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Character.AI vs HeyAIBuddy

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Character.AI starts at $9.99, HeyAIBuddy at $6.99. Both have a free tier.

Character.AIRoleplay chat with user-made characters, now adults onlyHeyAIBuddyVoice and text AI companion chat with official characters, custom personas, and a credit-based voice tier.

Side by side

FactCharacter.AIHeyAIBuddy
CategoryAI Companions & CharactersAI Companions & Characters
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$9.99 month$6.99 month
Public APINoNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CompanyCharacter Technologies, Inc.—
Launched2021—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

Character.AI

Still the deepest character library anywhere and the reason the whole companion category exists, but it has been rebuilt around safety and identity checks, and the audience it was famous for is now locked out.

Pros

  • Character library is far larger than any competitor's, with voice calls and group scenes included
  • Free tier is genuinely usable, with the subscription mostly buying speed and memory
  • Safety changes are unusually explicit about what was removed and when

Cons

  • Age assurance defaults to face-based estimation, which is a hard stop for privacy-minded users
  • Charms are a second currency on top of c.ai+, so the $9.99 is a floor not a ceiling
  • No API, no export, and no self-hosting
  • The platform has been reshaped by wrongful-death litigation, and further restrictions are plausible

HeyAIBuddy

HeyAIBuddy is worth a look if you want to try companion chat without paying anything, since text conversations aren't metered. The credit system for voice only starts to matter once you want spoken responses or want to build and save your own custom character.

Pros

  • Unlimited free text chat with full chat history retained
  • Custom companion creation on the Pro tier and above
  • Four price points let users match spend to how much voice chat they actually use

Cons

  • Voice chat is credit-limited even on paid tiers
  • No company name, location, or founding date disclosed anywhere on the site
  • No API, mobile app, or browser extension

Which one fits

Choose Character.AI if you need

  • Adults who want long-running roleplay with persistent personas
  • People building and sharing characters for an existing community
  • Casual conversational entertainment rather than task work

Choose HeyAIBuddy if you need

  • Users who want free, unmetered text chat with AI companions
  • People who want to design a custom companion persona

More comparisons

All HeyAIBuddy alternatives →Browse all AI Companions & Characters →