Character AI at a glanceHow we rate
CompanionHunt score: 8.4 / 10How it is calculated
Calculated from published facts only (prices, policies, documented features and store ratings), never from payouts.
Character AI key facts
| Cheapest paid plan | $4.99 a month equivalent ((c.ai) lite (monthly), iOS App Store)in-app paywall, checked |
|---|---|
| Free tier | A free account gets unlimited chats, with ads, basic memory (Pins and Lorebook) and slower replies. Character.AI's own comparison table lists Free, c.ai lite and c.ai+ as three separate tiers. The free plan did not change when lite launched: 'Free stays as it is, including unlimited messaging.'character.ai, checked |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Androidapps.apple.com, checked |
| Adult content | Not allowed: Respect Sexual Content Standards: Keep things appropriate. Illegal sexual content, child exploitation or abuse imagery, grooming, sexual extortion, pornographic content, and nudity are prohibited.character.ai, checked |
| Age requirement | 13+support.character.ai, checked |
| Operator | Character Technologies, Inc. (California, United States)character.ai, checked |
| App Store rating | 4.3 from 559557 ratingsapps.apple.com, checked |
| Google Play rating | 2.2 from 2442491 ratingsplay.google.com, checked |
| Official site | character.ai |
Facts current as of . Spotted something stale? The change timeline below records every correction.
Character AI in the app: what we found
We ran one chat on the app's default chat style with the same fixed script we use for every app: four personal facts in the first two messages (a name, a home city, a dog's name and a birthday), fifteen lines of small talk, then a recall question at message 18. The character was Someone to talk to, a community character with about 2 million chats, found by searching companion terms. The first character we opened started in a school setting, so we skipped it.
- Memory: four facts at message 18
- Asked in character at message 18, the character stated all four facts correctly: "You're Sam, from Leeds", then "Your dog is Pickle (adorable), and your birthday's March 3rd." It had already used Sam and Pickle unprompted during the small talk. The first send of message 18 failed and the character posted an extra, unprompted turn before the question went through. Eighteen short messages make a short chat, so this shows short-range recall, not long-term memory.
- The paywall before the first chat
- The paywall opened straight after the interest picker, before any chat. It showed c.ai+ yearly first, with a struck-through yearly price and "save 21%"; the (c.ai) lite tab sells weekly or monthly, with "save 54%" on monthly. No free trial was offered, and the button line read "cancel anytime, no strings".
- What free lacks, by the paywall's table
- The paywall's comparison table lists ads as Full on free, Less on lite and None on c.ai+; memory as Basic, Better and Best; and memory pins as 15, 30 and 30. The premium chat styles DeepSqueak and LongSqueak are not included on free, and lite gets a "Daily taste" of them.
- Free allowance
- The free account showed no message counter or cap, and no limit prompt appeared during the 18 messages.
- Upsells in the chat
- Opening a character put up a full-screen "New Chat Style: LongSqueak" screen offering "4x more memory" and "Longer, richer responses", with a "Try it now" button. The chat's Memory panel carries a button, "Unlock better Memory with (c.ai+)". No other upsell appeared during the chat.
- The Memory panel
- The Memory panel shows a Memory Usage bar; after 18 messages it was about a fifth full. Key moments are saved only when you pin a message or write a Story Memory yourself, and the panel still read "No key moments saved yet".
- Away messages
- In the chat menu, "Away messages" was switched on by default.
- The AI disclaimer
- Under every chat the app shows "This is A.I. and not a real person. Treat everything it says as fiction".
One chat, one character, one day, connecting through a US VPN. The app does not show how long a character card is. Screenshots are cropped to the part of the screen described. Source: Character.AI store listing.
In 1,051 recent 1-2 star reviews of Character AI, the most common complaint was age verification (24%). The full breakdown is on the safety page.
What Character AI is
Character AI is a platform of characters written by its users. Anyone can create one, from a historical figure to an anime lead to an original persona, give it a greeting, a description and example dialogue, and publish it for others to chat with. The library is far larger than any companion app's, and most people use it for roleplay, stories and fan fiction rather than a single ongoing relationship.
Around the chat it has grown into a social app. Character Calls lets you talk to a character by voice. Group chats put several characters and people in one room. Imagine generates images inside a chat, and a scrollable Feed, launched in 2025, surfaces characters, scenes and creator videos. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android.
Free, c.ai lite and c.ai+
The free tier has no message cap. What it has instead is ads, slow mode at busy times, 15 memory pins and basic memory. Character.AI's help centre is explicit that the free plan did not change when the cheaper plan arrived: free stays as it is, including unlimited messaging.
c.ai lite, added in September 2026, sits in the middle: fewer ads, less slow mode, better memory and 30 pins. c.ai+ removes ads and slow mode, gives the best memory and the highest daily feature limits, and comes monthly or yearly. Charms, a separate in-app currency, buy extra image generations, slow-mode skips and ad-skip passes. Every price and interval is on the Character AI pricing page.
Memory
Memory has been rebuilt. Story Memory lets you write the backstory and key events a character should keep in mind, pinned messages hold specific lines, and paid plans add Facts, which captures details from the chat automatically, plus more pins and more room. Story Memory and pinning are available to everyone, which makes the free tier more usable for long stories than it was.
It is still a character platform rather than a companion built around remembering you. Apps such as Kindroid and Nomi document dedicated long-term memory systems; Character AI's memory is scoped to a chat.
The filter and what is banned
Character AI's Community Guidelines prohibit pornographic content and nudity for every user, not only minors. Romantic roleplay is allowed; explicit sexual content is not, and the filter that interrupts a scene is enforcing that written rule. Users under 18 get a separate, more conservative model.
If an unfiltered adult platform is what you want, Character AI is the wrong tool by design. The alternatives page groups the platforms that allow adult content by what each one offers instead.
Teens, age checks and lawsuits
Character AI's terms allow sign-ups from 13, or 16 in Europe. In October 2025 the company announced that under-18 users would lose open-ended chat, and removal began in the US that November. Teens now use Stories, a structured interactive-fiction format. To sort adults from minors it combines its own age-estimation model with Persona, a third-party service that can confirm age with a video selfie and asks for ID only if that is inconclusive.
The change followed lawsuits from families who say the app harmed their children, a Federal Trade Commission inquiry and a Texas investigation. The first family suits were settled in principle in January 2026; state cases in Kentucky and Pennsylvania and a data-protection fine in Italy followed. Our Character AI lawsuits explainer sets out each case with its court record.
Who Character AI suits, and who it doesn't
Suits: people who want the biggest library of characters for filtered roleplay, fan fiction and storytelling, with voice calls and group chats, and a free tier they can use every day.
Look elsewhere if: you want adult content, one companion that remembers you over months, or a platform with no legal history. Kindroid and Nomi are built for companionship, and Janitor AI and SpicyChat allow adult roleplay.
Is Character AI safe? Privacy in brief
- Selling your data: the policy says personal data is not sold. support.character.ai, checked
- Training on your chats: chats may be used for training unless you opt out. character.ai, checked
- Deleting your data: the policy explains how to delete your account and data. support.character.ai, checked
Character AI pricing
Current price: Free / $4.99/mo (Freemium). Prices in this category change quietly and often; any price change we record appears as a dated entry in the timeline below, so this page doubles as Character AI's price history.
Character AI pricing: every plan, the free tier and the cheapest way to pay
| Plan | Price | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| c.ai+ (monthly) | $9.99/mo | iOS App Store | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai+ (yearly) | $94.99/yr | iOS App Store | in-app paywall, checked |
| (c.ai) lite (monthly) | $4.99/mo | iOS App Store | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai+ (monthly) | $9.99/mo | Google Play | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai+ (annual) | $94.99/yr | Google Play | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai lite (weekly) | $2.49/wk | Google Play | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai lite (monthly) | $4.99/mo | Google Play | in-app paywall, checked |
| c.ai+ (annual) | $94.99/yr | Web | character.ai, checked |
| c.ai lite (monthly) | $4.99/mo | Web | support.character.ai, checked |
| Includes: A daily allowance of premium chat-style messages (vs. c.ai+'s unlimited), fewer ads (not zero), better memory: 30 pins (up from 15 free), detailed usage view, chat customization. No annual option exists for lite. | |||
Character AI change timeline
Every recorded price, model, policy, and feature change, newest first. This is the record we maintain for every companion: what you sign up for today is rarely what the app was a year ago.
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legal
31 states and DC object to the rules for selling Character AI
On October 23, 2026, the objection deadline, 31 states and the District of Columbia filed a joint objection to Character AI's bidding procedures (case 26-11603, docket no. 66). They ask the court to refuse the procedures at the October 30 hearing or change them: at least 21 more days for rival bids, a lower minimum rival bid (21.7 million dollars as proposed; they say any bid above about 15.2 million would leave the company better off), one closing deadline for every bidder, Disney's break-up fee of up to 700,000 dollars refused or cut, no early finding that the September deal with Disney was made in good faith, and a plain-language sale notice posted on the Character AI platform itself. The filing cites about 12 million monthly active users and 18 remaining full-time staff.
Source: cases.stretto.com/public/x936/14939/PLEA... · cases.stretto.com/chartech
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legal
Garcia v. Character AI is dismissed with prejudice after the settlement is signed
On October 15, 2026 Megan Garcia's lawyers filed a notice voluntarily dismissing her Florida suit against Character Technologies, its founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, and Google with prejudice (M.D. Fla. 6:24-cv-01903, Doc. 278). The notice says it follows the signing of the settlement agreement and receipt of all required court approvals. The terms were not disclosed. The case was the first family lawsuit against the company and the first of the five January 2026 settlements to close.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/ga... · storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco...
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company
Disney to hire about 65 Character AI staff at an estimated $60 million a year
The Disney agreement filed with Character AI's bidding procedures motion on October 13, 2026 (case 26-11603, docket no. 15, exhibit 2, page 118) says Disney will offer jobs to up to six key employees, including the chief executive, and at least 60 others. Based on about 65 of them, Disney estimates their total pay at about $60 million a year, plus a $30 million retention pool paid on the first and second anniversaries of the deal; it puts pay and retention over three years at about $180 million.
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company
Character AI proposes its sale timetable: bids by November 20, sale hearing November 24
In its bidding procedures motion filed October 13, 2026 (case 26-11603, docket no. 15), Character Technologies proposed a sale objection deadline of November 13, a bid deadline of November 20 at 5 p.m. ET, an auction on November 23 if rival qualifying bids arrive, and a court hearing to approve the sale on November 24. Disney's stalking horse agreement must close by December 17, 2026. The dates need the court's approval.
Source: cases.stretto.com/public/x936/14939/PLEA... · cases.stretto.com/chartech
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company
Character AI files for Chapter 11 to sell the company
On October 12, 2026, Character Technologies filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (case 26-11603) to run a court-supervised sale of all or substantially all of its assets. The company says the platform stays up, subscriptions remain active with billing unchanged, and it expects the sale to finish by late November or early December 2026; if no buyer offers to keep the platform running, it will be wound down. Press reports of the filings say Disney made the first bid, $20 million for a non-exclusive license to some of its intellectual property and certain claims.
Source: blog.character.ai/an-update-on-character... · cases.stretto.com/chartech · thenextweb.com/news/character-ai-files-f...
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legal
Kentucky files an unredacted version of its Character AI lawsuit
Reuters reported on October 8, 2026 that Kentucky's Attorney General had filed an unredacted version of the January 2026 suit against Character Technologies in Franklin Circuit Court. It is the same case, not a new one. The newly visible passages quote 2025 chats in which, the state alleges, characters encouraged users to cut or starve themselves. Character AI did not immediately comment.
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model
Character AI makes PipSqueak 3 the free default and adds ShortSqueak
On September 28, 2026, Character AI rolled out two free chat styles: PipSqueak 3, which it says is smarter and keeps better track of a chat, and ShortSqueak, for short replies and quick banter. New chats start on PipSqueak 3. PipSqueak 2 and Rawr moved to a Legacy menu and still work, and existing chats keep their style. Free users get unlimited messages on both new styles once rollout finishes; the same post formally announced the (c.ai) lite plan.
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pricing
Character AI adds a cheaper "Lite" subscription tier
A new Character.AI Lite subscription appeared on Character.AI's US App Store listing between August 16 and September 7, 2026, below the existing c.ai+. Character.AI's help center says (c.ai) lite starts at $4.99 a month. The Android app's paywall sold it at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week on September 26; the iPhone app's paywall offered it at $4.99 a month only on September 30, next to c.ai+ at $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year.
Source: support.character.ai/hc/en-us/articles/5... · apps.apple.com/us/app/character-ai-chat-... · web.archive.org/web/20260907182452/apps.... · web.archive.org/web/20260816062325/apps....
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legal
A new family lawsuit is filed against Character AI and Google in California
A.D. v. Character Technologies (N.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-08400) alleges defective design causing depression, self-harm and sexual exploitation of a minor user. Filed seven months after the earlier family suits were settled, it is not part of that settlement.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/74645761/ad... · www.businesswire.com/news/home/202608133...
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legal
Italy's Garante fines Character AI 158,000 euros
The fine, in a decision dated July 3, 2026, ends an investigation opened in November 2024. The Garante's findings include failings in protecting minors and in age verification.
Source: web.archive.org/web/20260816022954/www.g... · www.ilpost.it/2026/07/09/garante-della-p...
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legal
Pennsylvania sues Character AI over chatbots posing as licensed doctors
Pennsylvania's Department of State and State Board of Medicine sued in Commonwealth Court to stop Character AI chatbots presenting themselves as licensed medical professionals, after a character claimed to be a Pennsylvania psychiatrist and gave a licence number that does not exist.
Source: www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/... · www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-...
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model
Roar model removed as PipSqueak 2 becomes the default
On April 28, 2026 Character AI made PipSqueak 2 the default for every user and removed Roar immediately with no legacy fallback; Meow, Nyan, Soft Launch, and Goro moved to a legacy menu retired on May 8. Users reported longer replies, invented chat references, and mid-message character drift: model swaps on character platforms are experienced as personality changes, not upgrades.
Source: www.roborhythms.com/character-ai-pulled-... · piunikaweb.com/2026/05/04/outrage-charac...
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feature
Swipes and go-ons capped, playbacks and Memos removed
Rolling out from March 18, 2026, Character AI capped free-tier swipes (community reports ~400/day account-wide) and go-ons (~15–25/day), and removed playbacks/Memos outright: including for paid subscribers. The company cited infrastructure costs; free users experienced it as a steady narrowing of features that had been standard since launch.
Source: piunikaweb.com/2026/03/11/character-ai-l... · www.roborhythms.com/character-ai-removed...
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legal
Kentucky becomes the first US state to sue an AI chatbot company
Attorney General Russell Coleman sued Character Technologies and both founders in Franklin Circuit Court (26-CI-00029) under Kentucky's consumer protection and consumer data protection laws, seeking product changes and damages.
Source: web.archive.org/web/20260914124114/www.k... · kentuckylantern.com/2026/01/08/kentucky-...
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legal
Character AI and Google settle the family lawsuits in principle
Within two days Character AI told courts in Florida, Texas, Colorado and New York that the five family suits filed in 2024 and 2025 were resolved in principle. Terms are not public, and by September 2026 none had a final dismissal.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/71355059/mo... · news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/charact...
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policy
Character AI rolls out age verification via Persona
Following the under-18 ban, Character AI layered in age assurance: an in-house age-estimation model screens accounts, and unconfident cases are pushed to third-party verifier Persona for selfie or government-ID checks. The rollout started US-only in late November 2025 and reached most users through Q1 2026, with some accounts shown a 14-day verify-or-lose-access countdown.
Source: support.character.ai/hc/en-us/articles/4... · piunikaweb.com/2025/11/25/character-ai-a... · piunikaweb.com/2026/03/20/character-ai-1...
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policy
Character AI ends open-ended chat for under-18 users
Announced October 29, 2025: users under 18 would lose open-ended companion chat, with daily limits ramped down in the meantime and a restricted creative mode in its place. Removal began in the US on Monday, November 24, 2025 for a first group of under-18 users, with a second group following weeks later and other markets after that. One of the largest policy changes in the category's history, made under lawsuit and regulator pressure.
Source: blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/ · blog.character.ai/an-update-on-changes-t... · techcrunch.com/2025/10/29/character-ai-i...
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legal
Disney sends Character AI a cease-and-desist over its characters
Disney demanded that Character AI remove user-made characters based on its films and franchises. The letter was dated September 18 and reported on September 30. Character AI said it removed the characters Disney named. No lawsuit followed.
Source: www.reuters.com/business/disney-sends-ce... · www.axios.com/2025/09/30/disney-characte... · www.cnbc.com/2025/09/30/disney-cease-and...
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legal
Judge lets the Garcia lawsuit against Character AI go ahead
Judge Anne Conway largely denied Character AI's motion to dismiss, rejecting at this stage the argument that the chatbot's output is protected speech that bars the claims. The product-liability and wrongful-death claims were allowed to proceed.
Source: www.fire.org/sites/default/files/2025/07... · www.courthousenews.com/florida-judge-rul...
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legal
Texas Attorney General opens an investigation into Character AI and 14 other platforms
Ken Paxton opened investigations into Character AI and 14 other companies under Texas' children's privacy and online safety laws. In August 2025 he widened it to whether Character AI and Meta marketed chatbots to children as mental-health tools.
Source: www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releas... · www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releas...
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legal
A Florida mother sues Character AI and Google over her 14-year-old son's death
Megan Garcia sued Character Technologies, its founders and Google in federal court in Orlando (M.D. Fla. 6:24-cv-01903), alleging the app's design contributed to the death of her son, Sewell Setzer III. It was the first of the family lawsuits against the company.
Source: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/ga... · www.fire.org/sites/default/files/2025/07...
In the news: Character AI lawsuits: every case, settlement and fine so far
In the news: What changed in AI companion apps in September 2026
In the news: Character AI files for Chapter 11: is it shutting down?
AI companion app shutdowns and withdrawn features since 2023
Character AI alternatives
Character AI compared
Frequently asked questions
Is Character AI shutting down?
Not now. On October 12, 2026 Character AI filed for Chapter 11 to sell the company through a Delaware court, and says the app and all services stay available and subscriptions keep billing as before. It expects the sale to finish by late November or early December 2026; if no buyer offers to keep the platform running, it says it will be wound down.
Is Character AI still free?
Yes. The free tier allows unlimited messaging with ads and slow mode. Character.AI says free stays as it is; c.ai lite and c.ai+ are optional plans that reduce or remove ads and add memory.
Did Character AI ban users under 18?
Under-18 users lost open-ended chat in a staged rollout that began in the US in November 2025. They can still use Stories and other structured features. Adults may be asked to confirm their age.
Does Character AI allow NSFW?
No. Its Community Guidelines prohibit pornographic content and nudity for all users, adults included.
Sources
- apps.apple.com/us/app/character-ai-chat-talk-text/id1671705818
- character.ai/subscription/plus/pricing
- support.character.ai/hc/en-us/articles/55388952900379--c-ai-lite-FAQ
- play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.character.app&hl=en_US
- character.ai/community-guidelines
- support.character.ai/hc/en-us/articles/21704914723995-Safety-Center
- character.ai/tos
- character.ai/privacy
- support.character.ai/hc/en-us/articles/39030432883099-Privacy-Policy
- blog.character.ai/introducing-charms/
- character.ai/
- techcrunch.com/2024/08/02/character-ai-ceo-noam-shazeer-returns-to-google
- www.courtlistener.com/docket/69300919/garcia-v-character-technologies-inc/
- www.courtlistener.com/docket/69450881/af-on-behalf-of-jf-v-character-technologies-inc/
- www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-launches-investigat...
- www.fire.org/sites/default/files/2025/07/Order%20on%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20-%20Garcia%2...
- blog.character.ai/character-ai-names-karandeep-anand-as-ceo/
- www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-investigates-meta-a...
- www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-launches-inquiry-ai-chatbots-actin...
- www.courtlistener.com/docket/71355059/montoya-v-character-technologies-inc/
- www.courtlistener.com/docket/71359395/pj-v-character-technologies-inc/
- techcrunch.com/2025/10/01/character-ai-removes-disney-characters-after-receiving-cease-and...
- blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/
- blog.character.ai/an-update-on-changes-to-our-under-18-experience/
- web.archive.org/web/20260914124114/www.kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyG...
- www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/shapiro-administration-sues-character-ai-...
- web.archive.org/web/20260816022954/www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docw...
- www.courtlistener.com/docket/74645761/ad-v-character-technologies-inc/
- cases.stretto.com/chartech
- www.trustpilot.com/review/character.ai