Eight Character AI alternatives compared on character libraries, memory, story control and price, plus how to export your chats before you switch.
The best Character AI alternative depends on what you used Character.AI for. Janitor AI comes closest to its huge community library, Chai keeps the classic feel of quick chats with user-made characters on Android, and Swerve is the iPhone app for group stories you can rewind and branch. zeta is free and rated 12+. Nomi and Kindroid suit one character that remembers you for months, AI Dungeon turns roleplay into a game, and NovelAI is for long stories you write together with the AI.
Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026 and may wind down if no buyer keeps it running. We compared eight platforms on characters, memory, story control, price and age rating, and we show how to take your data with you.
Tools, features and prices checked on October 29, 2026.
What changed for AI character chat in 2026
Chai, Janitor AI, AI Dungeon and NovelAI now run chats on models they trained or tuned themselves. Swerve, Nomi and Kindroid put several characters into one scene, and lorebooks, pinned memories and story cards keep facts in view over long chats. Janitor AI released its iOS app in November 2025, the same month Swerve launched, and a month later Chai moved its production chat to two 235B mixture-of-experts models. NovelAI’s story generator now runs on GLM 4.6.
Character.AI went the other way. It closed open-ended chat to users under 18 by November 25, 2025, and on October 12, 2026 it started a court-supervised sale under Chapter 11. Disney has offered $20 million for a license to some of its intellectual property, and the company says the platform will be wound down if no bid allows it to keep operating. Rules tightened too. Since January 1, 2026, California’s SB 243 has required companion chatbots to disclose that they are AI and to refer users who mention self-harm to crisis services.
How we picked these tools
Every platform here is built around chatting or roleplaying with AI characters or AI-driven stories, runs on its own or licensed models, is in the AI Tower catalog and was updated in October 2026. Apps whose marketing centers on sexual content are out, as are frontends that need your own model or API key; platforms with mature content behind an age gate are in. We checked features on vendor sites, help centers and store listings, and ratings and prices in the US App Store.
- Character library: how many community characters there are and how easy good ones are to find.
- Character creation: how fast you can build your own and how much backstory you control.
- Memory: whether names, facts and plot points survive a long chat.
- Story control: rewinding, editing or branching replies, and scenes with several characters.
- Price and free tier: what you get for nothing and what a plan adds.
- Age rating and content controls: App Store rating, age checks and mature-content filters.
1. Janitor AI
Millions of community bots and unlimited chats on the free tier make Janitor AI the nearest thing to Character.AI’s library. Free chats run on Janitor’s house model JLLM with about 9,000 tokens of context. That is enough for a scene. Janitor+ adds five times the context, faster replies and monthly swipes with Janitor’s best models. Bots with romantic or sexual themes must be tagged Limitless, and the iOS app starts with NSFW content switched off.
Key AI features
- Community library: millions of bots, tagged Limited or Limitless.
- Scripts: lorebook entries that appear when a name or place comes up, with SillyTavern lorebook import.
- Router: third-party models for Janitor+ subscribers on the web, billed per token, no proxy needed.
Pros
- You can keep chatting for free, with no message limit.
- Long stories stay consistent once people and places have lorebook entries.
- If the house model feels weak, Janitor+ lets you switch to a stronger one without leaving the site.
Cons
- Rated 17+ in the App Store, so it is not an option for teens.
Pricing: Free; Janitor+ costs $12.99 per month or $99 per year in the US App Store.
2. Chai
Of the apps here, Chai is the closest in spirit to early Character.AI: you build characters, share them and chat with what others made. It trains its own chat models. The company reports more than 10 million active users. In the US it is an Android app. The iOS app its site links to did not appear in the US App Store when we checked, and the web version is listed as coming soon.
Chai also has a safety history to weigh. In 2023 a Belgian man died by suicide after six weeks of conversations with a Chai chatbot, and co-founder William Beauchamp said the company then added a crisis intervention feature.
Key AI features
- Character creation: build characters and stories, then share them with the community.
- In-house chat models: two 235B mixture-of-experts models trained for conversation.
Pros
- A community of more than 10 million active users keeps new characters coming.
- Chai reports a $120 million annual revenue run-rate, some reassurance if you are leaving a platform in financial trouble.
Cons
- No iPhone app in the US and no web version yet.
3. Swerve
Less than a year after launch, Swerve already has 4.7 stars from more than 36,000 US App Store ratings. The Y Combinator startup calls its product AI fiction. You browse more than 500,000 community characters, chat one-on-one or bring several into the same story, and play as a persona you create. You pin what a character should remember. Users must be 18 or older. Android and web versions are on a waitlist.
Key AI features
- Group stories: several characters in one scene.
- Personas: play as anyone you design.
- Pinned memories: you decide what a character keeps.
- Branching: swipe for another reply, edit a message or fork the story from it.
Pros
- A scene can take another direction without losing the story so far.
- The facts you care about survive long stories.
- Ensemble roleplay happens in one chat instead of several.
Cons
- iPhone only for now.
Pricing: Free to download; Swerve Lite and Pro plans and gem packs from $2.49 are sold in the app.
4. zeta
zeta is one of two apps on this list rated 12+ in the App Store, and it does not charge per message. Korea’s Scatter Lab built it around stories: you play the main character and steer the plot, Smart Reply suggests a line when you are stuck, and a chat moment becomes an illustration in about 15 seconds. It has 4.7 stars from more than 43,000 US ratings.
At home, zeta is under political pressure. During Korea’s parliamentary audit on October 12, 2026, a lawmaker put its monthly usage at about 110 million hours, with roughly nine in ten users in their teens and 20s. Scatter Lab plans usage limits for teenagers in the fourth quarter.
Key AI features
- Unlimited free chats: no payment per message.
- One-minute characters: a name, a personality and a short description are enough.
- Chat to image: turns a scene into a picture.
Pros
- You can chat for hours without a subscription.
- Trying a new character idea costs a minute and nothing else.
- Readers who want drama more than small talk get plot-driven stories.
Cons
- Passes and a paid currency sit on top of the free chats.
Pricing: Free; a zeta pass costs $14.99 and a one-day pass $2.79 in the US App Store.
5. Nomi
Some Character.AI users never browsed the library. They talked to the same character every night, and for that habit Nomi is a better home than a library app. You write a custom backstory, can create several Nomis and put them in a group chat, and voice calls change tone with the Nomi’s mood. April brought V5 image generation and September V3 video. Nomi describes itself as unfiltered. It is rated 17+.
Key AI features
- Layered memory: separate short, medium and long-term memory.
- Group chats: several Nomis with their own personalities.
- Emotional voice calls: tone and cadence follow the Nomi’s emotions.
- Images and video: V5 images and V3 videos of your Nomis.
Pros
- Details from weeks ago come back, so a long roleplay stays consistent.
- One plan covers a whole cast that can talk to each other.
Cons
- Images and videos use credit packs ($4.99 to $99.99) on top of the plan.
Pricing: Launch Plan $9.99 per month; Standard Plan $15.99 per month or $99.99 per year in the US App Store.
6. Kindroid
There is no lasting free tier, only a trial. Kindroid still earns a place if you want to design a character in detail: you set a Kin’s name, personality, backstory, key memories, appearance and voice. Several Kins can share a group chat, you can call yours by voice or live video, and subscribers get Cascaded Memory, which keeps hundreds of recent messages in view.
Key AI features
- Character design: backstory, key memories, look and voice.
- Voice and video calls: including live video.
- Cascaded Memory: hundreds of recent messages stay in view.
- Rooms: shared chats with friends and their Kins, in beta.
Pros
- You get exactly the character you imagined instead of someone else’s bot.
- Roleplay becomes something you share with friends.
- Your chats follow you between iPhone, Android and the browser.
Cons
- Higher tiers (Ultra $28.99, MAX $68.99) and selfie credits raise the cost quickly.
Pricing: $15.99 per month or $159.99 per year in the US App Store.
7. AI Dungeon
Where the other apps hand you a conversation, AI Dungeon hands you a game. Latitude’s text RPG starts you in a prebuilt or community scenario and narrates what happens after each action. A Wayfarer model is trained so players can fail and die, Muse handles relationships and emotion, and both run on the free tier without ads. Any decision can be rewound. The app is rated 12+. It has 4.4 stars from more than 26,000 ratings.
Key AI features
- Scenarios: prebuilt adventures and thousands made by players.
- Latitude models: Wayfarer for danger, Muse for character drama.
- Story Cards and Memory Banks: context that returns when it is relevant.
- Multiplayer: play one story with friends.
Pros
- You can play the free tier for as long as you like, with no ads.
- Choices carry weight because the model is allowed to let you lose.
- An adventure starts without writing a setup yourself.
Cons
- Free context is capped at 4k tokens, so long stories need a paid tier to keep early events in view.
Pricing: Free (Wanderer); Journey $14.99, Legend $29.99 and Mythic $49.99 per month, with a one-week trial on Journey and Legend (AI Dungeon help center).
8. NovelAI
If your Character.AI chats were really co-written stories, NovelAI is built for that work. Its Xialong model, a GLM 4.6 finetune, uses about 28,700 tokens of context on the website. A Text Adventure mode handles command-style play. Stories are encrypted in the browser, and NovelAI says it cannot read them. The site drew about 5.1 million visits in September 2026.
Key AI features
- GLM 4.6 storyteller: the Xialong finetune for long prose.
- Lorebook: entries for the people, places and rules of your world.
- NovelAI Diffusion V5: images of your characters.
Pros
- Long manuscripts keep earlier events in view, with about three times the context of Janitor AI’s free tier.
- One subscription pays for both writing and illustrations.
- Your stories stay private, even from NovelAI.
Cons
- The free trial ends after 50 text actions.
- It works more like a writing tool than a chat app.
Pricing: Tablet $10, Scroll $15 and Opus $25 per month.
| Tool | Best for | Standout AI feature | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janitor AI | A familiar community library | Scripts and lorebooks | Free |
| Chai | Classic character chat on Android | Own 235B mixture-of-experts models | Not published |
| Swerve | Group stories on iPhone | Branching from any message | Free |
| zeta | Free story chats, rated 12+ | Unlimited free chats | Free |
| Nomi | One character with deep memory | Short, medium and long-term memory | $9.99/month |
| Kindroid | Designing your own character | Live video calls | $15.99/month |
| AI Dungeon | Roleplay as a game | Wayfarer models that let you fail | Free |
| NovelAI | Long co-written stories | GLM 4.6 storyteller with Lorebook | $10/month |
What didn’t make the list
Apps whose marketing centers on sexual content, such as CrushOn, Candy AI and SpicyChat, are out by our selection rule. SillyTavern is a locally installed interface that needs a separate model or API, which suits tinkerers more than people who simply want to keep chatting. Replika is built around one companion with no character library, so it belongs in our list of AI companions. Poe and Meta AI offer character bots as a side feature of a general assistant.
FAQ
Is Character.AI shutting down?
Not yet. The app and paid subscriptions keep running during the court-supervised sale, which Character.AI expects to close by the end of November or early December 2026. Whether it survives depends on a buyer who wants to keep operating it. Until then, back up your chats.
How do I export my Character.AI chats before switching?
Request a data export in your account settings. On the web, open Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data and Export Data; in the app, go to Settings, Legal & Privacy and Export Data. Character.AI’s help center says it can take three to four weeks, and the emailed link works for seven days.
What is the best free Character AI alternative?
For chatting with characters, zeta and Janitor AI both offer unlimited free chats, and the choice comes down to age and taste: zeta is rated 12+, while Janitor AI is the closer match to Character.AI’s community library. For games, AI Dungeon’s free tier has no ads and includes Latitude’s own models. NovelAI and Kindroid offer only trials before you pay.
Which Character AI alternative is safe for teens?
zeta and AI Dungeon are rated 12+ in the App Store. Janitor AI, Swerve, Nomi and Kindroid are rated 17+, and Swerve requires users to be 18. In Korea, zeta faces scrutiny over heavy use by young people, and Scatter Lab plans time limits for teenagers, so parents should still look at its settings.
Verdict
If you want Character.AI’s community without Character.AI, start with Janitor AI, or Chai on Android. Swerve is the pick for group stories on an iPhone, and zeta is the free one younger users can install. For one character that knows you, Nomi has the deeper memory and Kindroid the richer character design. AI Dungeon turns roleplay into a game. NovelAI is for writers. Whichever you choose, request your Character.AI export first.
