What they actually cost
The advertised price is often not the whole price. Credits, token top-ups and per-image charges land on top of the subscription. Each platform's page has a calculator that adds them up for your own usage. Real spend over a full billing period is shown here once we've measured it, and the table is sorted by the biggest gap.
| Platform | Advertised | Real spend (high) | Gap | Free tier | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindroid | USD 13.99 | not measured | — | 150 messages to start, 3 selfie credits on a timer and 5,000 audio credits. | 16 days ago |
| Candy AI | USD 13.99 | not measured | — | 5 free messages per account. | 45 days ago · overdue |
| GirlfriendGPT | EUR 12.00 no USD price checked | not measured | — | 20 messages advertised, 0 coins — no media generation at all. | 45 days ago · overdue |
| Character.AI | USD 4.99 | not measured | — | Unlimited messages/day, with ads. | 16 days ago |
| Nomi AI | USD 15.99 | not measured | — | 400 characters per message; 0 Nomi Credits; voice is paywalled outright. | 16 days ago |
| SpicyChat | USD 5.95 | not measured | — | Free chat answered all 15 test messages. Memory is limited to 4K tokens of context. | 16 days ago |
| Talkie | USD 9.99 | not measured | — | Guests get 3 replies. Signed in, free chat continued for 12 more messages with no wall. | 44 days ago · overdue |
| PolyBuzz | EUR 9.99 no USD price checked | not measured | — | Free text chat. No limit was shown, and none was reached in 15 messages. | 44 days ago · overdue |
| AI Dungeon | USD 14.99 | not measured | — | Free plan: eight story models, up to 4K context and 0 monthly credits. | 44 days ago · overdue |
| Chub AI | USD 20.00 | not measured | — | One-time trial credits for "a few dozen messages". Our trial ran out after 20 replies. | 16 days ago |
| Janitor AI | USD 12.99 | not measured | — | The free test ran 60 messages with no paywall. | 16 days ago |
How “real spend” is measured
We use the platform at a defined heavy-usage profile for a full billing period and record every charge, including credit top-ups — then publish the observed low and high. Pricing is re-verified on a 30-day window, the shortest of any evidence type we hold, because it moves fastest. Open any platform for the calculator that maps your own usage onto its charges. See the cost tests.