Blog / AI Companions 18+

Need an Alternative to CrushOn AI? These Apps Do More

Tired of CrushOn AI's message caps, uneven models and billing issues? I tested and priced 9 CrushOn AI alternatives, from JOI AI to free character chat.

Leo VargaLeo Varga 30 Oct 2026 15 min read
Share X in R f
Illustration of chat bubbles next to a price tag, comparing the cost of AI companion apps
This article discusses AI companion apps made for adults (18+). The text itself contains nothing explicit, though every app it links to is 18+ only. You can see the complete list in our Adult AI tools category and read the Adult Content Disclaimer.

Short answer: For most people the best CrushOn AI alternative is JOI AI. It adds voice calls and selfies to uncensored chat for about $5.08 a month on the annual plan. Heavy texters get more from Nectar AI, whose $9.99 Premium includes 6,000 messages a month along with photos and long-term memory. For free CrushOn-style character chat, CrushOnAI Chat and AIGFLove let you begin without paying.

Key takeaways

  • CrushOn AI prices by message volume: about 50 a day on the free plan, then roughly 2,000 a month for $5.99, 6,000 for $14.99, and unlimited for $49.90.
  • My overall pick is JOI AI, with voice calls, selfies and fast replies from about $5.08 a month on annual billing.
  • For $9.99, Nectar AI matches CrushOn Premium's 6,000 monthly messages and adds 600 photo messages plus long-term memory.
  • CrushOn is built around text. OurDream AI, Candy AI and Lovescape all include image generation, and OurDream also offers video and mobile apps.
  • If privacy is pushing you away, check the deletion and billing terms of your next app. Mozilla flagged CrushOn in its 2024 review of romantic chatbots.
On this page

CrushOn AI sells itself on three things: a giant library of community characters, light filtering and your choice of AI model. The trouble lies in everything surrounding that offer. You pay by message volume, quality swings with whichever model you pick, the experience is close to pure text, and the Trustpilot page (a 1.8 TrustScore when I looked) is full of people upset about billing and support.

I’m Leo, and on this desk I figure out what these apps cost once you use them the way normal people do. For this article I ran CrushOn next to nine alternatives, counted free-tier messages, priced every plan for light and heavy use, and went through the billing and privacy terms. JOI AI is my top pick: on its annual plan, about $5 a month gets you voice calls and selfies on top of uncensored chat. Nectar AI is the value choice for heavy messaging. If all you want is free CrushOn-style character chat, jump to picks 6 through 9.

CrushOn AI alternatives at a glance

Each score is our editorial rating out of 5.

  1. Editor's choice
    1 JOI AI logo
    JOI AI

    Voice calls and selfies, best value annually

    Score
    4.6/5
    Price
    $5.08/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit JOI AI
  2. 2 Nectar AI logo
    Nectar AI

    Most messages per dollar, long-term memory

    Score
    4.5/5
    Price
    $9.99/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit Nectar AI
  3. 3 OurDream AI logo
    OurDream AI

    Image and video generation, mobile apps

    Score
    4.4/5
    Price
    $9.99/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit OurDream AI
  4. 4 Candy AI logo
    Candy AI

    One custom companion with voice and photos

    Score
    4.5/5
    Price
    $3.99/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit Candy AI
  5. 5 Lovescape logo
    Lovescape

    Generous free tier, romance storylines

    Score
    4.4/5
    Price
    $5.99/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit Lovescape
  6. 6 CrushOnAI Chat logo
    CrushOnAI Chat

    CrushOn-style persona roleplay, free to try

    Score
    4.0/5
    Price
    See pricing
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit CrushOnAI Chat
  7. 7 AIGFLove logo
    AIGFLove

    Free chat with no account required

    Score
    4.2/5
    Price
    See pricing
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit AIGFLove
  8. 8 Sexy AI logo
    Sexy AI

    Chat, roleplay and images free in one place

    Score
    4.0/5
    Price
    See pricing
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit Sexy AI
  9. 9 CraveU AI logo
    CraveU AI

    Long-form roleplay with custom characters

    Score
    4.1/5
    Price
    $9.99/mo
    Free plan
    Yes
    Visit CraveU AI

Why people are looking past CrushOn AI

Most alternatives lists wave at “pricing” and “filters” and stop there. Looking closer turned up the specifics.

You pay for a message meter. The free plan on CrushOn allows about 50 messages a day. Beyond that, Standard costs $5.99 a month for roughly 2,000 messages, Premium is $14.99 for roughly 6,000 plus group scenarios, and Deluxe is $49.90 for unlimited. A fast back-and-forth roleplay can hit 100 messages in one evening, so a regular user empties Standard in a few weeks and then has to ration or jump to a tier that costs more than double.

Model quality is a lottery. Picking your backend sounds like a perk. In practice one character can be sharp on one model and incoherent on the next. Recent Trustpilot reviews say “Models are barely functional most of the time” and “forgets everything after a very short time,” and I saw that forgetting firsthand on the cheaper backends.

It’s text in a box. CrushOn remains mostly text chat, while nearly every competitor now includes generated images, voice or both. Once a companion has sent you a picture or called you, plain text feels thin.

Billing and support complaints. Trustpilot reviewers keep raising the same issues: renewal charges they didn’t expect, a $0.99 card charge to unlock adult content (some read it as a payment gate more than an age check), and support replies that miss the question.

Privacy. In its February 2024 look at romantic chatbots, Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included team reviewed CrushOn and gave it a warning label. Reports on that review describe dozens of trackers firing in the first minute of use, and Mozilla couldn’t confirm how chat data was encrypted. Things may have changed since, but it’s fair to factor in.

How I compared them

Each app got scored on four points, in this order: what the free tier gives you, what a regular user pays per month, whether the experience beats CrushOn’s (memory, media, speed), and how clear the billing terms are. For hands-on testing I used two characters everywhere, a flirty coworker and a fantasy roleplay with a recurring cast, across several days, checking whether early details survived. Prices come from our tool database and each vendor’s pricing page. They change often, so confirm before subscribing.

The best CrushOn AI alternatives, ranked

1. JOI AI: best overall and best value on an annual plan

Editor's choice
JOI AI logo Rank #1

Best for: Voice calls and selfies, best value annually

4.6Editorial score 4.6 out of 5
Our score
4.6/5
Price from
$5.08/mo
Free plan
Yes
JOI AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • Voice conversations work well
  • Replies come back fast
  • You can test the service on the free tier

Cons

  • Only adults (18+) who pass age verification can use it
  • Some features run on credits
  • Works only in the browser

JOI AI takes first place because it does more than CrushOn’s cheapest paid tier while costing less. Annual billing brings it to about $5.08 a month (roughly $61 a year), against $5.99 for CrushOn Standard. That buys voice calls with your companion, a hands-free “JOI mode,” generated selfies, and uncensored text chat that answered faster in my tests than any CrushOn backend I used.

Voice is what changes things. CrushOn has no proper voice conversation, and talking to a character out loud makes for a very different experience. My companion kept context as I moved between typing and calling. The JOI AI review goes deeper on the voice features.

Some fine print. JOI uses a monthly “Neuron” allowance that messages, photos and video all draw from, and the annual plan carries a bigger pool than monthly. It’s a credit system, so heavy media users need to watch the balance. The free tier is brief, about 10 to 20 starter messages and a voice preview, enough to decide but not enough to live on. Monthly billing costs $17.77 and the three-month plan about $8.89 a month, so the low headline price depends on paying for a year. JOI runs in the browser only.

2. Nectar AI: best for message volume and memory

Nectar AI logo Rank #2

Best for: Most messages per dollar, long-term memory

4.5Editorial score 4.5 out of 5
Our score
4.5/5
Price from
$9.99/mo
Free plan
Yes
Nectar AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • Character media stays consistent
  • Characters feel lifelike
  • You can test the service on the free tier

Cons

  • Only adults (18+) who pass age verification can use it
  • The higher-tier features need a paid subscription
  • Works only in the browser

CrushOn users who hit the message cap should run these numbers. CrushOn Premium costs $14.99 for about 6,000 messages a month. Nectar AI Premium costs $9.99 for 6,000 messages plus 600 photo messages, 100 image generations a day and long-term memory, and annual billing cuts it to about $5 a month. For raw volume, nothing else here gets close.

Memory earns it the high rank too. With long-term memory switched on, my fantasy character still knew the names of two side characters I’d introduced three days before. CrushOn’s cheaper backends had lost them by the next session. A chat model can only see a limited context window, so long-term memory must live somewhere else, and that storage is what Nectar charges for. Nectar also keeps a companion’s face consistent from photo to photo, which trips up most image-capable apps.

The free tier is the weak point: 15 messages and 10 images a day, with memory that ends with the session. That’s below CrushOn’s free 50. Pro, at $19.99 a month, brings unlimited images, 9,000 messages and a priority queue, and uses a credit wallet (1 credit per message, 5 to 10 per image). Browser-only.

3. OurDream AI: best for images, video and mobile

OurDream AI logo Rank #3

Best for: Image and video generation, mobile apps

4.4Editorial score 4.4 out of 5
Our score
4.4/5
Price from
$9.99/mo
Free plan
Yes
OurDream AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • Generates images and video
  • iOS and Android apps
  • A free tier lets you test the service

Cons

  • Only adults (18+) can join, and you must verify your age
  • Generating media spends credits
  • The premium tiers get expensive

Of all the picks, OurDream AI solves CrushOn’s “text in a box” problem most fully. You chat with premade characters or design your own, then generate HD images and short videos of them. It’s also the only app here with native iOS and Android apps, keeping your companion in sync between phone and web. CrushOn runs in a mobile browser, which isn’t the same thing.

Read the pricing closely. Premium costs $19.99 on monthly billing or $9.99 a month on the annual plan ($119.88 up front). Chat on Premium is unlimited, while images and video use DreamCoins: 1,000 a month plus a one-time 1,000 signup bonus, with extra packs costing more. Heavy video users should budget for a coin pack.

Free users get capped daily messages, five images a day and only partial adult content. That works for a test drive. For a CrushOn user who wants media and will commit to a year, OurDream is the fullest package.

4. Candy AI: best for one custom companion with voice and photos

Candy AI logo Rank #4

Best for: One custom companion with voice and photos

4.5Editorial score 4.5 out of 5
Our score
4.5/5
Price from
$3.99/mo
Free plan
Yes
Candy AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • Lots of room to customize characters
  • Tight companion experience in the browser
  • Free tier lets you test it first

Cons

  • Only adults (18+) who pass age verification can use it
  • You need a paid plan for the full feature set

Candy AI fits CrushOn users who are done browsing bots and want a single, well-built companion. Its builder lets you define appearance, personality and backstory in realistic or anime style, and the resulting character stays solid through long chats. Voice messages and photo generation come included, and paid replies are fast and uncensored.

Costs: in late October 2026 Premium cost $13.99 monthly (after a $9.99 first month) or $3.99 a month billed annually ($47.88 a year). Premium text chat is unlimited, so CrushOn’s message-meter worry goes away. Images are the catch. You get 100 tokens a month, and anyone who generates lots of images or makes voice calls buys Candy’s token packs on top. Plan with care: daily picture generation will push your real monthly cost above the headline price.

The free tier works as a demo: one companion, limited daily messages, and voice and images locked. You also give up CrushOn’s variety, since Candy’s preset gallery is small compared with a community library. If leaving that behind is the point, Candy is the most polished single-companion app I’ve tested.

5. Lovescape: best free tier among the big apps

Lovescape logo Rank #5

Best for: Generous free tier, romance storylines

4.4Editorial score 4.4 out of 5
Our score
4.4/5
Price from
$5.99/mo
Free plan
Yes

Pros

  • Story settings that pull you in
  • In-character images look good
  • You can test the service on the free tier

Cons

  • Only adults (18+) who pass age verification can use it
  • The higher-tier features need a paid subscription
  • Works only in the browser

In daily use, Lovescape’s free plan comes closest to CrushOn’s: 40 to 50 text messages a day, access to the character gallery and a few signup chips for trying images and voice. Of the five larger apps here, it lets you do the most without paying.

Romance is the focus. You build a partner and drop them into story-driven scenarios, and the setting does much of the roleplay work. Images and voice replies are built in, and in my tests the in-character pictures were good every time.

Paid plans cost $12.99 monthly, $9.99 a month on the three-month plan, or $5.99 a month on annual billing ($71.88 a year), each with 600 chips a month for image, voice and video. An Ultimate tier at $19.99 a month handles heavier use. Lovescape is browser-only and isn’t a general roleplay hub: if your CrushOn habit involves dark fantasy campaigns with a dozen characters, it will feel narrow.

Free character chat that keeps CrushOn’s freedom

Plenty of people leaving CrushOn have no interest in a companion app with credits and coin packs. If the character-roleplay format of the character AI tools is what you liked and you want it cheaper or free, these four sites are my starting points. Each is smaller and browser-only, and none matches CrushOn’s library size, but you can try every one without entering a card.

6. CrushOnAI Chat: best for CrushOn-style persona roleplay

CrushOnAI Chat logo Rank #6

Best for: CrushOn-style persona roleplay, free to try

4.0Editorial score 4 out of 5
Our score
4.0/5
Price from
See pricing
Free plan
Yes
CrushOnAI Chat interface screenshot

Pros

  • A large selection of distinct AI personas
  • Free tier that needs no credit card
  • Characters remember earlier conversations

Cons

  • Only adult (18+) users who pass age verification can join
  • No native mobile apps, browser only
  • Removing the caps means paying for a subscription

Despite the near-identical name, CrushOnAI Chat is a different site from CrushOn AI, and it matches the format more directly than anything else here. It revolves around a roster of distinct personas with a crush-and-flirting theme, uncensored adult roleplay and a builder for your own character.

Free users get uncensored chat under a daily message cap, the full built-in persona lineup and one custom character, with no install and no card. In my tests the characters stayed in persona, and memory carried from one session to the next, which beat what I got from CrushOn’s free backends.

The limits: a curated roster in place of a community one, so expect dozens of characters, not thousands. Premium removes the daily cap, speeds up replies and allows more custom characters, but you only see the price at checkout, so compare it with CrushOn’s $5.99 before upgrading. Browser-only.

7. AIGFLove: best for chatting free with no account

AIGFLove logo Rank #7

Best for: Free chat with no account required

4.2Editorial score 4.2 out of 5
Our score
4.2/5
Price from
See pricing
Free plan
Yes
AIGFLove interface screenshot

Pros

  • Chat starts right away, no account needed
  • A big library of 50+ different AI companions
  • Memory across sessions lets relationships build over time

Cons

  • No native mobile app, browser only
  • You need an account or premium for deeper personalization
  • Open only to adults (18+) who pass age verification

No app I tested is easier to start with than AIGFLove. You can talk to any of its 50+ companions without making an account, and the conversation is uncensored. A free account saves your chat history, enables memory across sessions and raises your usage allowance. Both tiers cost nothing.

On cost, it’s tough to beat. CrushOn’s free tier requires sign-up and cuts you off around 50 messages, while AIGFLove’s free tier is the entire product. No-account chat also helps privacy, because you don’t hand over an email address to try it.

It won’t run deep roleplay. The companions are built for personal conversation, not complex multi-character scenes, and CrushOn’s model choice and group scenarios are missing. For everyday companion chat at no cost, it’s my first recommendation.

8. Sexy AI: best for chat, roleplay and images free in one place

Sexy AI logo Rank #8

Best for: Chat, roleplay and images free in one place

4.0Editorial score 4 out of 5
Our score
4.0/5
Price from
See pricing
Free plan
Yes
Sexy AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • Puts chat, roleplay and image generation on one site
  • Easy for newcomers to pick up
  • Free to start and needs no installation

Cons

  • Works only in the browser, with no native mobile app
  • No single feature goes as deep as specialist tools
  • Only adults (18+) can use it, and they must verify their age

Sexy AI tackles the top complaint about CrushOn, that it only does text, and doesn’t demand a subscription first. Companion chat, text roleplay and on-demand character images share one browser interface, and the free tier covers all three within a daily allowance.

You can build and customize characters, and memory holds for the length of a session. Premium raises usage limits and speeds up image generation; the site shows the price at checkout, so compare it with CrushOn’s before paying.

Depth is the honest weakness. It covers several jobs reasonably well without excelling at any one, and during long roleplay it kept fewer details than Nectar or CraveU. Memory is per session, with nothing long-term. As a free route to images in your character chats, though, it’s the easiest choice here.

9. CraveU AI: best for long-form roleplay

CraveU AI logo Rank #9

Best for: Long-form roleplay with custom characters

4.1Editorial score 4.1 out of 5
Our score
4.1/5
Price from
$9.99/mo
Free plan
Yes
CraveU AI interface screenshot

Pros

  • You create characters freely instead of picking from a set list
  • Built around long adult roleplay sessions
  • Free to try and nothing to download

Cons

  • No native app, browser only
  • A young platform that is still adding content

CraveU AI is made for people who used CrushOn mostly to write their own characters and play out long scenes. It has no fixed roster. You set any character’s appearance, personality and backstory, then run extended roleplay with scene memory that follows the story as it develops.

Value is strong. Free users can create characters and run uncensored long-form roleplay with in-scene recall, under a daily message limit. Premium costs $9.99 a month for higher limits, longer memory across extended scenes and quicker replies. That’s $5 below CrushOn Premium, and the memory upgrade is the one long stories need.

The cost is effort, since you build everything yourself; if you like picking a premade character and diving in, look elsewhere. It’s also a newer, browser-only platform that is still adding features.

What about SpicyChat and Janitor AI?

These two show up on almost every CrushOn alternatives list, so here’s where I land.

SpicyChat is the nearest twin to CrushOn, with a large community library, light filtering and a free tier. It’s the most like-for-like move, but it brings problems of its own: free-tier queues, short memory, and reported September 2026 price increases that put its memory upgrades at about $19.95 a month and up. If the community-library format is what you’re tired of, switching won’t help, and the guide to SpicyChat alternatives points you to better options.

Janitor AI is free with a daily cap on its built-in model and hosts thousands of characters. Its main attraction is plugging in your own API key from another model provider, which can give excellent results but means paying that provider separately and handling some setup. Tinkerers will enjoy it; most other people will get frustrated.

What you’d pay each month

The table compares plans on the numbers. “Regular use” means about 100 messages a day, roughly 3,000 a month.

AppFree tierLowest paid priceCovers ~3,000 msgs/month?
CrushOn AI~50 messages/day$5.99/mo (~2,000 msgs)Needs Premium, $14.99/mo
JOI AI~10 to 20 starter messages~$5.08/mo billed annuallyDepends on your Neuron allowance
Nectar AI15 messages + 10 images/day$9.99/mo (about $5/mo annually)Yes (6,000 messages)
OurDream AICapped messages, 5 images/day$9.99/mo billed annuallyYes (unlimited chat)
Candy AIDemo, limited messages$3.99/mo billed annuallyYes (unlimited text chat)
Lovescape40 to 50 messages/day$5.99/mo billed annuallyFull chat on Premium; media uses chips
CrushOnAI ChatDaily cap, 1 custom characterShown at checkoutCheck at checkout
AIGFLoveFull chat, no account neededNo paid plan listedWithin free allowance
Sexy AIDaily allowance incl. imagesShown on siteCheck on site
CraveU AIDaily limit$9.99/moHigher limits on Premium

Two points jump out. The lowest prices for JOI, Candy, Lovescape and OurDream all assume you pay for a year up front; on monthly billing, compare against $17.77 (JOI), $13.99 (Candy), $12.99 (Lovescape) and $19.99 (OurDream). And for a heavy text user, Nectar’s $9.99 plan is the cheapest way past CrushOn’s message ceiling without a yearly commitment.

A quick privacy checklist before you switch

Wherever you land, give these five minutes before you get attached:

  • Find the delete button. See whether settings let you delete single chats and your whole account, with no need to email support.
  • Read the billing descriptor. Note how the charge will appear on your statement and whether annual plans auto-renew (most do).
  • Check the age-check method. Depending on your country or US state, the app may ask for a selfie or ID. Find out which third party handles it before uploading anything.
  • Keep real details out of chats. Leave your full name, workplace and address out of every companion app, however private it feels.
  • Use a separate email if you don’t want an adult-app receipt landing in your main inbox.

My verdict

If CrushOn AI feels dated to you, pick JOI AI. On the annual plan it costs less than CrushOn Standard and adds voice calls and selfies. If you keep running out of messages, Nectar AI’s $9.99 plan delivers the most messages per dollar on this list, with real long-term memory included. If you want visuals and a phone app, choose OurDream AI.

For CrushOn-style character chat at no cost, begin with CrushOnAI Chat or AIGFLove. Each takes a couple of minutes to try, and neither wants a card. A full breakdown of the app you’re leaving is in our CrushOn AI review.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to CrushOn AI?

JOI AI suits most adults. It combines uncensored companion chat with voice calls and generated selfies, starting at about $5.08 a month on the annual plan. If more messages per dollar is the goal, Nectar AI's $9.99 Premium covers 6,000 messages and 600 photo messages a month and adds long-term memory.

Is there a free CrushOn AI alternative?

Yes. AIGFLove lets you talk to 50+ characters with no account, CrushOnAI Chat and Sexy AI offer free daily allowances, and Lovescape's free tier allows about 40 to 50 messages a day. Janitor AI is free too, with a daily cap, when you stick to its built-in model.

How much does CrushOn AI cost?

The free plan on CrushOn AI gives about 50 messages a day. Standard is $5.99 a month for roughly 2,000 messages, Premium costs $14.99 for roughly 6,000 messages and adds group scenarios, and Deluxe runs $49.90 a month for unlimited messages. Paying annually brings those rates down.

Is CrushOn AI safe to use?

CrushOn is a legitimate service, though privacy researchers have criticized it. In a February 2024 review of romantic AI chatbots, Mozilla's Privacy Not Included team gave it a warning label over heavy tracking and unclear security practices. On any app, keep real names, addresses and anything you wouldn't want stored out of the chat.

Is SpicyChat better than CrushOn AI?

The two are close: each runs a large community character library with light filtering. SpicyChat has the more generous free tier but can queue users at peak times, and CrushOn lets you choose between model backends. If the format itself is why you're leaving, a companion app such as JOI AI or Nectar AI is a bigger change than SpicyChat.

Which CrushOn AI alternative has voice and images?

JOI AI centers on voice calls and generates selfies as well. OurDream AI handles images and video, Candy AI and Lovescape bundle voice and image generation, and Nectar AI offers voice plus consistent photos. CrushOn itself is mostly text.

Did this help? Pass it on.

Share X in R f
Leo Varga

Written by

Leo Varga

AI Companion Reviewer

Leo Varga reviews AI companion apps and focuses on what you end up paying. He follows subscription tiers, token and credit systems, message caps on free plans and the fine print on renewals and refunds, then turns all of it into plain numbers you can compare. He also reads privacy policies and data-deletion options so you know what happens to your chats. He spent years comparing consumer subscription apps before he joined the companion desk at iKnow AI, and that work taught him to count how far a free tier stretches, message by message.

Tools mentioned in this article

JOI AI logo

An AI companion platform for adults (18+) that puts voice first.

Free plan
4.6Editorial score 4.6 out of 5
Free plan
Nectar AI logo

An 18+ AI companion platform with photos, voice and other rich media.

Free plan
4.5Editorial score 4.5 out of 5
Free plan
OurDream AI logo

An adults-only (18+) AI companion platform that also generates images and video.

Free plan
4.4Editorial score 4.4 out of 5
Free plan
Candy AI logo

Chat and roleplay with AI companions on a platform made for adults (18+).

Free plan
4.5Editorial score 4.5 out of 5
Free plan
CrushOn AI logo

Uncensored character roleplay for adults (18+), backed by a big library of community-made bots.

Free plan
4.1Editorial score 4.1 out of 5
Free plan

Keep reading