Methodology
Every number on this site should be traceable to a source you can check. This page is the contract: where ratings come from, how the benchmark works, what gets recorded on timelines, and the conflict of interest we disclose instead of hiding.
Where ratings come from today
Until our own benchmark data is published, app ratings are derived from public sources in this priority order:
- iOS App Store rating (primary, US storefront)
- Google Play Store rating (fallback)
- Trustpilot, G2, or a similar aggregator
- Average of two or more independent review sites
The source used is named on each app's page. We never invent a score, and we never claim hands-on testing that hasn't happened. General-purpose LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Pi) are listed unranked, because no app-store rating measures how good they are as companions.
The memory benchmark (in progress)
Memory is the axis this category markets hardest and measures least. We are building a fixed, repeatable, published test: the same facts planted in conversation with every app, then probed at increasing distance (roughly 10, 100, 500, and 1,000 messages back) and across session boundaries. Each planted fact is scored as recalled, forgotten, corrupted, or leaked; probes are repeated to account for randomness, and each app runs at its best available memory configuration, disclosed.
Three commitments when scores go live:
- Every published score links to the raw test run.
- Every score states the methodology version it was produced under (v1, v2, ...), and old scores are re-run when apps change.
- The full test design is public, so anyone, including the apps we test, can reproduce it.
Until a real run exists for an app, its page says "not yet benchmarked." No exceptions.
How the change tracker works
Companion apps mutate: prices, models, content policies, free-tier limits, ownership. Each recorded change is a dated entry with a type (pricing, model, policy, feature, legal, shutdown, company) and, wherever possible, a source link. Entries not yet verified against their sources are labeled "being verified." The tracker updates continuously and rolls up into a monthly changelog email.
The conflict of interest, disclosed
CompanionHunt is built by the maker of Softly, an AI companion app for iOS. That is exactly the kind of conflict most review sites hide. We handle it in the open instead:
- No paid placement, ever. No app can pay for a ranking, a score, or a mention, and rankings are never influenced by affiliate status.
- Softly gets no special treatment. When benchmark scores exist, Softly is ranked exactly where the data places it, with the same raw run published.
- The methodology is reproducible. You do not have to trust us; you can re-run the test.
Corrections and update cadence
Facts (pricing, platforms, policies) are re-verified on a published cadence and whenever a change entry lands. The site-wide "last updated" date is in the footer; each app page shows when its facts were last current. Something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it and record the correction: see about for contact.