Buddies

Buddies occupies a peculiar niche in the growing landscape of AI companionship: it is a messenger app that lets you create and converse with custom AI friends, each designed to fill a specific role—coach, counselor, companion, or teacher. The core proposition is straightforward—you build a virtual friend by assigning a name, persona, and area of expertise, then chat with it via a familiar messaging interface. The app claims that these AI friends remember and understand you over time, adapting to your personality and needs. With over 30,000 daily users, Buddies has found an audience, but the question is whether it delivers on its ambitious promise or remains a novelty. Our review digs into the practical experience, the depth of customization, the quality of interactions, and the real-world utility of having a Roger Federer-like tennis coach or a Rihanna-esque best friend in your pocket.

Where Buddies stands out is in its sheer breadth of possible use cases. Unlike many AI companion apps that lock you into a single predefined character or therapeutic mode, Buddies lets you spin up multiple friends for different purposes—a mental health counselor for late-night anxiety, a vegan chef for meal planning, a personal trainer for workout motivation, a meditation teacher for mindfulness, or a language tutor for daily practice. This flexibility is its strongest asset. For someone who wants a Swiss Army knife of AI support, the app offers a one-stop shop. The creation process, while not infinitely deep, allows you to set a name, choose a role from a list (or invent your own), and presumably influence the tone and knowledge base. The result is a collection of chat threads, each with a distinct AI personality that you can call upon at any time.

The chat experience itself is straightforward—text-based, mobile-first, and designed for quick back-and-forth. The AI responses are generally coherent and contextually aware, though the depth of expertise varies. A tennis coach might offer plausible tips on grip or footwork, but don't expect nuanced strategy tailored to your specific game. The mental health counselor provides empathetic, non-judgmental listening, but it's clearly not a substitute for professional therapy—the app's own marketing hints at this, but users should be aware of the limits. The memory feature is a mixed bag: the AI remembers facts you've shared (like your favorite food or your workout goals) and references them in later conversations, which creates a sense of continuity. However, it doesn't yet handle complex context shifts or long-term relationship building as seamlessly as a human would. For casual companionship, this is fine; for serious coaching or counseling, it can feel shallow.

Who benefits most from Buddies? The app is ideal for individuals seeking on-demand, low-stakes advice or companionship without the social friction of human interaction. It fits into a workflow of micro-interactions—a quick check-in with a fitness coach before a run, a five-minute chat with a virtual friend during a lunch break, or a late-night vent session with a counselor without fear of judgment. It's also a low-risk entry point for people curious about AI but wary of more complex tools. However, the lack of pricing information is a significant red flag. Without knowing whether it's free, freemium, or subscription-based, it's impossible to assess long-term value. The app's reliance solely on text chat also limits its appeal; no voice, video, or multimodal features are mentioned, which feels dated compared to competitors that offer voice conversations or avatar interactions.

For a practical buyer or operator, the decision hinges on what you're willing to trade. If you want a customizable, always-available AI friend that can wear many hats, Buddies is a compelling option—provided the cost is acceptable. But if you need deep expertise, professional-grade advice, or a more immersive experience, you'll likely hit the ceiling quickly. The app is best viewed as a supplement to human relationships and professional services, not a replacement. It's a tool for exploration, for practicing conversations, for getting quick tips, and for feeling a little less alone. Whether that's worth your time and money depends on how much you value the novelty of chatting with a virtual Roger Federer—and how much you trust an AI to remember your tennis elbow. As with any AI companion, proceed with curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism.