Replika vs Sakura AI: Which One Should You Use In 2025?

Replika vs Sakura AI

I've spent a full week with both Replika and Sakura AI 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.

Replika

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

Sakura AI

A character-based AI interaction platform where you can chat intimately with custom AI personalities and explore a growing community of unique characters.

Character Diversity

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.

Sakura AI

Sakura AI offers a huge collection of anime-style AI girlfriends.

The search system is straightforward—you can filter by character type (male, female, non-binary, lesbian, etc.).

When you're looking for particular character types, you can also use keywords and toggle NSFW content on/off.

The library expands regularly as users add their custom-made characters to the public collection.

Customization

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.

Sakura AI

Instead of tweaking physical features, you'll craft your character through storytelling in freeform text.

Basic customization lets you upload an image or generate one from text.

You can set gender and voice and even add a background image to your chat.

But that's not where Sakura AI shines. The real customization happens through free-text inputs.

You write your character's description, personality, and scenario from scratch and can also fine-tune how your AI responds through Model Instructions.

The platform includes a practical tagging system (Tsundere, Vampire, Non-binary, etc.) to help categorize your creation.

However, if you're looking for detailed physical customization like choosing eye color or body type, you won't find it here.

Chat Experience

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.

Sakura AI

I tested my girl in a role as my ex-girlfriend, and the girl is warm, stays in character, and keeps conversations flowing.

When I needed emotional support, my girls offered it with a bit of flirtation, and she played along naturally.

Whether my girlfriend talks about relationship concerns, her responses feel genuine and thoughtful.

The app includes a mature content warning, so you can expect adult conversations when appropriate.

The chat interface needs improvement, sometimes it's hard to distinguish narrative messages from my girl's.

NSFW Chat Experience

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…

Sakura AI

During my testing, my girlfriend kept recycling the same flirty responses, even when I tried different approaches.

The biggest letdown? Her roleplay feature. My girl switches back to being my "ex-girlfriend" and starts repeating the same lines.

I tested this multiple times - same result.

The immersion breaks faster than you can say "mood killer."

Image Generation

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.

Sakura AI

The images are clean and well-drawn, matching what you'd expect from modern anime art.

You can't control exactly what pictures you get. The app generates random images right in your chat conversations.

If you want to direct every detail of your character's appearance, you might find the randomness frustrating.

Video Generation

Replika

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

Sakura AI

Sakura doesn't offer any video generation, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Voice Generation

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.

Sakura AI

After spending hours testing different conversations, I can tell you, the voice is clear but lacks any real personality.

Think of it this way: Whether I'm flirting, joking, or having a serious chat, Sakura's voice stays flat.

Privacy

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.

Sakura AI

While Sakura claims to use advanced encryption, I couldn't find this explicitly stated in their policy. They also store your conversations and personal information. They share data with third parties.

On top of that, payment is more complicated than their competitors, as it requires using multiple platforms and connecting them together.

Your bank statement is safe - payments appear as "GANKPTELTD".