Skip to content
effecthub

Candy.ai vs Character.AI

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Character.AI publishes a starting price ($9.99); Candy.ai does not. Both have a free tier.

Candy.aiAdult AI companion chat with generated images and voiceCharacter.AIRoleplay chat with user-made characters, now adults only

Side by side

FactCandy.aiCharacter.AI
CategoryAI Companions & CharactersAI Companions & Characters
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at—$9.99 month
Public APINoNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CompanyEverAI LimitedCharacter Technologies, Inc.
Launched—2021
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Candy.ai

One of the larger adult companion apps and it does what it advertises, but the headline subscription is not what anyone actually pays — tokens are where the money goes. Only list it if your catalogue is willing to carry NSFW entries.

Pros

  • Character setup covers look, personality and voice in a single flow
  • Subscription includes unlimited text chat instead of metering every message
  • A named legal entity, EverAI Limited in Malta, stands behind billing and support

Cons

  • Token top-ups dominate real spend as soon as you generate images or take calls regularly
  • No pricing is visible until you create an account
  • No API, no export, and everything you create stays locked inside the platform

Character.AI

Still the deepest character library anywhere and the reason the whole companion category exists, but it has been rebuilt around safety and identity checks, and the audience it was famous for is now locked out.

Pros

  • Character library is far larger than any competitor's, with voice calls and group scenes included
  • Free tier is genuinely usable, with the subscription mostly buying speed and memory
  • Safety changes are unusually explicit about what was removed and when

Cons

  • Age assurance defaults to face-based estimation, which is a hard stop for privacy-minded users
  • Charms are a second currency on top of c.ai+, so the $9.99 is a floor not a ceiling
  • No API, no export, and no self-hosting
  • The platform has been reshaped by wrongful-death litigation, and further restrictions are plausible

Which one fits

Choose Candy.ai if you need

  • Users who want a persistent adult roleplay character with images and voice attached
  • People comparing companion apps on image fidelity rather than conversational depth

Choose Character.AI if you need

  • Adults who want long-running roleplay with persistent personas
  • People building and sharing characters for an existing community
  • Casual conversational entertainment rather than task work

More comparisons

Browse all AI Companions & Characters →