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Character.ai
Chat and roleplay with user-made characters
Enki editor score
Solid
Human-vetted editorial rating
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Overview
Character.ai is an AI chatbot app built for entertainment: you chat and roleplay with Characters that other users create, or build your own. Free users get the PipSqueak 3 and ShortSqueak chat styles with ads, while the (c.ai) lite and c.ai+ plans add premium styles such as DeepSqueak and LongSqueak, more memory and fewer or no ads. Under-18 users can no longer have open-ended chats with Characters; Character.ai routes them to other formats such as Series, Feed and Comics. It runs on the web, iOS and Android, and paid plans start at $4.99 a month for (c.ai) lite. In October 2026 the company filed for Chapter 11 to run a court-supervised sale, and it says the platform stays up while that runs.
Enki verdict
Still the biggest place to roleplay with AI characters, but a pending bankruptcy sale and chats used for training make it a hard one to pay a year ahead for.
Key features
User-made Characters
Chat with characters the community builds, or create your own.
Chat styles
Pick a model style per chat, from short texting replies to long roleplay.
Memory and Lorebook
Pin facts and world details so a character stays consistent.
Pros & cons
What we like
- The largest catalogue of user-made characters to chat with
- Usable free tier with two current chat styles
- Cheaper (c.ai) lite plan for lighter users
Worth noting
- Its future depends on a Chapter 11 sale due to close around December 2026
- Chats feed model training, with no opt-out in the privacy policy
- Open-ended chat is closed to under-18s
Character.ai pricing
Is Character.ai free?
Yes. Character.ai is free to use with ads, on the basic chat styles and with lower limits than c.ai+.
- Basic chat styles only: PipSqueak 3 and ShortSqueak
- No DeepSqueak or LongSqueak premium styles
- Full ads and slow mode at busy times
- Basic memory with 15 pins and a basic Lorebook
- Lower daily feature limits than c.ai+
(c.ai) lite
$4.99/mo
or $2.49 a week; price varies by region
- A daily allowance of DeepSqueak and LongSqueak messages
- No banner ads and fewer interstitial ads
- Less slow mode at busy times
- Extra memory pins and a memory usage bar
c.ai+
$9.99/mo
or $94.99 a year (save 21%)
- Unlimited premium chat styles: DeepSqueak and LongSqueak
- No ads and no slow mode
- Best memory with 30 pins and an advanced Lorebook
- Chat customization, priority feature access and premium support
Price history
- Checked against Character.ai's subscribe page and launch post: c.ai+ $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year, and the new (c.ai) lite plan at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week. Paid subscriptions continue during the Chapter 11 sale process.
Source: Character.ai's official pricing, checked Nov 4, 2026. Prices can change; confirm at checkout.
Character.ai FAQ
- Is Character.ai free?
- Yes. You can chat for free with ads on the PipSqueak 3 and ShortSqueak chat styles. Premium styles, more memory and an ad-free experience need (c.ai) lite or c.ai+.
- How much is c.ai+?
- c.ai+ costs $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year. The cheaper (c.ai) lite plan is $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week, with a daily allowance of premium messages instead of unlimited ones. Prices vary by region.
- Is Character.ai shutting down?
- Not as of November 4, 2026. On October 12, 2026 Character.ai said it had filed for voluntary Chapter 11 to run a court-supervised sale, expected to finish by late November or early December 2026. It says the platform and paid subscriptions keep running for now, and that the platform will be wound down if no bid keeps it running.
- Is Character.ai safe?
- Character.ai says it moderates content with automated tools and a Trust and Safety team, points users who raise self-harm toward local crisis services, and offers teens a Parental Insights weekly report for a parent. Its privacy policy says it collects your chats and uses the data it collects to improve the service and train its models, and it lists no training opt-out.
- Can under-18s use Character.ai?
- Teens can sign up, but they cannot have open-ended chats with Characters. Character.ai removed that for under-18 users from November 2025 and gives them other formats such as Series, Feed and Comics instead. You must be at least 13 to use it, or 16 in the EEA and UK, and Character.ai uses its own age assurance model to decide which experience you get.
- Is c.ai+ worth it?
- If you chat daily and hit slow mode or want the DeepSqueak and LongSqueak styles, c.ai+ at $94.99 a year works out to about $7.92 a month. With the company in a sale process, monthly billing is the lower-risk choice until its future is settled.
Character.ai in the news
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