Character.AI review
Character.AI, or c.ai, is free to download and sign up to, with paid options sold in the app: Character.AI+ at $9.99 or $94.99, a Lite plan and Charms packs. It is run by Character Technologies, Inc., in Menlo Park, California, and its terms rule out explicit content on every plan.
By Hugo RodriguesChecked September 29, 2026 · How we test
CharacterAINSFWDetailed review coming soon
We have not tested Character.AI hands-on yet. This page reports what we could check without a full test: prices, sign-up, payment and the company behind it. The detailed review, with a hands-on test and a score, will be published on this page. How we test
- Free
- to start, then from $9.99 or $94.99
- Not listed
- in our lists, until its review
Character.AI sign-up, payment and who runs it
First-hand data
CharacterAINSFW- Sign up with
- Not allowed under 13, or under 16 in the EEA and the UK, per its terms
- Pay with
Prices read on its App Store listing. Web checkout not seen without an account
- As stated on the pricing page
- On your bank statement
Not stated
- Company behind it
Character Technologies, Inc.
- Menlo Park, California, terms of service
- Mobile app
Yes
- iOS app rated 18+ on the App Store, with age assurance and parental controls listed
- Own model, key or proxy
Not verified
- Delete your account
Not found yet
- Checked
September 29, 2026
- Signed out, from its public pages
Is Character.AI worth it?
We cannot tell you yet: we have not tested Character.AI hands-on. Here is what the facts we checked say.
- The app is free to download and sign up to, and the App Store listing says it contains ads. What the free tier leaves out, we have not seen yet.
- The price of c.ai+ is only readable on its App Store listing, at $9.99 or $94.99, with no billing period shown. Charms, its in-app currency, sell from $0.99.
- Its terms forbid obscene or pornographic content on every plan, so paying does not change what the characters may say.
- Its signed-out home page loads a full advertising stack: Google Ads, Criteo, PubMatic, Facebook, Reddit and three identity-matching services.
- Its terms give it a perpetual, irrevocable licence to what you write, and send disputes to individual arbitration unless you opt out.
Character.AI pricing
Every plan as its App Store listing (US) lists it. What a plan includes is what the platform states.
| Plan | Price | What the plan lists |
|---|---|---|
| Character.AI+ | $9.99 or $94.99 | Two App Store listings, billing period not shown |
| Character.AI Lite | $2.49 or $4.99 | Two App Store listings, billing period not shown |
| Charms packs | $0.99 to $49.99 | Seven packs of Charms, its in-app currency |
Read on its App Store listing (US) on September 29, 2026.
Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled, per its terms. The App Store lists each subscription at two prices without saying which period each one covers, and the web subscription page opens only with an account.
Charms, its in-app currency, sell separately in seven packs.
Candy AI allows explicit chat on its paid plans, which Character.AI's terms rule out.
Try Candy AIFree tier, no card. Affiliate link to Candy AI.Is Character.AI free?
There is a free tier. Here is what it gives, as Character.AI states it.
| Feature | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Download and sign-up | Yes | Yes |
| Access to characters | After sign-up, per its home page | Yes |
| Advertising | The App Store listing says the app contains ads | Not stated |
| Explicit content | No, per its terms | No, per its terms |
Read on its App Store listing and home page on September 29, 2026.
What Character.AI says it offers
Read on its public pages and catalogue. A yes means the platform shows or states it, not that we have tried it. Not verified means we could not see it without a full test.
What it generates
- Image generation
- Not verified
- Video generation
- Not verified
- Voice replies
- Not verified
- Voice calls
- Yes
Characters
- Custom characters
- Yes
- Community library
- Yes
- Group chat
- Not verified
- Long-term memory
- Not verified
- User personas
- Not verified
Styles
- Realistic
- Not verified
- Anime
- Not verified
Who you can talk to
- Female characters
- Not verified
- Male characters
- Not verified
- Trans characters
- Not verified
Cost and payment
- Free tier
- Yes
- Free images
- Not verified
- Crypto payment
- Not verified
- Discreet billing
- Not verified
Rules and reach
- NSFW allowed
- No
- Mobile app
- Yes
- Public API
- Not verified
Your own model
- Own model or proxy
- Not verified
Is Character.AI safe? Privacy and data
What its pages load, counted by us, and what its terms say about your data.
| Loaded on the page | What it is |
|---|---|
| Google Ads, DoubleClick, AdSense, Tag Manager | Advertising and ad measurement |
| Criteo, PubMatic, RTB House | Ad buying and retargeting |
| ID5, Lotame, Yahoo ConnectID | Cross-site identity matching for advertising |
| Facebook, Reddit | Advertising pixels |
| Amplitude | Product analytics |
| Sentry, Cloudflare | Error reporting and web analytics |
Recorded on the home page, signed out, in a clean browser profile, on September 29, 2026: 150 requests on the home page.
- What you write
- You keep ownership, and grant a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and sublicensable licence to use it for any Character.AI purpose, including letting other users remix it. (terms of service, read September 29, 2026)
- Model training
- It collects information from public sources on the internet to evaluate and improve the service, including for model training and development. (privacy policy, read September 29, 2026)
- Advertising
- It and its advertising and analytics providers use cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies on the service. (privacy policy, read September 29, 2026)
The App Store rates the iOS app 18+, with age assurance and parental controls listed under in-app controls.
Character.AI rules: refunds, limits and cancelling
What its own terms and screens say, quoted with the page and the date.
- Explicit content
- Content that is obscene or pornographic is not allowed, on any plan. (terms of service, read September 29, 2026)
- Minimum age
- Not allowed under 13, or under 16 for residents of the EEA and the UK. (terms of service, read September 29, 2026)
- Refunds
- Payments are non-refundable except where the law requires. App store purchases are refunded through Apple or Google. (terms of service, read September 29, 2026)
- Disputes
- Disputes go to binding individual arbitration with a class action waiver, with a right to opt out described in the terms. (terms of service, read September 29, 2026)
What we have and have not checked on Character.AI
What we did ourselves
- September 29, 2026
- Read the home page, the terms, the privacy policy and the App Store listing, and recorded what the home page loads. No account opened. The help centre did not open for us.
What the detailed review will check
- How the conversation holds over 50 messages, and what it remembers
- How consistent generated images stay across a session, and how often it refuses
- What the free tier shows before the paywall, message by message
- Features we could not see yet: Image generation, Video generation, Voice replies, Group chat, Long-term memory, User personas, Realistic, Anime, Female characters, Male characters, Trans characters, Free images, Crypto payment, Discreet billing, Public API, Own model or proxy
The Character.AI filter, age checks and alternatives
Each has its own page on this site. This is where to find them.
What the filter blocks and why it moves is in our guide to the Character.AI filter, and how its age assurance works is in our guide to Character.AI age verification.
If you are leaving it, the platforms people move to are in our list of Character.AI alternatives, and what Character.AI allows is summed up on our home page.
Character.AI alternatives
Free tier: Unlimited chats on standard models, about 9k of context.
Free tier: Unlimited messages with ads, 4k context, unlimited character creation.
Frequently asked questions about Character.AI
What is c.ai?
c.ai is the short name for Character.AI, a chat platform where you talk to characters written by other users or build your own. Its home page announces more than 10 million characters.
Is Character.AI free?
Its App Store listing says it is free, with ads and in-app purchases, and its home page offers access to its characters after a free sign-up. We have not yet checked what the free tier leaves out.
How much is c.ai+?
Its App Store listing shows Character.AI+ at $9.99 or $94.99 and Character.AI Lite at $2.49 or $4.99, without saying which period each price covers. The web subscription page does not open without an account.
Is Character.AI safe?
It is run by a named US company and its app is rated 18+ on the App Store. On privacy, its public pages load a large set of advertising trackers, and its terms give it a perpetual licence to what you write. Both are set out on this page.
Who owns Character.AI?
Character Technologies, Inc., based in Menlo Park, California, per its terms of service.
Does c.ai+ remove the filter?
No. Its terms forbid obscene or pornographic content on every plan, paid or not. Our guide to the Character.AI filter explains what triggers it.
