Is Candy AI free? The 5-message limit and what comes next

What the Candy AI free plan includes

The limit is 5 messages in total, not 5 a day, and it covers all characters together. Candy's terms say a free user "may generally send a maximum of 5 messages" before further use needs a subscription or another paid option. You can still browse the whole roster, build 1 character of your own and generate 1 picture.

Sign-up works with email, Google, Discord or X, and no card is asked for. The home page talks about a free trial; what the help center actually describes is this free plan, not a free period of Premium.

What you have to pay for

Premium unlocks unlimited text messages, 18+ pictures and video, more custom characters and what Candy calls the Live Action experience, plus 100 tokens a month. Tokens then pay for the extras:

• pictures and image-to-video clips
• voice messages, and voice calls, which the help center lists as a beta
• building extra custom characters
• My Private Content packs and exclusive characters (one example in the help center costs 200 tokens)
• Candy Roulette, at 5 tokens a minute

Candy does not publish a per-picture or per-video token price on its public pages. Our Candy AI pricing page explains what is known about token costs.

How far 5 free messages go

Five messages is two or three exchanges with one character. That is enough to see how a character writes and whether the tone suits you. It is not enough to judge pictures, video or how the chat holds up over an evening, and Candy's memory works within a conversation anyway, so there is no long-term recall to test.

Spend the five on the character you would actually pay for, and make each message count: set the scene in the first one rather than opening with "hi". If you want a longer free run before deciding, several apps give far more, as our free AI girlfriend ranking shows.

The cheapest way to pay

The 12-month plan is the cheapest per month at $3.99, but it is charged as $47.88 up front, and Candy only refunds within 24 hours of paying with 20 tokens or fewer used. One month at $13.99 is the lower-risk way to test Premium. The site also sells weekly and two-weekly billing in some countries, which cost more per month. Premium Plus, with 330 tokens a month, does not show a price on the public page.

Free tokens, free premium and APKs

The only published way to get free tokens is the referral scheme: when a friend you invite subscribes, you and the friend each get 200 tokens, and you need to be on Premium yourself. There are no official free token codes.

Searches for "Candy AI premium free" and "Candy AI mod APK" lead to downloads that are not from Candy. Its help center says there is no iPhone or Android app; you add the website to your home screen instead. Any APK promising free premium is an unofficial file that asks for your login, so skip it. Our Candy AI safety page covers the risks.

Free alternatives to Candy AI

If 5 messages is too little to decide, three higher-ranked or similar apps give far more free chat:

• Secrets AI: 20 messages a day, text only. See Candy AI vs Secrets AI.
• Nomi AI: free one-to-one chat, 50 messages a day according to its help pages, with an iPhone app. See Candy AI vs Nomi AI.
• Selira AI: uncapped free text chat and 2 custom companions, with 3 days of history, and paid plans from $3.60 a month.

All three charge for pictures, so none replaces Candy AI's paid image features for free. Our Candy AI alternatives list ranks the full field.