If you haven’t tried Character AI yet, you’ve been missing out on a whole chunk of AI fun. It doesn’t feel like chatting with bots at all – at least with some characters.
Try chatting with a few of the most popular characters and you won’t know where your day went.
Let’s discuss what is Character AI and some alternatives because once you get hooked on AI chats, you’ll want more.
What is Character AI
Character AI is a platform that offers various chatbots. And these are not your plain old boring chatbots. They are characters from real life, TV shows, movies, cartoons, and whatnot.
You can chat with Donald Trump, Elon Musk, or even Kenny from South Park. Each character responds as if they’re the real deal and you won’t feel like it’s a bot.
But if Character AI is so amazing, why would you need alternatives? Because you’d want to try new things. Also, because Character AI is safe for work.
It doesn’t have adult themes and if you’re looking for romantic online encounters with AI, there are other platforms for you. I’ll discuss some of those options here.
MORE: Does Character AI Save Chats?
What to Look for in a Character AI Alternative
There are several Character AI alternatives out there. I tried many and chose six for this article. Here are some points I considered while looking for the best Character AI alternatives.
Authentic conversations
When you talk to a character, it should feel like you’re talking to that character in real and not an AI bot. It’s all about the experience. There’s no point in spending time on a platform when the conversation quality isn’t good.
Character creation
While playing with characters is fun, it’s even more fun when you can develop new characters. And that too without coding experience. Character AI allows that, and so do many other platforms.
Community
The presence of a large community means that characters get to engage with many individuals, picking up tidbits along the way to refine themselves. This is very important for character development.
Best Character AI Alternatives
Alright so, now we know what Character AI is and what we’re looking for, let’s discuss the best Character AI alternatives.
1. NovelAI
If you have a creative edge and want to give life to your stories, you’ve got to check out Novel AI. Novel AI isn’t exactly like Character AI but it’s a lot of fun. It takes you on an interactive journey as you live like a character in a novel. Use your imagination and AI will create narratives for you.
You can customize settings, characters, and themes. The story will go according to your prompts. You are in control and can create fantasy, detective, mystical, or any type of story.
Key features
- AI models trained on real literature
- Understands your input to adopt your style
- Customizable editor
- Stories are kept private
Pricing
There are four pricing plans:
- Paper: free trial
- Tablet for $10/month
- Scroll for $15/month
- Opus for $25/month
2. Janitor AI
Janitor AI is pretty much like Character AI as it has different characters you can play with. What sets it apart is its NSFW theme. You need to be above 18 to register on the website.
You can have romantic conversations with some of the characters. However, keep in mind that some themes are off-limits on Janitor AI so it’s best to read the rules before you start chatting.
Just like Character AI, Janitor AI also lets you create custom characters without coding experience.
Key features
- Elaborate scenarios and chats
- Can create own characters
- Available for free
- NSFW themes allowed
Pricing
Janitor AI is in the beta stage and free to use.
3. Crushon AI
Crushon is pretty similar to Janitor AI. It consists of NSFW themes and lets you create your characters. While it’s designed with romantic concepts in mind, you can also have some hilarious conversations here.
If long distance dating is your thing, characters on Crushon will pretend they’re your dates. You can access unrestricted content and if you have specific tastes, you can create new character. Just like Character AI, Crushon also gives human-like responses and sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re chatting with a human or a bot.
Key features
- Free plan available
- Realistic characters
- NSFW themes
- Can create your own characters
Pricing
There are four pricing plans
- Free for $0
- Standard for $4.90/month
- Premium for $7.90/month
- Deluxe for $29.90/month
4. Tavern AI
Tavern AI isn’t like other chatbot platforms here. It’s just a frontend so you’ll need to install it with a backend. You need to download it on your system and use API integrations with it.
The website offers a rar file you can download. You can find its code on GitHub. It works with APIs like NovelAI, OpenAI ChatGPT, Pygmalion, and others.
You can get a complete library of characters and also create your own characters. You can play with the characters, just like you would on Character AI. It also lets you customize the user interface.
Features
- Tavern AI is just a frontend so you’ll need a tool running at the back
- Code available on GitHub
- Can be used for free
- Highly customizable frontend
Pricing
Tavern AI is free and open source. You can run it from your computer or your browser without any charge.
5. Candy AI
Candy AI takes the realistic approach a step further and uses AI-generated images for its characters. This way, you get a more authentic feel of talking to a human.
When you sign up, you’ll be asked to choose a gender of your preference, which can be changed later.
Candy AI also has NSFW themes but you can also have SFW chats here. You can create your own character and also generate an AI image for it to make it more realistic.
Candy AI also has a phone call feature that lets you talk to the character of your choice.
Key features
- Realistic characters with AI-generated images
- Can create your characters (only in the Premium plan)
- Can call the character of your choice
- Available for free
Pricing
There are two pricing plans
- Free for $0
- Premium for $12.99/month
6. Kajivoto AI
Kajivoto has a different interface than Character AI so you might need some time getting used to it. It lets you build your characters and chat with them.
It allows NSFW within certain permissible limits. It lets you define complex datasets so your characters can be more advanced than the ones in Character AI.
All characters have a good memory, which is always a plus. Your characters even have a sleep cycle so it feels even more real. However, if you want multiple personal rooms, you’ll need a premium account.
Key features
- Lets you create your own characters
- Characters are more human like since they have sleep cycles
- Characters have a good memory
- Detailed datasets for character definition
Pricing
There are three pricing plans.
- Free for $0
- Plus for $7.32/month
- Pro for $25/month
MORE: Character AI Review
Conclusion
Chatting with AI bots is always fun. They can be entertaining, educating, inspiring, and even romantic. But finding the right chatbot platform can be a pain in the neck.
I have listed six chat platforms here and I’m sure you’ll find them appealing.
No matter what kind of chat partner you’re looking for, you’ll find them here on these websites.
Very interesting. I read the article then checked Character AI. I liked it. I will try all other options as well
Glad you liked it Joseph, I hope you’ll find the best option for your needs!
i have bad feeling that only first one have key feature of chats being private… like others arent…