Candy AI review

Step 1: First look and signing up

The homepage opens directly onto a grid of companion cards, each showing a portrait, a name, and a short personality line. The main menu (chat, collection, create character, premium) is visible from the start, so the product's scope is clear within seconds.

Further down, filters let the tester narrow the gallery by style and theme without clicking into anything. Browsing is free, but clicking on any companion triggers a registration wall. The tester could sign up with an email address and password, or skip the form by logging in through Google, Discord, or X. The screen is minimal and its purpose is clear: chat, images, and video all stay locked until the account is created and the email is confirmed. A new free account starts with zero tokens, which matters for everything that follows.

Step 2: Chatting and using the media tools

After logging in, the tester selected a companion and opened the chat. This is the core of the product, and it requires no explanation: a message box at the bottom, replies appearing above it, exactly like any messaging app. The companion stayed in character and reacted to what was typed rather than falling back on generic lines. There was no tutorial and none was needed.

The image and video buttons are placed just beneath the message box, so the tester could ask for a picture or a short clip without leaving the conversation. Text and media run in a single thread rather than in a separate generator tool, which keeps the roleplay from being interrupted. This is one of the better design decisions on the platform, with one catch that only becomes obvious later: every one of those requests is priced in tokens.

Step 3: Where the free tier stops

This is the point where the experience changes. After only a handful of messages and a couple of media requests, an upgrade prompt appeared and would not go away. That matches what Candy AI's own help centre says a free account gets: 5 chat messages in total across all characters (not per day), one custom character, and one image. There is no monthly token allowance on the free plan at all. The upgrade prompt lists what is locked: unlimited messaging, AI video, the custom character builder, unlocked images, and the 100 monthly tokens that come with Premium. The free tier is a sample rather than a working version of the product.

Step 4: The subscription screen and what it costs

Trying to continue led straight to the pricing page. Candy AI sells one Premium tier, and the only thing that changes is the billing cycle. Every plan includes unlimited text chat and 100 tokens per month. A higher Premium Plus tier with 330 tokens a month exists inside the account, but its price is not shown on the public pricing page.

Tokens are the real cost to watch, because every feature outside plain text chat draws from the same 100-token pool. Candy AI's help centre explains what tokens are for but does not publish a per-action price list, so the figures below are what the app charged inside the account during recent tests.

Put together, a session with one new character, ten explicit images, and a five-minute call uses 65 of the month's 100 tokens. Light users who mostly chat and request the odd picture will stay inside the allowance; anyone who wants regular images, voice, or video should expect to buy extra packs, which is why the real monthly cost often lands well above the plan price.