Apps · prices checked at the source 2026-09-27 · rules and privacy checked 2026-09-27
Character.AI: what it costs, what's free, and what it allows
Character.AI is free with ads. Two paid plans cut them: the new lite plan at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week, and c.ai+ at $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year. Prices are the same on the website and in the App Store, and every plan, free included, keeps unlimited messaging.
What we checked: 25 pages on support.character.ai, character.ai, the App Store, Google Play, blog.character.ai 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 60 quotes word for word (the receipts at the bottom) and a dated screenshot.
- Cheapest plan
- $4.99 a month · $7.92 a month paid yearly
- Free tier
- Yes — free tier — ads and paid regens since 2026
- NSFW policy
- No NSFW — Strictest filter in the vertical; under-18 open-ended chat banned with ID age verification
- Type
- Mainstream platform
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- App Store
- 4.3 out of 5, from 559K ratings (2026-09-27)
- Google Play
- 2.2 out of 5, from 2.44M ratings, 50M+ installs (2026-09-27)
- Trustpilot
- 1.2 out of 5, from 732 reviews (2026-09-27)
- Domain
- character.ai
- Tracked since
- 2026-07-02
What we found
- lite is new, a half-step between Free and c.ai+: no banner ads but still some full-screen and rewarded ads, a daily taste of the premium chat styles that cannot be topped up the same day, 30 memory pins instead of 15, and chat customization. Only c.ai+ removes ads entirely.
- Weekly lite is the expensive way to pay: $2.49 a week is about $10.79 a month, more than twice monthly lite and more than monthly c.ai+.
- The subscribe page now opens on the yearly c.ai+ price, $94.99 shown against $119.88 (21% off twelve months), and the $9.99 monthly price only appears after flipping the toggle. There is no yearly lite plan.
- The terms (last updated Aug 27, 2025) still set the minimum age at 13, or 16 in the EEA/UK. The under-18 ban covers open-ended chat, not accounts; teens keep Series, Feed, Comics, Imagine and AvatarFX.
- The stores disagree on age: the App Store rates the app 18+, Google Play rates it Teen.
- The store privacy labels contradict each other: Apple's label says data 'may be used to track you' across other companies' apps, while Google Play's Data safety says 'No data shared with third parties'. The privacy policy (July 1, 2026) says it shares personal information with ad providers for tailored ads.
- Every account is age-estimated from login info, platform activity and third-party signals; a selfie is asked for only if you are flagged as under 18 and want the adult experience. Paying for c.ai+ does not skip this.
- Ratings are split: 4.3 on the App Store (559K) but 2.2 on Google Play (2.44M reviews) and 1.2 on Trustpilot (732).
What Character.AI is
It is a chat app with millions of user-made characters that you can text or call by voice, and you can make your own. Platforms: web (character.ai), iPhone (App Store id1671705818) and Android (Google Play ai.character.app). The Android app shows ads. Character.AI is run by Character Technologies, Inc., a Delaware company based in Menlo Park, California.
Outside the EEA, its terms are governed by California law, with binding individual arbitration (users can opt out).
- Free unlimited messaging: Messaging is unlimited on every plan, including the free one.
- Voice calls: Character Calls are two-way voice conversations with a character, like a phone call, on web and app; calls are saved as text chat.
- Memory pins and lorebook: Free users get 15 memory pins and basic lorebook; lite and c.ai+ get 30 pins; advanced lorebook is c.ai+ only.
- Premium chat styles (models): Free users get the basic PipSqueak 2 styles; lite gets a daily allowance of premium styles (DeepSqueak, LongSqueak); c.ai+ gets them without a daily cap. (paid)
- Ad-free, faster replies (c.ai+): c.ai+ removes ads, skips waiting rooms, generates replies about 2-3x faster and has no daily feature limits. (paid)
- Images and video (Imagine Chat, AvatarFX): Image and video tools such as Imagine Chat and AvatarFX exist and stayed open to under-18 users after the chat ban.
Every plan we could verify
| Plan | Billing | Price | Per month | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lite | monthly | $4.99 | Website and App Store (same price) | |
| lite | weekly | $2.49 | $10.79 a month | Website and App Store (same price) |
| c.ai+ | yearly | $94.99 | $7.92 a month | Website and App Store (same price) |
| c.ai+ | monthly | $9.99 | Website and App Store (same price) |
Prices as we read them on 2026-09-27. They change often in this category, so check them on Character.AI'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.
- Character.AI+ $9.99
- Charms Starter Pack $0.99
- Charms Small Pack $2.99
- Character.AI+ $94.99
- Charms Large Pack $9.99
- Character.AI Lite $4.99
- Charms Medium Pack $4.99
- Character.AI Lite $2.49
- Charms Extra Large Pack $24.99
- Charms Extra Extra Extra Large Pack $99.99
What you get free
- Unlimited messaging, with full ads, basic memory, 15 memory pins and no premium chat styles.
Pay-per-use costs on top of the plan
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Charms (in-app currency) | packs from $0.99 to $99.99 in the App Store |
What Character.AI allows
- No NSFW at all: pornographic content and nudity are banned for everyone, adults included.
- Romance is allowed as a genre, but inside those limits.
- Also banned: real-world violence, gore, animal abuse, terrorism, promoting self-harm or eating disorders, impersonating real people without permission, and medical, legal or financial advice.
- Rules are enforced by filters on the AI models plus automated moderation and human review.
- Under-18 users get a stricter model with more conservative filters and a narrower set of characters.
Age rules and verification
- The terms still allow accounts from age 13 (16 in the EEA and UK). They were last updated August 27, 2025, before the under-18 chat ban.
- Character.AI announced on October 29, 2025 that it would remove open-ended chat for under-18 users by November 25, 2025.
- The removal began in the US on November 24, 2025, with other markets to follow.
- In September 2026 the company confirmed the ban is still in place; under-18 users get non-chat features like Series, Feed and Comics instead.
- Age is estimated automatically for every account from login info, platform activity and third-party signals. If you are flagged as under 18, you can prove your age with a selfie through Persona, and an ID only if the selfie is inconclusive.
- Persona, not Character.AI, handles the selfie or ID and deletes it within 7 days.
- Paying for c.ai+ does not skip the age check.
- Adults flagged by mistake can start verification themselves under Settings, Advanced, Verify Age.
- App Store age rating: 18+, with in-app controls.
- Google Play content rating: Teen.
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 Character.AI stands.
Privacy: what happens to your chats
From Character.AI's privacy policy, terms and store listings as they read on 2026-09-27.
- Who can read your chats
- The terms let Character.AI access and review your content at any time, including to develop the service or enforce its rules. Moderation is done by in-house staff, contract moderators and vendors, working on reported content. The help center says private characters and posts are visible only to you, and that mods may review content shared with the community. No person is watching chats live.
- Training on your chats
- Chats are collected data, and the privacy policy lists training its AI models as one use of collected data.
- Sharing with third parties
- Personal information is shared with advertising and analytics providers for targeted ads.
- How long they keep it
- Public characters you made can stay live after you delete your account.
- Encryption
- Google Play says data is encrypted in transit; no end-to-end encryption of chats is claimed on the pages checked.
- What the store privacy labels say
- Apple App Privacy: location, contact info, identifiers and usage data 'may be used to track you' across other companies' apps and sites. The Google Play Data safety summary says no data is shared with third parties, which does not match the privacy policy's ad-sharing clause or Apple's tracking label.
Renewal, refunds, cancelling and deleting your account
- Renewal: Every plan renews automatically at its interval (weekly, monthly or yearly) until cancelled.
- Refunds: App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded under Apple's or Google's own policy; website purchases need a support ticket.
- Refunds: No partial refunds for unused time when you cancel.
- Cancelling: Website: Settings, Account, Manage, which emails you a link to the billing portal. Apps: the store's subscription settings.
- Cancelling: The plan stays active to the end of the billing period.
- Your account: Web: Profile, Profile Settings, Account, Manage Account & Data, Delete Account. App: Profile, settings icon, Remove Account. Deletion is permanent.
Change history
From our tracker's snapshots of Character.AI's own pages since 2026-07-02.
2026-09-28 Two new free chat styles, PipSqueak 3 ('noticeably smarter' than PipSqueak 2, per Character.AI) and ShortSqueak (short replies for casual chats), rolled out to everyone over a few days. New chats now start on PipSqueak 3; PipSqueak 2 and Rawr moved to a Legacy menu, and existing chats keep their style. The subscribe page's basic chat styles changed between our captures of 09-25 and 10-02. (blog.character.ai/new-styles-new-plan/ (2026-09-28); character.ai/subscribe tracker snapshots 2026-09-25 and 2026-10-02)
2026-09-11 The logged-out /subscribe page now opens on the yearly plan: page title 'Unlock c.ai+ Annual – Exclusive Savings & Premium Features', $119.88 struck through to $94.99. The $9.99 monthly plan is still sold, behind the page's Monthly/Yearly toggle. Prices unchanged. (character.ai/subscribe, tracker snapshots 2026-08-21 → 2026-09-11 (US curl))
2026-09-03 New 'lite' plan between Free and c.ai+: $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week in the US (no yearly option), with fewer ads (no banners), a daily allowance of premium chat styles, 30 memory pins and, chat customization. A staged rollout announced only on 09-28: first user sightings 09-03 at regional prices, help-center FAQ created 09-04, US App Store listing by 09-07; we first saw it on the logged-out web page on 09-22. c.ai+ prices unchanged. (character.ai/subscribe, support.character.ai (About (c.ai) lite; (c.ai) lite FAQ), App Store id1671705818 and its Internet Archive copies of 2026-08-16 and 2026-09-07, r/CharacterAI posts from 2026-09-03, blog.character.ai launch post 2026-09-28; checked 2026-09-22, 2026-09-27 and 2026-10-02) Full record →
2026-07-09 Launched '(c.ai) series' — original short-form vertical microdramas produced by an in-house studio, with interactive chat with the shows' characters for users 18+. (blog.character.ai (2026-07-09); TechCrunch 2026-07-09)
2026-07-02 Free-tier degradation tracked: ads and paid message regenerations now in the free experience; c.ai+ unchanged at $9.99/mo (our check)
2026-06-30 WIRED revealed Meta ran a covert program (codename 'Cannes', via contractor Covalen) paying contractors to pose as under-18 users and send crisis prompts — suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, sex — to rival chatbots including Character.AI: 45,000+ prompts in one August 2025 round. Character.AI said the testing violated its terms of service. (WIRED, via The Decoder 2026-06-30)
2026-06-17 Creator feature bundle shipped: updated Creator Guide, character creation/editing on mobile, Creator Insights analytics dashboard (interactions, followers, likes), a Following tab, push notifications for followed creators' releases, and creator leaderboards. (blog.character.ai (2026-06-17))
2025-11-24 Open-ended chat removed for under-18 users, starting in the US, with 'other markets following in short order' and a second group of teen users losing it weeks after the first. Announced October 29 for 'no later than November 25', with teen chat capped at two hours a day in the meantime. Who counts as under 18 is decided by an in-house age assurance model combined with third-party tools including Persona. (blog.character.ai/u18-chat-announcement/ (2025-10-29) and blog.character.ai/an-update-on-changes-to-our-under-18-experience/ (2025-11-21), read 2026-09-27) Obituary →
If Character.AI 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
- SpicyChat: full nsfw · free tier · pricing verified 2026-09-27
- CrushOn AI: full nsfw · free message allowance · pricing verified 2026-09-27
Guides featuring Character.AI
- Character.AI alternatives — data-ranked switching guide
- Replika vs Character.AI — side-by-side comparison
- Character.AI vs Janitor AI — side-by-side comparison
Questions people ask
Is Character.AI free?
Yes, with unlimited messaging and ads. lite ($4.99 a month) removes banner ads and adds a daily taste of premium chat styles; c.ai+ ($9.99 a month) removes all ads.
How much is c.ai+?
$9.99 a month or $94.99 a year, on the website and the App Store alike.
Is Character AI safe to use?
It has the strictest rules of the big chat apps: no porn or nudity for anyone, filtered models, automated moderation plus human review, and no open-ended chat for under-18s since late 2025. The privacy trade-off is real: the privacy policy lets it use collected data (which includes chats) to train its AI and share personal information with ad partners, and Apple's label says some data may be used to track you.
Is Character AI 18+ now?
Only chat is. Since November 2025, users under 18 cannot have open-ended chats, but the terms still allow accounts from 13 (16 in the EU/UK), and teens get other features like Series, Feed and Comics. Age is estimated automatically; adults flagged as teens can verify with a Persona selfie (ID only if needed). The App Store rates it 18+, Google Play rates it Teen.
Does C AI have a chat limit?
Not on message count for adults: messaging is unlimited on every plan, including free. The limits are on premium chat styles (lite gets a daily amount) and other daily feature limits on the free and lite plans. Under-18 users cannot use open-ended chat at all.
How can I use Character.AI for free?
Sign up on the web, iPhone or Android app and use the free plan: unlimited messages on the basic chat styles, voice calls and 15 memory pins, with ads. Paid lite and c.ai+ plans add premium models, fewer or no ads and more memory.
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, Janitor AI, Replika, CrushOn AI, Kindroid, SoulGen, PolyBuzz, Talkie, Chai, GoLove AI, Roger (ChatRoger), Promptchan
Receipts: 60 quotes from Character.AI's own pages and store listings
Every fact above, quoted word for word from the page it came from on the check date. We keep the page text on file.
- Price: "Unlimited messaging stays on every plan, including free." support.character.ai
- Price: "$10.83 $4.99 per month" character.ai
- Price: "$2.49 per week" character.ai
- Price: "Character.AI Lite | | $4.99" apps.apple.com
- Price: "Character.AI Lite | | $2.49" apps.apple.com
- Price: "$119.88 $94.99 per year" character.ai
- Price: "$9.99 per month" character.ai
- Price: "Character.AI+ | | $9.99" apps.apple.com
- Price: "Character.AI+ | | $94.99" apps.apple.com
- Free use: "Does the free plan change? No. Free stays as it is, including unlimited messaging." support.character.ai
- Free use: "Ads Full Less None" support.character.ai
- Pay-per-use: "Can I buy more premium messages for today? No. Your daily amount resets tomorrow." support.character.ai
- Renewal: "Subscription auto-renews yearly. Cancel in settings anytime." character.ai
- Renewal: "Subscription auto-renews monthly. Cancel in settings anytime." character.ai
- Renewal: "Subscription auto-renews weekly. Cancel in settings anytime." character.ai
- Renewal: "Either way, your plan stays active through the end of your current billing period." support.character.ai
- Refunds: "Refunds depend on where you purchased. App Store and Google Play purchases follow Apple's or Google's refund policy and are requested directly through them." support.character.ai
- Refunds: "No partial refunds are issued for unused time within a billing period." support.character.ai
- Cancelling: "If you subscribed in the app, you can manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings." support.character.ai
- Cancelling: "Navigate to Settings > Account > Manage" support.character.ai
- Cancelling: "You can cancel your subscription by going to your profile and clicking on “Cancel My Subscription”." support.character.ai
- About: "Character.AI is home to millions of user-generated AI Characters" apps.apple.com
- About: "Character AI: Chat, Talk, Text" apps.apple.com
- About: "Contains ads In-app purchases" play.google.com
- About: "Character Technologies Inc. is a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware." character.ai
- About: "these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions" character.ai
- Features: "Unlimited messaging stays on every plan, including free." support.character.ai
- Features: "Through Character Calls, users can now have seamless two way conversations and talk with Characters in the same way one would have a phone call." support.character.ai
- Features: "30 memory pins (the free plan has 15)" support.character.ai
- Features: "(c.ai) lite includes a daily amount of messages on premium chat styles, such as DeepSqueak and LongSqueak." support.character.ai
- Features: "c.ai+ messages are currently generated approx. 2-3x faster." support.character.ai
- Features: "Many of our tools like AvatarFX and Imagine Chat, are still available to under-18 users." support.character.ai
- Content rules: "Illegal sexual content, child exploitation or abuse imagery, grooming, sexual extortion, pornographic content, and nudity are prohibited." character.ai
- Content rules: "Character.AI is designed for immersive storytelling that spans every genre—from passionate romance and thrilling adventure to intense action and gripping mystery." character.ai
- Content rules: "This includes any promotion or depiction of real-world violence, torture, gore, animal abuse, terrorism, or extremist ideologies." character.ai
- Content rules: "Our systems filter illegal or harmful content through both automated moderation and human review, while our AI models are designed with filters and limits to prevent inappropriate outputs." character.ai
- Content rules: "Our under-18 model has additional and more conservative classifiers than the model for our adult users" character.ai
- Age: "If you are under 13 years old OR if you are under 16 years old and a citizen or resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom (UK), do not sign up for the Services" character.ai
- Age: "we will be removing the ability for users under 18 to engage in open-ended chat with AI on our platform. This change will take effect no later than November 25." blog.character.ai
- Age: "Starting on Monday, November 24, we will begin removing open-ended chat for under-18 users in the US, with other markets following in short order." blog.character.ai
- Age: "Last year, we removed open-ended chat with Characters for users under 18" blog.character.ai
- Age: "We’ll look at a number of signals, including login info, activity on the platform, and some signals from third parties." support.character.ai
- Age: "Any biometric data or ID submitted is automatically and permanently deleted within 7 days." support.character.ai
- Age: "purchasing a Character.AI+ subscription does not bypass or override the age assurance process." support.character.ai
- Age: "On the mobile app: Go to Settings -> Advanced -> Verify Age." support.character.ai
- Age: "18+ In-App Controls" apps.apple.com
- Age: "Teen Diverse Content: Discretion Advised" play.google.com
- Privacy: "we may access, review, screen, edit, modify and delete your content at any time and for any reason, including to provide and develop the Services" character.ai
- Privacy: "Our Trust & Safety team includes internal personnel, contracted moderators, and vendors - as is standard in the industry." character.ai
- Privacy: "If you create a Character or post that will be seen by the community, mods might review to evaluate potential negative impact." support.character.ai
- Privacy: "Analyze, maintain, improve, modify, customize, and measure the Services, including to train our artificial intelligence/machine learning models;" character.ai
- Privacy: "We may disclose personal information to advertising and analytics providers in connection with the provision of tailored advertising" character.ai
- Privacy: "we reserve the right to preserve that Character’s characteristics and to keep that Character active on the Services, even if you otherwise delete your data and your account" character.ai
- Privacy: "The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:" apps.apple.com
- Privacy: "No data shared with third parties" play.google.com
- Privacy: "Data is encrypted in transit" play.google.com
- Account: "Account Deletion is permanent and cannot be reversed." support.character.ai
- Ratings: "4.3 out of 5 559K Ratings" apps.apple.com
- Ratings: "2.2 star 2.44M reviews" play.google.com
- Ratings: "Reviews 732 • 1.2" trustpilot.com