Hey everyone,

I was thinking about creating a Candy AI clone and wanted to understand what people with experience either in Candy AI or the space have to say about it.

In case a person does not know, Candy AI is an artificial intelligence conversations system with realistic and customizable virtual relatives. I especially take a keen interest in attempting to recreate something similar I am interested in emphasizing character realism, interactive UI and capability of generating a response based on user personality or mood input.

A few questions I have:

1. Tech Stack – What tech stack would you recommend for building a feature-rich Candy AI clone? I'm guessing React for the frontend and maybe Node.js or Python for the backend. Would integrating something like GPT or Claude for the conversational engine be the best route?
   

2. Customization Engine – Candy AI allows a high degree of character customization. Is there a tool or library that makes this easier to implement (e.g., for avatar creation or emotional expression)?
   

3. Cost Estimates – For a basic MVP version of a Candy AI clone, what would you estimate the development cost to be? I'm looking for a ballpark figure for both solo dev and outsourced development options. Would $8k–$12k cover an initial version?
   

4. Monetization Ideas – How do you think such an app could be monetized? Subscription model, in-app purchases, character upgrades?
   

5. Security & Privacy – Since the app would deal with sensitive chats and potentially user-created content, what kind of security measures should be prioritized?
   
   

If you or someone you know has created something like this or can recommend someone who has worked with experienced developers or agencies on AI-based conversational platforms, that would be great. And just in case you encountered some white-label solution or one at least partially ready Candy AI clone to be customized, please do tell me about it.

Thank you very much in advance counting on all insights and suggestions!