Apps · prices checked at the source 2026-09-27 · rules and privacy checked 2026-09-27

Chai: what it costs, what's free, and what it allows

Chai Premium costs $13.99 a month or $134.99 a year ($11.25 a month), and Chai Ultra $29.99 a month, per the App Store's US listing. Chai's website no longer carries any pricing, FAQ or terms pages for the app, so the store listings are the only public price source.

What we checked: 14 pages on the App Store, Google Play, chai-research.com, reddit.com, chai-ai.com and others, with the prices re-read from a US connection on 2026-09-27. Everything was read logged out and nothing was bought. We kept 59 quotes word for word (the receipts at the bottom) and a dated screenshot.

Cheapest plan

$9.99 a month · $11.25 a month paid yearly

Free tier

Yes — freemium

NSFW policy

Soft / partial NSFW — Lax filters in practice — soft-to-full depending on content

Type

Mainstream platform

Platforms

iOS, Android

App Store

4.3 out of 5, from 283K ratings (2026-09-27)

Google Play

3.1 out of 5, from 837K ratings, 10M+ installs (2026-09-27)

Trustpilot

2.2 out of 5, from 8 reviews (2026-09-27)

Domain

chai-research.com

Tracked since

2026-07-02

What we found

• Ultra also comes weekly at $19.99. Renewed every week that is about $86.62 a month, almost three times the $29.99 monthly Ultra.
• Apple lists a second Premium purchase, Premium Membership, at $9.99 next to Premium Subscription (Monthly) at $13.99. Chai does not say what separates them.
• Yearly Premium saves 20% against paying monthly: $11.25 a month instead of $13.99.
• chai-ai.com is Chai Research's own web product, not a lookalike. Chai's founder (r/ChaiApp, flair '[Official] CHAI Founder') linked it as 'Chai web' on 2026-08-28, and its privacy policy names Chai Research Corp. with the same Delaware file number. No chai-research.com page or store listing links to it, and chai-research.com still says 'CHAI WEB Coming Soon'. Its prices ($159.99/yr, $9.99/wk, MAX $90/mo) are web-only 'Chai Web Pro' plans, separate from app subscriptions and accounts.
• Content rules conflict: the EULA allows 'adult-oriented content' in fictional roleplay and bans only sexually explicit images and video, while the Safety Center says the models refuse 'sexually explicit content'. The founder says the website has 'a lot more freedom' than the app stores allow; what it allows is not written down.
• Google Play's Privacy Policy link points to a personal GitLab page with a March 2021 notice from 'Nexus, doing business as chai', not the current Chai Research policy (chai.ml/privacy, updated July 2, 2026).
• The chai-ai.com FAQ says Chai 'does not share your personal data with any third parties', but both Chai privacy policies describe sharing usage data with ad partners. Play's Data safety also lists location and installed apps shared for advertising.
• The age ratings disagree: Chai's Safety Center says 18+ on Google Play, but Play shows Mature 17+. Chai also dates its own launch two ways (2021 in the funding announcement, Nov 2022 App Store launch on the homepage), and gives two addresses (Palo Alto in the EULA and privacy policy, Newark in chai-ai.com's terms).

What Chai is

Chai is a platform where users build and share their own AI characters and stories. Chai's homepage timeline dates the App Store launch to November 2022. Its own funding announcement gives a different launch year, 2021. chai-research.com lists iOS and Android and says web is 'Coming Soon'.

A web version does exist at chai-ai.com: Chai's founder (r/ChaiApp account flaired '[Official] CHAI Founder') linked it on 2026-08-28 and said web and app accounts are separate. chai-ai.com's FAQ says the web product and the app are separate Chai Research products that share no data. The founder called the website 'totally experimental', missing features, and kept separate from the app for now. The app's EULA licenses Chai from Chai Research Corp. of Palo Alto, California.

The privacy policy says Chai Research Corp. is a Delaware corporation. The EULA is governed by California law. The App Store seller is Chai Research Corp.

• Free tier with ads: The app is free with ads. The privacy policy says ads are shown to free users with consent, and both store listings say 'Contains ads'.
• Paid-only regions: In some regions Chai can only be used with a paid subscription; the regions are not named. (paid)
• User-created characters: Anyone can create a character and keep it private or share it publicly.
• Character voices: Characters reply with their own voices.
• In-house models: Chai runs its own LLMs on its own GPU cluster.
• Persona and bot memory (iOS): The founder announced persona, bot memory and advanced bot-builder tools for the Apple app in August 2026, pending Apple review.
• Safety filters: In-app filters can hide mature content in search, hide explicit messages and block characters.
• Chai Web Pro (chai-ai.com): Web-only plans: 24-hour trial, then $159.99/year or $9.99/week. They are billed separately from app subscriptions. (paid)
• CHAI MAX (web): A web add-on: pay per token ($0.66 per 1,000 tokens) or $90 a month. (paid)

Every plan we could verify

Prices as we read them on 2026-09-27. They change often in this category, so check them on Chai's own site before paying.

What the App Store lists

Apple's US listing shows these in-app purchases, word for word. Apple shows at most ten, and does not always say which plan a line belongs to, so we list them exactly as shown rather than guess.

• Premium Subscription (Monthly) $13.99
• 200 Pieces $2.79
• Premium Membership $9.99
• Premium Subscription (Annual) $134.99
• Ultra Subscription (Weekly) $19.99
• Ultra Subscription (Monthly) $29.99
• 500 Pieces $6.99
• Premium Annual $134.99

What you get free

• The app is free to download, with ads and in-app purchases. Neither store listing states a daily message limit.

Pay-per-use costs on top of the plan

What Chai allows

• The EULA says roleplay may involve adult themes; users must be 18+, and adult content must stay fictional.
• The EULA bans sexually explicit images and videos of any kind.
• Also banned: sexual content involving minors, terrorism, self-harm encouragement, non-consensual intimate content of real people, and high-impact violence. Breaking these rules means termination and possible police referral.
• The Safety Center goes further than the EULA: the models are designed to refuse sexually explicit content, not only images.
• Every user message is scanned in real time for self-harm.
• Apple's age-rating details list frequent mature or suggestive themes and infrequent sexual content or nudity, plus advertising.
• The founder says the website can offer different features with 'a lot more freedom' than the app stores allow.
• chai-ai.com's FAQ, asked 'Does Chai Allow NSFW?', says only that user-made content 'may contain mature themes' and violating content is removed.

Age rules and verification

• EULA: 18+ only.
• The Safety Center says that where app stores verify age, users must be confirmed adults before download, and some regions require a paid subscription.
• Chai's founder announced Apple and Google age-verification integration on 2026-03-10, as Australian rules took effect, and said he prefers credit-card checks to face or ID scans.
• App Store age rating: 18+.
• Google Play rating: Mature 17+ (violence, sexual themes, drugs and alcohol, strong language), although the Safety Center claims 18+ on Google Play.

California: from January 1, 2027, Adam's Law makes every companion app find out each California user's age or treat all users as children. What the law requires, and where Chai stands.

Privacy: what happens to your chats

From Chai's privacy policy, terms and store listings as they read on 2026-09-27.

Who can read your chats

Personal data, including chats, is accessible to 'specifically authorized staff'. The policy does not say chats are never read. Reported content is reviewed by Chai's Trust and Safety team. On the web product, Chai says it uses 'manual review' as well as automated filters.

Training on your chats

Chats, with identifiers removed, are used to fine-tune Chai's models.

Sharing with third parties

Free users get ads (with consent), and usage patterns can go to ad partners for attribution if you installed through an ad. chai-ai.com's FAQ claims no sharing with any third parties, which contradicts both Chai privacy policies (ad partners, suppliers).

How long they keep it

Data can be kept for the life of the account plus up to five years after deletion.

Deleting your data

In-app deletion: Profile > Settings > Delete Account, subject to the retention period above.

Encryption

The privacy policy makes no encryption claim. Google Play's Data safety says data is encrypted in transit.

What the store privacy labels say

Google Play Data safety: location, personal info and 5 other data types may be shared with third parties, including installed apps and approximate location for advertising. Apple 'App Privacy' label: usage data is used to track you across other companies' apps and sites, and text messages are collected but 'not linked to you'. Google Play's 'Privacy Policy' link for Chai goes to a GitLab-hosted notice dated March 14, 2021, issued by 'Nexus, doing business as chai', not to the current Chai Research policy.

Renewal, refunds, cancelling and deleting your account

• Refunds: Chai's licence agreement has no subscription terms of its own; refunds go through the app store you paid with.
• Your account: Delete from the app: Profile > Settings > Delete Account. This permanently deletes the account, but data may be kept up to 5 years.
• Your account: Web (chai-ai.com) subscriptions are cancelled in the website's account settings; app accounts and web accounts are separate.

Change history

From our tracker's snapshots of Chai's own pages since 2026-07-02.

If Chai is not the one

The closest matches in our tracker, ranked by the same data as our switching guides.

• Janitor AI: full nsfw · free core, bring-your-own API key · pricing verified 2026-09-27
• CrushOn AI: full nsfw · free message allowance · pricing verified 2026-09-27
• PolyBuzz: soft / partial nsfw · freemium · pricing verified 2026-09-27

Questions people ask

Every tracked app's pricing in one table. Other apps with verified prices: CamSoda AI, Candy AI, SpicyChat, Kupid AI, HeraHaven, Nomi, OurDream AI, DreamGF, Secrets AI, DarLink, Character.AI, Janitor AI, Replika, CrushOn AI, Kindroid, SoulGen, PolyBuzz, Talkie, GoLove AI, Roger (ChatRoger), Promptchan