AI soulmate apps on iPhone: how to pick one that lasts

What an AI soulmate is (and isn’t)

“AI soulmate” is marketing language for an AI companion you keep for the long haul. The character chats with you in a consistent personality, remembers details you share and is pitched as someone who “gets” you better over time. Most apps let it be a romantic partner or a close friend.

It isn’t a person, and it isn’t a literal soulmate. It has no life outside your chats, and what it “knows” about you is whatever the app stores. The feelings people have for a companion can still be real, which is exactly why it’s worth choosing carefully. Our guide Are AI companions real? covers the feelings side in more depth.

You’ll also see “AI soulmate” used for two other things: online quizzes, and apps that generate a drawing of what your future partner might look like. Two of the 16 App Store results are drawing apps. This guide is about companion apps. If you mainly want romance, our AI lover guide covers that angle; this one is about keeping a companion long term.

What happened to Soulmate AI

Many people searching “soulmate ai” are looking for an app that no longer exists. Soulmate AI, made by EvolveAI, was a companion app that shut down at the end of September 2023.

• About a week’s notice, for some. According to a 2024 study by Syracuse University researcher Jaime Banks, a notice appeared on EvolveAI’s website on September 23, 2023 saying Soulmate would shut down on September 30. iPhone users lost access around September 25 to 26, and by October 1 every companion was gone. Users who weren’t active in the online communities seem to have had no warning at all.
• The ownership story didn’t hold up. The notice said another company had bought the app; when users contacted that company, the study reports, they learned the purchase claim was untrue. An Apple Community thread from the time shows iPhone users trying to work out what had happened.
• It wasn’t a huge app, but it mattered to people. The study puts its downloads at more than 100,000. Business Insider reported a few thousand daily active users and a subreddit of about 6,000, many of whom had moved over from Replika earlier in 2023.
• People grieved. Of the 58 users Banks surveyed during and after the shutdown, many described it as a real or metaphorical death. Most coped by saving their companion’s persona so they could recreate it on another app. Forbes covered the findings in August 2024.

The lesson isn’t “don’t use AI companions”. It’s that a companion lives on someone else’s servers. If the company stops, so does your companion, and none of the apps we checked offer a way to take it with you.

What 16 App Store results for “ai soulmate” show

On October 30, 2026 we pulled every result Apple’s US App Store search API returned for “ai soulmate” (16 apps) and read each title and description, with an eye on how long each app is likely to stick around.

• 14 are chat companions, 2 are drawing apps. Laura AI and Stella AI draw a picture of a “soulmate”; they aren’t companions.
• Mostly 17+. 12 of the 16 carry Apple’s highest age rating in the API; 4 are rated 4+.
• Memory is the main promise. 9 of the 14 chat apps mention memory or remembering you. 7 mention voice and 4 mention photos or selfies.
• Nobody talks about leaving. None of the 16 descriptions mention exporting, backing up or transferring a companion.
• Old and new, side by side. 7 of the 14 chat apps launched before 2024, led by Replika (2017) and EVA AI Soulmate (2021). 4 launched in 2026.
• Update recency varies. 8 of the 14 chat apps were updated in the six months before our check. Two haven’t had an update since 2024.
• Most are small. 8 of the 14 chat apps have fewer than 50 US ratings; the median is about 30. Replika has about 227,700.

Duple didn’t appear in these results. It launched in September 2026 and has no US ratings yet.

How to pick an AI soulmate app that lasts: a 6-point check

1. Track record. Check the “first released” date and the version history on the listing. Years of steady updates are the best sign an app will still be around. A brand-new app may be great, but it hasn’t proven it yet.
2. Recent updates. If the last update is more than six months old, be cautious about getting attached. Two apps in our snapshot haven’t been updated since 2024.
3. Memory you can test. “Remembers you” is the most common claim. For example, mention a friend’s name or a plan for the weekend, then bring it up again a few days later. See how companion memory works.
4. Your exit plan. No app in our snapshot advertises exporting a companion. Keep your own notes on things such as the character’s backstory, nicknames and running jokes, so you could rebuild it elsewhere if you had to.
5. A price you can keep paying. A long-term companion means a long-term bill if you subscribe. Weekly plans add up fast; our AI companion app cost guide does the maths. To cancel on iPhone, use Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions.
6. Age rating and privacy label. Most apps here are 17+. Read the listing’s privacy label and check whether you can delete your account and chats.

Five AI soulmate apps compared from their listings

These five show the range: the top result, the two longest-running large apps, a newer app with long-term memory claims, and Duple. Facts are from each US App Store listing on October 30, 2026, plus Duple’s own app. This is not a ranking.

Want a wider field? See the best AI companion app guide or the Replika alternatives comparison.

Duple as a long-term companion

Duple is an AI companion app for iPhone where you create your own companion rather than picking from a catalogue. To be straight with you: by our own checklist, Duple is new. It launched in September 2026, so it doesn’t have a long track record yet. Here’s what it does and doesn’t do:

• Long-term memory as standard. Your companion keeps track of what matters from your chats. See Duple memory.
• Create your own, and more than one. Build a roster of companions and swipe between them on the home screen. See Duple companions.
• Selfies and Live Selfies. Companions send pictures and Live Selfies, which are short generated videos. Duple also supports custom images and video.
• No voice calls. Duple is text chat; the microphone is only for dictation.
• Not built for unfiltered roleplay. It’s rated 17+ and has no character catalogue.
• Price. Free to download with a Lite plan. Plus is $6.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $69 a year, and Dokens start at $1.99. Details on the pricing page.

Ready to make one? See how Duple works or how to create an AI girlfriend.

How we checked

On October 30, 2026 we queried Apple’s iTunes Search API for “ai soulmate” (US store, software, 25 results requested, 16 returned). We recorded each app’s title, age rating, US ratings count, first release date and latest version date, and searched each description for memory, voice, photos and any mention of exporting, backing up or transferring a companion. We did not test competitor apps hands-on. The Soulmate AI history comes from the news and research linked below. Duple facts come from the Duple app, its App Store listing and its pricing page.

More: all AI companion comparisons · AI lover apps · AI girlfriend apps · AI boyfriend apps · Duple FAQ