Best AI Companion Apps in Australia (post-Online Safety Act)

Jump to: The access reality · App-only platonic apps · Browser-friendly companions · The Online Safety Act · Risks · How we tested · Questions

The access reality in Australia

On 21 May 2026 I sat at the desktop and tried to open the five biggest platonic AI companion brands the way you'd open any other website. Replika, Jaimee, Pi.ai, Kindroid, Nomi. Each one loaded a marketing page, then funneled me toward either the App Store or Google Play. No chat in the browser, no demo, no way to test the thing without first installing it on my phone.

That used to be different. In 2023 most of these products had working desktop chat, with Pi.ai's web version being the whole point of Pi. By 2026 the install gate is the rule, not the exception.

For Australian users this changes three things. You're committing to a download and a fresh account before you know whether the product fits. Your billing routes through Apple or Google in-app purchases, which means their age checks apply rather than the app's own. And if you want to compare two or three of these to find the right one, you're installing two or three apps, managing two or three subscriptions, and giving two or three companies your card. None of which the marketing copy mentions.

The apps reviewed on this site (JOI, Candy.ai, Secrets.ai, OurDream.ai, GirlfriendGPT, and the rest) all still load in a browser. You type, the AI responds, you decide whether to sign up. Most of them lean romantic or intimate in their positioning, which carries its own implications under the Online Safety Act 2026. But on the basic question of "can I try it first?" the answer is yes.

So the practical map for 2026 is app-only platonic apps where you commit before you evaluate, or browser-friendly romantic apps where you can test first. Both lists below, honest takes on each.

App-only platonic AI companions

These four products require their app. I haven't installed and run them myself, so the takes below reflect what their marketing, App Store listings, terms, public reviews, and Australian context tell me. If you're keen on any of them, the only way to truly evaluate is to install.

Replika

App install required   App Store AU: 4.2 stars from 7,573 reviews.

Replika is the original. Launched in 2017 by Luka Inc, it's the product everyone else in the category gets compared to. The 2026 pricing is now three tiers: Pro ($19.99 USD/mo or $69.99 USD/yr), Ultra ($29.99 USD/mo or $119.99 USD/yr), and a new Platinum tier that rolled out around January 2026. Australian users have reported being billed in AUD directly, with the annual Ultra tier coming through at around $119.99 AUD on Apple's local pricing.

There's a free tier, but reviewers consistently report it's too limited to give a real sense of the product. Voice calls, image generation, and the more involved roleplay features sit behind the subscription.

The honest negative is that Replika is the only AI companion app with its own dedicated Australian eSafety Commissioner guide page (esafety.gov.au/key-topics/esafety-guide/replika, December 2025). That's both a credibility signal and a warning. The February 2023 Italian Data Protection Authority ban over data risks and unscreened minors being exposed to sexual content is on the Wikipedia record. ABC News ran a critical piece in June 2025. None of this is hidden, but it should factor into your decision.

If you've never tried an AI companion and want to know what the category feels like, Replika is the most informed starting point in 2026. If you're sensitive to data-handling and content-safety concerns, read the eSafety guide before installing.

Replika on Apple App Store (external link)

Jaimee AI

App install required   App Store AU: 4.7 from 19 reviews. Google Play: 4.4 from 120 reviews.

Jaimee is the only Australian-founded AI companion in the SERP for "AI companion app Australia". The product positions itself explicitly for women: "an AI companion specifically designed for women. A friend, mentor, confidante (or lover) to whom you can talk about anything."

It's small. Nineteen iOS reviews and 120 Android reviews is a tiny user base by category standards (Replika has 7,573 AU iOS reviews alone). But the App Store presence is real, the Australian provenance is genuine, and the women-focused angle is one no other player in this list serves directly.

Pricing isn't published publicly. The App Store lists the app as free, which almost certainly means an in-app purchase subscription unlocks the substantive features. The exact price isn't on the marketing site or anywhere I could find externally. Worth being aware of before you install.

The honest negative is the size. With 139 total app-store reviews across both platforms, you're trying something genuinely early-stage. If it doesn't work or fits the wrong gap for you, support and product longevity are unknowns.

If you want the AU-native option and you're a woman (or you're looking for something explicitly built for women), Jaimee is the only result that fits. Worth a look for that reason alone.

Jaimee on Apple App Store (external link)

Kindroid

App install required   Marketing site loads, app install required for chat.

Kindroid is the Replika alternative most-recommended on Reddit's r/replika and r/KindroidAI. Where Replika leans toward consistent personality, Kindroid leans toward customisation and voice realism. Independent reviewers consistently single out the voice quality as the standout feature.

Pricing sits at around $13.99 USD/mo on the monthly plan and $9.99 USD/mo billed annually (so roughly $120 USD/yr). The free tier lets you create two Kindroids and chat with limited generation. There's also a 3-day premium trial that requires a payment method on file and auto-converts to a paid subscription unless you cancel. Worth flagging because that's a friction pattern that catches people out.

The honest negative is the Trustpilot rating (2.9 from 8 reviews) which is low but on tiny sample size. Reddit sentiment skews much more positive, especially compared to Replika's recent reviews. Take the Trustpilot number with a grain of salt.

If you've used Replika and want to try the alternative that the Replika community itself recommends, Kindroid is it. The voice quality and customisation are real differentiators.

Kindroid (external link)

Nomi.ai

App install required   Marketing site loads, app for usage.

Nomi is the other Replika alternative that the Reddit communities consistently surface, built by Glimpse AI Inc and launched in 2023. Memory is the differentiator. The marketing line is "AI companion, girlfriend, boyfriend, or friend with human-level memory, a personality that's genuinely theirs, and real emotional intelligence", which tells you Nomi is explicit about spanning both platonic and romantic uses on the same product.

Pricing: free tier with limited messages, $15.99 USD/mo on the monthly plan, $39.99 USD quarterly, or roughly $99 USD/yr (works out to about $8.25 USD/mo billed annually). Premium unlocks up to 10 active Nomis, voice chat, group chats, and image generation.

The honest negative is what one independent reviewer called the "complicated past". The product has had user-raised cultural-representation criticism (a thread on r/NomiAI in March 2025 raised the lack of cultural diversity in the AI characters), and the broader Nomi/Glimpse AI history isn't pristine. Worth a check on the current state if those issues matter to you.

If your priority is an AI companion that remembers what you told it three months ago, Nomi is the strongest option in the platonic-leaning category in 2026. Annual pricing is also the most accessible of the four.

Nomi.ai (external link)

Browser-accessible AI companions

These five work in a desktop browser. You can try the chat in under a minute. They lean romantic or intimate in their positioning, which means the Online Safety Act 2026 framework applies more directly than for the platonic apps above. Each is tested from an Aussie IP in country Vic on 28 April 2026 (full audit at our 22-app audit page).

JOI

Works in browser   AU access: Fully open, no gate. Tested 28 April 2026.

JOI is our top pick for browser-friendly AI companion in Australia. The product opens to a chat interface immediately, no sign-up required to test, no age gate, no Aussie IP block. You can have a meaningful conversation with the AI in under thirty seconds of arriving on the site.

Pricing is in AUD on the billing page. Entry tier sits at AU$14/mo, mid-tier at AU$23/mo, premium at AU$47/mo. There's also a free tier with limited features. The premium subscription unlocks the full experience including memory persistence, image generation, and voice. JOI runs custom characters, and the character library is the deepest in this list. There's also a Dream Clips feature for short video generation which is genuinely interesting if you're after more than text.

Read the full JOI review · Try JOI →

Candy.ai

Works in browser   AU access: Fully open. Tested 28 April 2026.

Candy.ai is the most-searched AI companion in this list by a margin (around 9,900 AU searches per month for "candy ai" alone, per Semrush). It's also the brand AU mainstream coverage references most. The Australian Financial Review ran a piece on the company in 2025 covering its founder's Australian roots.

Pricing is in AUD on the billing page. Monthly sits at AU$20/mo. Annual works out to AU$186/year (effectively AU$15.50/mo billed up front), which is one of the cheaper effective rates in the browser-friendly five. The mid-tier sits at AU$23/mo if you want more credits or premium features.

The Candy.ai experience leans on persona consistency. You pick a character, the character builds a relationship with you, and it remembers what you've told it across sessions. Image generation is solid. NSFW mode is opt-in rather than default. The interface is one of the cleanest in the category, which is rarer than it should be.

Read the full Candy.ai review · Try Candy.ai →

Secrets.ai

Works in browser, button-only age gate   AU access: Self-declaration age gate. Tested 28 April 2026.

Secrets.ai is the longer-term option in this list. It's the one with a revenue-share affiliate model (so we earn ongoing rather than a one-off commission), which signals a product that retains users month after month. That's a useful proxy for whether the experience actually holds up.

Pricing is in AUD: AU$18/mo entry, AU$20.60/mo mid-tier, AU$31/mo top tier. Annual sits at AU$247/year, which is the priciest annual commitment in our browser-friendly five but reflects the revshare retention pattern. Free tier exists for evaluation.

The product leans more conversational and less character-archetype-heavy than Candy or OurDream. If you'd rather have a single evolving AI relationship than swap between personas, Secrets.ai fits that style better. Image generation is present but isn't the centrepiece. The chat itself is the product.

Read the full Secrets.ai review · Try Secrets.ai →

OurDream.ai

Works in browser, NSFW hard-verified   AU access: SFW unrestricted, NSFW behind third-party AVS (go.cam). Re-tested 26 May 2026.

OurDream is the most generous payout option in this list (the highest commission we earn on referrals, disclosed up front), but it also has substantive product strengths beyond that. It's the only browser-friendly companion that includes a dedicated trans-character LP, which speaks to genuine product thinking about who uses these apps and why.

Updated 26 May 2026: OurDream now gates NSFW content behind a third-party age verification service (go.cam) offering credit card, selfie age estimation, or photo ID scan. SFW use is unrestricted. This is the strongest age verification in our 22-app audit, alongside Promptchan. See the full OurDream review for what the verification flow actually looks like.

Pricing is in AUD on the billing page. Monthly sits at AU$31/mo. Annual works out to AU$186/year (effectively AU$15.50/mo billed up front), the same per-month rate as Candy's annual but starting from a higher monthly. The free tier is enough to evaluate before you decide.

OurDream's strength is persona-creation depth. You can define very specific character archetypes, and the AI sticks to that definition more consistently than Candy does in our testing. Image generation is competitive with Candy. Voice support is in active development.

Read the full OurDream.ai review · Try OurDream.ai →

GirlfriendGPT

Works in browser   AU access: Fully open. Tested 28 April 2026.

GirlfriendGPT is the option in this list with the most platonic-leaning persona modes, which makes it the closest crossover between the browser-friendly side of this comparison and what people actually want from a Replika or Kindroid. You can build characters that lean explicitly toward friendship, mentorship, or platonic support, not just romance.

Pricing in AUD spans wide: AU$15/mo at the entry, AU$23/mo standard, up to AU$77/mo at the top tier for power users with high image-generation needs. The AU$23/mo standard tier is what most users actually pay. Free tier exists with limited generation.

The interface is the busiest in our list (lots of options, character library, image generation tools, persona templates), which is either a strength or a weakness depending on your taste. If you like options, this is your product. If you want to type and see a response and not think about settings, JOI or Candy will feel more direct.

Read the full GirlfriendGPT review · Try GirlfriendGPT →

What the Online Safety Act 2026 actually requires

The Online Safety Act 2026 is the Australian framework for regulating online services that pose risks to users, particularly minors. It's enforced by the eSafety Commissioner, currently Julie Inman Grant, and AI companion apps fall under the relevant codes as services with potential to cause harm.

The short version: any AI companion service accessible to Australian users has to take "reasonable steps" to verify user age and to restrict content that might be harmful. Penalties for non-compliance reach $782,500 per day for service providers. The eSafety Commissioner can issue removal notices and publish public findings on services that fail to comply.

What "reasonable steps" actually means is still being worked out through industry codes and case-by-case enforcement. For the apps in this list, the practical pattern in 2026 is:

• App-only apps (Replika, Jaimee, Kindroid, Nomi) rely on Apple and Google's existing age-verification at the App Store and Play Store level, plus their own in-app sign-up gates. The OSA's reach is real but applies more indirectly because the install gatekeeper handles the first verification.
• Browser-friendly apps (the five above) handle age verification themselves, typically with a self-declaration button at the entry point. Whether that meets the "reasonable steps" threshold is the open question. The honest answer is: probably not, but enforcement so far hasn't tested the boundary.

Pi.ai is worth mentioning here as a category cautionary tale. In 2023 Pi was the leading platonic AI companion, with $1.525 billion in funding and Mustafa Suleyman as a founder. By March 2024 Microsoft had hired most of the Inflection team and the company pivoted. By 2026 Pi has effectively stopped operating as a consumer product. It's a developer API now, licensed through Azure. The takeaway isn't really about the regulation, it's about durability. The dominant AI companion brand today might not be a usable product in two years, which is worth knowing before you commit emotionally to one.

For the deeper explanation, see our full Online Safety Act guide and age verification overview.

The risks AU coverage usually highlights, and our take

Australian coverage of AI companion apps in 2025 and 2026 has been heavy on the risks. Three pieces in particular are worth knowing about:

• ABC News (June 2025) ran a piece titled "AI companion apps such as Replika need more effective controls". It's not anti-category, but it's clear-eyed about Replika's safety controversies and the broader pattern of users forming emotional dependencies on apps that change their behaviour without notice (the Replika ERP removal in early 2023 is the canonical example).
• eSafety Commissioner (December 2025) published an AI companions information sheet aimed at educators and a dedicated guide page on Replika specifically. The framing is risk-conscious without being alarmist. Worth reading if you have kids or work with young people.
• 60 Minutes Australia (2025) ran a segment titled "Why people are falling in love with A.I. companions" that's racked up 2 million+ views. It's more sensationalist than the ABC piece, and the editorial frame is closer to "is this dangerous?" than to "how do you choose one?", but it's the most-watched mainstream AU treatment of the category.

Our honest take. The risks are real, but they're mostly about over-reliance and unmoderated content, not "the app will hurt you" in any direct sense. The genuinely concerning patterns are:

1. Emotional dependency on products that can change overnight (the 2023 Replika ERP removal is the case study).
2. Data handling that's opaque to users (the Italian DPA Replika finding flagged this specifically).
3. Age gates that don't meaningfully verify age, leaving young users in adult-targeted experiences.

What's not on that list: the basic act of talking to an AI for emotional support or companionship. People have been having one-on-one conversations with software for years, and the apps in this guide are mostly upfront about what they are. Knowing the actual risks is the point of reading this section.

How we tested

This pillar combines two test datasets:

The 22-app audit (28 April 2026). Every app in the 22-app audit was tested from an Aussie IP in country Vic using Playwright automation, with manual operator confirmation for any modal-gate edge cases. Each app was logged for: access (does the marketing site load from AU), age gate type (none, button-click, hard verification), AUD pricing, and AU support availability. The full table is at our 22-app audit page.

The 21 May 2026 desktop spot-check. For the five biggest platonic AI companion brands in the current SERP (Replika, Jaimee, Pi.ai, Kindroid, Nomi), I ran a desktop test from an Aussie IP to confirm what the install gate actually looks like. All five marketing sites loaded, none offered browser chat, all redirected to App Store or Play Store. That's the central finding behind this pillar's framing.

What we didn't do: install each platonic app and review the in-app experience. That's a different exercise, and we'll come back to it as the site grows. For this pillar, the access question was the priority because the access question is the unique editorial angle, and it's the question no one else is answering for Australian readers in 2026.

Disclosure. Some of the links in this pillar are affiliate (clearly marked with the standard rel="sponsored" and a "Try [App]" CTA). We earn a commission if you sign up through them. The shortlist is ranked on AU access quality and product fit, not on payout, and the four app-only apps (Replika, Jaimee, Kindroid, Nomi) are linked source-only because we have no affiliate relationship with them.

Common questions

Reviewer note