Responsible AI Companion Use: Age Policy, Privacy, and Healthy Engagement

This site covers adult AI companion platforms. We cover them seriously, which means covering responsibility seriously too. The guidelines below document our editorial standards, what we require of reviewed platforms, and what we recommend to users.

Age Policy: 18+ Without Exception

Every platform reviewed on this site requires users to be at least 18 years old. This is a legal compliance requirement, not a platform preference.

Platforms serving US users with adult content must comply with 18 U.S.C. 2257, which requires documentation confirming all depicted individuals (including AI character representations) are adults. Age verification at registration enforces this at the user level.

For parents and guardians: AI companion platforms contain content not appropriate for minors. Parental control tools — available through device operating systems, routers, and browser extensions — can restrict access. Active monitoring of teenagers' AI platform usage is strongly recommended.

We do not review platforms that fail to implement meaningful age verification at registration.

Content Standards We Require for Coverage

Our editorial coverage is conditional on platforms meeting minimum standards:

Required prohibitions:

• No content depicting minors or characters interpretable as minors
• No content presenting non-consensual scenarios approvingly
• No content facilitating real-world harm

Required platform infrastructure:

• Functional user reporting tools
• Actual enforcement (content removal, suspensions) when violations occur
• Transparent community guidelines accessible before content generation

Platforms failing these standards are excluded from our coverage regardless of other quality metrics.

Data Privacy: What Users Should Know

AI companion platforms collect and store intimate personal data — conversation history, account information, usage patterns.

Key check before registering any platform:

• Data retention period after account deletion (GirlfriendGPT: 6 years — a significant outlier; most platforms retain for 30 days to 12 months)
• What categories of data are collected
• Whether data is shared with third parties

Practical privacy steps:

• Use a unique password — not reused from banking, email, or social accounts
• Enable two-factor authentication where available
• Use an email address not connected to your primary identity if anonymity matters
• Avoid sharing financial details or home address in AI conversations
• Read the data retention section of privacy policies before signing up

Our own data practices: privacy policy.

Healthy Engagement Patterns

AI companion platforms are designed to be engaging. The AI optimizes for responses users want to receive again — this is effective and worth being aware of.

Healthy patterns:

• Treating AI companion use as one entertainment activity among several
• Maintaining real-world social relationships alongside AI interaction
• Setting personal time and spending limits proactively
• Periodic self-check on whether usage patterns have shifted

Patterns worth examining:

• Consistent preference for AI over available human contact
• Distress when unable to access the platform
• Spending that creates financial stress
• Increasing isolation from real-world relationships

Resources:

• SAMHSA: 1-800-662-4357 (24/7, free, confidential)
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
• A licensed therapist can provide personalized technology use assessment

Editorial Responsibility

The affiliate relationship funding this site creates potential conflicts. We address them directly:

• The 6-year data retention issue at GirlfriendGPT is prominently published
• Competitor platforms offering better value are recommended when appropriate
• Safety ratings of 3.2/5 are published alongside overall ratings of 3.9/5
• Paid review treatment is not accepted

Our about page documents methodology. Our terms of service covers affiliate disclosure.

Frequently Asked Questions