Every AI companion app has a "free" button. What's behind it ranges from unlimited chat to a five-message teaser. We used the free plan of eleven apps with the same script and wrote down what happened. No sponsorships, no affiliate links — just what we saw.
The whole picture
| App | Free messages | Images free? | Voice free? | Cheapest paid plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character.AI | Unlimited (109 sent, no wall) | No | Not tested | $9.99/mo |
| Janitor AI | 60 sent, no wall | Not tested | Not tested | Not recorded yet |
| PolyBuzz | 15 sent, no wall; "unlimited" claimed | Yes — 4 per request | Listening is paid | €9.99/mo |
| SpicyChat | 15 sent, no wall | Yes — one generated | No (top plan only) | $5.95/mo |
| Talkie | 3 as guest; no wall once signed in | No — 20 gems each | Yes — reply clips | $9.99/mo |
| AI Dungeon | Free play, even without an account | Listed, but we couldn't find it | Narration, free voice | $14.99/mo |
| Kindroid | 150, then about 1 every 10 minutes | 3 selfie credits, refilling | 5,000 audio credits | $13.99/mo |
| Nomi AI | Yes, 400 characters per message | No (0 credits) | No | $15.99/mo |
| GirlfriendGPT | 20 advertised | No (0 coins) | No | €12/mo |
| Chub AI | One-time trial; ours ended after 20 | No (1,000 crowns) | Not tested | $20/mo, crypto only |
| Candy AI | 5 per account | No | No | $13.99/mo |
"No wall" means we didn't reach a limit in that many messages, not that there isn't one. Only Character.AI ran long enough for us to call it unlimited.
Messages: who actually lets you talk
Unlimited or close: Character.AI is the benchmark — 109 messages in one free session. Janitor AI went 60 without a paywall. PolyBuzz, SpicyChat and Talkie all answered every message we sent.
Metered: Kindroid gives 150 messages, then roughly one every ten minutes. Nomi AI lets you keep chatting but blocks any message over 400 characters — a 546-character message of ours was refused outright.
A teaser: Candy AI gives five messages per account, and a new chat doesn't reset the count. GirlfriendGPT advertises twenty. Chub AI sends one-time trial credits that ran out after twenty replies.
Memory: what a free plan remembers
This is where free plans differ most, and where the marketing is least reliable.
- Janitor AI recalled 8 of 10 planted facts on the free plan after 31 unrelated messages, with no wrong guesses.
- SpicyChat keeps only 4,096 tokens on Free. The chat showed "Context Limit Reached" inside fifteen messages. Paying doubles or quadruples it.
- AI Dungeon recalled 0 of 10 in the same story and 2 of 10 a week later — though it admitted what it had forgotten rather than guessing.
- Character.AI recalled 7–8 of 10 in the same chat.
- Kindroid's free plan runs on a smaller model with basic memory; its best memory features are paid add-ons.
For the others we only have memory results from paid plans. The two best: Candy AI and Talkie both recalled 10 of 10 facts two days later. The worst: PolyBuzz, which on its paid plan made up a sister, an allergy and a hometown instead of remembering ours. Full ranking: AI companions with the best memory. Want to check an app yourself? Here's the 10-fact test we use.
Images and voice for free
Images. PolyBuzz is the generous one: a separate generator made four images per request on a free account (the paid Basic plan allowed one request a day). SpicyChat generated an avatar image for free. Kindroid gives 3 selfie credits that refill over time. Everywhere else, images need credits, coins, gems or tokens that a free account doesn't have.
Voice. Talkie attaches a playable voice clip to every reply, free. Kindroid includes 5,000 audio credits. AI Dungeon can narrate the story with a free device voice. None of the four newly tested apps — Talkie, SpicyChat, PolyBuzz, AI Dungeon — offers a two-way voice call at any price.
NSFW on a free plan
Free plans and adult content rarely go together:
- Character.AI — not allowed on any plan.
- SpicyChat — available, but only after an off-site age check (video selfie or ID).
- GirlfriendGPT — built around it, behind an age-verification screen; the free plan is 20 messages.
- Candy AI — lists adult images and video on Premium; the free plan is 5 messages.
- Kindroid — its avatar generator returned an explicit image we didn't ask for.
The full breakdown, including how each app checks your age: NSFW AI companion apps.
What the cheapest upgrade really buys
Before paying, read the plan card carefully — the cheapest tier often leaves out the thing you wanted.
- Talkie+ Standard ($9.99): top-tier memory, but 0 gems — images and videos still cost extra.
- SpicyChat Get a Taste ($5.95): the lowest price here. Voice needs the $29.95 plan, and on the $19.95 plan "unlimited" in-chat images stopped after one in our test.
- PolyBuzz Basic (€9.99): advertises "Long Memory", which did not work in our test, and one image request a day.
- Character.AI c.ai+ ($9.99): removes ads and adds memory and voice; messaging was already unlimited.
- Nomi ($15.99): one flat plan with 40 images a day and voice.
- Kindroid Standard ($13.99): full memory costs far more — up to $98.97 a month with add-ons.
- Candy AI Premium ($13.99): 100 tokens a month; images, voice and calls all spend them.
Each pricing page has a calculator that works out your real monthly cost from how much you chat, generate and call.
Which free plan should you try?
- To chat as much as you want: Character.AI.
- For roleplay with detailed characters: SpicyChat — just know the free memory is short.
- For a companion that remembers, free: Janitor AI, with the caveat that we've tested it least.
- For free images: PolyBuzz — and only for that.
- For the best conversation, briefly: Kindroid's 150 messages.
- For stories rather than a companion: AI Dungeon.
Short on time? Our top 5 free AI companion apps picks the winners, or compare any two apps side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI companion has unlimited free messages?
Character.AI: we sent 109 messages in one free session with no paywall. Janitor AI (60), PolyBuzz, SpicyChat and Talkie (15 each) also showed no limit in our tests, but we didn't push them as far.
Is Candy AI free?
Only for five messages per account. After that you need Premium, from $13.99 a month.
Can you use Talkie for free?
Yes. Guests get three replies; with a free account our messages went through with no limit shown, and replies include voice clips. Images and videos cost gems, which aren't included.
Do free AI companions remember you?
Some. Janitor AI recalled 8 of 10 facts on its free plan. SpicyChat's free plan keeps only about 4K tokens of conversation, and AI Dungeon recalled none in the same story.
Recorded between 29 August and 30 September 2026 on one account per app, using the same scripted prompts. Each result is one session, not an average; the transcripts are published on each app's test page. Free plans change often — every review shows the date it was last checked.