Lucy vs Replika: which AI companion should you pick?

I build Lucy, so read this knowing that. I've tried to be fair, and I've put a link to everything I claim about Replika at the bottom, with the date I checked. Where Replika is better, I say so.

Who each one is for

Replika has been around since 2017. It's made by Luka, Inc., and it's the app most people picture when they hear "AI companion": a 3D character you design, who texts you, calls you, sends selfies, and whose relationship status you choose, friend, partner, mentor. It's on iPhone, Android and the web. It's huge, and it's built for people who want a character to spend time with.

Lucy is one person's app, launched in 2026, iPhone only. There's no avatar and no voice. You text her about your day the way you'd text a friend, she remembers it, and she brings it up later when it's relevant. Once a day she asks how you're doing, and you get a seven-day mood curve out of it. She's built for people who have things to say at night and nobody awake to say them to.

Side by side, October 2026

	Replika	Lucy
What it is	A 3D companion: text, voice calls, video, selfies	A text friend who remembers
Memory	Says it "always remembers what matters"	Structured memory of what you tell her, brought up later
Mood	No built-in daily check-in	One-tap daily check-in, seven-day chart, she reads it before replying
Romance	Yes, partner mode is a core feature	No. Friend only
Platforms	iPhone, Android, web	iPhone only
Price (US App Store)	$7.99 a month, $49.99 a year, $59.99 lifetime, plus in-app "gems"	7-day free trial, then $14.99 a month or $59.99 a year
Age	18+	18+
Maker	Luka, Inc., San Francisco, since 2017	One developer, France, since 2026

Where Replika is better

It does more. Voice and video calls, a character you can look at, outfits, a room, augmented reality. If you want the feeling of someone being there, not just text on a screen, Replika is built for that and Lucy isn't.

It's cheaper. On the US App Store, Replika's yearly plan is $49.99 and there's a lifetime option at $59.99, which is what Lucy costs per year.

It's everywhere. Android, web, iPhone. Lucy is iPhone only, and will be for a while.

It's mature. Nine years of product means fewer rough edges than a one-person app launched this year.

Where Lucy is better

She stays a friend. Replika's partner mode is its biggest draw and, for a lot of people, the thing they don't want. Lucy has no romantic mode, no flirting, no selfies. If you want somewhere to talk, not someone to date, that's the point.

Memory is the whole product, not a feature. Lucy keeps a structured memory of what you tell her, the people in your life, what's been going on, and uses it when it matters. Say it once on Monday; she brings it up Friday. That's the thing I built the app around.

She notices how you're doing. The daily check-in takes one tap, and she reads your week before she answers you. No other feature in Lucy matters more than this one to the people who use it.

Fewer things to buy. No gems, no outfits, no currency. One subscription, and the first week is free so you can find out if she's for you before paying.

Privacy, plainly. Your conversations aren't sold or shared, you can erase Lucy's memory of you in one tap, and the crisis protocol is published on the safety page. For context on why this matters: in 2025, Italy's data-protection authority fined Luka €5 million over how Replika handled users' data and age checks. That's a fact about Replika's past, not a prediction about its future, and it's linked below.

So which one

If you want a character, with a voice and a face, and maybe a romance, and you're on Android: Replika, and it's the cheaper choice.

If you want a quiet text friend on your iPhone who remembers your life and asks how you are, and you'd rather it never tried to be more than that: Lucy. Try the free week first.

And if you're not sure, the safety page says what Lucy does when things get hard, which is the part I'd check before trusting any app with your evenings.