--- title: "AI companion apps: Which are searched most?" description: "Compare the apps people chat with AI characters in. Share of Search among Character.AI, Nomi, Replika, Chai and Anima, the AI companion apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-companion-apps" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # AI companion apps: Which are searched most? Compare the apps people chat with AI characters in. Share of Search among Character.AI, Nomi, Replika, Chai and Anima, the AI companion apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Competitive set**: AI companion apps - **Market**: Global - **Brands compared**: 5 - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Highest Share of Search**: Character.AI, 98.9% ## Which brand is most popular in search among AI companion apps worldwide? - In August 2026, Character.AI was the most searched among AI companion apps worldwide, with an estimated 20.8M branded searches and 98.9% estimated Share of Search within this set. - Nomi is in 2nd place, 98.4 percentage points behind at 0.52% Share of Search. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Nomi rose from 3rd to 2nd among AI companion apps worldwide. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Replika fell from 2nd to 3rd among AI companion apps worldwide. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Character.AI, Chai and Anima held steady: their estimated Share of Search among AI companion apps worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points. ## How did search popularity change for AI companion apps worldwide in August 2026? - Estimated monthly branded searches for Nomi worldwide rose 48.6% over 11 measured months, from 74K to 110K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Replika worldwide fell 45.2% over 11 measured months, from 165K to 90.5K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Chai worldwide fell 33.2% over 11 measured months, from 27.1K to 18.1K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Anima worldwide fell 18.2% over 11 measured months, from 18.1K to 14.8K in August 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Character.AI worldwide fell 17.8% over 11 measured months, from 25.3M to 20.8M in August 2026. ## Share of Search ranking | Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Character.AI | 98.9% | 20.8M | 0.0% | Character.AI | | 2 | Nomi | 0.52% | 110K | 0.0% | Nomi | | 3 | Replika | 0.43% | 90.5K | 0.0% | Replika | | 4 | Chai | 0.09% | 18.1K | -70.1% | Chai | | 5 | Anima | 0.07% | 14.8K | 0.0% | Anima | ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 98.9% | 1 | | Oct 2025 | Replika | 165K | 0.65% | 2 | | Oct 2025 | Nomi | 74K | 0.29% | 3 | | Oct 2025 | Chai | 27.1K | 0.11% | 4 | | Oct 2025 | Anima | 18.1K | 0.07% | 5 | | Nov 2025 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 98.9% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | Replika | 165K | 0.65% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | Nomi | 74K | 0.29% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | Chai | 33.1K | 0.13% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | Anima | 18.1K | 0.07% | 5 | | Dec 2025 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 99% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | Replika | 135K | 0.53% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | Nomi | 74K | 0.29% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | Chai | 33.1K | 0.13% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | Anima | 18.1K | 0.07% | 5 | | Jan 2026 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 99% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | Replika | 135K | 0.53% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | Nomi | 74K | 0.29% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | Chai | 33.1K | 0.13% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | Anima | 14.8K | 0.06% | 5 | | Feb 2026 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 99% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | Replika | 135K | 0.53% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | Nomi | 74K | 0.29% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | Chai | 27.1K | 0.11% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | Anima | 18.1K | 0.07% | 5 | | Mar 2026 | Character.AI | 25.3M | 98.9% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | Replika | 135K | 0.53% | 2 | | Mar 2026 | Nomi | 90.5K | 0.35% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | Chai | 27.1K | 0.11% | 4 | | Mar 2026 | Anima | 22.2K | 0.09% | 5 | | Apr 2026 | Character.AI | 20.7M | 98.7% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | Replika | 135K | 0.64% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | Nomi | 90.5K | 0.43% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | Chai | 27.1K | 0.13% | 4 | | Apr 2026 | Anima | 22.2K | 0.11% | 5 | | May 2026 | Character.AI | 20.8M | 98.7% | 1 | | May 2026 | Nomi | 110K | 0.52% | 2 | | May 2026 | Replika | 110K | 0.52% | 3 | | May 2026 | Chai | 27.1K | 0.13% | 4 | | May 2026 | Anima | 22.2K | 0.11% | 5 | | Jun 2026 | Character.AI | 20.8M | 98.9% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | Nomi | 110K | 0.52% | 2 | | Jun 2026 | Replika | 90.5K | 0.43% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | Chai | 22.2K | 0.11% | 4 | | Jun 2026 | Anima | 18.1K | 0.09% | 5 | | Jul 2026 | Character.AI | 20.8M | 98.7% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | Nomi | 110K | 0.52% | 2 | | Jul 2026 | Replika | 90.5K | 0.43% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | Chai | 60.5K | 0.29% | 4 | | Jul 2026 | Anima | 14.8K | 0.07% | 5 | | Aug 2026 | Character.AI | 20.8M | 98.9% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | Nomi | 110K | 0.52% | 2 | | Aug 2026 | Replika | 90.5K | 0.43% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | Chai | 18.1K | 0.09% | 4 | | Aug 2026 | Anima | 14.8K | 0.07% | 5 | | Sep 2026 | Anima | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Chai | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Character.AI | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Nomi | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Replika | — | — | — | ## What is being compared - **Anima**: Measured on the search term “anima ai”. - **Chai**: Measured on the search term “chai app”. - **Character.AI**: Measured on the search terms “character ai” and “characterai”, summed into one figure. - **Nomi**: Measured on the search term “nomi ai”. - **Replika**: Measured on the search term “replika”. - [Anima](/demand/global-en/brands/anima) - [Chai](/demand/global-en/brands/chai) - [Character.AI](/demand/global-en/brands/character-ai) - [Nomi](/demand/global-en/brands/nomi) - [Replika](/demand/global-en/brands/replika) ## Methodology - [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which brand is most popular in search among AI companion apps worldwide? In August 2026, Character.AI was the most searched among AI companion apps worldwide, with an estimated 20.8M branded searches and 98.9% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "AI companion apps: Which are searched most?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-companion-apps This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/ai-companion-apps. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.