Hipol Review: Features, Pricing & My Test Results

Hipol (hipol.co.uk) is a UK site with 37 AI hosts, 24 women and 13 men. You pick one, start a private video call and talk by voice or by typing. She answers out loud, her lips move, and the words show up next to the video.

Hipol: a live video call with Isla, the transcript on the right and the message box

It's a friendly, non-explicit companion. The warmest setting is 'A little flirty'. There are no photos, no videos to order and no adult content.

Your webcam is optional. I kept mine off for every test.

What it costs

Hipol monthly plans of 15, 45 and 90 minutes with their prices

What I think

The terms are fair: 10 free minutes with no card, minutes that never expire even if you cancel, and no charge for setup or failed calls.

But about £1 a minute adds up fast. The cheapest plan is one long chat a month, while many companion apps give unlimited chat for a similar price. You pay by card.

More in the pricing test results.

What it offers

You can't build a character from scratch. You pick a host's face, then tune how she talks: a personality, a reply length, a warmth level and a short note about you.

Setting up Mia, step by step

I turned Mia into a playful, short-and-sweet, 'a little flirty' version of herself. It takes two screens and uses none of your minutes.

Hipol host page for Isla with her profile and the Chat button

Hipol style editor with six personality presets, reply length and warmth

There are six personalities (the host's own, Warm, Playful, Calm, Curious, Chatty), three reply lengths and three warmth levels. The face, voice, name and backstory are fixed.

The result

The settings really work. Mia's answers were shorter and more playful than the other hosts', with a light flirt: 'I have a feeling it is just because you have great taste in conversation partners.'

Hipol: Mia on a live call with her short, playful replies in the conversation panel

She looks exactly like her profile, because she is the profile: the face is a fixed video of a real-looking woman, not something you shape.

What could be better

A choice of voices, and a way to give your host a name or a story. The details are in the customization test results.

What it offers

You can type instead of talking. The host still answers out loud on the video, and the text appears beside her.

What I found

Replies are quick and steady: about 1.2 seconds every time. None of my 51 timed messages took longer than 1.7 seconds.

Memory is mixed. I told each host a made-up name and three things about me. Mia and Samantha got all of it right after 16 messages.

Hipol: Samantha's conversation panel answering the memory check correctly

But in three longer chats, it faded by message 31. Mia still knew my name but nothing else. Isla and Samantha called me by my account name, not the name I gave them, and couldn't remember my job, hometown or favourite food.

The hosts stay in character. Isla kept her dry, bookish humour, Mia stayed all about films and snacks, and Samantha argued both sides when I asked. On calls they sometimes say 'since I am a fictional AI', which breaks the spell a little.

The timings and transcripts are in the chat test results.

What could be better

Memory that lasts a whole conversation.

What it offers

Hipol doesn't make photos or video clips. Its video is the host herself, live, talking to you.

What I found

Up close, the faces look like real video. The skin, hair and light are natural, and the lips match the words well.

But only the face moves. I saved a minute of Isla and a minute of Luna and checked every frame. Their lips moved almost all the time and their eyes blinked, and the head moved a little. The shoulders, body and background didn't move in a single frame. No hand gestures, no leaning in, no change of pose.

Hipol: ten frames from Isla's live video, all in the same pose

It feels like a talking portrait more than a person on a call. It's still impressive, but it gets noticeable after a few minutes.

The frame-by-frame numbers are in the video test results.

What could be better

Natural movement: a nod, a shrug, a hand, a change of pose.

What it offers

Talking out loud is the main way to use Hipol. Turn your microphone on and just speak. No buttons to hold.

What I found

I called Luna, Priya and Gloria and asked each the same 15 questions. They started answering in about 1.7 seconds, every time.

The voices sound natural: clear, well paced, with a lively tone. Listen for yourself:

Starting a call is slow, though. It takes about 20 seconds from pressing Start before she says hello.

The full numbers are in the voice test results.

What could be better

A faster start to each call.

There are 37 hosts: 24 women and 13 men, all realistic adults with a short profile and a few interests. You can filter by who you'd like to meet and by shared interests. There are no anime or fantasy characters.

Hipol host directory with filters and the first three hosts

• Memories between visits: optional, and you can review or delete them. I left it off for my tests.
• Diary and live streams: every host page has a diary and a stream schedule. Isla's were still empty.
• No gifts and no voice notes: everything happens on the call.

Hipol does something most AI girlfriend sites don't: a real-looking face that talks back in under two seconds, with a natural voice.

Look closer and only the lips, eyes and head move, memory slips in long chats, and paying by the minute makes it pricey. Use the 10 free minutes to see if a talking face is for you.

My rating is 3.0 out of 5. Every number and screenshot is in the full test results, and you can see how it compares on my ranked list.