Candy AI vs Ensoul

Candy AI is an online chat application for conversations with fictional AI characters. Users can choose from over 100 characters or create a companion by selecting attributes such as appearance, voice, personality, and hobbies. The service supports text, images, videos, and voice notes, as well as voice conversations and personalized image and AI video generation. Conversations can adapt to a user's tone and retain information shared in chat. Roleplay and storytelling are available subject to the Community Guidelines. Candy AI works on Android, iOS, and the web without installation. A free plan and free trial are listed. The Premium — 1 Month plan is $9.99 a month for the first month, then renews monthly at €13.99; other listed options include Premium — 12 Months at $3.99 a year, Premium — 3 Months at $8.99 a month, Premium — every 2 weeks at $9.79 a month, and Premium — weekly at $5.60 a month. The service is intended for adults aged 18 or the age of majority in their jurisdiction, whichever applies. Its Privacy Notice says interactions may be used to develop AI and moderation systems, and chatbot messages may be shared with third-party LLM providers.

Ensoul is a local-first AI companion app that keeps a companion’s identity, memory, mood, and history as documents on the user’s device. It runs on Android, macOS, Windows, and the web. Users can connect directly to a provider or use one key to access Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, and open models. Memories from conversations can be reviewed, corrected, or deleted. Ensoul can import companions from documents, folders, files, character cards, notes, and chat exports, then export a folder containing identity, history, media, and tools. Listed features include group conversations between companions, generated images, and voice. Its folder tool can read coding-agent session stores from Claude Code, Codex, opencode, and DeepSeek Harness. The free plan requires users to bring their own model key and does not require an account. Hosted access is available through a 12.00 USD one-time contribution, which grants three months of sustained access. Desktop and mobile app data is stored locally; browser data and API keys are kept in that browser’s local storage. The maker describes Ensoul as early software built by one person.