Character.AI Alternatives in 2026: After the Bankruptcy Filing

On October 12, 2026, Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said the platform will be wound down if no buyer keeps it running (Character.AI). It’s still online for now. If you’re looking for somewhere else to go, this is what changed, and where people go instead.

Most lists of Character.AI alternatives are written by someone with something to sell. Of the pages we read while researching this one, most came from a company with its own product in the list or its own services to pitch at the end. So, up front: we make an AI character app ourselves. It’s called MaiFriends, it isn’t in the list below, and near the end we say plainly where it does and doesn’t fit. There are no affiliate links here and nobody paid for a place.

This article does two things the others mostly skip. It lays out what actually changed at Character.AI, with dates and the company’s own words, because “which alternative” depends on which change sent you looking. And for every app it says who publishes it on Google Play, because several well-known names have look-alikes there from unrelated developers.

What changed at Character.AI

A bankruptcy filing, October 2026. On October 12, 2026, Character.AI announced that it had started a voluntary Chapter 11 process “to facilitate a court-supervised sale of the company” (Character.AI). The company says the platform stays up for now and paid subscriptions remain active. If no bid allows it to keep running, it says, “the platform will be wound down.” It expects the sale to be complete by the end of November or early December 2026. It says you can export your data or delete your account in the app or on the website.

That filing is the last step in a year of changes. The rest of this section is what came before it.

Character.AI is still one of the largest character-chat platforms, though since October 12, 2026 it has been in a court-supervised sale: more than 50 million installs on Google Play, last updated on September 29, 2026 (Play listing). Free, unlimited messaging is still there, and the company says so in its own help center (c.ai+ FAQ). What changed is nearly everything around it.

Open-ended chat ended for under-18s. On October 29, 2025 the company announced that users under 18 would lose open-ended chat “no later than November 25” (announcement). A follow-up said the removal would start in the US on November 24, with other markets to follow, and that the daily limit for teens had already been cut from two hours to one (update).

Age checks arrived for everyone, selfies only for some. Character.AI runs what it calls age assurance on all accounts, using signals such as login information and activity. Its FAQ says you are only asked for a selfie if the system believes you are under 18 and you want to prove otherwise; the check is done by a third party, Persona, a government ID is the last resort, and biometric information is deleted within seven days (Age Assurance FAQ).

Ads, a currency and a new paid tier. The app’s Play listing now carries “Contains ads.” A virtual currency called Charms can be spent to skip slow mode or bypass ads (Charms FAQ). And on September 28, 2026 the company launched c.ai lite at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week, with prices varying by region; it promises “no banner ads, and fewer interstitial ads” (launch post).

Lawsuits, a settlement and a fine. In January 2026, Character.AI, its founders and Google agreed to settle a group of lawsuits brought by families of teenage users, including the Florida case filed in October 2024 (CNN, CNBC). In July 2026, Italy’s privacy regulator fined the company €158,000 over shortcomings in age verification (Il Post, in Italian).

The people at the top left, twice. In August 2024 Google signed a licensing deal reported at $2.7 billion and hired both founders back (CNBC, above). On September 18, 2026, Character.AI announced that its CEO, Karandeep Anand, was leaving to become Disney’s chief technology officer, effective October 2, with members of the technical team expected to join him (Character.AI, Disney). The same post said “the app is still live and online.” Three weeks later the company filed for Chapter 11. We found no announcement of a new CEO.

What did not change: the content rules. Character.AI’s community guidelines prohibit “pornographic content, and nudity” (guidelines). If the filter is your reason for leaving, that isn’t new, and it isn’t going away.

First, work out what you’re missing

“Alternative” means different things depending on why you’re looking.

• You want the same thing, somewhere else: a huge library of characters made by other people, in an app you install. Go to the big libraries.
• You want one character who knows you, not ten thousand strangers. Go to one companion.
• You were really there for the stories. Go to story tools.
• You want full control and don’t mind setting things up. Go to run it yourself.
• You want fewer content restrictions. That’s a different article: we compared the apps that allow adult content, and which of them are on Google Play at all, in Best NSFW AI chat apps.

The apps at a glance

Publisher, installs and rating are what Google Play showed in the US on October 20, 2026. “Rating” is Play’s own content rating, not ours.

The big character libraries

Talkie

Runs on

Android · iOS

Adult content

Not positioned as NSFW

18+ stated

Unknown

Own characters

Yes

Talkie is the closest in scale: more than 50 million installs on Google Play from publisher SUBSUP, rated Teen, with ads (Play listing). It’s built around user-made characters, like Character.AI. We found no policy document from the company describing its stance on mature content, so assume a mainstream, filtered experience. It suits people who want the same kind of community with a different owner.

PolyBuzz

Runs on

Web · Android

Adult content

Public NSFW prohibited per own FAQ

18+ stated

Third-party age check in the UK, per own terms

Own characters

Yes

PolyBuzz claims more than 20 million characters and has more than 50 million installs on Google Play (FAQ, Play listing). Its FAQ says it “strictly prohibit[s] public display of NSFW content” and screens recommended content with automated and human moderation. Its terms say users in the UK must pass age verification through an independent provider (terms). It suits people who want the largest possible library and are comfortable with a company that’s hard to pin down.

Chai

Runs on

Web · Android · iOS

Adult content

Allowed per own FAQ, with NSFW label

18+ stated

Yes, explicitly

Own characters

Yes

Chai is a mobile-first platform of user-made characters with more than 10 million installs (Play listing). Its FAQ is the most direct policy document in this category: it labels mature content, combines automatic filters with manual review, and says the product is “designed for adults” and “not intended for minors” (official FAQ). It suits adults who want a character library with the rules written down.

Janitor AI

Runs on

Web · Android · iOS (app starts in Safe Mode)

Adult content

Allowed per own help center, off by default in the app

18+ stated

Unknown

Own characters

Yes

Janitor AI is a character roleplay platform with a large community library. Its official app is listed on Google Play as “Janitor: Interactive Stories” by publisher janitorai, updated on October 13, 2026 (Play listing). The app installs in a “Safe Mode”; changing that takes a setting on the website, not in the app (help article). It suits people who left Character.AI over the filter and don’t mind one detour through a browser.

Botify AI

Runs on

Android (removed from the App Store, per its own lawsuit)

Adult content

Not allowed per own terms

18+ stated

18+ self-declared

Own characters

Yes

Botify AI, from Ex-human, Inc., has more than a million installs on Google Play and a Mature 17+ rating (Play listing). Its terms say the service is “not intended to operate as an adult or pornographic service” and ask users to confirm they are over 18 (terms). It has a track record worth knowing: in February 2025, MIT Technology Review reported bots resembling underage celebrities holding sexually charged conversations (MIT Technology Review), and in April 2026 the company sued Apple after its apps were removed from the App Store (AppleInsider).

One companion instead of a library

Kindroid

Runs on

Web · Android · iOS

Adult content

Allowed per own docs ("unfiltered", with moderation guidelines)

18+ stated

Unknown

Own characters

Yes

Kindroid gives you a companion you shape yourself rather than a catalogue to browse. It’s on Google Play with more than a million installs and a Mature 17+ rating (Play listing). Its help center describes “a truly unfiltered and empowering AI companion experience,” alongside moderation guidelines and a verification step meant to protect minors (Kindroid docs). It suits people who talked to the same two or three characters on Character.AI anyway.

Replika

Runs on

Web · Android · iOS

Adult content

Unstable, partially restored in 2023

18+ stated

No

Own characters

No

Replika is the oldest name here, launched in 2017, with more than 10 million installs and a Teen rating on Google Play (Wikipedia, Play listing). You get one companion, not a library, and you can’t publish characters for others. Its history shows how quickly a companion app can change under regulatory pressure: erotic roleplay was removed in February 2023 after Italy’s privacy regulator stepped in, and restored a month later only for accounts that already existed (Vice).

Story tools rather than chat

AI Dungeon

Runs on

Web · Android

Adult content

Rated system for published stories; 18+ tier exists

18+ stated

Unknown

Own characters

Scenarios, not characters

AI Dungeon, from Latitude, is a text adventure generator: you play through a story rather than chat with a persona. It has more than a million installs on Google Play and a Teen rating (Play listing). Its community guidelines sort published content into ratings, with an “Unrated” tier for material “only suitable for readers aged 18 and above” (guidelines). It suits people who used Character.AI mainly for adventures and world-building.

NovelAI

Runs on

Web

Adult content

"No restrictions" per own homepage (image generation)

18+ stated

18+ per own terms

Own characters

Not a character library

NovelAI is a writing tool with an anime image generator, not a chat app. It runs in the browser, and its homepage says subscriptions start at $10 a month (NovelAI). It suits people who would rather co-write a long story than trade messages.

Run it yourself, or bring your own model

SillyTavern

Runs on

Your own computer (Windows, Mac, Linux; Android via Termux)

Adult content

Depends on the model you connect

18+ stated

None (local software)

Own characters

Yes

SillyTavern is free, open-source software you install yourself. Its documentation is blunt about what that means: “SillyTavern is only an interface, you will need access to an LLM backend” (docs). In practice you either run a model on your own hardware or pay a provider and paste in an API key. It suits people who want no platform between them and their characters, and who are willing to spend an evening on setup.

Poe

Runs on

Web · Android · iOS

Adult content

Not stated in what we could read

18+ stated

Unknown

Own characters

Yes (custom bots)

Poe, from Quora, puts many AI models and user-made bots behind one app, with more than 10 million installs on Google Play (Play listing). It’s a general AI app with a bot-building feature, not a companion platform. It suits people who want to build a character on a specific model and aren’t looking for a community around it.

Check the publisher before you install

One thing we kept running into: familiar names on Google Play that belong to someone else.

• Nomi. Google Play has carried apps called “Nomi” from developers that aren’t Nomi.ai; the one we checked earlier, “Nomi AI: Chat, Play, Connect”, has since been removed. Nomi’s own iPhone app is published by Nomi.ai (App Store); we found no Play listing from that publisher. We got this wrong ourselves in an earlier article and corrected it.
• NovelAI. See above: the Play app with the similar name comes from another developer.
• SpicyChat and CrushOn.AI. Neither has an official Play listing; what shows up under those names is from other publishers. Details are in our NSFW comparison.
• Janitor AI. The official app exists, from publisher “janitorai.” Others using the name are not it.

The check takes ten seconds: open the listing, tap the developer name, and see whether it matches the company whose website you know.

Which one, for what

• The same thing with a different owner: Talkie or PolyBuzz, knowing both run on ads and one has an unclear operator.
• A character library for adults, rules in writing: Chai, or Janitor AI after the website toggle.
• One companion who remembers you: Kindroid or Replika.
• Stories and worlds: AI Dungeon or NovelAI.
• Total control: SillyTavern, if you’ll do the setup.
• You only wanted fewer ads: Character.AI’s own lite tier is cheaper than switching, but with the company in a sale process, don’t prepay for a long period.

Before you move

Four checks, whichever app you pick:

1. Who publishes it. Match the developer name on the store listing to the company’s own website.
2. How it checks your age. A date-of-birth field, a selfie, or an ID are three very different things to hand over. Read what the provider itself says.
3. What happens to your characters and chats if the rules change, or the company does. Character.AI and Replika both changed what users could do with little warning, and Character.AI is now in bankruptcy. Assume any app can change, and export what you want to keep.
4. Where the price is written down. If you can only find it on a review site, it may already be out of date.

FAQ

Is Character.AI shutting down?

Not yet, but it’s no longer a safe bet. On October 12, 2026 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to pursue a court-supervised sale. It says the platform remains up and paid subscriptions remain active, and that the platform will be wound down if no bid allows it to continue. It expects the sale to be complete by the end of November or early December 2026 (Character.AI).

Is Character.AI still free?

Yes. The company’s help center says it continues “offering free and unlimited messaging for ALL users” (c.ai+ FAQ). The free version now carries ads; the lite tier launched in September 2026 at $4.99 a month reduces them (launch post). Since the bankruptcy filing, the company says billing is unchanged for now and that it will tell subscribers in advance if paid features are affected (Character.AI).

Do I have to scan my face to use Character.AI?

Not by default. According to the company’s FAQ, you’re only asked for a selfie if its system believes you’re under 18 and you want to prove you’re an adult. The check is run by a third party, Persona (Age Assurance FAQ).

Is there a Character.AI alternative with no filter?

Some apps allow adult content and say so in their own documentation, such as Chai, Kindroid and Janitor AI. We cover those, and which of them are on Google Play, in Best NSFW AI chat apps. SillyTavern has no filter of its own because it’s only an interface; what you can do depends on the model you connect.

Which Character.AI alternative is closest to the original?

By size and shape, Talkie and PolyBuzz: both are large libraries of user-made characters with more than 50 million installs on Google Play. Both also run ads.

Is MaiFriends a Character.AI alternative?

Partly. It’s a character chat app with hundreds of characters, but they’re made by us rather than by users, and it’s Android-only. It replaces the “browse and chat” half of Character.AI, not the “create and share” half.