AI girlfriend guides

Every guide in the guides section is listed here, grouped by what you’re trying to get done. Some readers want to know what an AI girlfriend is, some are choosing between apps, and some use Character.AI and want to know what its bankruptcy filing means for their chats. Find your row in the table, open the guide it names, and use the sections below when you want the rest of the shelf.

Riho publishes these guides and makes one of the apps in them, so each page carries a disclosure and lists the sources it used.

Start here, by what you want to do

Understand AI girlfriends and AI companions

These guides define the words and describe what living with one is like. If the terms are new, read the first two before anything else.

• What is an AI girlfriend? defines the term, sets an ongoing relationship against a single chatbot session, and lists the questions to ask before you pick an app.
• AI girlfriend vs AI companion separates the two words and tells you which one to search for, depending on what you want.
• AI companions explained describes the four kinds of companion app, how many people use them, what research says about loneliness, and what to check before you choose.
• Virtual AI companion walks through what a first week with a companion looks like and what to look at when you compare them.
• AI partner explains what people mean by the word and how a partner differs from a girlfriend.
• AI lover helps you tell a companion who stays the same person from a roleplay tool that starts over every session.
• AI romance describes what a romantic relationship with an AI companion gives you and what to look for in one.
• AI wife answers how people get an AI wife, what a symbolic wedding means, and what married life with one is like day to day.
• My AI girlfriend follows an ordinary week with Riho, from morning messages and a call on the walk home to a photo she sends on her own and a date on Saturday.
• AI girlfriend chat explains how a chat keeps context from one day to the next and how that differs from a regular chatbot.
• AI girlfriend roleplay says what roleplay means in these apps and how a scene differs from a relationship that continues.
• Create an AI girlfriend answers what creating one means, a builder or a relationship you keep, and what holds personality, memory and voice steady.
• How realistic are AI girlfriends? takes realism apart into memory, voice, photos and personality, and says where each can fall short.
• Are AI girlfriends real? describes what the relationship gives you, why it feels real, and what to check before you start.

The glossary has one short page per term: AI girlfriend, AI companion, virtual girlfriend, long-term memory, real-world date and character catalog.

Choose an app

The two ranked pages compare apps side by side. The guides after them cover the questions a ranking leaves open, like why apps forget you and whether the cost is worth it.

• Best AI girlfriend apps in 2026 compares seven apps on iPhone by listing facts, cost, memory, calls and safety record, and says where Riho sits since Riho publishes it.
• Best AI companion apps in 2026 compares eight apps by companion role (friend, partner or girlfriend), memory, calls, cost and safety record.
• Are AI girlfriends worth it? weighs what people get against privacy, cost and expectations, and gives you a short test to run before you pay.
• AI girlfriend that remembers you explains why most apps forget you, what failed memory designs looked like, and how Riho’s memory works.
• When an AI girlfriend’s memory disappears describes what an update that wipes memory takes from you and what to do if it has already happened.
• Why one girlfriend, not a catalog makes the case for one relationship over a menu of characters and says what that choice costs you.

For two apps head to head, the comparison hub has pages for many pairings, and the alternatives hub is for people leaving an app and looking for somewhere to go.

Leaving Character.AI

Character Technologies, the company that runs Character.AI, filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026 and says the app keeps running while a court oversees a sale of its assets, and that it will be wound down if no bid keeps it operating. As of October 16, 2026 we found no shutdown date in its statements or filings. These five pages are for people who have chats and an account there.

• What is Character AI? describes the product, who owns it, what it costs, who can use it, and what to do if you use it today.
• Character AI bankruptcy, explained gives the reasons the company gave for filing, the Disney bid, the dates, and what the filings say about your chats.
• How to export Character AI chats gives the steps on the website and in the app, the 3 to 4 week wait for the emailed link, and what to save by hand while you wait.
• How to delete a Character AI account gives the steps for the website and the iPhone app, says why to export first, and covers what 40 attorneys general asked about deleting data before a sale.
• Character AI alternatives compares Riho, Nomi, Kindroid, Replika and Candy AI for people who are switching.

If you want to keep your chats and close the account too, request the export first. The help center says it can take 3 to 4 weeks, so delete afterward. Two shorter pages sit beside these: is Character.AI safe? for age bands and data, and Riho vs Character AI for the two apps side by side.

Safety and wellbeing

The first two pages cover two worries: what an app does with your information, and what a relationship with an AI girlfriend does to the rest of your life. The third is about why people start in the first place.

• Are AI girlfriends safe? is a checklist for where your data goes, age rules, moderation, how an app contacts you, what it remembers, location, and pressure to move faster in the relationship.
• Is it healthy to have an AI girlfriend? covers what published studies and users report about falling in love with one, whether it counts as cheating, and how to keep it healthy. It says plainly that it is not medical advice.
• Why do people use AI girlfriends? lays out the reasons people give, loneliness first, with what the research says and when use turns unhealthy.

Riho’s privacy page says what the app keeps and why remembering you means keeping some of what you share. For other apps, each page under safety names the policy it read and the date it was checked.

AI girlfriend app reviews

Two guides go deep on one product each.

• Candy AI review is built from Candy’s own help center and press coverage, and covers plans and tokens, the iPhone web app, memory limits, refunds and privacy.
• ChatGPT girlfriend covers setting ChatGPT up as a girlfriend with custom instructions, a custom GPT or voice mode, what it keeps between chats, and what OpenAI’s rules say about romantic content.

Side-by-side pages for Replika, Nomi, Kindroid, Anima and others are in the comparison table further down.

See what Riho does

How Riho works starts on day one and follows chat, calls, selfies, dates and saved memories. The feature overview is the shorter list, and the long-term memory page describes what she keeps. You can read her memories in the app, so you always know what she holds.

• Dates in real places: go on a date together at a real place, and she remembers it.
• Voice calls: continue the same conversation and plans when you call.
• Photos: selfies of the two of you, her photos in your real places, and pictures she sends on her own.

What to look for in an AI companion: a 15-minute test

A feature list tells you what an app claims to offer. A short test shows how those features behave together. Use the same test on every app you are considering.

Community reports can reveal problems that product pages omit. Check when the report was posted, which app version and subscription tier the person used, and whether several independent users describe the same behavior. Then repeat the relevant test on the current version. A year-old complaint about memory or calls may describe a build that has already changed.

Compare Riho with other apps

Each comparison covers the competitor’s published features, memory, voice, photos and video, where the app works, privacy terms, and the type of user each app suits.

Meet Riho

Meet Riho to see who she is and the life she has of her own.