About Character.AI
Character.AI is a consumer chat platform where you converse with AI characters. People use it for roleplay, storytelling and companionship, talking with characters that are created by the company or by other users.
It is a hosted, cloud-based service with web and mobile access and no self-hosted option. It is aimed at entertainment and creative use rather than professional productivity, and users should review the service's rules and age guidance before using it.
Key features
- Chat with AI characters
- Roleplay and storytelling
- Companionship-style conversations
- User-created characters
Good fit for
- →Interactive storytelling
- →Casual roleplay chat
- Tags
- ai-chat
- roleplay
- characters
- chatbot
- storytelling
- companionship
- entertainment
Character.AI: questions and answers
- What is Character.AI used for?
- Character.AI is a chat service for talking with AI characters for roleplay, storytelling and companionship. It is a good fit for interactive storytelling and casual roleplay chat.
- Is Character.AI free?
- Yes. Character.AI has a free plan.
- Is Character.AI open source?
- No. Character.AI is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Character.AI include RisuAI, TavernAI V1 and SillyTavern.
- What are some alternatives to Character.AI?
- Character.AI competes with Poe and ChatGPT. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Character.AI alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Character.AI
See all
RisuAI
AI Tools
Make your own story. User-friendly software for LLM roleplaying
GPL-3.0vs Character.AI★ 1.7k
TavernAI V1
AI Tools
Atmospheric adventure chat for AI language models (KoboldAI, NovelAI, Pygmalion, OpenAI ch
MITvs Character.AI★ 2.7k
SillyTavern
AI Tools
LLM Frontend for Power Users.
AGPL-3.0vs Character.AI★ 34k
MaiBot
AI Tools
MaiSaka, an LLM-based intelligent agent, is a digital lifeform devoted to understanding yo
GPL-3.0vs Replika★ 6.1kXiaozhi Android Client
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一个基于小智、xiaozhi-server的Android、IOS语音对话应用,支持实时语音交互和文字对话。现在是flutter版本,打通IOS、Android端。请同志们动动小手
Apache-2.0★ 1.6k
OpenClaw
AI Tools
The AI that really does things. Any OS. Any Platform. The lobster way. 🦞
OSSvs ChatGPT★ 391k
SaaS alternatives to Character.AI
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Poe
AI Tools
One chat app to talk to many AI models and build custom bots
SaaS
ChatGPT
AI Tools
ChatGPT is OpenAI's conversational AI assistant for answering questions, writing, coding and analysis through web and mobile apps.
SaaS
Replika
AI Tools
AI companion chatbot app for conversation, roleplay and emotional support
SaaS
Aymo AI
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Team workspace with access to GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok and other AI models
SaaS
Pi
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Conversational AI assistant from Inflection AI focused on personal chat
SaaS
AI-Mizu
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Test and use several AI models such as Claude and GPT in one interface with pay-as-you-go use
SaaS

