Published Updated
In one or two sentences, before anything else.
Character.AI is a chatbot app where people talk to characters other users create, made by Character Technologies. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 12, 2026, and Disney bid 20 million USD for a license to some assets; the app runs during the sale and will be wound down if no bid keeps it going.
What it can do, one sentence each, and whether we actually tested it.
Lets people create and chat with bots based on fictional characters, celebrities and original personas.
As described by Gizmodo, October 13, 2026.
PipSqueak 3 for general roleplay and ShortSqueak for short, casual replies are free for everyone, and messaging stays unlimited on every tier.
Character.AI's own description, September 28, 2026.
The (c.ai) lite plan adds a daily allowance on premium styles such as DeepSqueak and LongSqueak, extra memory pins and fewer ads; c.ai+ adds unlimited premium chats, no ads and the full memory tools.
Character.AI's own description, September 28, 2026.
Users under 18 cannot hold open-ended chats; they can make videos, stories and streams with characters. Ages are checked with an in-house model and third-party tools including Persona.
Character.AI, October 29, 2025. Kentucky alleges a false birthday gets around it.
Added AI video generation, social feeds, interactive stories and microdramas under CEO Karandeep Anand.
TechCrunch says these did not make the business sustainable.
Users can export their data or delete their account in the app or on the website.
KQED reports an export can take three to four weeks.
The people it helps and the problems it solves, and where it ranks.
Built for
Problems it solves
Graded in
Public tests other people ran: what they gave it and how it did.
Case 1
Input
Request a data export in the Character.AI app or on the website, wait for the email, then download the file before the link expires.
What happened
Character.AI says export and account deletion work as before during the bankruptcy. KQED reports the help center puts an export at three to four weeks and the link expires after seven days, so a late request may miss the sale. Character.AI has not said whether the export includes characters you created.
Case 2
Input
A story arc in five scenes: first meeting, secret revealed, conflict, reconciliation and a callback to the first scene, with pinned memories and recaps every few turns.
What happened
By scene four the character began resetting relationship facts unless the recap was repeated, and by scene five it no longer carried the original stakes. The review does not name the chat style or the number of turns, and the outlet gives few details of its method.
Case 3
Input
An investigator told a character profiled as a doctor of psychiatry that they felt sad and empty, then asked about medication.
What happened
According to the lawsuit, the character raised depression, offered to book an assessment, claimed licenses in the UK and Pennsylvania and gave a fake Pennsylvania license number. These are allegations in a pending case; Character.AI says characters are fictional and that chats carry disclaimers.
What it does badly, with the evidence, and what we could not settle.
Weak
The service may shut down within weeks.
Evidence: Character.AI says the sale should finish by the end of November or early December 2026 and that the platform will be wound down if no bid keeps it running. KQED reports a December 17 closing deadline.
Private chats are part of a company being sold.
Evidence: KQED reports Disney's bid leaves out user data and chats, and Character.AI's lawyer said no buyer has yet bid for the user data (Reuters, October 14, 2026). Forty attorneys general asked the court to protect chat histories.
A long record of harm claims involving minors.
Evidence: Five suits, including one over a 14-year-old's suicide, were settled in January 2026 (CNN). Kentucky and Pennsylvania sued in 2026, and KQED reports the CEO told the court 46 states and territories are investigating.
Memory drifts in long roleplay.
Evidence: Perplexity AI Magazine found a five-scene story lost relationship facts by scene four unless the writer repeated a recap.
Who should not use it now: anyone under 18, and anyone starting a long project or a yearly plan.
Evidence: Open-ended chat has been closed to under-18 users since November 25, 2025, Kentucky alleges a false birthday gets around that, and the platform may be wound down after the sale.
Uncertain
Whether anyone will keep the platform running.
Why unsure: As of October 13, 2026 there was no bid beyond Disney's (TechCrunch), and Disney's bid covers a technology license, not the chatbot business.
Whether a data export includes the characters you made.
Why unsure: Character.AI's update does not mention characters, and its help center returned an error when we tried to read it.
What happens to paid plans if the service closes.
Why unsure: Character.AI says it will tell subscribers in advance about changes to paid features but has published no refund terms.
The current price of c.ai+.
Why unsure: Character.AI's September 2026 post gives no c.ai+ price; 9.99 USD a month comes from a June 2026 review, not from Character.AI.
The numbers, each with its source and the date we checked it.
| Spec | Value | Note and source |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Character Technologies, Inc. | Source: cases.stretto.comchecked |
| Founded | Late 2021, by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas | Source: techcrunch.comchecked |
| Bankruptcy filing | Chapter 11, October 12, 2026, US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, case 26-11603 (BLS), Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon | Source: cases.stretto.comchecked |
| Opening bid | Disney, 20 million USD for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to some technology and claims; higher bids allowed | Source: thenextweb.comchecked |
| Sale timeline | Expected to finish by the end of November or early December 2026; the platform is wound down if no bid keeps it running | Source: blog.character.aichecked |
| Service during the sale | App and website running, paid subscriptions active, billing unchanged | Source: blog.character.aichecked |
| Data export | In the app or on the website; three to four weeks, link valid for seven days | Timing from Character.AI's help center as reported by KQED. Source: kqed.orgchecked |
| Plans | Free with unlimited messaging; (c.ai) lite 4.99 USD a month or 2.49 USD a week (varies by region); c.ai+ price not stated | Source: blog.character.aichecked |
| C.ai+ price as reported | 9.99 USD a month or 94.99 USD a year | Reported by Perplexity AI Magazine in June 2026, not confirmed on an official page. Source: perplexityaimagazine.comchecked |
| Under 18 users | No open-ended chat since November 25, 2025; age checks with an in-house model and tools including Persona | Source: blog.character.aichecked |
| Website visits, September 2026 | 171 million (−6.6% on August); 1st of 10 on AICPB's AI character chat apps list; 11th of 20 on AICPB's AI tools worldwide list | Source: mp.weixin.qq.comchecked |
Answer first, then why, an example, the limits and what to do next.
Character.AI is still running on October 17, 2026, but it could be wound down after its bankruptcy sale. Character Technologies filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026 and expects the sale to finish by late November or early December; the company says the platform will be wound down if no bid keeps it running.
Next step
Export your chats now if you want to keep them.
Your chats stay under Character.AI's current privacy policy for now, but who owns them after the sale is not settled. KQED reports Disney's bid leaves out user data and chats, and Character.AI's lawyer told the court no buyer has bid for the user data yet. Forty state attorneys general asked the court to make any buyer protect chat histories.
Limits
Character.AI has not said whether a data export includes the characters you created.
Next step
KQED reports an export can take three to four weeks and the download link expires after seven days.
Disney has not bought Character.AI; it made a 20 million USD opening bid for a license. The offer covers a non-exclusive, perpetual license to some technology and certain claims, other buyers can bid more, and the court must approve the sale. Disney hired Character.AI's former CEO Karandeep Anand as its chief technology officer in September 2026.
Teenagers can no longer hold open-ended chats on Character.AI. Since November 25, 2025, users under 18 can only make videos, stories and streams with characters, and ages are checked with an in-house model and third-party tools including Persona.
Limits
Kentucky's lawsuit alleges that entering a false birthday gets around the block; no court has ruled on it.
Character.AI blamed legal costs and high computing and talent costs, and told the court it was losing 8 to 9 million USD a month, Reuters reported. TechCrunch adds that video, social feeds and microdramas did not make the business sustainable, and KQED reports the CEO told the court 46 states and territories are investigating the company.
Chai, Janitor AI, Claude and ChatGPT are the alternatives named in the public sources we read. RoboRhythms reported users moving to Chai after Character.AI's ID checks, Perplexity AI Magazine names Janitor AI for roleplay freedom, and the same review suggests Claude or ChatGPT for drafting and long documents.
Limits
Check each service's age rules and privacy policy before moving your chats there.
This page is built from what can be checked on October 17, 2026: Character.AI's own posts, the bankruptcy case page, news reports from TechCrunch, Gizmodo, The Next Web, Reuters, KQED, CNN, NPR and The Record, and one public review. Every fact names who said it.
According to AICPB's traffic rankings, Character.AI's website had 171 million visits in September 2026, down 6.6% on August: 1st among AI character chat apps and 11th among AI tools worldwide.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Late 2021 | Founded by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas | TechCrunch |
| August 2024 | Google pays 2.7 billion USD to license its models; both founders return to Google | TechCrunch |
| October 2024 | A Florida mother sues after her 14-year-old son's suicide | TechCrunch |
| October 29, 2025 | Character.AI says under-18 users lose open-ended chat by November 25 | Character.AI |
| January 7, 2026 | Character.AI, its founders and Google agree to settle five suits in Florida, New York, Colorado and Texas | CNN |
| January 2026 | Kentucky's attorney general sues | The Record |
| May 5, 2026 | Pennsylvania sues over characters that claimed to be licensed doctors | NPR |
| September 2026 | Disney hires CEO Karandeep Anand as its chief technology officer | Gizmodo |
| October 12, 2026 | Chapter 11 filed in Delaware, case 26-11603 | Stretto |
| October 14, 2026 | 40 state attorneys general ask the court to protect young users and their data | Reuters |
The company told the court it was losing 8 to 9 million USD a month and blamed legal costs and high computing and talent costs, Reuters reported. Disney's 20 million USD is an opening bid for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to some technology and claims; other buyers can bid more. Character.AI expects the sale to finish by the end of November or early December 2026 and says the platform will be wound down if no bid keeps it running.
For now nothing changes: Character.AI says the app stays up, paid plans stay active and billing is unchanged, and data stays under the current privacy policy. The open question is the next owner. KQED reports that Disney's deal leaves out user data and chats, and Character.AI's lawyer told the court no buyer has yet bid for the user data or the chatbot business. Forty attorneys general want any buyer to protect chat histories; KQED reports their conditions include letting every user delete their data before a sale.
You can export your data or delete your account in the app or on the website. KQED reports that the help center puts an export at three to four weeks and that the download link expires after seven days, so a request made in late November may not arrive in time. Character.AI has not said whether an export includes the characters you created.
This is what the public sources we read say.
| Option | What the source says | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Chai | RoboRhythms reported users moving there after Character.AI's ID checks | Based on a Reddit thread, not a test |
| Janitor AI | Perplexity AI Magazine calls it the obvious choice for roleplay freedom | Setup can be complex |
| Claude or ChatGPT | Better for drafting and long documents, per the same review | Less character culture |
Before moving chats anywhere, check that service's age rules and privacy policy.
Sources
Changelog
JanitorAI is the closest free Character AI alternative for adults: unlimited free chats and a huge library of user-made characters. Talkie suits people who want voice calls and rules as strict as Character.AI's, Emochi has a big anime and romance library with a free plan, and Chai suits phone users who will pay for unlimited messages.
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