The Eliza Report
ELIZA/WIRE · 39 apps tracked · 97 events logged · 25 prices verified · last check 2026-10-03

← The Graveyard

Kindroid Lite

Kindroid Lite, unlimited free plan on Kindroid's smaller model, died 2026-10-01 (announced 2026-08-18). Users got 44 days' notice. Cause of death: 'An indefinite lower-quality free tier is neither sustainable nor representative of the product we're building.' Kindroid, August 18, 2026.

Died
2026-10-01 (announced 2026-08-18)
Cause of death
'An indefinite lower-quality free tier is neither sustainable nor representative of the product we're building.' Kindroid, August 18, 2026.
Notice given
44 days industry best
Tracker profile
full data & change history →

“Free forever, on the smaller model. Forever ran to October 1, with fifty last messages on the big one.”

Kindroid's subscription page, Free user features: unlimited messages on Lite, the smaller, distilled version of our flagship model; 1 selfie request every 2 hours; 5,000 lifetime audio characters; only 2 Kindroids per account; basic long term memory recall
Kindroid's subscription page on September 27, four days out, still listing 'Unlimited messages on Lite' as the free plan.
Kindroid update log, August 18 entry: V2 becomes the default; V1 and Lite retire October 1. New users get 50 flagship interactions, two Kindroid slots, 5,000 audio characters and up to five selfie generations
The death notice: Kindroid's update log, August 18 entry, captured September 27.
Kindroid's subscription page, New account preview and read-only accounts: 50 messages with standard paid memory (15 in some regions), 5 selfies, 5,000 audio characters, up to 2 Kindroids; accounts that were already free get 50 final messages; when the preview is used up the account becomes read-only; deleting the account does not reset the preview
The same page on October 1: 'Free user features' is gone, replaced by a one-time preview and read-only accounts.

The obituary

Lite was the part of Kindroid you got without paying: unlimited messages on 'the smaller, distilled version of our flagship model', as the subscription page put it. Free accounts also got two Kindroids, a selfie every two hours, 5,000 lifetime audio characters and 'basic long term memory recall'. The FAQ put free replies at 500 to 700 characters, against 1,000 to 1,400 for subscribers, and warned that free users 'may experience slower speeds during high traffic'.

Kindroid spent a year narrowing it. From October 5, 2025, new free users got a few messages on the flagship model before being 'routed to Lite'. On February 4, 2026 the Lite model got a major update, the new-user trial was cut from seven days to three, and sharing Kindroids or posting to Kindroid Social became subscriber-only.

In June 2026 Kindroid opened a 'Community Voices' consultation on free access, and only paying users could answer it: 'open to paid user and current subscriber only', responses due June 26. The post made the case in advance: 'indefinite free Lite access has become a structure we don't think holds up'. It 'isn't about money or any financial trouble, we're doing fine', the post said, and Lite 'is much less expensive for us to serve than the flagships'. The problems were incentives and brand: free use 'is funded by paying subscribers, which makes it charity by default rather than by design', and Lite was 'a weaker experience that we're not proud of' that people reviewed 'as if it represents Kindroid'. Ads and a cheaper plan were both ruled out.

The sentence came on August 18, in the update-log entry that made the new V2 interface the default: 'Lite retires October 1.' New accounts get a preview of the real thing instead: 50 interactions on the flagship model (15 in 'regions with substantially higher account abuse'), two Kindroid slots, 5,000 audio characters and up to five selfies, with regenerations costing half an interaction. When the preview runs out the account goes read-only until its owner starts the three-day trial or subscribes, and a trial that lapses goes back to read-only 'rather than Lite'. Existing Lite users get 50 final flagship interactions on October 1 with their current Kindroids and memories, no new selfie or audio allowance, and no use of media balances until they subscribe. Daily login rewards stop for anyone not on a trial or a plan. This time the reason given was cost: 'Kindroid is expensive to provide'.

Read-only keeps everything and moves nothing. Kindroids, chats, memories and media stay viewable, downloadable and exportable 'where available'; nothing new can be generated. The way back is the trial, which 'requires a payment method on file and auto converts into a subscription if not cancelled', or a plan: $13.99 a month bought on the web, $15.99 through the App Store or Google Play.

October 1 was set as a triple funeral. The old V1 interface was due to retire the same day, and so were two older models, Equinox (V7) and Prism (V7.5), 'due to very low usage', announced September 9 when the new flagship Polaris launched. Subscribers keep their plans and prices; those still on Equinox or Prism have to pick another model.

We dug this grave four days early, on September 27, when the subscription page still promised 'Unlimited messages on Lite'. On October 1 that line was gone. The page, now dated that day, swapped 'Free user features' for 'New account preview and read-only accounts': new accounts get '50 messages with standard paid memory (15 in some regions)', five selfies, 5,000 audio characters and up to two Kindroids, and 'Accounts that were already free get 50 final messages on the flagship model.' Old selfie and audio balances are 'kept but locked'. The August notice counted 'interactions'; the page counts messages, with regenerations, continuations and suggested messages at half.

The page also shuts the obvious loophole. Starting a trial or a plan ends the preview, and it 'doesn't come back after cancelling, and deleting your account doesn't reset it.' One change reaches paying users too: if the standard plan lapses, 'your account becomes read-only regardless of Ultra/MAX being active'. The page used to say such accounts fell back to the free tier, and there is no free tier to fall back to.

Kindroid marked the day quietly. By midday Pacific time on October 1 the update log had no new entry, nothing from the team had appeared on r/KindroidAI, and the FAQ still told free users they get two Kindroids, slower replies at busy times and replies of 500 to 700 characters.

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