Character.AI added (c.ai) lite, a $4.99 plan between Free and c.ai+

Character.AI began rolling out a new plan, (c.ai) lite, around September 3, 2026, and announced it 25 days later, on September 28. In the US it costs $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week, with no yearly option. It sits between the free plan and c.ai+, whose prices did not change ($9.99 a month or $94.99 a year). Character.AI's help center calls it 'a new subscription plan that gives you premium chat style messages every day, fewer ads, and better memory'.

Date: 2026-09-03 · the first user sightings, at regional prices; Character.AI only announced it on September 28. We first saw it on the web on September 22
App: Character.AI · prices, rules and full change history
Primary source: Character.AI blog: introducing PipSqueak 3, ShortSqueak, and (c.ai) lite (2026-09-28)
Last checked: 2026-10-02

What lite adds to the free plan (US)

	Before	After
Price	(free)	$4.99 USD a month or $2.49 USD a week
Premium chat styles	(none)	Daily taste
Ads	(full ads)	Fewer ads: no banner ads, and fewer interstitial ads
Memory pins	(15)	30 memory pins (the free plan has 15)
Chat customization	(no)	Chat customization: wallpapers, bubble colors, and more

What happened

For 25 days there was no launch post; none of Character.AI's blog posts through September 18 mentions lite. Users on r/CharacterAI posted the in-app offer from September 3, first at regional prices (a web price of '$3,99', then zloty and peso prices in the app). The help center's '(c.ai) lite FAQ' was created on September 4, the US App Store listed 'Character.AI Lite' at $4.99 and $2.49 in the Internet Archive's copy of September 7, and the logged-out character.ai/subscribe page added a lite column between our captures of September 11 and September 22. The announcement came on September 28, in a blog post that also made two new chat styles, PipSqueak 3 and ShortSqueak, free for everyone. It gives the same price, '$4.99 USD/month or $2.49 USD/week, with pricing varying by region'.

The 'About (c.ai) lite' article says lite 'adds four things to the free experience': a daily allowance on the premium chat styles DeepSqueak and LongSqueak, fewer ads, 30 memory pins instead of 15, and chat customization. The allowance is not published; the help center only promises 'a daily amount of messages on premium chat styles'. When it runs out, says the launch post, 'your chat switches back to PipSqueak 3', the new free default. The ads are deliberate: 'Ads are part of what keeps lite's price lower.' For users who stay free, the FAQ says 'Free stays as it is, including unlimited messaging.'

One answer in the lite FAQ muddles chat customization: comparing the plans, it lists it under c.ai+ and not under lite. Everything else Character.AI has published puts it in lite: the same FAQ's memory answer, the About article, the subscribe page and the launch post, which promises 'Wallpapers, bubble colors, and more'.

Prices vary by market ('Pricing varies by country, so check the app for your price'). On the web, lite's $4.99 monthly price is shown against a struck-through $10.83, roughly the weekly price over a month, under a 'save 54%' tag.

Sources

To cite this page: The Eliza Report, "Character.AI added (c.ai) lite, a $4.99 plan between Free and c.ai+", filed 2026-09-27, last checked 2026-10-02, https://elizareport.com/changelog/2026-09-03-character-ai-lite-plan/

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Character.AI's open-persona era: how the under-18 chat ban changed the app

Character.AI added (c.ai) lite, a $4.99 plan between Free and c.ai+

What lite adds to the free plan (US)

What happened

Sources

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