Best European AI Companions

AI companion apps see more personal conversation than almost any other software category — and most of the big ones store every message on US servers. These European companion platforms run under GDPR, are explicit about retention and deletion, and let you use a persona without handing your chat history to an American ad-tech pipeline.

How we rank these tools — 4-step process
  1. 1
    European ownership, verified

    The company is headquartered and incorporated in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, and processes customer data in Europe. A US parent company disqualifies a tool from this page regardless of where its servers are.

  2. 2
    Category fit and hands-on review

    What the tool actually does, who it suits, and where it falls short — checked against the vendor’s own documentation, changelog and pricing page rather than its marketing copy.

  3. 3
    Compliance and pricing check

    GDPR posture, hosting location and the prices quoted on this page are verified against the vendor’s public pricing before publication, and re-checked when we revisit the category.

  4. 4
    Position on this page

    Placement on this page can be paid, and that can affect the order tools appear in. It never buys a listing: a tool that fails the checks above is not here at any price, and payment does not change the shortcomings we write about. A vendor can ask us to correct a factual error — not to remove a criticism.

Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a vendor. Paid placement can affect the order in which tools appear; it never affects whether a tool is listed. Editorial policy

13 European AI Companions

Selira AI

Character chat with EU hosting and per-character memory

#1 of 13 in this category
Netherlands
Custom characters EU hosting Memory control

Simone

Conversational AI companion with a consistent persona

#2 of 13 in this category
France
Persistent persona Voice replies GDPR

Darlink

Companion app built around long-running relationships

#3 of 13 in this category
Switzerland
Long-term memory Multiple personas GDPR

Xeve.ai

German-built companion and roleplay chat with EU hosting

#4 of 13 in this category
Germany
Roleplay German hosting Custom characters

MyLovely AI

Companion app with voice and image generation

#5 of 13 in this category
Spain
Voice chat Image generation EU hosting

Dream Companion

Customizable AI companions & roleplay - European alternative based in Germany

#6 of 13 in this category
Germany Free + Premium
Custom charactersRoleplayImage generation

Soulkyn AI

Uncensored AI companion chat with roleplay and image generation — built in Ireland

#7 of 13 in this category
Ireland Free + Premium
Uncensored roleplay chatCustom AI charactersAI image generation

AI Chat Companions

Hands-on reviews and rankings of AI companion apps, written from actual use

#8 of 13 in this category
Netherlands Free
Tested reviewsRankings by use caseBeginner guides

Best AI Companions

Companion apps ranked by what they are good at, from roleplay to memory

#9 of 13 in this category
Netherlands Free
Use-case rankingsHead-to-head comparisonsFree-tier roundup

AI Companion Lounge

Long-form reviews and honest guides on living with an AI companion

#10 of 13 in this category
Netherlands Free
In-depth reviewsPrivacy and memory guidesGirlfriend app ranking

Candy.ai

Multimodal AI companion chat with voice, images and video, from a Malta-registered operator.

#11 of 13 in this category
Malta Free trial; monthly, quarterly or yearly token plans (amounts shown at signup)
Text, voice, image and video companion chatCharacter creation and roleplay tools100+ pre-built characters to start from

Kupid AI

AI companion chat with free unlimited text and paid image/voice upgrades, run from Cyprus under GDPR.

#12 of 13 in this category
Cyprus Free unlimited text chat; paid upgrade for images, voice and premium features
Free unlimited text chat with AI companionsCustom character creationImage generation and photo sharing

EVA AI

Mobile-only AI companion app with memory and voice chat, built by a Cyprus-registered operator under GDPR.

#13 of 13 in this category
Cyprus Mobile app (iOS/Android); in-app plans from about $12/month up to $47.99/year, plus optional credit packs
Customisable AI companion with memoryText and voice conversationiOS and Android apps (no web chat)

Key takeaways

  • Selira ranks #1 among the European AI companions in this directory, because Selira combines uncensored companion chat with image generation and voice messages from a Dutch operator under GDPR.
  • Conversations with an AI companion are among the most personal data a person generates, which is the entire reason jurisdiction matters more here than in almost any other software category.
  • Darlink operates from Switzerland, which means Swiss data protection under an EU adequacy decision rather than intra-EEA processing — a strong regime, and a different one.
  • Every companion app here offers a free tier, so the practical way to choose is to try two and see which conversation holds up rather than comparing feature lists.
  • The ten apps here are small operators rather than platforms, which cuts both ways: less support depth and less track record than Character.AI, and a much smaller organisation holding a transcript of your private life.

European AI companions are conversational AI characters — companions, personas and roleplay partners — operated by companies established in Europe, so the conversations stay under European data protection rather than under US jurisdiction.

European AI companions compared

European AI companions compared on position, country, entry price and best use
PositionToolEstablishedEntry priceBest for
#1 Selira Netherlands Free tier with premium plans Users wanting a private, uncensored AI companion under EU data protection
#2 Simone France Free tier with premium plans French speakers wanting natural conversation rather than character roleplay
#3 Darlink Switzerland Free tier with premium plans Users wanting a customisable AI companion under Swiss data protection
#4 Xeve.ai Germany Free tier with premium plans Users who want a customisable German companion and roleplay chat
#5 MyLovely AI Spain Free tier with premium plans Users wanting a customisable AI companion inside EU jurisdiction
#6 Dream Companion Germany Free tier with premium plans Users who want to build characters and play out scenarios
#7 Soulkyn AI Ireland Free tier with premium plans Users wanting a customisable companion inside EU jurisdiction
#8 AI Chat Companions Netherlands Free Anyone who wants to read a real test before trying a companion app
#9 Best AI Companions Netherlands Free People choosing between two or three apps who want a direct comparison
#10 AI Companion Lounge Netherlands Free Readers who want the long version, including the downsides of using a companion
#11 Candy.ai Malta Free trial; monthly, quarterly or yearly token plans (amounts shown at signup) Users wanting multimodal companion chat — text, voice, images and video
#12 Kupid AI Cyprus Free unlimited text chat; paid upgrade for images, voice and premium features Users who want to try unlimited text chat before paying anything
#13 EVA AI Cyprus Mobile app (iOS/Android); in-app plans from about $12/month up to $47.99/year, plus optional credit packs Users who want a companion as a phone app rather than a website

Every European AI companion reviewed

#1 Selira

Netherlands Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: Users wanting a private, uncensored AI companion under EU data protection

  • Operating company. Selira
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Netherlands)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Selira offers uncensored companion conversation with AI image generation and voice messages, which is the fullest feature set among the European options here — voice in particular is not universal in this category and changes the character of the interaction considerably.

The reason to prefer it over Character.AI or Replika is jurisdictional rather than featural. Selira operates from the Netherlands under GDPR, so the conversation transcript — which is a psychological record of whatever someone brings to it — is processed by an EU-established company with defined purposes, a right of access and a right of erasure that attaches to a real entity. A US operator falls under the CLOUD Act regardless of server location.

It offers a free tier with premium plans above, so evaluating it costs nothing. The questions worth asking before subscribing are the ones that apply to any operator in this category: how long conversations are retained, whether account deletion removes them, whether conversation data trains models, and what appears on a card statement. None of that is unique to Selira; it is simply what to check.

What Selira does well

  • Uncensored chat with image generation and voice messages
  • Dutch operator, EU jurisdiction under GDPR
  • Free tier for evaluation before subscribing
  • Voice adds something most rivals here lack
  • Right of erasure attaches to an EU-established company

Where Selira falls short

  • Retention and training policies need reading before signing up
  • Premium features behind a subscription
  • Conversational consistency varies as with all such apps
  • Smaller operator than the US incumbents

Standout feature. Voice messages alongside chat and images — the fullest set here, under Dutch jurisdiction.

#2 Simone

France Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: French speakers wanting natural conversation rather than character roleplay

  • Operating company. Agentik SAS
  • Jurisdiction. EU (France)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Simone positions differently from most of this category. Rather than emphasising character creation and roleplay, it leads with natural conversation — companionship as dialogue rather than as persona play — with custom personalities available for people who want them.

That distinction matters more than it might sound. Someone looking for a character to inhabit a scenario and someone looking for a conversation that feels natural want different things from the same technology, and apps optimised for one tend to disappoint at the other. Simone is aimed at the second.

It is operated by Agentik SAS in France, so processing sits under GDPR in an EU member state — relevant because conversations of this kind are among the most personal data anyone produces. There is a free tier with premium plans above it. As with everything in this category, the practical test is twenty minutes of actual conversation: whether it stays coherent, remembers what you said earlier and avoids repetition is not something a feature list can tell you.

What Simone does well

  • Aimed at natural conversation rather than roleplay
  • Custom personalities available
  • French company, EU jurisdiction under GDPR
  • Free tier for evaluation
  • Different positioning from the character-focused rivals

Where Simone falls short

  • Less roleplay and character depth than rivals
  • No image generation emphasised
  • Premium features behind a subscription
  • Smaller feature set than Selira

Standout feature. Built for conversation rather than character play — a different product from most of this category.

#4 Xeve.ai

Olching, Bavaria, Germany Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: Users who want a customisable German companion and roleplay chat

  • Operating company. Jay Web Development
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Germany)
  • Where the data sits. Germany
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Xeve.ai leans towards roleplay and character customisation, which is a different emphasis from Simone's conversational focus and closer to what people arriving from Character.AI usually expect: characters you define and scenarios you play out rather than a single companion persona.

It is built by Jay Web Development in Olching, Bavaria, so processing sits under German data protection and GDPR — the strictest interpretation in the EU, and applied here to conversations that are among the most personal anyone generates. For someone who cares specifically about German jurisdiction rather than EU jurisdiction generally, it is the option in this category.

There is a free tier with premium plans above it, so evaluation costs nothing, and the practical test is the same as everywhere here: whether characters stay consistent across a long conversation and remember earlier context. It is a small operator, which cuts both ways — less scale and support depth than the US incumbents, and a correspondingly smaller organisation holding the data.

What Xeve.ai does well

  • Roleplay focus with customisable characters
  • German company, German data protection under GDPR
  • Free tier for evaluation
  • Character customisation depth
  • Small operator holding a small amount of data

Where Xeve.ai falls short

  • Small operator with limited support depth
  • Fewer features than Selira
  • Premium features behind a subscription
  • Character consistency varies as with all such apps

Standout feature. German data protection applied to roleplay chat — the strictest EU interpretation, in the most personal category.

#5 MyLovely AI

Madrid, Spain Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: Users wanting a customisable AI companion inside EU jurisdiction

  • Operating company. PromptRepublic S.L.
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Spain)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

MyLovely AI provides a customisable AI companion with image generation and custom personas, operated by PromptRepublic S.L. from Madrid — which puts it squarely inside EU jurisdiction with GDPR applying directly rather than through an adequacy decision.

Its feature set sits alongside Darlink's and Xeve.ai's: persona customisation, image generation, companion chat, free tier with premium plans. What separates apps in this category in practice is not the list but the conversation — whether a character stays coherent over a long exchange, remembers what was said earlier and responds without collapsing into repetition. That varies more between apps than any specification, and it is why trying two free tiers is the honest method.

The reason to prefer any of these over Character.AI or Replika remains jurisdictional. A companion transcript is a psychological record created continuously, and having it processed by a Spanish company under GDPR rather than a US operator under the CLOUD Act is the substantive difference. Before subscribing, check retention, whether account deletion removes conversations, whether conversation data trains models, and what appears on a card statement.

What MyLovely AI does well

  • Customisable personas with image generation
  • Spanish company, intra-EEA processing under GDPR
  • Free tier for evaluation
  • Right of erasure attaches to an EU entity
  • Feature set comparable to the leaders here

Where MyLovely AI falls short

  • No voice messages unlike Selira
  • Small operator with limited support depth
  • Retention and training policies need checking
  • Premium features behind a subscription

Standout feature. Madrid-based and intra-EEA — GDPR applies directly rather than through an adequacy decision.

#6 Dream Companion

Germany Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: Users who want to build characters and play out scenarios

  • Operating company. Dream Companion
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Germany)
  • Where the data sits. Germany
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Dream Companion leans towards character creation and roleplay rather than a single fixed companion, which is a different experience from the apps built around one persona you return to. You define who you are talking to and what the situation is, and the character holds that frame.

Image generation accompanies the chat, so a character has a consistent visual identity rather than existing only as text — which is what most users arriving from Character.AI expect and what a purely conversational product feels thin without.

It operates from Germany, which means German data protection under GDPR applied to conversations that are among the most personal anyone produces — and Germany applies the strictest interpretation in the EU. Free tier with premium plans above it, so the conversational quality can be assessed before paying. As with every operator in this category, check the retention period, whether account deletion removes conversations, and what appears on a card statement before subscribing.

What Dream Companion does well

  • Character creation with scenario roleplay
  • Image generation gives characters a consistent identity
  • German company, strictest GDPR interpretation
  • Free tier for evaluation
  • Deeper roleplay focus than single-persona apps

Where Dream Companion falls short

  • Small operator with limited support depth
  • No voice messages
  • Retention and training policies need reading
  • Premium features behind a subscription

Standout feature. You build the character and the scenario — closer to collaborative fiction than to a chat assistant.

#7 Soulkyn AI

Dublin, Ireland Free tier with premium plans Free tier

Best for: Users wanting a customisable companion inside EU jurisdiction

  • Operating company. Cube Digital Media Ltd
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Ireland)
  • Where the data sits. EU (Ireland)
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Soulkyn AI offers companion and roleplay chat with custom characters and image generation, operated by Cube Digital Media Ltd from Dublin — which puts it inside the EU with GDPR applying directly rather than through an adequacy decision.

Its emphasis is customisation: defining a character rather than selecting one, with generated imagery giving that character a consistent appearance across a conversation. On features it sits alongside Darlink and MyLovely AI, and as everywhere in this category the thing that actually differs between apps is not the feature list but whether the character stays coherent across an hour of conversation.

It is a young platform, and that belongs in any honest description: less track record than the established names, a smaller user base, and the stability that implies. The free tier makes that easy to judge for yourself. The usual pre-subscription checks apply — retention, deletion, whether conversation data trains models, and the billing descriptor.

What Soulkyn AI does well

  • Custom characters with generated imagery
  • Irish company, intra-EEA processing under GDPR
  • Free tier for evaluation
  • Uncensored conversation without a US operator
  • Right of erasure attaches to an EU entity

Where Soulkyn AI falls short

  • Young platform with limited track record
  • Smaller user base than established rivals
  • No voice messages
  • Premium features behind a subscription

Standout feature. Dublin-based and intra-EEA, so the transcript sits under GDPR directly rather than under an adequacy finding.

#8 AI Chat Companions

Netherlands Free Free

Best for: Anyone who wants to read a real test before trying a companion app

  • Operating company. Gcas BV
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Netherlands)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. US-based AI companion review sites

AI Chat Companions is not a companion app but a review site about them, and it belongs in this list for the same reason CompanionGuide does in the NSFW category: the apps describe themselves in nearly identical terms, and the only way to tell them apart is to use them. Every review on the site is written in the first person from a period of actual use, with the parts that disappointed left in.

Beyond the individual reviews it keeps rankings by what you actually want from a companion: voice conversation, roleplay, anime characters, long-term memory, privacy, a free tier that is genuinely usable. It also carries the explainers a newcomer needs first, on what an AI companion is and how the memory in these apps really works.

It is Dutch, free to read and needs no account. It is published by the same company as this directory, and like every review site in a consumer category it earns affiliate commission on some of the apps it covers. Read it alongside a free tier of your own rather than instead of one.

What AI Chat Companions does well

  • Reviews written from actual use, not from the app's own marketing
  • Rankings per use case rather than one overall list
  • Free to read, no signup
  • Dutch publisher under GDPR
  • Explainers for people new to the category

Where AI Chat Companions falls short

  • Not an app: a review site
  • Affiliate-funded, so read the disclosure
  • Covers a curated set rather than every app
  • Sister publication of this directory

Standout feature. First-person tests of the apps in this category, from a Dutch publisher.

#9 Best AI Companions

Netherlands Free Free

Best for: People choosing between two or three apps who want a direct comparison

  • Operating company. Gcas BV
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Netherlands)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. US-based AI companion review sites

Best AI Companions ranks companion apps by what they are good at rather than in one overall order, which fits how people actually choose: someone who wants roleplay and someone who wants a companion that remembers last week are not looking for the same product, and one list cannot serve both.

Its head-to-head comparisons are the useful part. Character.AI against Replika, the two best-known names in the category, is written out as a decision rather than as two feature lists, and the free-tier roundup tells you what each app lets you do before you pay, which the apps themselves are vague about.

It is Dutch, free and published by the same company as this directory. Like its sister sites it carries affiliate links on some of the apps it ranks, and says so. The rankings are a starting point; the free tiers of two apps are still the test that decides.

What Best AI Companions does well

  • Rankings by use case, not one overall score
  • Head-to-head comparisons of the big names
  • Free-tier roundup shows what is usable without paying
  • Free to read, no signup
  • Dutch publisher under GDPR

Where Best AI Companions falls short

  • Not an app: a review site
  • Affiliate-funded, so read the disclosure
  • Sister publication of this directory
  • No substitute for trying a free tier yourself

Standout feature. Companion apps compared the way people actually choose them, by use case and head to head.

#10 AI Companion Lounge

Netherlands Free Free

Best for: Readers who want the long version, including the downsides of using a companion

  • Operating company. Gcas BV
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Netherlands)
  • Where the data sits. EU
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. US-based AI companion review sites

AI Companion Lounge is the slower read of the three review sites here. Its reviews run long and are written by one person over weeks of use, and it spends as much space on the uncomfortable questions as on the apps: whether AI companions are bad for you, what happens to what you tell them, and how much a companion should be allowed to remember.

That makes it the right place to start for someone who has not decided whether they want one of these apps at all. The guides on memory and privacy are written for a reader who wants to understand the trade-off, and the AI girlfriend ranking covers the romance side of the category, which the other two sites treat more lightly.

It is Dutch, free to read without an account, and published by the same company as this directory. It carries affiliate links on some of the apps it reviews and discloses that. As with any review site here, use it to shortlist, then decide inside a free tier.

What AI Companion Lounge does well

  • Long-form reviews from weeks of use
  • Takes the downsides of the category seriously
  • Guides on memory and privacy for newcomers
  • Free to read, no signup
  • Dutch publisher under GDPR

Where AI Companion Lounge falls short

  • Not an app: a review site
  • Long reads, not quick answers
  • Affiliate-funded, so read the disclosure
  • Sister publication of this directory

Standout feature. The review site in this category that also asks whether you should use one at all.

#11 Candy.ai

Santa Venera, Malta Free trial; monthly, quarterly or yearly token plans (amounts shown at signup)

Best for: Users wanting multimodal companion chat — text, voice, images and video

  • Operating company. EverAI Limited
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Malta)
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Candy.ai combines text chat with voice, AI-generated images and video and a library of over 100 pre-built characters, alongside tools to build a custom one. That multimodal range — voice and video together, not just images — is broader than most of this category, Selira included.

It is operated by EverAI Limited, registered in Malta, so conversations sit under EU jurisdiction with Maltese courts named in the terms of service for disputes. Malta is a full EU member state, which puts Candy.ai alongside the intra-EEA operators here rather than the Swiss adequacy case.

There is a free trial, after which access runs on monthly, quarterly or yearly token plans; the site does not publish the actual amounts before signup, so budget-conscious users will need to check pricing at checkout rather than on the marketing page. As with every operator here, read the retention and model-training sections of the privacy policy before committing a card.

What Candy.ai does well

  • Voice, image and video generation alongside chat
  • Large library of pre-built characters plus a builder
  • Malta-based operator, EU jurisdiction
  • Free trial before any payment
  • Broadest multimodal feature set in this list

Where Candy.ai falls short

  • No pricing amounts published before signup
  • Token-based billing adds a layer to compare against flat subscriptions
  • Retention and training policies need reading
  • Larger, more commercial operator than most names here

Standout feature. Text, voice, image and video in one companion — a wider format range than any EU rival here.

#12 Kupid AI

Nicosia, Cyprus Founded 2023 Free unlimited text chat; paid upgrade for images, voice and premium features

Best for: Users who want to try unlimited text chat before paying anything

  • Operating company. SNB Technologies LTD
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Cyprus)
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

Kupid AI leads with a free tier that is more generous on its face than most of this category: unlimited text chat with any companion, with images, voice messages and other premium features held back for paying users. For someone who wants to test conversational quality at length before committing, that free-chat depth matters more than a feature list.

It is operated by SNB Technologies LTD, registered in Cyprus (company HE 447805, registered June 2023) and its privacy policy explicitly sets out GDPR rights for EU residents. That places it inside the EU alongside the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain and Ireland-based operators already in this list, rather than in adequacy territory like Darlink.

The trade-off is the same one that applies to every young operator here: no specific hosting location or certification is named on the company's own pages, and premium pricing is only shown after registration. Test the free tier at length, then decide whether the images and voice features behind the paywall are worth it.

What Kupid AI does well

  • Unlimited free text chat, not a capped trial
  • Custom character creation
  • Cyprus-registered operator, GDPR rights stated explicitly
  • Image generation and photo sharing on the paid tier
  • Registration and incorporation both independently verifiable

Where Kupid AI falls short

  • Voice and images locked behind a paid upgrade
  • No hosting location or certification named
  • Premium pricing only visible after registration
  • Smaller, younger operator than the US incumbents

Standout feature. Unlimited free text chat rather than a capped trial — the most generous free tier in this list.

#13 EVA AI

Nicosia, Cyprus Founded 2020 Mobile app (iOS/Android); in-app plans from about $12/month up to $47.99/year, plus optional credit packs

Best for: Users who want a companion as a phone app rather than a website

  • Operating company. Novi Limited
  • Jurisdiction. EU (Cyprus)
  • Independent checks. GDPR
  • Source code. Closed source
  • Replaces. Character.AI, Replika

EVA AI is the one entry here without a web chat: it exists as iOS and Android apps only, built around a customisable companion with memory and both text and voice conversation. For someone who wants a companion that lives on their phone the way a messaging app does, rather than a browser tab, that is the actual differentiator, not a feature checkbox.

It is operated by Novi Limited, registered in Cyprus since February 2020 — an older registration than Kupid AI's, though Novi also runs an unrelated affiliate-marketing product, so the company is not a single-purpose AI companion operator. Its privacy policy states GDPR rights for EU data subjects directly.

Because there is no pricing page on evaapp.ai, the numbers here come from Apple's own App Store listing of EVA AI's in-app purchases: a premium subscription from roughly $12 a month up to $47.99 for twelve months, plus optional one-off "Neuron" credit packs. App reviews describe that credit system as easy to run through quickly, which is worth weighing before subscribing.

What EVA AI does well

  • Native iOS and Android apps rather than a browser-only product
  • Memory-based companion with text and voice
  • Cyprus-registered operator, GDPR rights stated explicitly
  • Longer-registered company than most names in this list
  • In-app pricing is at least verifiable via the App Store listing

Where EVA AI falls short

  • No web chat: mobile app only
  • No pricing page of its own to check before downloading
  • Credit-based add-ons on top of a subscription, per user reviews
  • Operator also runs an unrelated affiliate-marketing product

Standout feature. The only companion here built as a phone app first, with no web version at all.

Why does jurisdiction matter for a chat app?

Because of what is in the conversation, which is unlike almost any other category of software.

People tell an AI companion things they do not tell anyone else — loneliness, relationship difficulties, sexuality, anxieties, things they are working through. That transcript is a psychological record, and it is created continuously without anyone deciding to create it.

With a US-established operator, that record sits within reach of the CLOUD Act regardless of where the servers are. With Selira in the Netherlands, Simone in France, Xeve.ai in Germany or MyLovely AI in Spain, it is processed by an EU-established company under GDPR — which means defined purposes, a right of access and a right of erasure that actually attaches to someone.

That is the substantive difference between these and Character.AI or Replika, and it is a bigger one than any feature.

What should you actually check before signing up?

Four things, and none of them appear on the landing page.

Data retention: how long conversations are kept, and whether deleting your account deletes them. Under GDPR you have a right to erasure, but exercising it is easier when the operator has already built for it.

Whether conversations train models: some operators use conversation data to improve their systems, which is a different question from whether they keep it. It should be answered in the privacy policy rather than inferred.

Payment discretion: what appears on a card statement, since these are personal purchases. And subscription mechanics: how the free tier converts, what the premium tier actually unlocks, and how cancellation works — the same questions worth asking of any recurring consumer subscription.

What separates these apps from each other?

Less than the marketing suggests, which is why trying two is more useful than comparing them on paper.

The common set is companion chat with customisable characters or personas, image generation, and free tiers with premium plans. Selira adds voice messages, Xeve.ai leans towards roleplay with customisable characters, MyLovely AI and Darlink both emphasise persona customisation, and Simone positions towards natural conversation rather than character play.

What actually differs is conversational quality — whether the character stays consistent across a long conversation, remembers earlier context and responds in a way that does not collapse into repetition. No specification sheet captures that, and it varies between apps more than any listed feature.

Since all of them have free tiers, the honest method is to spend twenty minutes in two of them. The one that still feels coherent at the end is the answer.

Where is each of these based?

Spread across Europe, and the distinction between EU and adequacy is worth carrying.

Inside the EU: Selira in the Netherlands, Simone from Agentik SAS in France, Xeve.ai from Jay Web Development in Olching, Bavaria, MyLovely AI from PromptRepublic S.L. in Madrid, Dream Companion in Germany, Soulkyn AI from Dublin, Candy.ai from Malta, Kupid AI from Cyprus and EVA AI also from Cyprus. All of them are intra-EEA processing under GDPR directly.

Outside the EU but adequate: Darlink operates from Switzerland, so Swiss data protection law applies under an EU adequacy decision. Transfers from the EU are lawful without standard contractual clauses, and it is a strong privacy regime — it simply is not EU processing, which matters to a small number of people and not to most.

The three remaining entries are in this category by classification error rather than by nature, which the next question covers.

What do these apps not do?

Three things worth knowing before you expect them, because the marketing in this category is uniformly optimistic.

They are not therapy. A companion app will listen indefinitely and agree readily, which is exactly what makes it comforting and exactly why it is not a substitute for a person trained to disagree with you. Several of these products carry no clinical safeguards at all.

They are not memory-perfect. Every app here will lose track of something established earlier in a long conversation, and how gracefully it recovers is the single biggest quality difference between them — and the thing no feature list shows.

They are not private from the operator. GDPR governs what an EU-established company may do with the transcript and gives you a right to have it deleted; it does not mean nobody can read it. If that distinction matters to you, it is the retention and deletion policy you should be reading, not the privacy badge.

How we selected and ranked these 13 tools

Every tool on this page is in the European Purpose directory, which means the operating company is established in Europe and we have verified that from the company register or the vendor's own legal notice rather than from a marketing page. Tools headquartered outside Europe are not eligible, however good they are.

  1. Feature verification (weight: 40%). We check each capability against the vendor's own documentation and product pages, and record what the tool does rather than what the category is assumed to include.
  2. Ease of adoption (weight: 30%). Integrations, published API access, trial availability and how much configuration stands between signing and a usable result.
  3. Value and transparency (weight: 30%). Published pricing counts in a vendor's favour; quote-only pricing is recorded as quote-only rather than estimated. We weigh what a buyer gets for the entry price, not the headline feature count.
  4. Editorial review. Three people touch every page: one writes it, a second edits it, and a third checks the compliance and pricing claims against the vendor's documentation. The three weights above decide the order; a position is a ranking against the other European tools in this category, not an absolute score.

Vendor-reported outcomes — ROI figures, margin uplift, time saved — are labelled as vendor claims wherever they appear on this page. We have not audited them, and neither has anyone else who quotes them. Read our full editorial process for how pages are re-verified.

Frequently asked questions

Selira holds #1 among the European AI companions in this directory, combining uncensored companion chat with AI image generation and voice messages, operated from the Netherlands under GDPR. Simone from France, Xeve.ai from Germany and MyLovely AI from Spain are the other EU-based options, with Darlink operating from Switzerland under an adequacy decision. All offer free tiers.

Selira from the Netherlands, Simone from France, Xeve.ai from Germany, MyLovely AI from Spain and Darlink from Switzerland all replace them, with the substantive difference being jurisdiction: conversations are processed by European companies under GDPR rather than by US operators subject to the CLOUD Act. That matters because a companion transcript is a psychological record created continuously without anyone deciding to create it.

They are processed by the operator, and the question worth asking is what happens to them afterwards. Check three things in the privacy policy: how long conversations are retained, whether deleting your account deletes them, and whether conversation data is used to train models — which is a separate question from whether it is stored. Under GDPR you have a right of erasure, and an EU-established operator is who that right attaches to.

Selira in the Netherlands, Simone from Agentik SAS in France, Xeve.ai from Jay Web Development in Olching, Bavaria, and MyLovely AI from PromptRepublic S.L. in Madrid — all of them are intra-EEA processing under GDPR directly. Darlink operates from Switzerland, so Swiss data protection applies under an EU adequacy decision: lawful for transfers and a strong regime, but not EU processing.

Try two, because the thing that actually differs is not on any feature list. The common set — companion chat, customisable characters, image generation, free tier plus premium — is broadly the same everywhere. What varies is conversational quality: whether the character stays consistent across a long conversation, remembers earlier context and avoids collapsing into repetition. Every app here has a free tier, so twenty minutes in two of them settles it.

Most of them. Selira includes AI image generation alongside chat and voice messages, Darlink and MyLovely AI both offer image generation with custom personas, and Xeve.ai focuses on customisable characters for roleplay. Simone positions towards natural conversation rather than character imagery. Image generation is typically a premium feature, so check what the free tier includes before assuming it.

All of them have a free tier with premium plans above it, which is what makes trying two the sensible approach rather than choosing on specifications. Before subscribing, check the usual consumer subscription questions: what the premium tier actually unlocks, how the free tier converts, how cancellation works, and — since these are personal purchases — what appears on a card statement.

No, and it is worth being direct about it. A companion app listens indefinitely and agrees readily, which is what makes it comforting and also what makes it the opposite of a person trained to disagree with you when that helps.

Several products in this category carry no clinical safeguards at all. As something to talk to at 2am when nobody is awake, it is real; as a substitute for therapy or for people, it is not, and no app here claims otherwise in its own terms of service.

A question worth asking of any small operator, and all ten here are small.

Under GDPR you have a right to access and to erasure while the company exists, and an EU-established operator is who those rights attach to — but an insolvency or an acquisition can put the data somewhere the original privacy policy did not contemplate. There is no way to self-host any of these apps, so the practical protection is to check the retention policy and delete conversations you would not want to outlive the service.

Not on this list?

If you build a European ai companions tool that belongs here, tell us about it. Every suggestion is checked against the same criteria as the tools above: European ownership and hosting, a real product, and pricing we can verify. A listing is editorial, and we say so on this page where placement is paid.

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