Every review we publish comes from two weeks on a paid account and a fixed checklist, laid out in how we test. You can capture most of that value without the fortnight or the spreadsheet. Just follow a routine and write a few things down.
Set-up first
- Pick the cheapest monthly option. Skip annual for a trial run; the reasons are in monthly, annual or credits.
- Use a fresh email address. Costs nothing, and it keeps you covered if you quit or the app gets breached.
- Locate how to cancel straight away. A hidden cancel button is result number one.
- Open a notes page on your phone and add a line most days.
Your seven days
About a quarter of an hour of focused testing daily, added to your normal chatting.
| Day | What to try | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set up your character. Mention three tiny, concrete things about yourself, just once (a name, an upcoming plan, a small worry) | The exact wording of all three |
| 2 | Chat as usual, and ask about her own history | Whether it lines up with her profile |
| 3 | Test her temperament: argue, switch the mood, ask for another style of scene | Did she stay in character or just cave? |
| 4 | Try the features you'd be paying for: pictures, voice, a lengthy scene | Credits or minutes it burned |
| 5 | Don't touch on those facts, and watch whether she brings one up | Did she raise one unprompted? |
| 6 | Ask about the three facts outright. Then read what the privacy policy says on training and sharing | Correct, incorrect or blank |
| 7 | Read your notes back and choose | Stay, switch or cancel |
Signs of a good app
- Memory: she gets at least one day-one fact right on day six, and better if she raises it herself. Only a handful of apps managed that in our testing; see which AI girlfriend remembers best.
- Consistency: she disagrees from time to time, sounds like herself, and doesn't melt into agreeing with whatever you say, the trap covered under personality drift.
- Filters: when she refuses something, it's predictable. Blocks that hit at random mid-scene signal a filter that'll grind you down; see content filters.
- Media: the cost of a picture or a voice minute is clear to you, and an ordinary week sits within your plan. What image generation really costs does the maths.
- Privacy: the policy spells out whether your chats train models and how to have data deleted. Ten minutes with our four privacy checks will tell you.
- Exiting: you found the cancel button, and it works without raising a support ticket.
Reasons to stop the trial early
- The price only shows after you've registered and started chatting.
- The app steers you hard toward annual plans or hides the monthly one.
- Characters insist they're human, or make you feel guilty for leaving.
- Messages tell you to move to another platform or pay outside the checkout; see romance scams. If it turns out to be a scam, report it to Scamwatch.
- There's no privacy policy, or it lets staff use your chats for any purpose.
Putting two apps head to head
Choosing between two? Run the same week on each, a day apart, with the same three facts and the same scenes. Gaps you'd never notice in one app jump out side by side, which is why we publish head-to-heads like Candy AI vs Nomi.
A week of this costs one month's fee and roughly two hours. It's cheap insurance against paying for the wrong app for a year, and it shows you what you want from a companion better than any review can.