How Much People Spend on AI Girlfriends and Virtual Dates
Mobile users spent $427.3 million on romantic and NSFW AI companion apps since late 2022, including $162.8 million in the first half of 2026.
Appfigures reports that mobile users have spent $427.3 million on romantic and NSFW AI companion apps worldwide since late 2022. The dataset covers 214 apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play and records 165.3 million installs since the arrival of ChatGPT. In the first half of 2026, consumers spent $162.8 million on romantic AI companions and $164.8 million on general or “PG” companion apps.
Top-grossing apps in the first half of 2026 included Zeta with about $33 million in revenue, followed by Tipsy Chat: Live Your Story at $15.2 million, ChatBox: AI Chat Bot Assistant at $13 million, Crushie AI: Chat & Companion at $8.8 million, and Emochi: Chat With Character at $7.5 million. Emochi was the most-downloaded romantic AI companion in H1 2026 with roughly 7.9 million installs. Amora reached about 3.6 million installs, Zeta about 3.0 million, BIMOBIMO 2.8 million and MiraiMind 2.6 million.
Appfigures identified apps using store metadata, app descriptions, age ratings and terms linked to romance and adult content. The firm counts gross consumer spending visible on the stores and does not deduct platform fees. Randy Nelson, head of insights and media relations at Appfigures, explained that the rankings reflect either downloads or gross spending before Apple and Google extract their platform fees, typically about 30%.
The report covers only apps available through Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Spending on browser-only services such as Joi AI, Candy AI and SpicyChat AI is not included in the $427.3 million total.
A May 2026 study by researchers at Brigham Young University, the Institute for Family Studies and the Wheatley Institute found that 15% of partnered U.S. adults aged 18 to 30 regularly used AI romantic companions, and 69% of those regular users reported hiding the full extent of their use from their partner. In May 2026, AI companion platform Joi AI offered $2,000 a month to 10 people to test an AI-guided masturbation feature and document effects on stress, sleep, mood and confidence; by July 2026 the program had attracted more than 150,000 applicants worldwide.
The Appfigures figures reflect gross store spending before platform fee deductions and exclude web-only platforms.
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