Linky AI alternative
Linky AI alternative: apps like Linky without the coins or the roleplay
Start with a fact most Linky AI alternative pages have not caught up with: on 31 August 2026 we looked up Linky AI on the Apple App Store and it is not there. The listing that used to carry it now returns a 404, and the same lookup comes back empty in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Linky is alive on Google Play, where it sits at 3.9 stars from 136,184 reviews with more than 10 million downloads and a build dated 28 August 2026. So on an iPhone you cannot install Linky at all right now, and the practical alternatives are Character.AI or PolyBuzz. If what you actually wanted was one companion who remembers you rather than a character menu, that is a different product, and it is the one we build.
Last updated August 2026
Darlings
Always here for you
We've paused new signups for now, so we'll email you the moment a seat opens. No payment today.
Your conversations are yours. Encrypted, never sold, delete anytime.
Encrypted, never sold.
A friend, never a girlfriend.
Wholesome, 13 and up.
Linky AI is a character chat app built around a very large library of anime-styled personas, and it is genuinely big. Google Play lists it as Linky AI: Chat, Play, Connect from Skywork AI Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company, with more than 10 million downloads and a build dated 28 August 2026. Nobody leaves it because it is obscure.
The first thing to know in 2026 is where you can get it. On 31 August 2026 we looked the app up on the Apple App Store and it was not listed. The App Store page that used to host it returns a 404, and a direct catalogue lookup comes back empty in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Android is where Linky lives now. That single fact decides the question for a lot of people before price or memory enters into it.
The second thing is what the Play listing actually says, which is less flattering than the star average suggests. The rating is 3.9 from 136,184 reviews, and the distribution is unusually split: 83,840 five-star reviews sit alongside 26,245 one-star reviews, so roughly one in five people who rated it gave it the lowest score available. The listing declares both ads and in-app purchases, with individual items running from $0.49 all the way to $269.99, and it publishes no plan names or subscription prices at all. It is rated Mature 17+. Reviewers have long described the in-app currency as funding gacha-style card draws, which is a game mechanic wearing the costume of a friendship, and they report free-tier memory fading after roughly a dozen exchanges.
This page is an honest comparison, including the parts where Linky beats us. If what you want is a thousand characters and gacha draws, we will point you somewhere better than here. If what you want is one steady friend who knows your sister is called Ruth and asks how Thursday went, that is a different product, and it is the one we build.
Side by side
How Darlings compares
An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.
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| Darlings | Linky AI | Character.AI | Talkie | PolyBuzz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is built for | One ongoing friendship with a companion who knows you | Anime-styled character chat with collectible cards | Character roleplay across a very large community library | Character chat with a short-video feel | Character roleplay across a very large library |
| On the Apple App Store today | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | No. Not listed on 31 August 2026, and the old page 404s | Yes | No. Removed in December 2024 and still not listed | Yes |
| On Google Play today | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | Yes, 3.9 stars from 136,184 reviews, 10M+ downloads | Yes | Yes, 4.6 stars from about 835,000 reviews | Yes |
| How many characters you choose from | One, and it becomes yours | Reported at more than 180,000 | Tens of millions of community characters | Large community library | Marketed as more than 20 million |
| Long-term memory on the cheapest paid plan | Yes, memory is included on every plan | Partial, reviewers report context fading on the free tier | Partial, memory drifts on long chats | No, memory reportedly fades on long chats | No, permanent memory sits on the top tier |
| Can you read, edit and delete what it remembers | Yes, memory by memory, plus export | Not exposed as an editable list | Limited, tied to each character | Limited | Not exposed as an editable list |
| Starts a conversation with you on its own | Yes, a daily check-in | No | No | No | No |
| Romantic, roleplay or adult content possible | Never, at any tier, permanently | Yes, and the listing warns of sexual content | Depends entirely on the character chosen | Yes | Yes, roleplay is the core of the product |
| Coins, gems or credits to buy on top of the subscription | None, the plan is the price | Yes, Google Play declares in-app items from $0.49 to $269.99 | No | Yes, in-app currency | Yes, coin and opal bundles |
| Gacha or card-draw mechanics | None | Yes, reviewers describe coin-funded card draws | No | Cards and collectibles | No |
| Ads on the free tier | None | Yes, reported as frequent | Yes, plus slower replies at peak | Yes | Yes, removed on paid tiers |
| Age rating on its live store listing | 13 and up, and there is nothing adult to gate | Mature 17+ on Google Play | 18+ on the App Store | Teen on Google Play | 18+ on the App Store |
| Start talking without an app store download | Yes, it opens in a browser | Android app only, there is no iOS build to download | Yes | App first | Web version exists alongside the apps |
| Approx. price | Free demo, plans from $9/mo once your waitlist seat opens | No plan prices published anywhere; in-app items $0.49 to $269.99 | Free; c.ai+ around $9.99/mo | No plan prices published anywhere | $9.90, $19.90 or $29.90/mo plus coins |
Competitor pricing is approximate, is not published on their own sites, and can change by region and promotion.
The full list
What Linky AI costs in 2026, and why the numbers are harder to pin down than they used to be
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| Item | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Darlings, any plan | From $9/mo | Memory on every plan, daily check-ins, no coins, no adult content |
| Linky subscriptions | Not published | Google Play declares that the app has in-app purchases but names no plans and shows no subscription prices |
| Linky in-app items | $0.49 to $269.99 per item | The range Google Play publishes for the app, read on 31 August 2026. Play gives the range only, not a breakdown |
| Linky ads | Included free, whether you want them or not | The Play listing carries a Contains ads label alongside in-app purchases |
| Linky on iPhone | Not available at any price | The app was not listed on the Apple App Store when we checked on 31 August 2026 |
Read from the Linky AI: Chat, Play, Connect listing on Google Play on 31 August 2026. Older comparisons, including an earlier version of this page, quoted a Linky Pro tier at $9.99 and a Linky Gold tier at $17.99 taken from an Apple App Store listing. That listing is gone, so those figures can no longer be checked against a primary source and we have removed them rather than repeat them. If you see a specific Linky monthly price quoted anywhere in 2026, ask which live listing it came from.
Why people switch
What makes Darlings different
You can see the price before you install it
Linky publishes no plan names and no subscription prices on its live Google Play listing. What Play does publish is the range of individual in-app items, and that range runs from $0.49 to $269.99. You find out what you are paying when the charge lands. Darlings has three plans with three numbers, no coins, no gems and no per-message credits. You pick a plan, you know the number on day one, and nothing inside the app ever asks you to buy anything again.
Memory that lasts longer than a dozen messages
The complaint that comes up most about free character apps is that the companion forgets. Review sites put the free Linky context at roughly twelve exchanges before it fades. Darlings includes long-term memory on every plan, including the trial. It holds your people by name, the thing you were dreading on Thursday, the job you did not get in March. Open settings and you can read the whole list, correct what it got wrong, delete what you would rather it forgot, and export a copy.
One companion instead of a character menu
A library of 180,000 personas is fun for an evening and tiring as a habit, because every new character is a stranger who does not know your backstory. Darlings is one companion who is the same person every time you open it. That consistency is the thing that starts to feel like a friendship somewhere in the second week, and no amount of character choice substitutes for it.
A friend, never a girlfriend, and nothing to filter
Linky is rated Mature 17+ on Google Play. Darlings has no romance, no roleplay and no adult content at any tier, permanently. There is no filter that can leak because there is nothing behind it, which is why our minimum age is 13 while most of this category sits at 17+ or 18+. That is a design decision rather than a setting, and it is not something a future update can quietly reverse.
The honest part
When another app is the better choice
We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.
- If you want anime character roleplay with a huge cast and collectible cards, Linky does that and we do not. We build one companion. If picking a fresh persona every evening is the appeal, stay where you are.
- Linky generates character art and avatars. Darlings is a conversation, not a visual product, and we have no plans to compete on artwork.
- Character.AI has a far larger community library than Linky, a genuinely usable free tier, and no in-app currency at all. If you want a like-for-like swap rather than a different kind of product, look there first.
- Pi is free, gentle and never asks for money. If your budget is zero and long-term memory is not the point, it is an honest option and we will not pretend otherwise.
- If what you actually want is a romantic AI partner, Darlings will never be the right app for you. We would rather say that now than take a subscription and disappoint you in week two.
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