According to Appfigures, the mobile application application market that accompanies AI is growing rapidly, with 337 active global applications, of which 128 will launch in 2025. In the first half of this year, this segment generated 82 million USD and is expected to surpass 120 million USD by the end of the year.
Unlike regular chatbot, the AI companion application personalizes interaction, allowing users to chat with custom characters such as friends, lovers, virtual characters, etc. Notable names include Replike, Character.AI, PolyBuzz, Chai. As of July 2025, they have reached 220 million downloads on the App Store and Google Play, up 88% over the same period in 2024; global spending reached 221 million USD, up 64%.
Highly concentrated revenue: 10% of leading applications account for 89% of total revenue, 33 applications have exceeded the 1 million USD mark spent for life. Average revenue per download increased from 0.52 USD (2024) to 1.18 USD (2025). The biggest demand comes from the AI girlfriend application (17% of applications), far surpassing the AI boyfriend (4%).
In addition to independent developers, many big names are also participating. xAI launched an AI-powered version of Grok including anime characters and 3D cones; OpenAI brought back the GPT-4o model after upgrading GPT-5, causing regret for users; Google recruited the founder of Character.AI and maintained the application with tens of millions of monthly active users.
Appfigures commented that some AI- companion applications have appeared since 2022 but have been removed due to poor revenue or downloads, but the general trend still shows strong growth potential for this market.
