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AI girlfriend sites side by side · Both tested first-hand · Data through September 2026

PepHop logovsJOI logo

PepHop 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

JOI leads on 3 of the 4 figures that decide most choices.

PepHop logoJOI logo
Rank on this site#44▲#19
Google US, “ai girlfriend”––
Search visits a month17.0K▲34.0K
Name searches a month, US4.4K▲33.1K

In short

JOI is the bigger site; here is what separates them.

  • JOI gets about 34,016 search visits a month worldwide against 17,002 for PepHop, roughly 2.0 times as many (DataForSEO, September 2026).
  • People search for JOI by name about 33,100 times a month in the US, against 4,400 for PepHop.
  • PepHop has a free tier and paid plans from Free; JOI has no free tier and starts at $13.99/mo.
  • PepHop allows adult content on paid plans; JOI filters or limits it.

What they offer

What they offer
What they offerPepHopJOI
Free tier▲YesNo
Entry paid planFree$13.99/mo
Adult contentAllowed on paid plansFiltered or limited
Features
  • Thousands of community and curated characters
  • SFW and NSFW roleplay modes
  • Character discovery with search and categories
  • Narrative continuity across roleplay sessions
  • AI girlfriend chat
  • Image generation
  • Flexible pricing tiers
Best forUsers wanting the widest character selection and strong roleplay at a budget-friendly priceUsers seeking image generation and AI companion features at a budget-friendly price point
Not forUsers needing voice interaction, native mobile app, or high-quality image generationUsers who need extensive community resources or detailed feature documentation before committing
OperatorPepHop AI HK Limited (per Plisio's April 2026 review), billing through a Stripe account named MIMOO LLC; founders not disclosed, with a spokesperson known only as 'Buckle'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 notesFree tier available (daily message limit). Paid tiers from Lite ~$4.99/month up through Classic $9.99/month and Elite ~$29.99/month. Browser-based access.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

If you want to try before you pay, PepHop lets you: JOI asks for a card first. A free tier is a sampler, not a plan, but it tells you whether the chat suits you before money moves. On adult content they are not the same product: PepHop allows it on paid plans, JOI keeps a filter. Decide that first and half the comparison decides itself.

The numbers

The numbers
The numbersPepHopJOI
Rank on this siteOn the combined data gathered for every site#44▲#19
Google US rank, “ai girlfriend”DataForSEO ranked keywords, September 2026––
Tranco rank, all domainsAll-traffic rank among the top million domains#442,527▲#31,348
Chrome UX tierGoogle Chrome UX ReportTop 500,000▲Top 50,000
Search visits a month, worldwideDataForSEO estimate17,002▲34,016
Search visits a month, US8,103▲12,053
Brand searches a month, USGoogle Ads data via DataForSEO4,400▲33,100
Domain RatingDomain Rating by Ahrefs, out of 10042▲64
Referring domains1,805▲2,966
Backlinks12,590▲62,387
Domain registeredJuly 2023July 2003
Public record I read9 videos, 5 Reddit threads, 1 articles10 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

None of these ranks in the tracked positions for "ai girlfriend", so their places on this site come from all-traffic rank, and their visitors arrive by name, by ads or from app stores rather than from the category search. On size, JOI is the busier site: 34,016 search visits a month worldwide, about twice what PepHop gets (17,002). 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: 33,100 people a month type JOI's name, against 4,400 for PepHop. 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's Domain Rating of 64 against 42 means far more sites link to it, which is what keeps rankings stable; the weaker link profile is the one more likely to move, up or down, when Google reshuffles. JOI is the older domain (2003 against 2023), which counts for something in a category where sites close without notice.

What users say, and what I found

Feature by feature
Feature by featurePepHopJOI
Chat and roleplayUsers positiveMy test: AgreeUsers mixedMy test: Agree
MemoryUsers negativeMy test: DisagreeUsers mixedMy test: Partly disagree
Characters and libraryUsers positiveMy test: Agree–
Image generationUsers negativeMy test: Agree–
VoiceUsers mixedMy test: Partly disagreeUsers mixedMy test: Disagree
Free tierUsers negativeMy test: AgreeUsers negativeMy test: Agree
Price and message capsUsers mixedMy test: Agree–
Content filtersUsers positiveMy test: Agree–
Privacy and billingUsers mixedMy test: AgreeUsers mixedMy test: Disagree
ReliabilityUsers negativeMy test: Agree–
Model switching–Users positiveMy test: Agree
Images and Dream Clips–Users mixedMy test: Agree
Characters and customisation–Users positiveMy test: Agree
Price and neurons–Users negativeMy test: Agree
Safety and legitimacy–Users mixed

“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 rate them about the same: 3 of 10 features positive for PepHop and 2 of 10 features positive for JOI. Where they split, PepHop gets the better word on chat and roleplay. 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 2 points for PepHop and 3 points for JOI, and each disagreement is spelled out on the brand page.

My verdict on each

PepHop logo

PepHop

#44 on the ranking

PepHop is a cheap, uncensored, text-only character-chat site with better writing than its reputation, and a month with it convinced me the writing is the only reason to stay.

Read my full PepHop analysis →
JOI logo

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 →

Written by Hunter Gray, Founder, Owner & Writer. Every figure is from the two brand pages and refreshes monthly. PepHop and JOI are two of the sites in my best AI girlfriend ranking, where the whole category is ordered on the same data.