Candy AI
#5 on the ranking
Candy AI is the category's reference point, and after a month with it I understand why.
Read my full Candy AI analysis →AI girlfriend sites side by side · Both tested first-hand · Data through September 2026
vs
Candy AI vs JOI
I bought a membership on both and tested each for a month. What they offer, their measured numbers and what their users say, next to each other, with my verdict on each at the end.
The scoreboard
Candy AI leads on 3 of the 4 figures that decide most choices.
Candy AI
JOIRank on this site▲#5#19
Google US, “ai girlfriend”#11–
Search visits a month▲592K34.0K
Name searches a month, US▲301K33.1K
In short
Candy AI is the bigger site; here is what separates them.
- Candy AI ranks #11 in United States Google results for "ai girlfriend"; JOI holds no tracked position for it, so it is placed by all-traffic rank instead (#5 against #19 on this site).
- Candy AI gets about 592,075 search visits a month worldwide against 34,016 for JOI, roughly 17 times as many (DataForSEO, September 2026).
- People search for Candy AI by name about 301,000 times a month in the US, against 33,100 for JOI.
- Candy AI has no free tier and starts at $13.99/mo; JOI has no free tier and starts at $13.99/mo.
- Candy AI allows adult content on paid plans; JOI filters or limits it.
What they offer
| What they offer |  Candy AI |  JOI |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | No |
| Entry paid plan | $13.99/mo | $13.99/mo |
| Adult content | Allowed on paid plans | Filtered or limited |
| Features |
|
|
| Best for | Users wanting a widely recognized platform with expressive chat and flexible pricing who can tolerate slower response speeds | Users seeking image generation and AI companion features at a budget-friendly price point |
| Not for | Those who need real-time live calling or a strong free tier to evaluate before paying | Users who need extensive community resources or detailed feature documentation before committing |
| Operator | EverAI Limited | JOI AI (as the site's footer puts it); one third-party review names JOI-AI Limited, a UK-registered company, which the site itself does not confirm |
| Pricing notes | 1 Month: $13.99. 3 Months: ~$26.97 (~$8.99/mo). 12 Months: ~$47.88 (~$3.99/mo). Tokens (used for voice, images, and video) are included per tier with add-on packs available. Cryptocurrency payments accepted. | 1 Month: $13.99. 3 Months: $20.99 (~$7/mo). 12 Months: $47.99 (~$4/mo). Premium adds image generation and a limited video generation allowance (5 free clips/month, extra via Neurons). |
My take
Neither has a real free tier, so you are choosing on price and features from the start. They cost the same to start, $13.99/mo, so the difference is what that money buys. Candy AI simply does more: nsfw chat and image generation, character customization and voice messages are on its list and not on JOI's. More features is only better if you will use them. On adult content they are not the same product: Candy AI allows it on paid plans, JOI keeps a filter. Decide that first and half the comparison decides itself.
The numbers
| The numbers | Candy AI | JOI |
|---|---|---|
| Rank on this siteOn the combined data gathered for every site | ▲#5 | #19 |
| Google US rank, “ai girlfriend”DataForSEO ranked keywords, September 2026 | #11 | – |
| Tranco rank, all domainsAll-traffic rank among the top million domains | ▲#12,246 | #31,348 |
| Chrome UX tierGoogle Chrome UX Report | ▲Top 10,000 | Top 50,000 |
| Search visits a month, worldwideDataForSEO estimate | ▲592,075 | 34,016 |
| Search visits a month, US | ▲116,063 | 12,053 |
| Brand searches a month, USGoogle Ads data via DataForSEO | ▲301,000 | 33,100 |
| Domain RatingDomain Rating by Ahrefs, out of 100 | ▲76 | 64 |
| Referring domains | ▲4,683 | 2,966 |
| Backlinks | ▲127,630,165 | 62,387 |
| Domain registered | December 2017 | July 2003 |
| Public record I read | 17 videos, 8 Reddit threads, 10 articles | 10 videos, 1 Reddit threads, 6 articles |
The better value in each row is marked in green. Search visits and brand searches are DataForSEO estimates; Tranco and Chrome UX tiers are ranks, not visit counts.
My take
Start with the row this site ranks on. When someone types "ai girlfriend" into Google in the US, Candy AI is there at #11; JOI does not appear in the tracked positions at all. That is why Candy AI sits higher here even if it is the smaller site: it is the one the category sends newcomers to. On size, Candy AI is the busier site: 592,075 search visits a month worldwide, more than 15 times what JOI gets (34,016). These are estimates of visits from Google only, so a site with apps or ads can be bigger than this shows. Brand searches are the loyalty line: 301,000 people a month type Candy AI's name, against 33,100 for JOI. A name people type on purpose is a site they come back to; a site with lots of visits and few brand searches is living on rankings it could lose. JOI is the older domain (2003 against 2017), which counts for something in a category where sites close without notice. In plain terms: Candy AI is both the bigger site and the one the category search points to.
What users say, and what I found
| Feature by feature | Candy AI | JOI |
|---|---|---|
| Chat and roleplay | Users mixedMy test: Agree | Users mixedMy test: Agree |
| Memory | Users positiveMy test: Agree | Users mixedMy test: Partly disagree |
| Image generation | Users positiveMy test: Agree | – |
| Voice calls | Users mixedMy test: Agree | – |
| Video ('Live Action') | Users mixedMy test: Partly disagree | – |
| Characters and customisation | Users positiveMy test: Agree | Users positiveMy test: Agree |
| Free tier | Users negativeMy test: Agree | Users negativeMy test: Agree |
| Price and tokens | Users negativeMy test: Agree | – |
| Privacy and billing | Users mixedMy test: Agree | Users mixedMy test: Disagree |
| Safety and legitimacy | Users positiveMy test: Agree | Users mixed |
| Model switching | – | Users positiveMy test: Agree |
| Images and Dream Clips | – | Users mixedMy test: Agree |
| Voice | – | Users mixedMy test: Disagree |
| Price and neurons | – | Users negativeMy test: Agree |
“Users” is the balance of the YouTube reviews, Reddit threads and articles read for each brand page; “my test” is whether my own month on the site agreed with them.
My take
Users are happier with Candy AI: 4 of its 10 features come out positive, against JOI's 2 of 10, with 2 features where the complaints win. Where they split, Candy AI gets the better word on memory and safety and legitimacy. Both get the same complaint on free tier, so that is a category problem rather than a reason to pick one over the other. My own month did not always match the crowd: I disagreed with users on 1 point for Candy AI and 3 points for JOI, and each disagreement is spelled out on the brand page.
My verdict on each
JOI
#19 on the ranking
Joi is the loudest newcomer in the category, and after a month with it the product is better than the marketing deserves.
Read my full JOI analysis →More comparisons
Written by Hunter Gray, Founder, Owner & Writer. Every figure is from the two brand pages and refreshes monthly. Candy AI and JOI are two of the sites in my best AI girlfriend ranking, where the whole category is ordered on the same data.