Friend
Friend is a consumer AI companionship company offering a free Google Gemini-powered chat friend on iOS and web, with an optional $129 always-listening wearable pendant targeting individuals seeking AI companionship in the US, Canada, and previously Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Friend does
Friend is a consumer AI companionship company that provides a free chat-based AI friend accessible via an iOS app and web browser at friend.com, augmented by an optional $129 wearable pendant that adds always-listening ambient audio capture to bring the companion into the user's physical environment. The product is built on Google's Gemini large language models with a state-of-the-art LLM memory system that retains user context across conversations, targeting individual consumers experiencing loneliness or seeking persistent emotional support. The business model is a freemium hybrid: the chat experience is free to drive top-of-funnel adoption, while revenue is generated through one-time hardware sales of the pendant accessory priced at $129, distributed direct-to-consumer via the company's own e-commerce site and the Apple App Store. The company is venture-backed, headquartered in San Francisco, founded in 2024 by Avi Schiffmann, and operated by a team of 1-10 employees. The company has raised approximately $7.9M in disclosed equity funding at a $50M post-money valuation and claims over 200,000 users, though its primary growth markets of the US and Canada have been joined only briefly by an EU launch before a GDPR-driven ban in France and across the European Union in April 2026.
Friend firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Friend
- Legal name
- Friend Global, Inc
- Website
- https://friend.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Friend is a consumer AI companionship company offering a free Google Gemini-powered chat friend on iOS and web, with an optional $129 always-listening wearable pendant targeting individuals seeking AI companionship in the US, Canada, and previously Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Friend industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Companion Hardware
- akta.pro primary industry
- Home Companion & Social Robots (CRACARAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Wearable Computers (Industrial Smart Glasses/Wrist/Arm-Mount) (HDACALAH)
Keywords
Where Friend is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Friend business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales: One-time sale of the $129 wearable pendant accessory. The pendant is an optional accessory that brings the AI friend into the user's physical life and enables the passive listening feature.
- Free App/Chat Platform: Free chatting with the AI friend via iOS app or web browser at friend.com. The app-based experience is free, with hardware being the optional paid accessory.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free AI Companion Chat |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Wearable Pendant Accessory - $129 |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Friend product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Friend provides a free AI companion chat experience via an iOS app and web browser at friend.com, powered by Google's Gemini AI models with a persistent LLM memory system. The company also sells a $129 wearable pendant accessory that adds always-listening capability, allowing the AI companion to passively hear ambient audio and integrate into the user's physical environment.
Product overview
Friend offers a tiered product ecosystem centered on AI companionship. The core offering is the free Friend App, a chat-based AI companion accessible via iOS or web that uses Google's Gemini AI models and maintains persistent memory across conversations. The optional Friend Pendant ($129 add-on) extends the experience by adding always-listening wearable hardware that captures ambient audio, bringing the AI companion into the user's physical environment. Additionally, the company has developed Friend Control, a separate screen-time management app focused on digital wellness and reducing smartphone distraction. The portfolio spans from pure software companionship to physical wearable hardware to adjacent wellness applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Friend App A free AI companion chat application accessible via iOS mobile app or web browser at friend.com. Users can chat with their AI friend on phone, laptop, or via the wearable pendant, with the AI maintaining impressive memory across all conversations using Google's Gemini-powered LLM memory system.
- Friend Pendant A $129 wearable AI companion pendant (necklace) that provides an always-listening feature, allowing the AI to passively hear and respond to ambient conversations. The hardware device brings the AI companion into the user's physical life and provides additional conversational context. Currently ships to USA, Canada, and EU (EU availability has since been challenged by GDPR regulatory action).
- Friend Control A screen-time management app that uses social accountability mechanics to help users reduce smartphone distraction, leveraging peer accountability and social shame mechanics to discourage doomscrolling.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 200,000 users claimed despite regulatory challenges
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Friend
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Friend technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature3 records
Friend partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Google (Gemini AI)coreFriend is built on top of Google's Gemini AI models, which serve as the foundation for the AI companion's conversational capabilities and memory system. This is the core technology powering the Friend experience.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Friend competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pi by Inflection AI: Pi is a personal AI companion designed for empathetic, conversational interaction — competing with Friend on the core use case of AI-driven emotional companionship.
- Humane (AI Pin): Humane built a wearable AI device (the AI Pin) that sought to provide ambient AI assistance through a dedicated hardware form factor, directly comparable to Friend's pendant approach.
- Rabbit R1: Rabbit's R1 is a dedicated AI hardware device for conversational assistance, positioned similarly to Friend as a standalone AI companion device sold direct-to-consumer.
- Replika: Replika is a direct AI companion competitor offering personalized chatbot relationships with avatar customization and emotional support — targeting the same loneliness-and-companionship use case Friend pursues.
- Character.AI: Character.AI provides AI character companions for conversation and emotional engagement with persistent memory, directly competing with Friend in the AI companionship category.
Emerging players
- Limitless Pendant: Limitless offers a wearable AI pendant for ambient conversation capture and meeting/transcription intelligence — competing with Friend in the always-listening wearable form factor.
- Tab (AI necklace): Tab is an emerging AI necklace product offering always-on conversational AI, mirroring Friend's wearable companion concept at an earlier commercialization stage.
Broad incumbents
- OpenAI (ChatGPT): ChatGPT with its memory feature is a broad incumbent offering persistent conversational AI that competes with Friend's core memory-enabled companion capability.
- Google (Gemini): Google Gemini powers Friend's underlying model but is also being extended into personal-assistant and companion features across Android — a threat both as supplier dependency and competitive product.
- Apple (Siri / Apple Intelligence): Apple's Siri and Apple Intelligence offer on-device personal AI with persistent context and broad consumer distribution, competing with Friend at the platform-assistant layer.
Market position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Friend social profiles
Digital presenceFriend compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Friend financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Friend leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Friend funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Friend M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Friend
What does Friend do?
Friend provides a free AI companion chat experience via an iOS app and web browser at friend.com, powered by Google's Gemini AI models with a persistent LLM memory system. The company also sells a $129 wearable pendant accessory that adds always-listening capability, allowing the AI companion to passively hear ambient audio and integrate into the user's physical environment.
Is Friend a public or private company?
Friend is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Friend founded?
Friend was founded in 2024. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Friend based?
Friend is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Friend make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are free App/Chat Platform.
Who are Friend's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pi by Inflection AI, Humane (AI Pin), Rabbit R1, Replika and Character.AI. Emerging players are Limitless Pendant and Tab (AI necklace). Broad incumbents are OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini) and Apple (Siri / Apple Intelligence).
Does Friend have an API?
No public API is recorded for Friend.
What industry is Friend in?
Friend's product category is AI Companion Hardware. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRACARAE, Home Companion & Social Robots, with a secondary code of HDACALAH, Wearable Computers (Industrial Smart Glasses/Wrist/Arm-Mount).