AI Girlfriend Chat Apps

AI Girlfriend Statistics (2026): Users, Market, Trends

Updated November 13, 2026

There is no single official count of AI girlfriend users, but the best recent surveys suggest a meaningful minority of adults have tried one. In the U.S., about 19% of adults said in 2025 that they had chatted with an AI romantic partner, rising to 31% of young adult men. Spending is growing too: romantic and NSFW companion apps took in $162.8 million in the first half of 2026 on mobile app stores alone.

The numbers vary a lot depending on who asks and how the question is worded. “Have you ever chatted with an AI romantic partner?” gets a very different answer from “Have you felt a romantic connection with one?” or “Would you consider one as a partner?” We’ve pulled the most credible figures below and noted what each one actually measures.

Key AI girlfriend statistics at a glance

StatisticFigureSource (year)
U.S. adults who have chatted with an AI romantic partner19%Wheatley Institute / IFS (2025)
Young adult men (18–30) who have chatted with an AI girlfriend or boyfriend31% (vs 23% of young women)Wheatley Institute / IFS (2025)
U.S. singles who have engaged with AI as a romantic companion16% (Gen Z: 33%)Match / Kinsey Institute, Singles in America (2025)
U.S. adults who have ever used an AI companion app35%Verasight (2026)
U.S. adults who have felt an emotional or romantic connection with an AI chatbot6%Verasight (2025)
U.S. adults likely to consider AI as a romantic partner8%Verasight (2026)
Partnered U.S. young adults (18–30) who regularly use AI romantic companions15%Wheatley Institute, Secret Soulmates (2026)
Consumer spending on romantic/NSFW companion apps, H1$162.8 millionAppfigures via Decrypt (2026)
Consumer spending on all AI companion apps, H1$82 millionAppfigures via TechCrunch (2025)
Active AI companion apps with “girlfriend” in the name17% (vs 4% “boyfriend” or “fantasy”)Appfigures via TechCrunch (2025)

How many people use AI girlfriends?

The most widely cited U.S. figure comes from the Wheatley Institute and the Institute for Family Studies. Their February 2025 report, Counterfeit Connections, surveyed nearly 3,000 U.S. adults and found that 19% had chatted with an AI system meant to simulate a romantic partner. The same report found 7% of participants had used AI romantic companions for sexual purposes. The authors call these findings preliminary.

Other surveys come in lower because they ask stricter questions:

  • Ever used a companion app: In a May 2026 Verasight poll of 1,000 U.S. adults, 35% said they had used an AI companion app at least once, and 8.4% described themselves as frequent users. The poll didn’t define “AI companion app,” so some respondents may have counted general chatbots.
  • Felt a real connection: A November 2025 Verasight poll found only 6% of U.S. adults had ever felt an emotional or romantic connection with an AI chatbot.
  • Would consider one as a partner: In May 2026, 92% of U.S. adults said they were unlikely to consider AI as a romantic partner, and 8% said they were likely.

Taken together, trying an AI girlfriend or boyfriend chat is fairly common, but forming a lasting romantic bond with one is still rare.

Platform-level user numbers

Individual apps rarely publish audited user counts. In August 2025, Character.AI said it had 20 million monthly active users, roughly half of them female. The platform is used for role-play and fiction as well as companionship, so its users aren’t all looking for an AI partner. Treat company-stated figures like these as rough indicators, not independent measurements.

What percentage of men use AI girlfriends?

Men, and young men in particular, report the highest use in most surveys:

  • 31% of young adult men (ages 18–30) said they had chatted with an AI boyfriend or girlfriend, compared with 23% of young adult women, according to the 2025 Counterfeit Connections report.
  • The same report found that more than half of men who used AI for romantic or sexual purposes were at risk for depression and reported high loneliness. That is a correlation, and the study doesn’t show that AI use causes these outcomes.

The gap between men and women is real but smaller than the “lonely men” stereotype suggests. Roughly one in four young women in the Wheatley data had also tried a romantic AI chat.

Gen Z and AI companions

Younger adults are consistently the heaviest users:

  • In Match and the Kinsey Institute’s 2025 Singles in America study of 5,001 U.S. singles, 16% of all singles said they had engaged with AI as a romantic companion. That rose to 33% of Gen Z singles and 23% of Millennials. Match’s wording appears to cover a range of AI interactions, so this figure is broader than “has an AI girlfriend.”
  • The Wheatley Institute’s 2026 Secret Soulmates report surveyed 2,431 U.S. adults aged 18–30 who were dating, engaged or married. It found that 15% regularly interact with AI chatbots that simulate romantic companionship, and, as reported by Decrypt, 69% of those regular users hid the full extent of their use from their partner.

So AI companionship among young adults is not limited to single people. A noticeable share of people already in relationships use these apps too, which raises its own questions about boundaries and honesty.

AI girlfriends appear to be more popular, though the gap is narrower than many assume.

  • Supply side: Appfigures found that 17% of active AI companion apps included “girlfriend” in their names in 2025, compared with 4% using “boyfriend” or “fantasy” combined.
  • Demand side: Men reported somewhat higher romantic AI use than women in the Wheatley data (31% vs 23% among young adults).
  • AI boyfriends have a visible community: An MIT-led analysis of the Reddit community r/MyBoyfriendIsAI, which had more than 27,000 members in 2025, found that many users said their companionship began unintentionally, through ordinary chatbot use rather than a deliberate search for a partner.

We compare the two experiences in more detail in AI boyfriend vs AI girlfriend.

AI girlfriend market size, downloads and revenue

The most reliable market figures come from app-intelligence firm Appfigures, which tracks real App Store and Google Play spending. Many market research reports promise multi-billion-dollar valuations, but their methods and definitions vary widely, so we’ve left them out.

All AI companion apps (2025): According to Appfigures data reported by TechCrunch:

  • $82 million in consumer spending in the first half of 2025, with more than $120 million projected for the full year
  • 60 million downloads in H1 2025, up 88% year over year, and 220 million lifetime downloads as of July 2025
  • 337 active, revenue-generating companion apps, 128 of them released in 2025
  • The top 10% of apps earned 89% of the category’s revenue

Romantic and NSFW companion apps (2026): In data reported by Decrypt in July 2026, Appfigures identified 214 romantic and NSFW AI companion apps that generated $162.8 million in the first half of 2026 and $427.3 million since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022. General “PG” companion apps earned a similar $164.8 million in the same period with roughly twice as many downloads. The top earner was Zeta at about $33 million. These figures exclude browser-only services, so the real total is higher.

The 2025 and 2026 figures use different category definitions, so don’t compare them directly. Both point the same way, though: spending is growing and concentrated in a handful of apps. For how much individual apps cost, see our best AI girlfriend apps roundup.

Surveys and studies point to a few consistent drivers. We cover the motivations in depth in why people use AI girlfriends.

  • Loneliness relief: A study led by Harvard Business School’s Julian De Freitas, AI Companions Reduce Loneliness (first posted 2024), found that a session with an AI companion eased loneliness about as much as talking with another person, and more than watching YouTube. The effect held across a week of use, and the feeling of being heard was the main factor. The authors frame the benefits as short-term.
  • Feeling understood: In the 2025 Singles in America study, singles who had used AI companions often said AI made them feel more understood or gave them stronger emotional support.
  • Availability and low stakes: Companions are always on and don’t judge, and you can quit anytime. Users in the r/MyBoyfriendIsAI analysis described always-available support as a key benefit.
  • Better technology: Memory, voice and character design have improved quickly, which makes conversations feel more continuous and personal.

The same research also flags risks, including emotional dependency, grief when a model changes, and privacy. If you’re considering an app, read are AI girlfriends safe? first.

How to read AI girlfriend statistics

Keep three cautions in mind when you see a headline number:

  1. Question wording matters. “Chatted with” (19%) and “felt a romantic connection” (6%) measure very different things.
  2. Most data is from the U.S. For a look at other markets, see our guide to AI girlfriends in China and Japan.
  3. Some surveys come from interested parties. Companion-app companies and review sites sometimes publish their own polls. We’ve stuck to academic, polling and app-intelligence sources here.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How many people have an AI girlfriend?

There is no official count. A 2025 Wheatley Institute survey found 19% of U.S. adults had chatted with an AI system meant to simulate a romantic partner, while a 2025 Verasight poll found only 6% of U.S. adults said they had ever felt an emotional or romantic connection with an AI chatbot.

What percentage of young men have used an AI girlfriend?

In the Wheatley Institute's 2025 Counterfeit Connections survey, 31% of young adult men (ages 18 to 30) said they had chatted with an AI boyfriend or girlfriend, compared with 23% of young adult women.

Are AI boyfriends or AI girlfriends more popular?

The available data points to AI girlfriends. Men report somewhat higher use of AI romantic companions in survey data, and Appfigures found that 17% of active AI companion apps used the word girlfriend in their names in 2025, versus 4% for boyfriend or fantasy combined.

How big is the AI girlfriend market?

According to Appfigures data reported by Decrypt, romantic and NSFW AI companion apps generated $162.8 million in consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play in the first half of 2026, and $427.3 million since late 2022. Web-only services are not included.

Why are AI girlfriends so popular?

Research points to loneliness relief, constant availability and the feeling of being heard. A Harvard Business School-led study found AI companions reduced loneliness in the short term about as much as talking with another person.