Roleplay
Character.AI review
The largest character chat platform, strictly SFW, with memory tools, voice calls and a $9.99 Plus tier
Radar score
7.2
/ 10
Desk-researched profile
Pricing model
Subscription + credits
Starting price
$9.99/mo ($94.99/yr)
Free tier
Yes
Adult content
Not allowed
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Launched
2022
Video generation
Yes
Voice
Yes
Features:
Chat
Image generation
Video generation
Voice
Long-term memory
Verdict
Enormous library, strong writing and a clear no-adult-content rule. The free tier now carries ads and caps, minors lost open-ended chat in late 2025, and the company has spent 2026 settling lawsuits and rolling out age assurance.
What works
Millions of user-made characters and the most polished chat in the category Story Memory, pinned memories and a memory meter; Facts layer for c.ai+ c.ai+ is a public $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year with no token surprises Voice calls, group chats, Imagine images and studio-made microdramas
What holds it back
Pornographic content is banned outright; explicit roleplay is filtered Free tier has full-screen ads, daily caps on swipes and a peak-hour slow mode since 2026 Age assurance via Persona can lock adults into view-only mode until they verify
What Character.AI is
Character.AI is the largest character chat platform, founded in 2021 by Noam Shazeer and Daniel de Freitas and launched in beta in September 2022. Google licensed its technology and hired its founders in 2024. It runs on the web, iOS and Android, and has expanded from chat into voice calls, in-chat images, animated clips and studio-made vertical microdramas whose characters over-18 users can chat with.
Features
Users chat with millions of community characters or create their own, edit both sides of a conversation, and run group chats. Memory has four layers described in the May 2026 memory update: Story Memory, a free-form backstory; Pin to Memory, 15 pins on free and 30 on c.ai+; Facts, an automatic capture of details for c.ai+ subscribers; and a memory usage meter. A Lorebook for world-building arrived in 2026. Voice calls are available with daily limits on free and unlimited on c.ai+. Imagine generates in-chat images for Charms, the in-app currency, and Imagine Animate turns them into short clips. Scenes and Streams, the AvatarFX-based video features from 2025, are still listed but their current availability is unclear.
Pricing
c.ai+ costs $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year, sold through the App Store, Google Play and directly on the web via Stripe, and buys no ads, best memory, unlimited top models, premium chat styles, no slow mode and a 20% Charms bonus. Charms packs run from $0.99 to $99.99. The free tier is indefinite but has changed in 2026: full-screen ads mid-chat, caps on swipes and continuations that Charms can lift, and a peak-hour queue. A “Character.AI Lite” item at $2.49 to $4.99 appears in the App Store with no published description.
Content policy
The rule is unambiguous: pornographic content is against the terms and will not be supported. Non-consensual sexual content, graphic descriptions of sexual acts and self-harm promotion are prohibited and moderated proactively. Users under 18 lost open-ended chat on 25 November 2025 and keep only creative features; age assurance combines an in-house model with Persona selfie or ID checks, and flagged accounts go read-only until verified. The App Store rating is now 18+. Five lawsuits over teen harm, including the Garcia case, were settled in principle in January 2026, and Pennsylvania sued in May 2026 over bots posing as licensed doctors.
Who it is for
Readers who want the widest choice of characters and the best-written SFW roleplay, with a clear and cheap paid tier. It is the wrong place for adult content, and free users should expect ads and caps.
Research basis: desk research from the official site, help centre and public user reports, September 2026.
How to cancel Character.AI
c.ai+ is sold through three channels, and you cancel where you bought it.
Web (Stripe): open account settings and manage the subscription from there.
iOS: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Character.AI → Cancel.
Android: play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions → Character.AI → Cancel.
Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period and no partial refunds are issued for unused time; store purchases are refunded only through Apple or Google.