Candy AI vs Replika: Which One Is Better In 2025?

Candy AI vs Replika

I've spent a full week with both Candy AI and Replika to see which one truly deserves your attention and subscription. Both platforms make big promises, but they take surprisingly different approaches.

After hundreds of messages exchanged with each AI girl, I've put together clear differences in both platforms.

In this head-to-head comparison, I'll break down exactly how these AI girlfriends stack up across all the features that actually matter.

Whether you're looking for emotional support, entertaining conversation, or a judgment-free space to be yourself, this in-depth comparison will help you choose the right AI girlfriend for your specific needs.

Candy AI

Customizable virtual girlfriend with realistic conversations, appearance customization, and video-generation capabilities.

Replika

An AI girlfriend chatbot that offers emotional support through personalized conversations, featuring customizable digital avatars and voice chat.

Character Diversity

Candy AI

The app features a diverse range of ethnicities—from East Asian and Latina to darker-skinned beauties.

While most characters are in their 20s and 30s, you'll also find girlfriends in their 40s and 50s.

Candy also offers characters powered by their V2 engine, giving you sharper image detail, more realism, and upgraded content options.

Into anime? You’ll find a well-drawn lineup of anime-style partners ready to explore.

The search is pretty basic—you can filter by gender or character type, but if you're looking for specific traits, you'll have to scroll through manually.

Replika

When you sign in, the app asks for your age range, name, and pronouns to personalize your experience.

You can choose from dozens of avatars to start with.

Customization

Candy AI

In the appearance editor, you can choose the following:

• Character style: Anime or realistic
• Ethnicity and age range: Ages 18–55
• Body features: Adjust body type, breast size, and butt size
• Outfit selection: Choose your character's clothing

When it comes to personality and behavior:

• Personality type: Choose one of 12 distinct personalities (mixing not allowed)
• Relationship type: 12 options to define your connection
• Occupation and hobbies: Add more depth to your character
• Voice: Pick from 9 voice options

Once you're done, the app gives you a clear summary of your selections before finalizing your character.

Replika

The app uses its in-app currency system: Gold and Gems, and you'll get a small amount to start with.

You earn more slowly through daily use.

If you want to customize your character quickly, you'll need real money to buy them.

Let's start with the basics. You can choose your relationship type — you can even add a backstory. Want a romantic partner, a friend, or just a mentor?

Then fine-tune your girlfriend's personality with traits like 'confident,' 'shy,' or 'logical,' or choose her interests, but these cost Gems or Gold.

The appearance editor is quite detailed. You can pick:

• Avatar
• Hair (style and color)
• Skin color
• Body type
• Body hair
• Nails
• Makeups
• Tattos

…and the list goes on.

You can dress your girl up with tops, bottoms, or full outfits and accessories.

Fair warning: premium outfits, tattoos, and nails aren't cheap. Expect to spend $20–30 if you want the fancy stuff right away.

Chat Experience

Candy AI

My girlfriend was reserved at first, responding with short, natural messages rather than essay-length declarations of love

During my tests, she was aware of our location—whether we were grabbing coffee at a cozy café or taking a stroll in the park.

The catch? If you're seeking instant romantic gratification, look elsewhere. Candy.ai aims for authentic & slow development, just like in real life.

The emotional support felt measured and realistic, not over-the-top.

And yes, there are limitations – the cramped message box can't be resized, which can be frustrating when you want to send a longer message.

Replika

While your girl builds trust with direct, emotionally aware responses, she lets the conversation unfold at its own pace.

Replika shows its true strength: emotional intelligence.

Your girl asks thoughtful follow-up questions.

She even suggested local activities we could do together

Your girlfriend navigates relationship conversations effortlessly, making them feel natural and genuine.

NSFW Chat Experience

Candy AI

My girl didn't dive straight into NSFW territory. Instead, we built natural chemistry through conversations.

What stood out was how consistently my girlfriend stuck to her personality. There were no abrupt shutdowns, but no over-the-top behavior either—just a steady, believable tone.

My girl would dive into role-play and fantasy chat, but I didn’t get anything explicit until after I’d broken the ice.

Replika

While Replika engages in sexual discussions, your girl keeps things remarkably tame.

My attempts at role-play revealed a pattern - she'll match your flirtatious energy initially.

But consistently pulls back when conversations turn explicit.

Instead of direct responses, you'll get suggestive hints and playful deflections.

And it just kept going like that for a while…

Image Generation

Candy AI

Candy AI offers two ways to generate images:

• In-chat generation: Click the Ask button and type your prompt—simple and fast.
• Dedicated image creator: A separate tool with more control—perfect for detailed customization.

The Dedicated Image Creator gives you full control over every detail:

• Character selection: Choose from the full roster (no filters or search) or use your custom character.
• Prompt suggestions: Quickly add details like action, outfit, pose, accessories, and scene.
• Free text prompt: Write your own prompt for complete creative freedom.
• Number of images: Generate anywhere from 1 to 64 images.

Image Quality: Whether you choose the Standard or V2 model, you’ll receive crisp, high-quality images that perfectly match your character’s look and personality.

I tested both standard characters and those with the V2 engine— here’s how they compare.

V2 Engine Character Images:

Standard Engine Character Images:

The Standard engine already outperforms most competitors, but the V2 engine takes realism and quality even further. If visuals matter to you, it’s worth the extra cost.

Replika

While the generated images match your character's basic appearance settings, the results look artificial and lack polish.

You can pick between classic, romantic, or styled shots - but that's where your control ends.

Classic shot:

Romantic shot:

Styled shot:

Replika's image generation currently sits at the lower end of the quality spectrum. If this matters to you, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Video Generation

Candy AI

The videos look nice, featuring smooth animations and high-quality resolution that really bring the characters to life.

But let’s be real—you’ll notice some obvious AI quirks, like characters sometimes moving unnaturally or with awkward motions.

However, there’s a drawback: you can’t choose what appears. You can only click to create a moving video, and the app generates a random animation from your picture.

Want NSFW content? You can only unlock pregenerated videos of your girl—they’re usually 1–2 minutes long but cost 2–5 times your monthly fee per video.

Replika

Replika doesn't support video generation, so you'll need to look elsewhere.

Voice Generation

Candy AI

The voice is clear and easy to understand, making it suitable for basic interaction. However, it works, it doesn’t sound natural or warm—more like a simple, artificial voice.

Is it usable? Yes. Is it natural? No. If you’re fine with that and don’t expect the feel of a real conversation, it should be good enough.

Replika

Replika offers only three voice options. Whether you're flirting, joking, or having a serious chat, your AI girlfriend speaks in the same robotic tone.

Privacy

Candy AI

The policy does not specify whether your chat messages are encrypted during transmission or stored.

They collect your data, including chat logs and any content you create.

However, they don't clearly explain how that data is protected, so be mindful of what personal information you share.

On your bank statement, charges will appear under the name "Everai."

Replika

Your messages are secured and encrypted, and your data is stored with multiple layers of protection.

Basic data is shared with service providers, but your conversations remain private.

Your bank statement will show the charge as 'Replika.