The AI Companion Glossary, In Plain English
The jargon around AI girlfriend apps is thicker than it needs to be. Here is what the terms actually mean, defined straight, so you can read any review, ours included, without a decoder ring.
Last updated July 21, 2026Disclosure: Companion Critic is owned and operated by the team behind Swipey AI. These definitions are neutral and factual; where we mention Swipey or a rival, it is for a concrete example, not a plug. For adults 18+.
- NSFW
- Not safe for work. Adult or explicit content. In AI companion apps it means the service permits sexual roleplay and adult imagery for verified adults 18+. Swipey is NSFW-capable; Character.AI and Replika are not.
- SFW
- Safe for work. Content kept non-explicit. SFW-leaning apps such as Replika steer conversations away from adult territory, either by policy or with an automatic filter.
- LLM
- Large language model. The AI system that generates a companion's text replies by predicting language from patterns in its training data. Chat quality largely tracks the model behind the app.
- Persona
- The character an AI plays: its name, personality, backstory, and speaking style. A good app keeps the persona consistent across a long conversation instead of slipping into generic assistant tone.
- Hearts / credits
- A pay-as-you-go virtual currency. You buy a pack and spend it on premium actions such as images or voice. Swipey uses hearts. Because nothing recurs, spending stops when you stop, unlike a subscription.
- Roleplay
- Acting out a scenario in conversation, from a casual chat to a structured scene with a setting and stakes. The core use case for most AI girlfriend apps.
- Roleplay archetype (scenario)
- A ready-made premise for roleplay, such as nurse, boss, or neighbor. Picking one sets the frame the companion is meant to stay inside. See our archetype reviews.
- Character creation
- Tools to design your own companion by choosing a personality, look, and scenario, or starting from a blank slate, rather than picking a pre-made one.
- Voice mode
- Spoken replies instead of, or alongside, text. It turns a chat window into something closer to a call. It usually costs extra credits.
- Image generation
- The AI creating pictures of a character on request. Quality, and whether adult images are allowed, vary widely between apps.
- Context window / memory
- How much of the conversation the model can hold at once. Short-term memory lives in the context window; long-term memory is a separate feature some apps add to recall past chats.
- Content filter
- An automatic system that blocks certain outputs. On SFW apps the filter stops adult content. A "filter wall" is when it interrupts a conversation mid-scene.
- Free tier
- A version you can use without paying, often with limits on messages, images, or features. A genuine free tier lets you judge the product before spending.
- Subscription vs pay-as-you-go
- Two billing models. A subscription recurs on a schedule until you cancel. Pay-as-you-go (credits) charges only when you choose to buy, with nothing to cancel. We cover the trade-offs in our billing guide.
- 18+ gating
- Age restriction. Adult AI companion products are for verified adults only. Every app covered on this site is for adults 18+.
Ready to Put the Terms to Work?
Now that the vocabulary is out of the way, the rankings read a lot faster. Start with the leaderboard, or run any app you are eyeing through the Red Flag Detector.
See the Rankings18+Every AI companion product referenced here is for adults 18+ only. Definitions are provided for clarity and contain no explicit content.