What the free tier actually gives you
Free access varies more than price does. AI Angels offers unlimited free text messages with no card asked for, which makes it the least gated option in this group. Candy.ai gives free chat with a limited number of messages, so the free part covers a first look rather than a habit. Backyard AI sets out a free message allowance each week, then counts it down. The AI Angels review sets out how that free chat works.
Several brands use a small currency to get you started. Baratnoim.hu credits new accounts with a handful of free coins, and CherryPop AI is free to start with coins included at signup. ChatVika pairs free chat with a gift of credits. AIGirlfriends.ai lets you chat on a free account, and the paid plan is what adds tokens. AIAllure lists both a free trial and a free account.
The remaining access shapes differ in kind. AI Podruga starts the chat free, AI Girlfriend offers a free account at signup, and Baibu gives free chat in Indonesian and other local languages. ChaChat is free to download with a paid PRO option, Chai AI runs a free ad-supported tier beside its paid Premium and Ultra tiers, and Botify AI keeps its free tier to a limited set of messages and basic characters. The AI girlfriend apps ranking and the AI companion apps ranking sort these allowances next to each other.
Monthly and yearly prices side by side
Monthly figures in this group include $12.99 at AIGirlfriends.ai, $13.99 at Chai AI, $14.99 at AI Angels, $19.99 at Botify AI, $19.99 at CherryPop AI, $24.99 at ChaChat and $29.90 at AIAllure. Backyard AI carries the highest monthly figure at $35, and it is also the one brand here that meters by a message allowance rather than a currency.
Yearly billing lowers the figure for several brands: $5.91 for AIGirlfriends.ai, $11.25 for Chai AI, $16.40 for AIAllure and $34.99 for ChaChat. Botify AI is the one to read closely, because its yearly price is a span of $29.99 to $79.99 and the tier you choose sets the result.
Read a yearly figure as billed yearly, and set it against the monthly figure for the same brand before you commit. A low yearly rate on an app you would use occasionally is poor value, while a large monthly figure with a message allowance suits a reader who chats often. The AIAllure review and the AIGirlfriends.ai review show how each plan is presented to readers weighing that choice.
Credits, tokens or a message count
Two brands meter by message or token count inside the subscription. Backyard AI uses a message allowance with no credits, which keeps the arithmetic simple. AIGirlfriends.ai includes a token allocation each month that refills on its own, and Couple.me sets aside a monthly token allowance for images and voice notes.
The rest sell a separate balance or a separate currency. AI Angels funds photos, calls and video from a credit balance. ChatVika gives a free credit gift and sells top-ups. Chai AI uses an in-app currency bought in packs. Character.AI pays out in charms. Botify AI charges energy coins on media actions, and Candy.ai combines a subscription with token-based extras. Baratnoim.hu charges coin credits for each message.
Baibu takes a different line again, with points for contributions that redeem for rewards, and CherryPop AI runs on a Cherry Coins credit system. A currency is only a budgeting tool if you track it, so a plain message count is the easier model to reason about before you pay.
Which model suits which reader
A reader who wants a predictable monthly cost is best served by the message allowance model at Backyard AI or the subscription-plus-extras model at Candy.ai, because neither leaves a balance to monitor. A reader who mostly sends photos or voice notes will find an included token allocation simpler, which is what AIGirlfriends.ai and Couple.me provide.
A reader who wants to avoid entering card details at the start has several routes: the card-free text chat at AI Angels, the free account at AI Girlfriend, the free trial and free account at AIAllure, the free account to chat at AIGirlfriends.ai, and the free chat start at AI Podruga. The Backyard AI review covers its weekly free message practice, and the Baibu review covers the points and rewards side of its free chat.
Billing names, advertising and renewals
Tier names are not consistent across the group, so compare names as carefully as figures. Chai AI sells Premium and Ultra tiers, ChaChat sells a PRO option, and Botify AI's yearly price covers a span of tiers. A free ad-supported tier trades message volume for advertising, which is a different arrangement from a paid tier with no advertising, and Baibu's rewards scheme sits on a third model again.
Before you pay, read what renews, at what point in the cycle, and what happens to unused credits, tokens or coins if you stop. A signup coin allowance, a free trial and a free chat limit each end on their own terms, and none of them tells you what the paid tier will cost you in a later month.
A short way to compare any two apps
Write four lines before you pay: the monthly figure, the yearly figure, the free allowance, and the unit you are charged in. If the fourth line is a currency rather than a message count, add a rough sense of how often you will use photos, calls or video, because that is what drains a balance. AIGirlfriends.ai and Couple.me both work that way.
Then read the review for each brand on your short list, and use the AI boyfriend apps and AI companion apps rankings to confirm which free allowances are still described as current. When two apps price alike, the credit model is usually what separates them.