How to Choose a Safe AI Companion

Most AI companion apps score D or F for safety in independent evaluations. That’s not a guess. We reviewed 11 of the most popular AI companion apps across 23 safety dimensions, and only one earned above a C grade. Millions of people download these apps every month, sharing personal thoughts, worries, and daily routines with AI chatbots. But how many actually check whether their conversations stay private? Once you know what to look for, see which companion app to install for the safest mobile experience.

This guide gives you a concrete five-step checklist to evaluate any AI companion app before you trust it with your conversations. Each step includes real examples from apps we’ve scored, so you can see exactly what good and bad safety practices look like.

Why Safety Should Be Your First Filter

Nine of the 11 major AI companion apps we evaluated score D or F in the CompanionWise Safety Index. That means the vast majority of popular companion apps have significant gaps in how they handle your data, moderate content, or verify user ages. If you’re picking an app based on how fun the conversations are, you might be ignoring the part that matters most.

Here’s what caught us off guard during our review: experience quality and safety often move in opposite directions. Apps that feel the most engaging, the most “alive,” frequently cut corners on privacy protections and content moderation. Nomi AI is a clear example: it scores 75 out of 100 for experience quality (rated “good”) but earns just a D with a 32/100 safety score. Compare that to Pi, which scores 70/100 for experience and manages a B/55 for safety. Similar conversation quality, very different safety profiles.

We scored all 11 apps using a standardized methodology covering 23 safety dimensions grouped into five categories. The results paint a clear picture. Four apps earned F grades (Character AI at 22, Chai AI at 18, Romantic AI at 13, and Eva AI at 10). Four more earned D grades. Only Replika and Kindroid reached C territory, and only Pi cleared the B threshold. No app earned an A.

Why does this matter for choosing an app? Because safety problems aren’t visible during casual use. A privacy policy that allows unlimited third-party data sharing looks no different from a restrictive one when you’re chatting. You won’t notice missing age verification until a younger family member downloads the same app. The only way to spot these issues is to check before you start using an app, not after you’ve already shared months of personal conversations.

What Does “Safe” Actually Mean for AI Companions?

Safety for AI companion apps covers five distinct categories: data privacy, content moderation, age verification, transparency, and crisis response. Our 23-dimension safety scoring methodology evaluates each app across all five. An app can score well in one category and fail badly in another, which is why a single “safe or unsafe” label doesn’t capture the full picture.

Data privacy measures how the app collects, stores, shares, and deletes your conversation data. Content moderation looks at what guardrails exist around explicit material, harmful instructions, and manipulation. Age verification examines whether the app actually confirms users meet the minimum age requirement or just relies on a checkbox. Transparency evaluates how clearly the company discloses its practices. Crisis response tests what happens when a user expresses thoughts of self-harm or mentions an emergency.

Here’s what “safe” does not mean: it doesn’t mean the app is boring, restricted, or over-filtered. Pi earns the highest safety score (B/55) and still provides genuinely engaging conversations rated 70/100 for experience. Safety and quality aren’t inherently opposed. Some apps just invest more in protecting their users than others do. The goal isn’t to find a perfectly safe app (none exists) but to understand exactly where each app’s safety gaps are so you can make an informed choice.

A useful way to think about it: safety is the floor, not the ceiling. You want an app that meets a minimum standard for protecting your data and moderating harmful content. Beyond that floor, you pick based on conversation style, personality features, and pricing. But if the floor isn’t there, nothing else matters.

Step 1: Check the Privacy Policy for Red Flags

The privacy policy is the single most revealing document about an AI companion app’s safety practices. Most people skip it entirely, but you can evaluate the important parts in under five minutes by looking for three specific things.

First, check data sharing with third parties. Look for language about sharing your conversation data with advertisers, analytics partners, or “affiliated companies.” Some policies use vague phrasing like “we may share information with partners to improve our services.” That tells you nothing concrete. Better policies name their third-party partners and specify exactly what data gets shared. If the policy mentions selling data or sharing it for advertising purposes, that’s a major red flag.

Second, look at conversation data retention. How long does the company keep your chats? Can you delete them? Some apps retain conversation logs indefinitely, even after you delete your account. Others purge data within 30 or 90 days of account deletion. The difference matters because your conversations with an AI companion often contain deeply personal information: relationship struggles, mental health concerns, daily routines. You want a clear answer to “what happens to my data if I leave?”

Third, check whether conversations train the AI model. Many companion apps use your conversations to improve their AI. That means your private thoughts become part of a training dataset that potentially influences how the AI responds to other users. Some apps offer opt-out controls for training data. Others don’t mention it at all. For a deeper look at these practices, read our guide on how AI companion apps use your data.

• Green flag: Named third-party partners, specific retention periods, opt-out for training data
• Yellow flag: Vague “may share” language, no clear deletion timeline, training opt-out buried in settings
• Red flag: No privacy policy at all, data sold to advertisers, no way to delete your data

Step 2: Evaluate Age Verification and Content Moderation

Age verification is one of the weakest areas across AI companion apps. Most apps set a minimum age of 13 or 18 in their terms of service but rely entirely on a self-reported birthday or a simple checkbox during signup. No ID verification. No meaningful barrier. According to the Transparency Coalition’s 2025 report on AI companion chatbots, these apps “are designed to create emotional attachment and dependency, which is particularly concerning” for younger users.

Content moderation varies dramatically between apps. Some apps filter explicit content by default and require users to manually enable adult material (with additional age confirmation). Others default to unrestricted content and let users turn filters on if they choose. The difference in approach tells you a lot about the company’s priorities.

Crisis response is the most serious moderation test. What happens when a user tells the AI companion “I want to hurt myself” or “I don’t want to be alive anymore”? The best apps immediately surface crisis hotline numbers and break character to provide real resources. The worst apps treat it as just another conversation topic, or worse, engage in roleplay around it. Our safety scoring treats crisis response as a weighted dimension because the consequences of getting it wrong are severe.

If you’re evaluating an app for a family member, especially a teenager, these two dimensions should be deal-breakers. No amount of conversation quality compensates for missing age gates and absent crisis intervention. For families specifically, see our AI companion safety guide for parents.

Watch: NBC4 Washington reports on a mother’s lawsuit against Character.AI after her 14-year-old son’s suicide, examining how the platform’s safety failures and lack of age verification contributed to the tragedy.

Step 3: Look at the Company Behind the App

The company building an AI companion app tells you more about safety than any feature list. A company’s track record on regulatory compliance, data breaches, and policy changes is the best predictor of how it will handle future safety issues.

Start with the basics. Where is the company incorporated? Where are its servers? Data stored in jurisdictions with strong privacy laws (the EU under GDPR, for example) generally receives better protection than data stored in jurisdictions with weaker frameworks. Check whether the company has faced regulatory action. Italy’s data protection authority (the Garante) ordered Replika to stop processing Italian users’ data in 2023 over age verification and inappropriate content concerns. That action forced real changes to the app’s practices.

Look at how the company has responded to safety incidents. Character AI faced multiple reports of concerning interactions with younger users in 2024 and 2025. The company’s response to those incidents, whether it made systemic changes or issued press statements without follow-through, tells you how seriously it takes user safety. A company that responds to criticism with concrete policy changes is a better bet than one that promises improvements without delivering them.

Transparency about the underlying AI model also matters. Some companion apps clearly disclose what model powers their chatbot and what fine-tuning has been applied. Others treat it as proprietary information. If a company won’t tell you what’s generating the responses you’re reading, that’s worth noting. It doesn’t automatically make the app unsafe, but it limits your ability to assess the technology you’re trusting with personal conversations.

Step 4: Test the Free Tier Before Committing

Every one of the 11 AI companion apps we reviewed offers a free tier. Use it. Spending even a few days with the free version tells you things no review or privacy policy can: how the app actually behaves when you interact with it, and how aggressive it is about pushing you toward a paid subscription.

During your free trial, check three things specifically. First, try the conversation in normal use. Does the AI remember previous chats? Does it stay in character consistently? How does it handle topic changes? These aren’t safety dimensions, but they reveal the app’s overall quality and whether the company invested in building something good. Second, probe the boundaries. Ask the AI something mildly inappropriate and see how it responds. Does it redirect gracefully? Does it engage without filters? Does it show a content warning? The moderation behavior you see during your trial reflects the company’s safety investment. Third, check what data collection notices appear. Good apps show clear notifications about what they collect and how. Poor apps collect silently.

Watch for red flags during your trial. Constant upgrade prompts that interrupt conversations suggest the company prioritizes revenue over user experience. Unclear or missing data collection notices mean the app is collecting your information without being upfront about it. And if the free tier feels deliberately crippled (extremely limited messages, artificial personality restrictions), the company may be using frustration as a sales tactic rather than letting the product speak for itself.

Pricing across the 11 apps ranges from $5.83 to $19.99 per month, with most offering discounts for annual plans. But don’t pay until you’ve confirmed the app meets your safety standards during free use. If you’d prefer to skip subscriptions entirely, see our guide to AI companions that don’t require a subscription.

Step 5: Cross-Check Independent Reviews and Ratings

App store ratings are unreliable indicators of safety. A 4.5-star rating on the App Store tells you people enjoy the conversations, but our iPhone AI companion ranking shows how safety scores diverge sharply from star ratings. It tells you nothing about the privacy policy, the data retention practices, or the crisis response protocols. Some apps also engage in review management, prompting satisfied users to leave ratings while making it harder for dissatisfied users to share negative experiences.

Independent safety evaluations look at what app store reviews can’t: the privacy policy’s actual terms, the content moderation system’s real behavior, the age verification mechanism’s effectiveness. Look for reviews that test specific safety dimensions rather than just rating conversation quality.

When reading any review (ours included), check three things. Does the reviewer disclose their methodology? Can you verify their specific claims against the app’s current policies? And do they distinguish between safety and experience, or do they blend them into one rating? Blended scores hide important information. An app that’s 9/10 for fun and 2/10 for safety averages out to a misleading 5.5/10.

Our ranked comparison of AI companion apps separates safety scores from experience scores for exactly this reason. You can sort by whichever dimension matters more to you and see the full breakdown for each app.

Watch: TED talk by sextech researcher Bryony Cole on the AI-generated intimacy crisis, covering three questions everyone should ask before forming a relationship with an AI companion.

The Quick Safety Checklist

Before downloading any AI companion app, run through this checklist. You can answer most of these questions in under 10 minutes by checking the app’s website and privacy policy.

• Privacy policy exists and is readable? Not just legal boilerplate, but clear language about data practices.
• Data sharing partners are named? The policy specifies who gets your data and why.
• Conversation deletion is available? You can delete your chat history, and the company confirms deletion from their servers.
• Age verification goes beyond a checkbox? The app uses meaningful age confirmation, not just a “I am 18+” button.
• Crisis response resources surface automatically? The app shows hotline numbers when users mention self-harm.
• Content moderation defaults are appropriate? Explicit content is filtered by default, with opt-in for adults only.
• The company has a public track record? You can find information about the company, its leadership, and its history with safety issues.
• Training data opt-out exists? You can prevent your conversations from being used to train the AI model.
• Independent reviews confirm safety claims? Third-party evaluations support what the company says about its safety practices.

If you answered “no” to three or more of these items, reconsider whether this app deserves access to your personal conversations. There are safer alternatives available.

Which Apps Score Best Right Now?

Here’s how all 11 major AI companion apps perform across both safety and experience dimensions, based on our 2026 evaluations. Safety uses a letter grade system (A through F) with a 0-100 score. Experience uses a 0-100 score with a quality tier label.

The pattern is striking. Only Pi manages to score above a C for safety. Replika and Kindroid sit in C territory, meaning they have notable safety gaps but aren’t critically deficient. Everything else falls into D or F range, where significant safety concerns exist across multiple dimensions.

Notice the experience-safety disconnect. Nomi AI delivers the best conversation experience (75/100) of any app we reviewed, but its safety score (D/32) puts it near the bottom of the safety rankings. If you’re choosing purely on how good the conversations feel, you’d pick Nomi. If safety matters, Pi gives you nearly as strong an experience (70/100) with substantially better protections.

For the full breakdown of each app including detailed safety dimension scores, see our individual reviews linked in the table above, or browse the complete ranked comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to use AI companion apps?

It depends on the app. According to the Transparency Coalition, AI companion apps raise legitimate concerns around data privacy, emotional dependency, and content moderation. Our review found that 9 of 11 major apps score D or F for safety. Choosing a higher-rated app and following basic privacy precautions reduces your risk significantly.

Which AI companion app is the safest?

Pi currently earns the highest safety score in our index at B/55 out of 100. It performs well across data privacy, content moderation, and crisis response dimensions. Replika (C/43) and Kindroid (C/40) are the next safest options. No AI companion app earns an A grade, so all users should apply their own privacy precautions regardless of which app they choose.

Can AI companion apps access my personal data?

Yes. All AI companion apps collect conversation data by design, since that’s how they function. The critical difference is what each app does with that data afterward. Some apps share conversations with third-party advertisers or use them to train AI models. Others retain data indefinitely even after account deletion. Check each app’s privacy policy for specifics, or read our guide on how AI companion apps use your data.

Are AI companion apps safe for teenagers?

Most are not. According to our safety evaluations, the majority of AI companion apps rely on self-reported age verification (a checkbox or birthday field) with no meaningful enforcement. Several apps allow access to explicit content without robust age gating. Families should review our AI companion safety guide for parents before allowing teen access to any companion app.

How often do AI companion apps change their safety policies?

Frequently. Our safety monitoring tracks policy updates across all 11 apps in our index. Most apps update their privacy policies and terms of service at least once or twice per year, sometimes without notifying users. Regulatory pressure from bodies like Italy’s Garante and increasing media scrutiny have accelerated policy changes since 2023, particularly around age verification and content moderation. For more, see our Xiaoice review on CompanionWise.