How to get started with Candy AI, step by step

What you need before you start

Almost nothing, which is the point. Candy AI runs in a browser, so there is no download, no app-store queue and no install permission to grant. You need three things:

• A browser on a desktop, mobile phone or tablet.
• An email address, or one of the available sign-in methods.
• To be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live.

Set aside twenty minutes for the first session. Ten of those will go on reading character profiles, which is time well spent: the companion you pick carries its look and personality across chat, voice, images and video, so a hasty choice follows you around.

Step 1: open candy.ai, clear the age gate, create an account

1. Open the official site

   The official website is candy.ai. Type it in directly rather than following a search result you do not recognise, since adult platforms attract lookalikes.

2. Confirm your age

   The website uses an age gate. Extra age or identity checks may apply depending on your location, so have a method of verification to hand if you are in a jurisdiction that requires one.

3. Browse before you register

   The character area sorts profiles into girls and guys. Each page shows a profile and gives you access to chat and media features. This is the free look.

4. Create an account or sign in

   Register with an email address or use one of the available login methods. Keep the account to yourself: tokens belong to the account that bought them and cannot be transferred.

At this point you are on the free tier, which allows up to five messages. Five is enough to sample a writing style and not much else, so decide early whether you want the trial.

Step 2: choose one of the prebuilt companions

Candy AI offers more than 100 prebuilt characters. They differ in looks, personality and relationship style. Browse the profiles, pick one, and you start with an existing personality rather than writing one yourself. For a first session this is the faster route, and it shows you what a well-written companion profile looks like before you try to write your own.

Read three or four profiles side by side rather than picking the first face you like. You are choosing a voice as much as a look, and the differences between profiles are in the relationship style more than the appearance.

Step 3: build your own companion instead

Build a companion from scratch with Candy AI's character builder. You can set ethnicity, age, hairstyle, eye colour and body type, and you can give your companion a name. Naming matters more than it sounds: it is the handle the companion uses for itself across every format.

Creating companions is one of the benefits gated behind a paid plan, along with unlimited text messaging, 18+ image and video generation, and the full Live Action experience. If the builder is the reason you are here, you will be subscribing rather than staying on the free tier, so compare the billing terms before you invest an hour in a character.

Step 4: the first conversation

Open the chat and set the scene in your first message. Each companion follows the setting you give it, answers your prompts, and adjusts its tone to your mood and style. A first message that establishes where you are and what is happening gets a far better reply than "hi".

Two habits pay off immediately:

• Describe the situation, not just the mood. A place and a time of day give the companion something to work with.
• Correct drift early. If the tone slides somewhere you did not want, say so in the chat rather than starting a new conversation.

Text messaging is unlimited on every paid plan, so this is the one part of the platform you can explore without watching a counter.

Step 5: your first image batch

Image generation turns a text prompt into a personalised picture of your companion. Your prompt can specify outfit, pose, action, hair or eye colour, accessories and setting. The more of those six you fill in, the closer the result lands to what you pictured.

You can generate between one and 16 images at a time. On your first attempt, ask for one or two. Read what comes back, adjust the prompt, and only then request a larger batch. Each render draws on the token balance, and a batch of sixteen from a prompt you have not tested yet is the most common way new subscribers burn through their monthly allowance in an afternoon.

Step 6: the five-second video beta

AI video is a beta feature. It turns a generated image into a short animated clip: you choose a scene, a companion, and a movement or action, and the result runs five seconds.

Treat it as a bonus rather than the headline. Five seconds is a gesture, not a scene, and because the feature is in beta it is the part of the platform most likely to change shape. Generate one clip during your free week so you know what it does, then decide whether it affects your choice of billing term. For most people it does not.

Spending 100 tokens over a month

Each paid plan includes a monthly token allowance of 100 tokens alongside the premium benefits. You spend tokens on image generation, voice notes and other media features, and the amount appears at checkout.

A workable first-month pattern looks like this:

• Chat freely. Text messaging is unlimited on a paid plan.
• Test prompts one or two images at a time, not sixteen.
• Save larger batches for prompts you have already proved.
• Use voice notes sparingly in week one so you can see the balance move.

You can top up your token balance when the monthly amount runs short. Tokens belong to the account that bought them: you cannot transfer them, exchange them for cash, or use them to pay another balance. Unused tokens expire when the billing period ends and do not carry over, so there is no reason to hoard them.

Privacy, age checks and moderation

Candy AI is for adults only. You must be at least 18, or the age of majority where you live, and the website uses an age gate. Extra age or identity checks may apply depending on your location.

The platform uses moderation controls, and flagged content may get a manual review under its policies. Customer support runs through the site's contact area, where the same email address handles privacy, safety and content concerns.

On your side, the rule is simple: keep financial details, passwords, private addresses, contact information and other sensitive personal data out of chats with an AI companion. You are responsible for protecting what you type online, so share only what you would be comfortable seeing exposed. What this guide itself collects is set out in our privacy policy.

Picking a term before the trial ends

A seven-day free trial gives you full access to the main features, including voice, image and video. By the end of it you should know which of the three use cases you actually care about: conversation, images, or video.

Then pick a term. The weekly plan is $5.60 and renews weekly; two-weekly is $9.79; the monthly plan opens at a $9.99 introductory price and renews at $13.99; quarterly is $26.97; annual is $47.88. The feature set is identical across all of them, so this is purely a question of commitment. The full price table lays out the renewal terms side by side.

If you decide against it, open the account settings and select Unsubscribe. Paid features stay available until the current billing period ends, and the next renewal is stopped. Note that subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period, your payment method is charged on the first day of the new period, and local taxes may raise your checkout total above the displayed price.

What readers say about week one

4.6 average from 12,784 ratings and 547 written reviews. The three below come from readers who described their first week of setup.

Reviews are reader submissions edited for length and describe individual experiences.

Setup questions