This is our running reference for AI girlfriend and AI companion statistics. Every number is sourced. We update it as fresh data lands. Citing it in your own work? A link back is appreciated. The figures below are the most recent reliable ones we could verify as of July 2026.

How big is the AI girlfriend market?

One caveat matters more than any single figure: those numbers count app-store billing only. The highest-earning AI girlfriend platforms bill through the web on purpose, dodging Apple and Google's content rules and their 30% cut. Candy AI alone reportedly passed $25 million ARR in roughly its first year, per a Tripleminds analysis. So the visible market is the smaller half.

For scale, Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 put total 2025 consumer app spend near $85 billion, up 21%, with generative-AI in-app purchase revenue tripling to over $5 billion. Companion apps punch above their weight here. Per user, they are one of that whole category's strongest earners.

How many people use AI girlfriend apps?

• 220 million lifetime downloads of AI companion apps by July 2025, with 60 million in the first half of 2025 alone, up 88% year over year. Source: Appfigures via TechCrunch.

• 17% of revenue-generating companion apps have 'girlfriend' right in their name. Source: Appfigures.

• Hundreds of millions of monthly visits hit the big character-chat platforms. Janitor AI and Character.AI each drew traffic in the 150 to 220M monthly visit range at 2025 to 2026 peaks, per Semrush estimates. See our reviews of Janitor AI and Character AI.

• Consistent top-100 presence: companion apps like Character.AI, Talkie, PolyBuzz, Chai, and Janitor AI have made every edition of a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps ranking through March 2026.

How fast is AI girlfriend search demand growing?

• +2,400%: growth in 'AI girlfriend' searches from 2022 to 2024, per Forbes citing search data from September 2023 onward.

• ~90 to 110K monthly US searches for 'ai girlfriend' at 2025 peaks, per public keyword-tool estimates. Global annual volume is estimated above 1.5 million.

• Thinner demand on the boyfriend side: 'AI boyfriend' volume runs well below 'AI girlfriend', though it is climbing. That is one reason the niche stays less crowded for publishers and app makers. See our best AI boyfriend apps.

What do the AI companion market forecasts say?

Treat these as directional and definition-dependent. Grand View Research and peers project the broad 'AI companion' market at $70.9 to 140.7 billion by 2030, roughly a 31% CAGR. AI dating apps specifically were forecast to grow from $2.8 billion in 2024 to $9.5 billion by 2028, a 27.5% CAGR. MIT Technology Review named AI companions one of its Breakthrough Technologies for 2026. That is about as clean a one-line read on the trajectory as you will find.

Every forecast in this category disagrees on the number and agrees on the direction.

By CrushScout Editorial Team

Do AI companions actually reduce loneliness?

The most-cited study is De Freitas et al., published in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2025 out of Harvard Business School. It found that AI companions measurably reduced participants' loneliness, with short-term effects comparable to talking with another person. That is the strongest evidence yet for the whole category's core promise: feeling heard. For the full context and the caveats, read are AI companions safe.

What laws now regulate AI companion apps?

Two state laws now govern companion apps directly. California's SB 243 took effect January 1, 2026. New York's AI Companion Models Law landed in November 2025. More states have bills pending. Our AI companion laws tracker keeps the current list, so you know what protections apply where you live.

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