I first tried Candy AI back in 2023, spent more than I care to admit on tokens, and swore I was done with it. Then February 2026 happened and the internet exploded over Live Action mode — 120-second animated videos of your AI companion, no competitor close. I came back to see if they finally built something worth the price tag, or just added a flashier way to drain your wallet.
Here's what I found after two weeks of proper testing: the visual quality is genuinely the best in this space. The token system is still a trap. And that 3.7/5 Trustpilot score with a 50%/23% five-star-to-one-star split tells you everything you need to know about who loves this platform and who feels burned.
Candy AI is an AI companion platform built by EverAI Limited, a Cyprus-registered company that launched the product in 2023. You pick from over 140 pre-built characters split between realistic and anime styles — or build your own from scratch — and then chat, generate images, make voice calls, and run roleplay scenarios.
With the February 2026 Live Action update, you can now generate 120-second animated video clips of your companion moving and reacting in real time. The platform runs as a Progressive Web App, meaning no App Store download, just browser access on any device. It's NSFW-enabled on premium and has grown to over 50 million registered users.
After two weeks of testing in 2026, including a deep dive into the token system, image generation limits, and the new Live Action mode, I'd say Candy AI is the best visual AI companion platform right now — but only if you go in knowing the real monthly cost isn't $12.99.
Live Action video mode produces 120-second animated clips that genuinely look different from anything else in this category
The V2 image engine delivers consistent facial accuracy and lighting that holds up across hundreds of generations
Story Mode (added in 2026) automatically generates contextual images tied to your roleplay narrative, which makes long sessions feel cinematic
The token system turns a $12.99 subscription into $25–$80/month the moment you start using media features regularly
Memory degrades during very long conversation threads — even some 5-star Trustpilot reviewers flag this as a consistent problem
Mid-session content moderation interruptions during NSFW roleplay are erratic and frustrating, contradicting the platform's own "no filter" marketing
If these are dealbreakers, two alternatives worth considering: CrushOn AI for genuinely uncensored text-first roleplay at $4.99/month with no token anxiety, or Secrets AI for deeper emotional character depth and a more predictable Hearts-based pricing structure.
What it can do:
Full NSFW text chat with customizable companion personalities, body types, voices, and relationship archetypes
Image generation via V2 engine at 4 tokens per image (approximately $0.40 per image on base token packs)
Live Action video generation up to 120 seconds — uniquely the longest clips in the AI companion category in 2026
Story Mode: contextual images generated in sync with your roleplay narrative as it evolves
Voice messages and live voice calls with a range of voice styles on all premium plans
Character creation from scratch with appearance controls, personality presets, and custom backstories
Group chat mode allowing conversations with multiple AI characters simultaneously
Current limitations:
No native iOS or Android app — PWA only, which means no offline access
Outfit and setting accuracy in image generation sits around 50% for complex prompts — specific wardrobe requests miss frequently
NSFW video unlocks are the heaviest token drain on the platform, with some sessions running 100–400 tokens
Voice quality on live calls is noticeably robotic compared to platforms that specialise in voice realism
The small desktop chat input box is a persistent UX complaint that hasn't been fixed despite being widely reported
If these limitations are dealbreakers, two simpler alternatives worth considering: CrushOn AI for text-first, no-filter roleplay without touching tokens, or Secrets AI for a more emotionally responsive experience with a Hearts system that's slightly easier to budget.
Here's the part most reviews gloss over. Your $12.99/month premium subscription covers exactly one thing: unlimited text chat. Everything else costs tokens, and the included 100 tokens per month disappear faster than you'd expect.
An image using the standard V1 engine costs 2 tokens. V2 — the engine you actually want — costs 4 tokens. That's 25 images per month before you're buying top-ups. A five-minute voice call runs around 15 tokens. A single NSFW video unlock runs 100–400 tokens depending on complexity. At the base pack price of $9.99 per 100 tokens, one NSFW video session can cost between $10 and $40 on top of your subscription.
One Trustpilot reviewer documented spending nearly $300 in a single month. Another described the token system as "lost in less than half an hour if you don't understand exactly how they work." The auto-renewal setting is on by default, and VAT is added at checkout on top of listed prices. Token packs are non-refundable once purchased. The annual plan is the smartest move if you're staying — it drops the base subscription to $5.99/month — but it won't do anything about the per-image and per-video costs that stack on top regardless of which plan you're on.
If the token model is your main frustration, CrushOn AI at $4.99/month solves the predictability problem entirely. One flat price, unlimited NSFW text chat, a massive library of community-built characters, and no separate credit system eating into your budget. The trade-off is clear: CrushOn has no voice calls, no video, and image generation that doesn't come close to Candy AI's V2 engine. But for users who care primarily about chat freedom and conversation quality without watching a token counter, it's a meaningfully different product.
For users who want the full multimedia experience but are frustrated by Candy AI's flat voice quality and token creep, Secrets AI (Secret Desires AI) offers a tiered engine model — Pro, Ultra, Max — at prices ranging from $6.67/month (annual) to $19.99/month, with a Hearts credit system that offers slightly more transparency about what each feature will cost before you commit.
Yes, with a specific caveat. Candy AI has grown into the most visually capable AI companion platform in its category — 50 million registered users and 22 million monthly visits in December 2025 are not numbers a bad product generates. The February 2026 Live Action update is genuinely impressive. Story Mode is a differentiated feature no direct competitor has matched at this price point. The polarised Trustpilot rating — 50% five-star, 23% one-star, 3.7 overall — shows two completely different user groups: people who understood the token system before spending, and people who didn't. If you go in with clear expectations, Candy AI delivers on its best features.
Worth it if: you care deeply about image quality, you want the longest video clips in the AI companion category, and you've budgeted $30–$60/month rather than the advertised $12.99. The annual plan at $5.99/month makes the subscription genuinely competitive, and heavy image users who buy the 3,750-token pack drop their per-image cost to around $0.08.
Not worth it if: you want predictable flat-rate billing, you're primarily interested in voice quality, or you expect "no filter" to mean no mid-session moderation interruptions. CrushOn AI at $4.99/month serves the first use case. Secrets AI serves the second.
Candy AI markets itself openly as an adult platform and does allow explicit roleplay, NSFW image generation, and adult video content on premium plans. The toggle is off by default and turns on within your account settings. In practice, the platform is permissive — but not perfectly consistent. Multiple Trustpilot reviewers and Reddit threads report mid-session content flags during NSFW roleplay that interrupt scenes without clear pattern or warning.
One reviewer on Trustpilot described being "blocked in a very JERK like manner" while leading a group chat session that had drifted into adult territory the AI itself had been steering. The advertising emphasises freedom; the reality has occasional guardrails that activate unpredictably. Candy AI does not use advertising within the platform. Billing appears on bank statements as "Everai," not as anything adult-themed.
Prohibited content types include:
Sexual content involving minors or characters presented as underage under any framing
Non-consensual scenarios involving real individuals or presented as real
Violence content that crosses into depictions of harm to real people
Harassment, doxxing, or targeted content about identifiable real persons
Attempts to extract personally identifying information through roleplay framing
Content intended to circumvent the platform's own content systems
Violations can result in content removal, session termination, or permanent account suspension. There is no formal appeals process published publicly.
Candy AI collects account information, payment details, chat logs, and generated media on EverAI's servers. The platform uses AES-256 encryption for data in transit. There is no confirmed end-to-end encryption for stored conversations, meaning your chat history exists on company servers and is accessible for moderation and — potentially — AI model improvement. The platform does not sell user data to third parties based on published policy, but independent verification of that claim is not available. Account deletion is accessible via Profile → Settings → Danger Zone → Delete Account, and the process goes through immediately. What is retained versus fully purged after deletion has not been independently verified. Avoid sharing real names, workplaces, or financial information in chat sessions.
Candy AI requires users to confirm they are 18 or older at signup via a checkbox — there is no ID verification or age gate beyond that. This is a consistent criticism from online safety researchers, who note the checkbox alone is insufficient for a platform serving explicit adult content. NSFW content is toggled off by default and must be actively enabled in settings. Content moderation runs in the background and occasionally flags explicit sessions — though the trigger criteria are not publicly documented, which is the source of most user frustration around unexpected blocks.
Candy AI is operated by EverAI Limited, registered in Cyprus under EU jurisdiction, which brings GDPR compliance and formal user data rights including deletion requests. The company's CEO is Alexis Soulopoulos, who previously co-founded Mad Paws, an Australian pet-sitting platform that went publicly listed. EverAI has been covered in AI industry press and operates as a real, established company — not an anonymous offshore operation.
The platform accepts cryptocurrency payments (Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, Litecoin) for users who want no connection between their banking identity and the platform. Traffic data from SimilarWeb put Candy AI at approximately 23.5 million monthly visits and a global rank around 1,340 as of February 2026.
Support email: check candy.ai for current contact — response times vary by issue type
Discord: discord.gg/candyai — the team actively monitors and posts update announcements there
Reddit: active user discussions across r/AIcompanions and r/AIGirlfriend; no official subreddit but significant community presence
Updates: multiple feature releases in 2026 alone, including Story Mode, the V2 engine expansion, and the February Live Action overhaul — development pace is among the highest in the category
Candy AI uses a freemium model with one premium subscription tier plus a token system for all media features.
Approximately 5 messages per day before hitting a wall
Images load blurred — generation is visible but not usable
No access to NSFW content
No voice messages or live calls
Access to pre-built character library only, no custom companion creation
Billing | Price |
Monthly | $12.99/month |
Quarterly | $9.99/month (billed quarterly) |
Annual | $5.99/month (billed yearly at ~$71.88) |
All premium plans unlock:
Unlimited text chat
Full NSFW access (toggle in settings)
Voice messages and live voice calls
Custom companion creation from scratch
Access to V2 image engine characters
Story Mode and Live Action video generation
100 tokens included per month (refreshes on billing date)
100 tokens: $9.99 (~$0.10/token)
500 tokens: $39.99 (~$0.08/token)
3,750 tokens: $299.99 (~$0.08/token)
V1 image generation: 2 tokens per image
V2 image generation: 4 tokens per image
Live calls: approximately 3 tokens per minute
NSFW video unlocks: 100–400 tokens per session depending on length and content
First-time users are typically offered a 70–75% discount on their first billing cycle — this promotion appears consistently in user reports and is worth taking if you're testing the platform. The annual plan saves around $84 compared to paying monthly for twelve months, making it the clear value pick for committed users. No publicly listed promo codes are currently running as of April 2026, though promotional offers surface via the Discord and email.
Auto-renewal is enabled by default on all plans — set a calendar reminder before your cycle ends if you want to cancel without being charged for another period. Token packs are non-refundable once purchased, and unused tokens do not carry forward if you cancel.
Candy AI operates primarily in English, and the core chat, customisation, and interface are English-first. Some pre-built characters include limited non-English dialogue options and the AI can respond in other languages if prompted, though quality and consistency drop noticeably outside English. Voice features are English-only on the platform's native system.
Main platform:
Mobile access:
iOS: no native App Store app — use candy.ai in mobile browser and add to home screen
Android: Google Play listing exists with 550,000+ reviews, though core access remains browser-based
Documentation & support:
Support contact: available via account settings and the in-app help section
Cancellation: Profile → Settings → Danger Zone → Cancel Subscription
Community:
Discord: discord.gg/candyai — primary channel for update announcements and developer interaction
Reddit: r/AIcompanions — active community discussion; r/AIGirlfriend for broader category conversations
The single biggest frustration with Candy AI is that $12.99/month is not the real monthly cost — the token system on top of it is. CrushOn AI solves that problem directly. At $4.99/month, you get unlimited NSFW text chat, no separate credit system, and no surprise charges when you want to run a longer roleplay session or explore explicit scenarios. The character library is community-built with thousands of options spanning anime, fantasy, realistic, and original character archetypes.
Where CrushOn distinctly wins is response consistency during NSFW scenes — because the models aren't fighting against a filter layer, the dialogue flows more naturally without the erratic mid-session interruptions Candy AI users report. The trade-offs are real and significant: no voice calls, no video generation, and image quality that doesn't compete with Candy AI's V2 engine. If your primary use is immersive text-based roleplay and conversation quality, and you don't need a multimedia companion experience, CrushOn AI at $4.99/month is the most budget-intelligent option in the category. The free tier includes 50 messages per month at full quality — enough to evaluate whether the chat experience works for you before spending anything.
Candy AI's voice calls are functional but consistently described as robotic. Secrets AI — marketed as Secret Desires — approaches voice differently, with a voice-first design philosophy that runs through both asynchronous voice notes and live call capabilities. The emotional range in voice delivery is noticeably better than Candy AI's. The platform also offers face swap technology and voice cloning, meaning you can customise not just the character's personality but their appearance and voice in ways Candy AI's system doesn't support.
Pricing runs on a Hearts-based system rather than tokens — Pro plan users get 100 hearts monthly, Ultra gets 200, Max gets 300 — with annual plans ranging from $6.67/month (Pro) to $16.67/month (Max). The multi-tier engine model (Pro, Ultra, Max) means you're paying for a defined quality level rather than watching a single token balance deplete unpredictably. Image quality doesn't reach Candy AI's V2 standard, and the platform is web-only with no Google Play listing, which limits mobile access. Best for users who prioritise voice realism and emotional conversational depth over visual output quality.
Janitor AI occupies a completely different position from both Candy AI and CrushOn AI. It's a frontend character platform rather than an all-in-one product — you bring your own API key from OpenAI, Claude, or another provider, connect it to the platform, and get access to one of the largest community-built character libraries in the AI roleplay space. The creative freedom is almost unlimited: users create and share characters across every genre, style, and scenario imaginable, and there are no platform-level content restrictions imposed on what those characters can do when you connect a capable model.
The problems are real and consistent. Infrastructure stability is a documented issue — users report "429 Proxy Errors" and server queues during peak hours frequently enough that it affects daily usability. Memory in extended conversations degrades noticeably, with context starting to collapse around the 20–30 message mark.
And the cost is less predictable than it appears: the free built-in model produces noticeably weaker output than a connected GPT-4 API key, which can run $20–$50/month depending on usage volume. Best for technically comfortable users who want the largest character library and don't mind managing their own API infrastructure — not for anyone who wants to sign up and start chatting immediately.
For most users who want a single recommendation: CrushOn AI wins on value and simplicity at $4.99/month with flat-rate pricing and no token anxiety. If you specifically need video generation and image quality that looks photorealistic, Candy AI is still the category leader on those dimensions — but budget accordingly, not at the advertised $12.99.
If you want an AI chat and image platform that feels easy to use, and highly customizable, Candy AI is our top overall pick.
Candy AI in 2026 is genuinely impressive and genuinely expensive. The Live Action video mode is the best in the category. The V2 image engine is the most consistent. Story Mode is a real differentiator that makes long roleplay sessions feel completely different from any competitor. But the token system is exactly what the worst Trustpilot reviews say it is — a second billing layer that turns a competitive subscription price into a $50–$100/month reality for anyone using the platform the way it's designed to be used.
Worth it for visual-first users who budget tokens deliberately. Skip it if you want flat-rate pricing, better voice quality, or genuinely uninterrupted NSFW roleplay without mid-session moderation surprises.