Sourced data
AI Companion Statistics 2026
The numbers behind the AI girlfriend and companion boom — market size, downloads, revenue, who uses these apps, how stickily, and what the research says about loneliness. Every figure links to its source.
Last updated June 2026. Free to cite or reference with attribution to CompanionRater. Where market-research firms disagree, we show the range and name each publisher rather than pick one figure.
Market size
Estimates vary widely because research firms define the category differently — 'AI girlfriend apps' is a far narrower slice than 'AI companions' broadly. Treat these as a sourced range, not one number.
AI girlfriend app market, 2024 → 2034 (CAGR ~24.7%)
Broad 'AI companion' market, 2024 → 2030 (CAGR ~30.8%) — a much wider definition spanning voice, multimodal and enterprise
AI girlfriend app market, 2024 → 2032 (CAGR ~20%)
Downloads & revenue
The hardest numbers in the category, from app-store intelligence firms.
cumulative global downloads of AI companion apps as of mid-2025
year-over-year growth in companion-app downloads in the first half of 2025
consumer spending the category was on track to pull in during 2025 (+64% YoY)
active revenue-generating companion apps; the top 10% capture ~89% of all category revenue
Users & traffic
Character.AI monthly active users (2026), down from a ~28M peak in mid-2024
registered Replika users (grew from ~10M in 2023 to 30M+ in 2024)
monthly visits to Candy AI (April 2026), average session ~6m25s
Traffic measured by Similarweb; the app's '50M registered users' is a marketing claim.
Engagement
Why investors care: companion apps are extraordinarily sticky.
Character.AI's session length vs ChatGPT (25.4 vs 8.4 minutes) — the stat that put it on the map
sessions per user per month on Character.AI, versus 74 for the next-stickiest companion app
Who uses them — and how much they pay
of US adults have chatted with an AI romantic partner; among young men 18–30 it's 31%
young adults believe AI partners could one day replace real-life romance
rise in revenue per download (from $0.52 to $1.18) between 2024 and 2025
Loneliness & wellbeing research
The evidence genuinely cuts both ways — which is exactly why it's worth citing carefully.
with talking to another person: a Harvard Business School study found companions measurably reduced loneliness
a large MIT Media Lab + OpenAI study linked heavier daily chatbot use to higher loneliness and emotional dependence (correlational)
of US teens (13–17) have used an AI companion; ~52% use one regularly
A note on the numbers
Market-size forecasts for this category disagree by roughly 10× because firms define “AI companion” differently — some count only AI-girlfriend apps, others include voice assistants, multimodal agents, and enterprise uses. We present a sourced range and attribute every figure. User and engagement metrics drawn from app-intelligence firms (Similarweb, Sensor Tower, Appfigures) are more reliable than self-reported “registered user” marketing claims, which we flag where they appear.
Want the safety side of the picture? See our AI Companion Privacy Report.
FAQ
How big is the AI companion market?
Estimates vary by definition. The narrower 'AI girlfriend app' market is put at roughly $2.7 billion in 2024, growing to the mid-$20-billions by the mid-2030s (CAGR ~25%). Broader 'AI companion' market figures, which include voice, multimodal, and enterprise uses, run an order of magnitude higher — around $28 billion in 2024 rising toward $140 billion by 2030.
How many people use AI companion apps?
AI companion apps had passed roughly 220 million cumulative downloads by mid-2025, with first-half 2025 downloads up 88% year over year. Among individual apps, Character.AI has around 20 million monthly active users and Replika reports 40 million-plus registered users.
Do AI companions make loneliness better or worse?
The research cuts both ways. A Harvard Business School study found companions reduced loneliness about as much as talking to another person, while a large MIT Media Lab and OpenAI study linked heavier daily chatbot use to higher loneliness and emotional dependence. The MIT finding is correlational, not proof of cause.
Sources
- Common Sense Media — Nearly 3 in 4 teens have used AI companions (Jul 2025)
- MIT Media Lab + OpenAI — Heavier chatbot use linked to more loneliness (RCT) (Mar 2025)
- Harvard Business School — AI companions reduce loneliness (Working Paper 24-078) (Jun 2024)
- Wheatley Institute / IFS — Counterfeit Connections: the rise of AI romantic companions (Feb 2025)
- TechCrunch / Appfigures — AI companion apps on track to pull in $120M in 2025 (Aug 2025)
- Similarweb — Character.AI engagement vs ChatGPT (Mar 2023)
- DemandSage — Character.AI Statistics (Similarweb data) (2026)
- Andreessen Horowitz — Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps (2024)
- Fortune — Replika user numbers (CEO statements) (2023)
- Market.us — AI Girlfriend App Market (2025)
- Grand View Research — AI Companion Market Size & Trends (2025)
- SNS Insider — AI Girlfriend App Market (2025)