Chai AI pricing
Chai subscription cost across Premium and Ultra tiers and what Chai really charges
Chai left the US App Store on 22 October 2026. Installed copies still work, but new downloads and re-downloads are unavailable. Apple subscriptions keep renewing until canceled in iPhone Settings > your name > Subscriptions. The chai-ai.com website lists $159.99 a year or $9.99 a week for its separate browser platform. All Apple prices below are historical.
Darlings
Always here for you
A written preview of how Darlings talks. The replies are scripted, so it shows the tone rather than your own conversation.
It takes a few seconds. Cancel anytime.
Your conversations are yours. Encrypted, never sold, delete anytime.
Encrypted, never sold.
A friend, never a girlfriend.
Wholesome, 13 and up.
Chai left the US App Store on 22 October 2026. The US page for app id 1544750895 returns Not Found as of 24 October 2026, and Apple lookup finds no result in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or Germany. Chai's founder said on Reddit that the app was unavailable while the team worked on improving it. He gave no reason and no return date. Apple has not commented.
chai-ai.com works in a browser, but Chai describes it as a separate platform. App chats, characters and subscriptions do not carry over. Its pricing page remains the current website price source, with $159.99 a year and $9.99 a week. CHAI MAX appears separately in the FAQ.
Before the iPhone app was removed on 22 October 2026, the US App Store listed Premium and Ultra. The August and September 2026 reads below are historical, including the $25.00 difference between the former $134.99 Apple annual price and the $159.99 website annual price. They are separate platforms, not interchangeable purchases.
Installed iPhone copies still work. Apple subscriptions continue renewing until canceled in iPhone Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel billing.
Side by side
How Darlings compares
An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.
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| Darlings | Chai | |
|---|---|---|
| Same price everywhere you buy it | Yes, one published price list | Website $159.99 a year. Apple previously listed $134.99 before removal on 22 October 2026 |
| Tier names match across storefronts | Yes, Companion, Plus and Circle everywhere | The separate website sells annual and weekly. Apple previously listed Premium and Ultra |
| Entry price | $9 a month, or $7.50 a month billed yearly | Website $9.99 a week or $159.99 a year |
| Cheapest monthly you can verify | $9 | No website monthly plan. Apple listed $13.99 before removal on 22 October 2026 |
| Annual price | $90 a year | $159.99 on chai-ai.com. Apple listed $134.99 before removal on 22 October 2026 |
| Top tier | Circle at $39 a month, or $32.50 billed yearly | Before removal on 22 October 2026, Apple listed Ultra at $29.99 monthly and $269.99 annually |
| Metered or per-token billing | None. The plan is the price | Yes. CHAI MAX Auto bills $0.66 per 1,000 tokens generated |
| One-off consumables | None, nothing to top up | Before removal, Apple listed a 200 Pieces pack at $2.79 |
| Ads on the free tier | No ads at any tier | Google Play flags ads. Apple listed Advertising before removal |
| Memory included at the entry price | Yes, persistent memory on every plan | Ultra carried deeper memory. Apple listed it at $29.99 monthly before removal |
| Free way in | Free demo in the browser, no card and no account | Free app tier on Android and installed iPhones. Website offers a 24-hour trial |
| Romance or NSFW upsells | None at any price, by design | NSFW is permitted and is a large part of the library |
| Store rating | Not in an app store, it is a web app | No current Apple listing. Google Play 2.4 stars from about 852,000 reviews |
| Age rating | Wholesome by design, minimum age 13 | Mature 17+ on Google Play. Apple rated it 18+ before removal |
| Listed seller | Darlings, operated directly at darlings.ai | Chai Research Corp. |
Website figures remain as published at chai-ai.com/pricing and chai-ai.com/faq. All Chai Apple prices and descriptors shown here are history from August and September 2026, before removal on 22 October 2026. The Google Play rating is 2.4 stars from about 852,000 reviews as of 24 October 2026.
The full list
Current website prices and historical Apple prices before removal on 22 October 2026
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| Where you buy it | What it is called there | Listed price | What that works out to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Premium Subscription (Monthly) | $13.99 | Premium monthly price listed before removal |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Premium Subscription (Annual) | $134.99 | Was about $11.25 a month, $25.00 below the separate website annual |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Premium Membership | $9.99 | Apple printed no billing period on this item |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Ultra Subscription (Monthly) | $29.99 | The tier that carries long-term memory |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Ultra Subscription (Weekly) | $19.99 | About $1,039 a year if you never switch off the weekly billing |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Ultra Subscription (Annual) | $269.99 | Read in August 2026. Not among the ten items Apple displayed on September 8 |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | Premium Subscription (Weekly) | $5.99 | Read in August 2026, about $311 a year. Not displayed on September 8 |
| Historical Apple listing before removal on 22 October 2026 | 200 Pieces | $2.79 | A one-off consumable, not a subscription |
| chai-ai.com | Annual plan | $159.99 a year | About $13.33 a month, sold after a 24-hour trial |
| chai-ai.com | Weekly plan | $9.99 a week | Advertised as 60 percent off $24.99. About $519 a year |
| Chai FAQ only | CHAI MAX Monthly | $90 a month | An add-on on top of a paid plan. It doubles the rate limit |
| Chai FAQ only | CHAI MAX Auto | $0.66 per 1,000 tokens | Metered billing with no rate limit and no stated ceiling |
| Darlings, for comparison | Companion, Plus, Circle | $9, $19 or $39 a month | One published list, the same price in every browser, free demo first |
Every Apple row records prices listed before the iPhone app was removed on 22 October 2026. Most were read September 8, 2026. Ultra annual and Premium weekly were read in August 2026. These are historical prices. Website figures remain the current source for the separate browser platform.
Cost comparison
What an AI companion costs a year, cheapest verified annual price first
Ranked on the annual figure, because that is where these apps differ most and where the weekly plans quietly become expensive. Every price below was read from the app own US App Store listing or from the company own published pricing page in September 2026.
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1
Pi
Best for paying nothing at all · Free, no paid tier
Still genuinely free with a capable web version, and the gentlest of the general assistants. The catch is direction rather than money: Inflection moved its main focus to enterprise work in 2024, and its newer consumer ideas now ship as experiments under Inflection AI Labs.
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2
Character.AI
Best for the cheapest paid entry in the category · Lite $2.49, c.ai+ $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year
The lowest listed paid tier of any major companion app, and the largest library. It sells no persistent memory at any price, which is the thing most people are actually trying to buy, so cheap here does not mean complete.
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3
Darlings
Best for knowing the total before you pay · $9 a month, or $90 a year at $7.50 a month
Our own product, listed here on one measurable point rather than a claim: the price is on a public page, it is the same in every browser, and persistent memory is on the entry plan instead of the top one.
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4
Nomi
Best for the strongest memory if you are an adult · Launch Plan $9.99, Standard $15.99, Standard Yearly $99.99
The Launch Plan at $9.99 is the quiet bargain of the category and is listed on Apple with no retired marker, though Nomi publishes no plan page to confirm a new account can still pick it. Rated 18+ with a Sexual Content or Nudity descriptor.
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5
Chai
Best for a character library on Android or a separate browser platform · Website $159.99 a year. Before removal on 22 October 2026, Apple listed Premium $134.99 and Ultra $269.99 a year
The former Apple Premium annual price was $25.00 below the separate website annual price. Those Apple figures are historical. App chats, characters and subscriptions do not carry over to chai-ai.com. Existing Apple subscriptions keep renewing until canceled.
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6
Kindroid
Best for nobody who is watching cost · $15.99 a month, three months $42.99, yearly $159.99
The most expensive annual plan here, matched only by Chai website price, and kindroid.ai/pricing is behind a login wall so you cannot check any of it before creating an account.
Weekly plans are shown at their true annual run rate because that is what they cost if you forget to cancel. Chai website prices apply to a separate platform. Its Apple figures are historical, from before removal on 22 October 2026.
Why people switch
What makes Darlings different
One price list, and it is on a public page
Three plans, the monthly figure, the annual total and the effective monthly rate, all readable at darlings.ai/pricing without an account and without opening a purchase sheet. There is no second, different price waiting for you inside an app store.
Memory is on the entry plan, not the top one
Before removal on 22 October 2026, Apple listed Chai Ultra at $29.99 monthly for deeper memory. Persistent memory of your people, your week and what you were worried about last Tuesday is included on every Darlings plan, starting at $9, because a companion that forgets you is not the product anyone came for.
No metered billing and no consumables
No per-token charge, no coins, no packs to top up mid-conversation. CHAI MAX Auto bills $0.66 per 1,000 tokens generated with no stated ceiling; what you pay here is a flat monthly figure you chose in advance.
One price covers every device
Darlings runs in the browser, so $9 covers an Android phone, an iPhone, a laptop and a Chromebook at once. Nothing to install, and no separate app store subscription to reconcile.
The honest part
When another app is the better choice
We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.
- You want 25 million user-made characters to browse. Chai library is enormous and Darlings is deliberately one companion, so if variety is the point, Chai wins outright.
- You want to pay nothing. Chai has a free tier with ads and a message clock on Android and already installed iPhones, and Darlings paid plans start at $9.
- You are an adult who wants unfiltered content. Chai permits NSFW and Darlings blocks it by design, so this is not a close call in either direction.
- You already have Chai installed on your iPhone. It keeps working after removal, but you cannot re-download it. Apple subscriptions keep renewing until you cancel them.
People also ask
Common questions
Before you pay
Our reviews and safety checks on this app
Buyer guide
Chai AI Review of Pricing, Ultra Tier and Complaints
Chai left the App Store on 22 October 2026. Installed iPhone copies still work, but new downloads and re-downloads are unavailable. A review of the free tier, historical Apple prices, memory limits, current Google Play rating and ongoing Apple subscriptions.
8 min readBuyer guide
Is Chai AI Safe? Privacy, Age Rating, Alternatives
Chai FAQ says it shares your data with nobody. Chai privacy policy says data is shared with suppliers as processors. Both are published by the same company. What Chai actually collects, keeps and trains on, read from the primary documents.
9 min readStill comparing
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