Cherrypop.ai publishes this Joi AI review, and we make a competing AI companion app. We did not pay for Joi: we tested it with a free account on September 27, 2026, and checked its plans, free chat, character creator and settings; here is exactly what we checked.
Verdict: Joi AI review in short
Joi AI is a working adult companion site with a quick, polished character creator and cheap yearly pricing. The free account is mostly a preview: text chat worked, but both photos the bot sent after its opening selfie arrived blurred behind a paywall, and finishing a character costs 500 Neurons against a free balance of 11.
Score: 5.5/10. Equal weights: value 7 (about $4 a month yearly), free tier 4 (photos blurred, creation paid), clarity 5.5 (published policies, but a bundled consent box, mixed discount claims and narrow refunds).
- Best for: people who want a ready-made AI girlfriend with photos and short videos, and who will pay for a 3-month or 12-month plan.
- Skip it if: you want to try images or build a character for free, you dislike upsells in the middle of a chat, or you want NSFW consent kept separate from agreeing to the terms.
Joi AI quick facts
| Item | Details (US prices shown to us, September 27, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Price from | $13.99 a month; $20.99 every 3 months; $47.99 a year |
| Currency | Neurons (called “Coins” on the plan cards): 1,000 to 1,500 a month on Premium |
| Free tier | Yes: text chat, a balance of 11 Neurons, blurred photos |
| NSFW | Yes, 18+ only; the NSFW box was already ticked when we opened Settings |
| Images and video | Photos sent in chat; video from a chat photo for 200 Neurons |
| Character creator | 8-step wizard; finishing a character costs 500 Neurons |
| Platform | Web (joi.ai; the creator finishes on joi.com); settings offer “Add to Home Screen” |
| Payment | Card, Google Pay or Apple Pay, or crypto where available, per its terms |
| Operator | Novi Limited, Nicosia, Cyprus |
How we tested
- When: Sunday, September 27, 2026, one session of about 15 minutes on desktop Chrome at joi.ai.
- Account: a free account with no Premium badge and 11 Neurons.
- What we checked: all three Premium plan tabs, an 8-message chat with a ready-made character, the in-chat photo and video paywalls, the full character creator up to its final paid step, the account menu, and the Profile, Content, App and Security settings tabs.
What we did not test: any paid feature, image or video quality behind the blur, voice, long-term memory, the “8,000-message smart memory” Premium promises, the promo code, a real payment, cancelling or a refund. Where we cover those, the facts come from Joi’s terms, privacy policy and refund policy, not from our account.
Pricing and plans (with the math)
Premium comes in three lengths. The paywall shows a weekly price, with the real bill in small print underneath. A “PROMO: HELLO50” pill in the header pre-fills a code; we did not apply it, so these are the prices shown without it:
| Plan | Shown as | Billed | Coins a month | Stated allowance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | $3.22/week | $13.99 monthly | 1,000 | “Up to 20 images or 5 videos” |
| 3 months (50% off) | $1.61/week | $20.99 every 3 months | 1,200 | “Up to 75 images or 20 videos”; 5% off extra coins |
| 12 months (71% off) | $0.92/week | $47.99 a year | 1,500 | “Up to 350 images or 100 videos”; 10% off extra coins |
All three tabs list the same “Other benefits”: “Roleplay, videos, selfies & more”, “8,000-message smart memory” and “Priority creation, no waiting”. The discounts check out: $47.99 is 71% off twelve monthly payments, and $20.99 is half of three. Per its terms, Premium renews automatically until cancelled and prices vary with region and promotions. The billing line (“Pay as little as”) does not say whether renewals cost the same, so check the checkout page first.
What a Neuron actually costs you
- 12 months: 18,000 coins for $47.99, about $2.67 per 1,000, or $4 a month.
- 3 months: 3,600 coins for $20.99, about $5.83 per 1,000, or $7 a month.
- 1 month: 1,000 coins for $13.99, $13.99 per 1,000.
A video from a chat photo costs 200 Neurons, which matches the monthly plan’s “5 videos”. Finishing a custom character costs 500 Neurons, half of a monthly plan’s allowance. Joi’s terms (last updated June 4, 2026) also list prices for content not included in a subscription, which we did not see in our non-explicit free chat: “One romantic message costs 4 neurons to be read”, a photo view costs up to 120 Neurons, and a video view up to 1,900 “depending on the theme”.
Discount messaging is inconsistent. The same day, the header pill said 50% off, the 12-month tab 71% off, and the account menu “Get 75% OFF!”. The same menu offered 100 free Neurons for connecting a Discord account.
The free tier: chat works, photos are blurred
We chatted with Sunny, 23, a ready-made “Romantic Surfer” character labelled “Joi Original”. She messaged first at 14:32, asking whether she should buy a smoothie or save her last $10, with a clear, unblurred selfie attached. We kept the chat friendly and non-explicit for eight messages.
- Speed: a “typing” indicator ran for about 10 to 18 seconds before each reply.
- Length: 28 to 98 words per reply, about 47 on average, casual texting style with emoji, sometimes split across two or three bubbles.
- Character: she stayed a consistent surfer and beach-bar worker, stayed consistent with details she had invented (a spot called Playa Carmen, howler monkeys in the trees), and asked follow-up questions.
- Limits: text chat was not capped within our eight messages.
The upsells came through photos. After our fourth message, Sunny decided to send a picture on her own. A placeholder read “Taking a pic / Want pics 5x faster? Get Premium”, then the photo arrived blurred with a “Reveal” button. Clicking Reveal opened “Upgrade to access Images” and the plan modal. When we asked for a selfie in message 8, it came the same way: blurred, behind Reveal.
The chat menu also has a locked “Unlock premium Chatting style” option, and leaving the chat popped up a feedback survey.
Chats we did not start
Before we opened any chat, two unread conversations were already waiting. More arrived while we used the site: the Chats counter went from 4 to 6, then to 24 after we used the character creator. We never opened them, but two of the previews in the sidebar were sexually explicit. Our NSFW setting was on (see below), but we had not started these chats.
Images and video
The photos we saw arrived inside the chat. The opening selfie had a “Make video” button. Clicking it opened “Make a video: To make a video from this or any other image in chat, use 200 Neurons”, with a “Got it. Don’t remind me again.” box already ticked. With 11 Neurons, we cancelled.
We could not judge image or video quality, since everything past the opening selfie was blurred. The chat box has a microphone icon, and Joi’s terms describe voice and, “where available”, a video call feature; we did not test either. Joi’s terms prohibit sexual imagery of a real person made without their consent, and its generator pages say characters are built from text prompts, not photo uploads. We saw no upload option in the creator.
Creating a character
“Create AI” opens an 8-step wizard titled “Create your AI girlfriend”. You pick female or male, realistic or anime (or “Write prompt” to describe her instead), then ethnicity, body type and proportions, hair color and style, name and age, relationship, occupation and personality (each defaulting to “Surprise me”), and up to three tags from a list of about 80. We built a realistic Latina woman called Mara, with curly hair, and chose Kissing, Flirting and Roleplay.
Age has no number field, only buckets: 18+, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. We wanted 27, could not enter it, picked 20s, and the result was labelled “Mara, 20”. The wizard also never offered a public or private choice, and our profile’s public and private character tabs were both empty, so we could not see which one Joi uses by default.
After a “Teaching her how to behave with you” screen, a paywall appeared with “Create AI characters” now listed as a Premium benefit. Closing it showed a free preview portrait of Mara, clothed, with a summary card and one button: “Bring her to life for 500” Neurons. We did not have 500 Neurons, so Mara was never created.
Safety, privacy and billing
Content settings
In Settings, the Content tab had one checkbox already ticked: “I want to see NSFW content. I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, and confirm that I’m at least 18 years old.” Consent, terms and age check share one box, already ticked when we first opened Settings. The same tab lets you set your gender, who you are into, an age range starting at 18, and preferred tags. We saw no separate age check during our logged-in session. Joi’s terms require users to be 18 or older and say it may block an account it suspects is under 18 until proof of age is given.
Billing and the “no adult transaction” claim
Every plan tab says “No adult transaction in your bank statement”. That is Joi’s own claim, which we did not test with a payment. Its terms say the charge “will appear on your bank statement as joi.com”, which is discreet but still names the service.
Per the refund policy, you cancel under Settings, then My Subscriptions, effective from the next billing period; fees and Neurons already charged are not refunded. Listed refunds are narrow: fraudulent card use, a one-time refund of an accidentally bought Neuron pack (full if unspent, partial if part-used), and a pro-rata refund if Joi itself ends your subscription. Requests go to support by email within 14 days of purchase. The terms also warn that if you file a chargeback, Joi may disclose your private chats to prove the charge was valid. Contact support first.
Privacy
Per its privacy policy (updated June 4, 2026), Joi collects the text and voice messages you send “to improve the quality of text and voice messages of virtual friend and to develop its AI”. With your consent at sign-up, session recordings go to Microsoft. The terms add that its representatives “might moderate the activity of the chatbot”, and that by using the service you agree to receive advertising mailings. Keep real names and identifying details out of your chats.
Deleting your account is available in the Security tab. The terms call it irreversible and say you may lose Premium access and any Neurons you hold.
Who runs Joi, and similar-named sites
Joi’s terms name Novi Limited (reg. HE 407352) in Nicosia, Cyprus, under Cypriot law, with binding arbitration for US residents. Some sites with Joi in the domain are third-party guides: joiai.co.uk says it is an independent review site not affiliated with Joi, and its token packs did not match the plans Joi showed us. Use joi.ai for prices and support. We found no app from Joi’s operator; the App settings tab offers “Add to Home Screen” instead. An App Store app called “Joi – AI Companion” is sold by a different company, Naylalabs, not Novi Limited.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free text chat worked without a cap in our eight-message test
- The character stayed consistent and asked follow-up questions
- The 12-month plan is cheap: $47.99 a year, about $4 a month
- A quick, visual 8-step creator with a free preview portrait
- Plans state their coin and image or video allowances up front
- Named operator, published terms, privacy and refund policies
Cons
- Both photos after the opening selfie arrived blurred on our free account
- Finishing a character costs 500 Neurons; the free balance was 11
- Bot-started chats piled up in our inbox, some with explicit previews
- NSFW, terms and 18+ confirmation bundled in one checkbox, already ticked
- Age only in buckets; no exact age for your character
- Conflicting discount banners (50%, 71%, 75%) and strict refund terms
How it compares to Cherrypop
Cherrypop.ai covers similar ground: uncensored AI chat and roleplay with a large catalog of ready-made characters (female, male and trans, realistic and anime), a create-your-own wizard, and AI images of your character, including NSFW. It is free to start, with limits, and paid plans unlock more messages, images and features; see the site for current pricing. It runs in any mobile browser with no app to install, and it is 18+ with age checks where the law requires them. We have not run this same session on Cherrypop, so we are not claiming it beats Joi on chat or images.
For more options, see our roundup of the best NSFW AI companions, our OurDream AI review, and our guide to free AI sexting.
Who should pick Joi AI, and who should skip it
Pick it if you want a ready-made companion who sends photos and can turn them into short videos, and you are happy to commit to the 3-month or 12-month plan. At $47.99 a year with 1,500 coins a month, the yearly plan is the only one where the coin math looks good.
Skip it if you want to judge images before paying, build your own character on a free account, set an exact age for her, or keep your inbox free of explicit messages you did not ask for. Also skip it if you might want your money back on a subscription: the refund policy does not return subscription fees already charged.
Joi AI review FAQ
Is Joi AI free?
Partly. On September 27, 2026, text chat was uncapped in our eight messages, but photos arrived blurred, video cost 200 Neurons and finishing a character 500, against a free balance of 11.
How much does Joi AI cost?
As shown to us in September 2026: $13.99 a month with 1,000 coins, $20.99 every 3 months with 1,200 coins a month, or $47.99 a year with 1,500 coins a month. Per its terms, prices vary by region and promotion.
Is Joi AI legit?
It is a real service run by Novi Limited in Cyprus, with published terms, privacy and refund policies. Use joi.ai directly: similar-named sites such as joiai.co.uk are independent third-party guides, and their prices may not match Joi’s.
What does Joi AI look like on a bank statement?
The paywall says “No adult transaction in your bank statement”; the terms say the charge appears as joi.com. We did not pay to confirm it.
How do I cancel Joi AI or delete my account?
Per the refund policy, cancel under Settings, then My Subscriptions; it stops from the next billing period, without a refund of fees already paid. Account deletion is in the Security tab of Settings, and the terms say it is irreversible.