Message Limits and Per-Message Charges on Character.AI Alternatives: What a Heavy Chatter Pays

Adults only. Most of the apps in this guide state a minimum age of 18 in their terms or carry an 18+ rating on the App Store. The guide is about money and message counts, not content, and is non-explicit.

What to do this week if Character.AI goes dark. Character.AI is in a sale process and no shutdown date is confirmed, but some users report outages and falling chat quality. Spend 10 minutes now: request the official export, copy your bot definitions and persona by hand, and keep the file offline. Steps are in our 10-minute Character.AI backup guide. Adults looking for a new home can use the comparison below, but no app here is a guaranteed permanent home.

How this guide was made. This is a documentation-based guide. Every price and limit below was read on each company’s own pricing page, help centre, terms, docs or US App Store listing on 20 October 2026, except Character.AI’s subscription page, which refused our request that day; its c.ai+ price is the one its pricing data showed on 18 October 2026. Where a page would not show us a figure, we say so rather than borrow one from a review site. Prices differ by country, platform and currency, and change often. Nothing here is hands-on testing; we have not subscribed to measure how any cap behaves in practice.

Why this is the question that matters

Leaving Character.AI means leaving a plan where the company says ordinary messaging is unlimited on every tier, free included. Its lite FAQ puts it in one line: “Free stays as it is, including unlimited messaging.” Almost every alternative meters chat somehow, and the way it meters you decides your bill far more than the headline price does.

If you send ten messages a day, nearly everything is cheap or free. If you send two hundred, a monthly cap, a per-message credit or a per-token bill can cost several times what a flat plan would. This guide separates the four billing models, then prices one heavy chatter on each app.

For what Character.AI itself does and does not cap, see is there a Character.AI message limit?. For the wider choice of apps, see Character AI alternatives in 2026.

Four ways apps meter chat

“Unlimited” also hides two different things. Candy AI’s subscriptions page says “Unlimited text messages”. Janitor AI’s launch post says janitor+ gives “unlimited priority messages”, which is about queue position, because the free version already has no published cap. SpicyChat promises its core features free and publishes no message cap, but reserves “the front of the generation queue” for its top tier. Unlimited text is not the same as unlimited fast text.

The heavy chatter we priced

To compare like with like, the figures below use one profile: 200 of your own messages a day, about 6,000 a month, text only, no images, voice or video. That is a long roleplay session every day. If you send half that, halve the capped and per-token figures; the flat plans do not change.

Two things are deliberately left out. Images and voice are priced separately on most apps and would swamp the text comparison. And queue times, which are the real cost of free tiers on busy evenings, cannot be read off a pricing page.

App by app, checked 20 October 2026

Character.AI (the baseline)

• Free: the help centre says free includes unlimited messaging. What free users do hit are separate meters on swipes, Go-ons and voice memos, and premium chat styles are not included.
• (c.ai) lite: “starts at $4.99/mo”, or $2.49 a week, with “a daily amount of messages on premium chat styles”. The FAQ says that when the daily premium allowance runs out, chats continue on the standard styles and the allowance resets each day.
• c.ai+: unlimited premium chats and zero ads. The subscription page’s pricing data showed $9.99 a month on 18 October 2026 (yearly $94.99).
• Heavy chatter pays: $0 on free, $4.99 on lite, $9.99 on c.ai+. The company is in a court-supervised sale, so monthly billing is the safer choice; see what the sale means for your chats and subscription.

Candy AI

• Free: the terms (revised 22 September 2026) say “As a free user, you may generally send a maximum of 5 messages to AI Characters.” Not five a day; five.
• Paid: the subscriptions page lists 12 months at $3.99 a month (billed $47.88), 3 months at $8.99 a month (billed $26.97) and 1 month at $9.99 for the first month, “then renews monthly at $13.99”. Premium benefits include “Unlimited text messages” and “100 tokens per month”; the terms say tokens are for the extras, expire with the billing period and do not carry over.
• Heavy chatter pays: $13.99 a month on the monthly plan after the first month, or $47.88 a year up front. Text is not metered once you pay, so the 200-a-day profile costs the same as 20 a day. Our Candy AI review covers what the tokens actually buy.

CrushOn AI

• How it meters: the pricing page’s own FAQ text says bonus messages “are not tied to your subscription limit, so when you consume all of the messages available for your subscription, the service will start using the bonus messages”. Coins convert to bonus messages 1:1, and “you can purchase 1000 and 3000 messages using money”. Elsewhere the page talks in Message Credits: “Free Credits renew monthly, regardless of the subscription status”, subscription credits renew on your renewal date, and a Deluxe tier is described as “Unlimited Message Credits” with a note that the unlimited package “is currently still in the testing phase”.
• Prices and caps: the page did not show us plan prices or the number of messages in each tier without logging in; those load after sign-in. Tier names visible in the page are Free, Standard, Premium, Deluxe and a Luxe bundle.
• Heavy chatter pays: cannot be priced from public pages. The structure is clear, though: a monthly allowance, then a top-up. At 6,000 messages a month you need to know a tier’s allowance before you can compare it with a flat plan. See Candy AI vs CrushOn AI for the rest of the comparison.

SpicyChat

• Free: the docs say “the core features remain accessible to everyone, free of charge” and publish no message cap. The Tokens and Context page gives free chats a 4,096-token context and replies of up to 180 tokens, and estimates that about 20 recent messages stay in view.
• Paid: the September 2026 pricing FAQ lists Get A Taste $5.95 a month ($60.00 a year), True Supporter $19.95 ($199.95) and I’m All In $29.95 ($299.95), effective 8 September 2026, with existing subscribers keeping their old price while they stay on the same plan. Context rises to 8K and up to 32K by tier, and only I’m All In is “placed at the front of the generation queue”.
• Heavy chatter pays: $0 if you accept a short memory and a queue, otherwise $5.95 to $29.95. Nothing on the docs meters your message count. For what each SpicyChat tier changes and who should pay, see is SpicyChat premium worth it?

Janitor AI

• Free: the janitor+ launch post (24 June 2026) says “the version of janitor that you know and love stays exactly the same, and stays completely free”, with no cap named.
• janitor+: $12.99 a month for 5x context, “unlimited priority messages” and monthly swipes on frontier models.
• Router: the 30 July 2026 announcement says “Usage is billed per token at the prices shown”, from a built-in wallet, with $5 in free credits for subscribers. The prices themselves are shown inside the product, not on a public page.
• Heavy chatter pays: $0 on the in-house model, $12.99 for priority, plus whatever the Router meters if you route chats to third-party models. The per-token section below shows how fast that can grow. See is janitor+ worth it?.

Nectar AI

• Free: the pricing page’s plan copy lists “15 Messages / Day”, “15 Messages in Memory” and “1 Photo Message” on the basic tier, and the terms say both Free and Pro users are subject to rate limits.
• Paid: the page’s fallback description for Premium reads “100 Generations / Day. 45+ add’l customizations. 6000 Messages/Mo”, with 8K context listed among the plan features. The page also lists a “9000 Messages/Mo” allowance, an “Unlimited AI Chat” line, 16K and 64K context and 600 or 900 photo messages for higher tiers, but it did not render prices for us and we could not map every allowance to a tier name with certainty.
• The per-message twist: “Generating an image is the same cost as sending 10 basic messages”, and speech beyond the plan limit is charged per message.
• Heavy chatter pays: 6,000 messages a month is exactly Premium’s allowance, so a 200-a-day chatter sits on the line and anything heavier needs the next tier. Price unknown to us.

Kindroid

• Free: the FAQ says “The Lite model and unlimited free messaging were retired on October 1, 2026.” New free accounts get a one-time preview, which the subscriptions doc puts at 50 messages on the flagship model (regenerate, continue and suggestions count as half a message), after which the account becomes read-only. Nothing is deleted.
• Paid: the subscriptions doc describes “Unlimited access to our newest flagship language models” and says prices are shown at checkout. The US App Store listing shows Kindroid Subscription $15.99, 3 months $42.99, yearly $159.99, Ultra $28.99 and MAX $68.99.
• Heavy chatter pays: $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year for unlimited text. The Ultra and MAX add-ons buy context and audio, not messages. For what free Kindroid accounts keep, how to export and which apps still chat free, see Kindroid’s free plan ended.

Nomi

• Free: Nomi’s AI Girlfriend page says “Free accounts include daily messages and images” and that “unlimited messaging” comes with a subscription. The API reference confirms a daily quota (“the user has exhausted their daily message quota”) and caps message length at 400 characters free, 800 with a subscription. Nomi’s knowledge base notes the quota counts your messages, not the companion’s. The number of free messages a day is not published on any page we read.
• Paid: the US App Store lists Standard Plan $15.99, Quarterly $39.99 and Yearly $99.99, plus a Launch Plan at $9.99 monthly or $59.99 yearly and Nomi Credits packs from $4.99. Nomi’s own March 2026 comparison page gives the same $15.99, $39.99 and $99.99.
• Heavy chatter pays: $15.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Replika

• Free: the help centre says “Yes, chatting with Replika will always be free.” The Free Use program “provides limited access”, but the limits listed are features: relationship status, selfies, image generation, voice messaging and calls, not message counts.
• Paid: the US App Store lists monthly items at $7.99 and $14.99, annual items at $49.99 and $69.99 and Replika Platinum at $89.99, without naming which tier each belongs to. Gems packs run from $0.99 to $19.99.
• Heavy chatter pays: $0 for text. You pay for features, not volume. For Replika’s plans and what to export before switching, see Replika alternatives in 2026.

Chai

• Free and paid: Chai’s website publishes no prices. Its US App Store listing shows Premium $13.99 a month or $134.99 a year, Ultra $29.99 a month or $19.99 a week, and Pieces packs at $2.79 for 200, $6.99 for 500 and $13.99 for 1,000. The listing does not say what a Piece buys or what Premium includes. Public reviews describe daily limits on free accounts; Chai has not published a figure.
• Heavy chatter pays: $13.99 if Premium removes the limit, which the listing does not confirm. Our Chai alternatives guide covers what users report.

Talkie

• Free and paid: the Talkie Lab listing on the US App Store (developer SUBSUP PTE. LTD.) shows 1 Month $9.99, 1 Year $49.99, 1 Month Talkie+ Pro $24.99, Gems from $1.99 to $19.99 and a 7-day Sparks Pass at $0.59. The description says nothing about message limits; reviews mention watching an ad to continue.
• Heavy chatter pays: $9.99 a month if Talkie+ removes the ad gate. Unconfirmed.

Chub AI

• Paid: Chub’s API docs say “A Mars subscription is $20 a month with unlimited messaging”. The page carries no date, and we found no official price for the Mercury tier or a description of free limits. Chub also lets you connect your own model or a local one, which moves you to per-token or hardware costs.
• Heavy chatter pays: $20 a month on Mars, if the docs are current.

What the heavy chatter pays, side by side

Text only, about 6,000 of your own messages a month, prices as read on 20 October 2026 unless noted.

Read it with the earlier caveat in mind: the $0 rows buy you a queue, ads, a short memory or all three. Among plans with a published price that remove every text meter, Candy AI’s annual plan is the cheapest per month, followed by SpicyChat’s entry tier (which never metered you in the first place) and c.ai+. Where the table says “not shown to us”, the app may be cheaper than all of them; we simply could not read its price without an account.

Per-token maths: when bringing your own model beats a subscription, and when it does not

Janitor AI’s Router, Chub AI’s API connections and front ends such as SillyTavern let you pay for the model directly. The bill has two parts: input tokens, which include the whole chat history and character definition resent with every message, and output tokens, the reply. Context is the multiplier most people forget.

The table uses OpenRouter’s public price list on 20 October 2026 (Janitor’s own Router prices are only shown inside the product). Assumptions: 6,000 messages a month, 250-token replies, and the full context resent each time. Figures ignore cached-input discounts, which some providers offer and which would lower the input share.

How to read it: a heavy chatter on a cheap model with a 4K context pays less than any paid plan in this guide. The same chatter on DeepSeek V3.2 with a 32K context pays more than Chub’s Mars, Kindroid, Nomi and Candy AI combined. On a premium model with a long memory, per-token billing costs more in a month than a year of most subscriptions.

Three practical rules follow. Set the context limit yourself rather than leaving it at the model’s maximum. Check whether your front end sends the full history or a summary. And top up in small amounts until you have seen one real week of spend.

Traps that move the bill

• Credits spent in message units. Nectar AI charges an image as 10 basic messages, so a chat with occasional pictures burns the monthly allowance faster than the message count suggests. CrushOn AI’s packs and bonus messages work the same way.
• Weekly plans. (c.ai) lite at $2.49 a week is about $10.79 a month, more than double the $4.99 monthly plan. Chai Ultra at $19.99 a week is about $86.62 a month against $29.99. Candy AI’s checkout lists weekly ($5.60) and fortnightly ($9.79) payments that come to about $24 and $21 a month against $13.99 monthly. (These are our arithmetic from the listed prices.)
• First-month prices. Candy AI’s $9.99 first month “then renews monthly at $13.99”. Price in the renewal, not the welcome.
• Allowances that do not roll over. Candy AI’s terms say unused tokens expire. CrushOn AI’s page says expired event credits are forfeited. Kindroid’s preview is a one-time grant.
• Caps that reset on a clock you cannot see. CrushOn AI’s daily limits reset at 00:00 UTC; Character.AI’s lite allowance resets daily; Nomi and Nectar AI’s free caps are per day. If your evening is someone else’s morning, a cap can reset mid-session or not at all.
• “Unlimited” with a queue. SpicyChat’s free tier and Janitor’s free model have no published message cap, but only paid tiers buy priority. The cost is time, not money, and it rises exactly when you most want to chat.
• Read-only, not deleted. Kindroid and Nomi keep your chats when a cap or subscription ends; Kindroid’s FAQ says the account becomes read-only and “Nothing is deleted.” Losing access is not the same as losing data, but check each app’s deletion and export rules before relying on that.

Our guide to what AI companions really cost works through renewal and token traps with examples, and the subscription calculator turns a monthly figure into a yearly one.

If you are leaving Character.AI

Whatever the message maths says, do not move until your export has arrived; the help centre says it can take 3 to 4 weeks. The switching guide explains what an export can and cannot carry across. If you want a second account ready before the sale resolves, the box below is the short version.

How to choose by how much you chat

1. Count a real week. Most apps show a usage or credits screen; Character.AI does not need one. Divide by seven to get your daily rate.
2. Under 15 a day: every free tier in this guide covers you, including Nectar AI’s. Pay only for features.
3. 15 to 50 a day: Nomi’s and Chai’s unpublished daily caps are the risk. Character.AI, Janitor AI, SpicyChat and Replika stay free; Candy AI’s annual plan is the cheapest paid flat rate with a published price.
4. 50 to 200 a day: avoid per-message credits unless you can see the tier’s allowance before paying. Nectar AI’s Premium cap is 6,000 a month. Flat unlimited plans (Candy AI, Kindroid, Nomi, Chub Mars) cost $3.99 to $20 a month depending on plan length.
5. Over 200 a day, or long memory: per-token on a cheap model with a capped context is the best value; per-token on a premium model with a large context is the worst. Set the context before the first message.
6. Take the shortest plan first. Every renewal trap above is cheaper to discover on a monthly plan. Our cancellation guide covers each store’s route.

What we could not confirm

• CrushOn AI’s plan prices and the number of messages in each tier. The pricing page loads them after sign-in; its FAQ and interface text are quoted above.
• Nectar AI’s plan prices, and which tier gets the 9,000-a-month allowance and the “Unlimited AI Chat” line.
• Nomi’s and Chai’s free daily message numbers; neither company publishes them.
• What Chai’s Pieces and Talkie’s Gems buy per message, and whether Chai Premium or Talkie+ removes the free limits.
• Janitor AI’s Router per-token prices, which are shown only inside the product.
• Chub AI’s Mercury tier price and the date of the docs page that gives Mars as $20 a month.
• c.ai+’s price on 20 October 2026; the subscription page refused our request, so we rely on its pricing data from 18 October.
• Which Replika App Store item belongs to which tier (Pro, Ultra, Platinum).

For how we source and date guides like this, see how AITried reviews AI products. For the companion question of whether paying is worth it at all, see free vs paid AI companions and is c.ai+ worth it?.