Replika: The original AI companion — chat, voice calls, AR. Character.AI: The UGC roleplay giant — text, voice, stories; strictest content filter in the space.
Below is the tracked data side by side; neither app paid for this page.
Neither has had a hands-on test from us yet.
Soft / partial NSFW — Romance and 'spicy selfies' behind the Pro subscription
No NSFW — Strictest filter in the vertical; under-18 open-ended chat banned with ID age verification
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Web, iOS, Android
Free tier
Yes — free base; romance features behind Pro
Yes — free tier — ads and paid regens since 2026
Pricing
Free Use; Pro, Ultra (annual only) and Platinum priced in-app only. The App Store lists subscriptions at $7.99 and $14.99 monthly, $49.99 and $69.99 yearly, and Platinum at $89.99 ✓ · full pricing
Free tier with ads; lite $4.99/mo or $2.49 a week; c.ai+ $9.99/mo or $94.99/yr (same on web and App Store) ✓ · full pricing
Tracked since
2026-07-02
2026-07-02
✓ = verified by us at the primary source on the profile's check date.
Their prices, as we captured them
Replika's help center, captured 2026-09-27: it names four programs but says the cost is shown in the app, not on the web. Every Replika plan Character.AI's subscribe page, captured 2026-09-27 with yearly billing selected. Every Character.AI plan
What the data says
Content policy is the biggest split: Replika allows soft / partial nsfw while Character.AI allows no nsfw.
On Replika's record: Fined €5M by the Italian GDPR regulator in 2025.
On Replika's record: Subscription prices are not published on the public web — shown only in-app/app-store, and 'subject to change at Replika's sole discretion'.
Outbound links may be affiliate links (disclosed per app on its profile); they never
change what the table above says.
FAQ
Is Replika or Character.AI cheaper?
Replika: Free Use; Pro, Ultra (annual only) and Platinum priced in-app only. The App Store lists subscriptions at $7.99 and $14.99 monthly, $49.99 and $69.99 yearly, and Platinum at $89.99 (verified at the primary source). Character.AI: Free tier with ads; lite $4.99/mo or $2.49 a week; c.ai+ $9.99/mo or $94.99/yr (same on web and App Store) (verified at the primary source). Advertised monthly rates in this vertical usually anchor to annual billing — check each profile's change history for renewal behavior.
Does Replika or Character.AI allow NSFW content?
Replika: Soft / partial NSFW — Romance and 'spicy selfies' behind the Pro subscription. Character.AI: No NSFW — Strictest filter in the vertical; under-18 open-ended chat banned with ID age verification. Content policy is the most volatile field we track; both records carry dated change history below.
Can you try Replika or Character.AI for free?
Replika: Yes — free base; romance features behind Pro. Character.AI: Yes — free tier — ads and paid regens since 2026. "Free" in this vertical usually means limited messages or locked voice/image features rather than full access.
Recent history, both apps
2026-09-28Character.AI — 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)
2026-09-11Character.AI — 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))
2026-09-03Character.AI — 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)
2026-08-03Replika — Subscription ladder is now four tiers — Free Use, Pro, Ultra, Platinum (real-time video recognition, Training Mode, 'Read Replika's Mind', selfie videos) — with prices published only in-app; the help center also notes free access 'may be denied at Replika's discretion' (help.replika.com 'Choosing a Subscription', checked 2026-08-03)
2026-08-03Replika — Removed the 'Elisabeth and Emma' grief testimonial — a mother describing using Replika to recapture conversations with her late daughter — from the homepage; live on 2026-07-27, gone by 2026-08-03 (tracker homepage snapshots 2026-07-27 → 2026-08-03)
2026-07-09Character.AI — 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)
2026-07-02Character.AI — Free-tier degradation tracked: ads and paid message regenerations now in the free experience; c.ai+ unchanged at $9.99/mo (our check)
2026-06-30Character.AI — 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)
2026-06-17Character.AI — 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))
2025-11-24Character.AI — 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)
