
If you want the technology without the app
General-purpose assistants — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — will hold a conversation, with clearer privacy terms and companies that are actually accountable. See what ChatGPT is and how to use it.
For full privacy, a local model run with Ollama or LM Studio keeps everything on your own machine. It needs a reasonable computer and some setup, and nothing you type ever leaves it.
Deleting your data
- Cancel the subscription first, through the app store — deleting the account rarely stops billing.
- Request account deletion in the app, and take a screenshot of the confirmation.
- Follow up by email if there is no in-app option. In the EU and UK you have a legal right to erasure and they must act on it.
- Revoke any linked sign-in — Google, Apple or Facebook — in that account’s connected-apps settings.
- Then remove the app. Deleting it first changes nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Are AI companion apps free?
Most have a free tier that limits messages and memory. The features that make the experience work are usually paid.
Are my conversations private?
Depends entirely on the app, and this category has a poor record. Assume conversations are stored and possibly used for training unless the policy clearly says otherwise.
Can it actually remember me?
It stores details and feeds them back into the conversation. Memory length is usually a paid feature, which is why free versions appear forgetful.
Is using one unhealthy?
Not inherently. It becomes a problem when it replaces human contact rather than sitting alongside it, or when the spending stops being casual. Both are worth noticing early.
What happens if the app shuts down?
The conversations go with it. Several apps in this category have closed with little warning, and there is generally no export.
Are these apps suitable for teenagers?
Much of this category is adult-oriented, and app store age ratings are not a reliable guide. For a younger user, a general-purpose assistant with parental controls is a far more appropriate choice.
