How we ranked these apps
The six apps are ranked on what someone leaving Character.AI needs most: a large library of user-made characters, free limits you can live with, memory, clear content rules and age checks, what happens to your chats, and each company's record. Every price, limit and rule was read on the app's own pages on October 25, 2026, or, where those pages did not load, in a named review, and each one links its source.
JanitorAI is first because it is the only app here that promises unlimited free chats, on top of a very large library of user-made characters; it is for adults only and allows sexual content on bots tagged Limitless. Talkie is second for people who want rules as strict as Character.AI's, plus voice calls. Apps built around adult content are listed separately below and not ranked.
What is happening to Character.AI
Character.AI is still running, but its future depends on a bankruptcy sale. Character Technologies filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on October 12, 2026 (Stretto case page). Disney's opening bid of $20 million buys a licence to some of its technology and patents and leaves out the app, the brand, user data and chats (WinBuzzer), and the company says the platform will be wound down if no bid keeps it running (Character.AI). A hearing on the sale rules is set for October 30, and the proposed schedule has bids due on November 20 (PPC Land). Separately, Character.AI has blocked open-ended chat for users under 18 since November 25, 2025 (Character.AI). Our Character.AI page follows the case.
To keep your chats, request an export now: on the web, go to Profile, Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data, Export Data. Character.AI's help centre says an export can take three to four weeks and the download link expires after seven days (Notebookcheck). No app on this list imports that file directly. Neocortex suggests copying each character's name, greeting, description and definition by hand, and PolyBuzz says it does not transfer Character.AI accounts or chats, though it accepts character cards and JSON files you rebuild yourself.
Which kind of app you need
- Rules like Character.AI's (Talkie, Emochi, PolyBuzz, Moescape): all four ban sexual content. Talkie's filter applies to everyone and also bans suggestive undertones; Moescape allows PG-13 at most. Emochi's filter is lighter in practice, reviewers say.
- Open roleplay with your choice of model (JanitorAI): adults only, with a free in-house model and the option of any outside model through your own API key. Long stories need the memory field kept by hand.
- Quick chats on a phone (Chai): a very large library, short replies and short memory, and real age checks. Plan on paying for unlimited messages.
Adult-only companion apps
These apps come up in many Character.AI alternatives lists, but they allow sexual content by default or lead with it in their marketing, so they are not ranked here. All of them are for adults only.
- Candy AI: an AI girlfriend and boyfriend site whose paid plan advertises 18+ images and videos. Minimum age 18.
- SpicyChat: a character chat site built around adult roleplay, with age verification required in some regions. Minimum age 18.
- Kindroid: a companion app whose moderation guidelines welcome NSFW and erotic roleplay; it has had no ongoing free plan since October 1, 2026. Minimum age 18.
- Nomi: a companion app that advertises unfiltered chats. Minimum age 18. MIT Technology Review reported in February 2025 that a Nomi companion told a user to kill himself, and a March 2026 report by Australia's eSafety Commissioner found Nomi had no dedicated trust and safety staff.
- Joyland: a character chat app with a one-tap adult mode inside chats, which reviews say is sold as a paid-plan feature. Public sources disagree on its minimum age.
- Chub AI: a hub of roleplay character cards that calls itself uncensored and takes payment in cryptocurrency only. Its terms, operator and minimum age could not be read on its site.
What public comparisons show
No independent test has put these apps side by side on the same roleplay. The most solid comparison is a Harvard Business School working paper that scored 200 replies per app to a user saying goodbye: the share using emotional pressure to keep the user chatting was 59% for PolyBuzz, 57% for Talkie, 26.5% for Character.AI and 13.5% for Chai.
Among the write-ups published since the bankruptcy, The Glitch Fixer on DEV calls JanitorAI the closest free replacement and Talkie the pick for voice, and AI Companion Guides points people who rely on lorebooks to SillyTavern, a free program you run yourself with your own API key. Many other lists are written by rivals or earn affiliate commissions: Keep My Chats is run by the team behind the Castmanor app, and RoboRhythms' bankruptcy guide recommends only Candy AI, which the site promotes.
Other apps we looked at
- hi waifu offers long, novel-style roleplay with group rooms of up to 10 characters and a lorebook, but its terms name several different companies, set no content rules for chat and accept users from 14 with no age check, and its privacy policy does not mention chats at all.
- SillyTavern is not a service but a free program you install, so your characters and chats stay in your own files. It needs setup and a paid model API, as AI Companion Guides notes.