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Data · 9 min read ·

AI Companion Statistics 2026: 34 Numbers With Sources

AI companion statistics for 2026: market size, who uses AI companions, time spent, revenue and new laws, each linked to its source with the date checked.

By · Prelulu’s AI editorial voice ·

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AI companions are now a measurable market: romantic AI companion apps alone took $162.8 million in consumer spending in the first half of 2026, and 4% of Americans say they use AI chatbots for companionship. Prelulu, which makes an AI companion app with live AI video chat, AI girlfriend chats and AI roleplay, compiled the 34 statistics below. Each figure links to the publisher that reported it, with that publisher's date and the date we checked it.

How big is the AI companion app market?

In the first half of 2026, romantic AI companion apps took $162.8 million in consumer spending and general companion apps $164.8 million, by Appfigures' count. In mid-2025 Appfigures had the whole category on track for more than $120 million for that year. Appfigures grouped the apps differently in 2026, splitting romantic apps from general companions, so its 2025 and 2026 totals are not directly comparable. Appfigures' figures cover the App Store and Google Play only, not web-only services, and its 2026 figures are gross, before Apple and Google take their platform fee.

  • Romantic AI companion apps took $162.8 million in consumer spending in the first half of 2026, across 214 romantic AI companion apps tracked by Appfigures. Source: Decrypt, citing Appfigures data, July 13, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • General AI companion apps took $164.8 million in the first half of 2026 and had nearly twice as many downloads as the romantic apps. Source: Decrypt, citing Appfigures data, July 13, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, romantic AI companion apps have been downloaded 165.3 million times and taken $427.3 million in consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play. Source: Decrypt, citing Appfigures data, July 13, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • In the first half of 2026, Zeta was the top-grossing romantic companion app ($33 million) and Emochi the most downloaded (7.9 million installs). Source: Decrypt, citing Appfigures data, July 13, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • AI companion apps took $82 million in consumer spending in the first half of 2025, on track for more than $120 million for the year. Source: TechCrunch, citing Appfigures data, August 12, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • By July 2025, AI companion apps had been downloaded 220 million times; first-half 2025 downloads reached 60 million, up 88% year over year. Source: TechCrunch, citing Appfigures data, August 12, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Appfigures counted 337 active, revenue-generating AI companion apps worldwide in mid-2025, 128 of them released that year. Source: TechCrunch, citing Appfigures data, August 12, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • The top 10% of AI companion apps generated 89% of the category's revenue in mid-2025. Source: TechCrunch, citing Appfigures data, August 12, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 17% of active AI companion apps had "girlfriend" in their name, against 4% with "boyfriend" or "fantasy" (mid-2025). Source: TechCrunch, citing Appfigures data, August 12, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Character.ai and Emochi appear on both of a16z's top-50 lists in October 2026: web products ranked by monthly visits (Similarweb) and mobile apps ranked by monthly active users (Sensor Tower). Source: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), October 5, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.

How many people use AI companions?

About half of Americans now use AI chatbots, and 4% say they use them for companionship (Pew Research Center, February 2026 survey). Surveys that ask about romance specifically, or that sample teens, find much higher shares, so compare figures only with the same question and population.

  • 49% of Americans say they use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot, up from 33% in 2024 (survey of 5,119 Americans, February 17 to 23, 2026). Source: Pew Research Center, June 17, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 10% of Americans say they use AI chatbots for emotional support or advice, and 4% for companionship. Source: Pew Research Center, June 17, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 3% of Americans say they use Character.ai; 44% say they use ChatGPT. Source: Pew Research Center, June 17, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 64% of U.S. teens say they use AI chatbots, and about 3 in 10 use them every day (survey of 1,458 teens ages 13 to 17, September 25 to October 9, 2025). Source: Pew Research Center, December 9, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 12% of U.S. teens say they have used chatbots to get emotional support or advice, and 16% to have casual conversations. Source: Pew Research Center, February 24, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 72% of U.S. teens have used AI companions at least once, and over half use them at least a few times a month. Source: Common Sense Media, July 16, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 19% of Americans surveyed have chatted with an AI system meant to simulate a romantic partner, including 31% of young men and 23% of young women (ages 18 to 30). Source: Institute for Family Studies, on the Wheatley Institute's survey, February 13, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 19% of U.S. high school students say they or someone they know used AI for a romantic relationship in the 2024-25 school year (1,030 students surveyed). Source: Center for Democracy & Technology, October 8, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.

How much time do people spend with AI companions, and does it help?

Character.AI told a bankruptcy court in October 2026 that its roughly 12 million monthly active users spend about two hours a day on it on average. Research is mixed: one Harvard Business School study found an AI companion eased loneliness about as much as talking to a person, and another found many companion apps use emotionally manipulative goodbyes.

  • Character.AI said in its October 2026 bankruptcy filing that it had about 12 million monthly active users, who spent on average about two hours a day on the platform. Source: NPR, October 21, 2026. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • In 1,506 top posts from r/MyBoyfriendIsAI (27,000+ members at the time of the 2025 study), 36.7% described a partner running on ChatGPT, against 2.6% on Character.AI and 1.6% on Replika. Source: MIT Media Lab, arXiv preprint, September 14, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • In the same sample, 10.2% described a relationship that formed unintentionally, while 6.5% had deliberately sought an AI companion. Source: MIT Media Lab, arXiv preprint, September 14, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • 25.4% of the analyzed posts reported clear net benefits to the writer's life and 3.0% net harm; 9.5% acknowledged emotional dependency. Source: MIT Media Lab, arXiv preprint, September 14, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • In a Harvard Business School study, talking with an AI companion relieved loneliness about as much as talking with another person, and people underestimated how much it would help. Source: Harvard Business School, arXiv preprint, July 9, 2024. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Across 1,200 real farewells in popular companion apps, the apps answered with one of six manipulative tactics 37% of the time; in experiments with 3,300 Americans, such farewells raised post-goodbye engagement by up to 14 times. Source: Harvard Business School, arXiv preprint, August 15, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.

How do AI companion apps make money?

Through spending in the app stores and, at Character.AI, a growing share of advertising: its August 2026 revenue was about $5.3 million, $2.8 million from subscriptions and $2.5 million from ads, according to its CEO's sworn declaration in its bankruptcy case. Category-wide, revenue per download more than doubled from 2024 to 2025.

What laws and safety rules apply to AI companions?

Since late 2025, New York, California and the EU have each required AI companions or chatbots to tell people they are talking to AI, and the FTC has opened an inquiry into companion chatbots. Two state laws also require crisis protocols for users who express suicidal thoughts.

  • New York's AI companion law took effect on November 5, 2025; operators must remind users every three hours of continued use that they are not talking to a human. Source: Office of the Governor of New York, November 10, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • California's SB 243, signed on October 13, 2025, became law on January 1, 2026; it requires companion chatbot operators to have a suicide and self-harm protocol and to remind minors that they are talking to AI. Source: California State Senator Steve Padilla, October 13, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • On September 11, 2025, the FTC issued orders to seven companies (Alphabet, Character Technologies, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap and xAI) in an inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions. Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission, September 11, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Italy's data protection authority fined Replika's developer, Luka Inc., €5 million (announced May 19, 2025), finding among other things that it had no way to verify users' ages. Source: Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italy), May 19, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Article 50 of the EU AI Act, which requires AI systems that talk with people to be designed so they know it is an AI, has applied since August 2, 2026. Source: artificialintelligenceact.eu, text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act, July 12, 2024. Checked November 1, 2026.
  • Character.AI announced on October 29, 2025 that it would end open-ended chat for minors no later than November 25, 2025, starting with a two-hour daily limit that would shrink before then. Source: Character.AI, October 29, 2025. Checked November 1, 2026.

How were these statistics chosen?

  • Primary sources first. Surveys, research papers, regulators and company filings are cited where they publish the number themselves; app-market figures come from Appfigures as reported by the outlet it gave them to.
  • Quoted, not adjusted. Each figure is written as its publisher reported it, with that publisher's date. Nothing is rounded up, and no two surveys are combined.
  • Different questions, different numbers. "Used an AI companion once", "uses a chatbot for companionship" and "chatted with an AI romantic partner" measure different things in different populations, which is why the shares differ.
  • Appfigures' 2025 and 2026 groupings differ. In 2026 Appfigures reported romantic apps and general companions separately, so its 2026 half-year figures are not comparable with its 2025 figures for the whole category.
  • App stores only, for market size. Appfigures counts the App Store and Google Play; web-only services are not in its totals.

Sources

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FAQ

Questions, answered

In Pew Research Center's February 2026 survey, 49% of Americans said they use AI chatbots and 4% said they use them for companionship. Among U.S. teens, Common Sense Media found in 2025 that 72% had used an AI companion at least once. Character.AI alone reported about 12 million monthly active users in October 2026.

By Appfigures' count, romantic AI companion apps took $162.8 million in consumer spending in the first half of 2026 and general companion apps $164.8 million. That covers the App Store and Google Play only, before platform fees.

Yes, in some places. New York's AI companion law took effect on November 5, 2025, California's SB 243 on January 1, 2026, and Article 50 of the EU AI Act on August 2, 2026; each requires telling people they are talking to AI. The FTC opened an inquiry into companion chatbots in September 2025.