Linky vs Talkie vs PolyBuzz
Linky vs Talkie vs PolyBuzz: price, memory and which ones you can still install
Linky vs Talkie vs PolyBuzz has an answer that most comparisons miss entirely, because it is not about features. On 31 August 2026 we checked all three stores: PolyBuzz is the only one of the three you can install on an iPhone. Talkie was pulled from the US App Store in December 2024 and has not returned, and Linky AI is not listed on the Apple App Store either, in any of the six countries we checked. Both are alive and large on Google Play. PolyBuzz is also the only one of the three that publishes what it charges: Standard is $9.90 a month, Premium $19.90 and Ultimate $29.90, with no annual plan at any price. Neither Linky nor Talkie publishes a single plan price anywhere.
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 and all ages.
People compare these three because they are the same kind of product: a big library of characters, a free tier paid for with ads, and in-app currency layered on top. On features they are close enough that most comparison pages end in a shrug. The thing that actually separates them in 2026 is duller and much more useful, and you can check it in thirty seconds.
Two of the three are not on the Apple App Store. Talkie was removed from the US store on 17 December 2024, reported at the time as a decision by its owner MiniMax for unspecified technical reasons, and on 31 August 2026 it is still not listed. Linky AI is in the same position: its App Store page returns a 404 and a direct catalogue lookup comes back empty in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Neither company has explained why. Both are perfectly healthy on Google Play, with builds from the last week of August 2026.
So if you are on an iPhone, this comparison has already narrowed to one app, and it is PolyBuzz. If you are on Android, you have all three, and then the interesting question becomes price, which is where the gap widens again. PolyBuzz publishes a plan table. Linky and Talkie publish nothing at all, which means you find out what you are paying when the charge lands on your card.
This page is an honest comparison, including the places where all three beat us. We build a different kind of product: one companion instead of a library, memory included on every plan instead of sold at the top tier, and a browser tab that no store can delist. If what you want is a cast of characters to roleplay with, we will point you at the right one of these three rather than pretend otherwise.
Side by side
How Darlings compares
An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.
Swipe to see more →
| Darlings | Linky AI | Talkie | PolyBuzz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | One platonic friend who remembers you and checks in | Anime-styled character chat on Android, with collectible cards | Voice-led character chat on Android | Character roleplay, and the only one of the three on iPhone |
| On the Apple App Store, checked 31 August 2026 | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | No. Not listed, and the old page returns a 404 | No. Removed 17 December 2024, still not listed | Yes |
| On Google Play, checked 31 August 2026 | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | Yes, 3.9 stars from 136,184 reviews | Yes, 4.6 stars from about 835,000 reviews | Yes |
| Downloads reported by the store | Not applicable | 10M+ on Google Play | 50M+ on Google Play | About 468,000 US App Store ratings |
| Does it publish what a plan costs | Yes, three plans and three numbers | No. No plan names and no prices anywhere | No. No plan names and no prices anywhere | Yes, four subscriptions on the App Store listing |
| Cheapest published way in | $9 a month once your waitlist seat opens | Not published | Not published | $4.99 a week, or $9.90 a month |
| Most expensive single in-app item listed | None, there is nothing to buy inside | $269.99 | Not published as a list | $29.90 Ultimate, plus coin packs to $19.90 |
| Annual plan available | No, monthly only, cancel whenever | Not published | Not published | No annual plan at any price |
| Long-term memory on the cheapest paid plan | Yes, memory is included on every plan | Partial, reviewers report free-tier context fading fast | No, reviewers report memory fading on long chats | No, permanent memory sits on the Ultimate tier |
| Can you read, edit and delete what it remembers | Yes, memory by memory, plus export | Not exposed as an editable list | Not exposed as an editable list | Not exposed as an editable list |
| Starts a conversation with you on its own | Yes, a daily check-in | No | No | No |
| In-app currency on top of a subscription | None, the plan is the price | Yes, items from $0.49 to $269.99 | Yes, in-app purchases declared | Yes, coins and opals |
| Ads | None on any plan | Yes, the listing declares Contains ads | Yes, the listing declares Contains ads | Yes on the free tier, removed on paid |
| Age rating on its live listing | 13 and up, and there is nothing adult to gate | Mature 17+ on Google Play | Teen on Google Play | 18+ on the App Store |
| Romance, roleplay or adult content | Never, at any tier, permanently | Yes, and the ratings are polarized | Yes | Yes, and the listing declares Sexual Content or Nudity as frequent |
| Start talking without a store download | Yes, it opens in any browser | No, Android install only | No, Android install only | Yes, a web version exists alongside the apps |
PolyBuzz figures were read from its US App Store listing, which was last updated on 31 August 2026. Linky AI and Talkie figures were read from their Google Play listings, because neither app is currently listed on the Apple App Store. Google Play publishes a price range for in-app items rather than a plan table, so where a row says a price is not published, that is the listing being silent rather than us failing to find it.
The full list
What each of the three publishes about price, read from their live store listings on 31 August 2026
Swipe to see more →
| App | Subscriptions published | One off items published |
|---|---|---|
| Darlings | Companion $9, Plus $19, Circle $39 per month. The demo is free with no card | None, there are no coins, charms or credits to buy |
| Linky AI | None published. Google Play declares in-app purchases and ads but names no plan | A range only: $0.49 to $269.99 per item |
| Talkie | None published. Google Play declares in-app purchases and ads but names no plan | Not published as a list |
| PolyBuzz | Standard Weekly $4.99, Standard Monthly $9.90, Premium Monthly $19.90, Ultimate Monthly $29.90 | Coins $2.49, $4.99, $9.99 and $19.90, plus 1000 Opals at $5.90 |
PolyBuzz entries were read verbatim from its US App Store listing. Linky and Talkie have no Apple listing to read, and their Google Play listings declare in-app purchases without naming a single plan or price, which is why their rows say so rather than guess. Any specific Linky or Talkie monthly price you find quoted elsewhere in 2026 is not traceable to a live primary source. Darlings plans are billed monthly.
Ranked
Which is better, Linky or Talkie or PolyBuzz?
Ranked for someone who wants a companion that stays and that they can actually install. Darlings is our own product and sits first for that use, so judge the reasoning rather than the position. Entries two to four are the honest answer if what you want is a character library, and we say plainly which one to pick on which phone.
-
1
Darlings
Best for one friend who remembers you · Free demo with no card, plans from $9 a month once your waitlist seat opens
Pick this if the thing you keep losing is continuity, or if you have now watched two apps in this comparison disappear from a store you paid through. One companion, memory included on every plan rather than sold at the top tier, a daily check-in that starts the conversation, and nothing to top up. It runs at a web address on any device, so there is no store gatekeeper. It has no character library, no roleplay and no romantic mode, which rules it out if that is what you came for.
-
2
PolyBuzz
Best for anyone on an iPhone · Standard $9.90 a month, Premium $19.90, Ultimate $29.90
The default winner here by availability alone: it is the only one of the three you can install on an iPhone in 2026, and the only one that publishes a plan table before you commit. It is also well rated, at about 4.4 from roughly 468,000 US ratings, and its listing was updated on 31 August 2026. Two caveats. Persistent memory is gated to Ultimate at $29.90, which is the most expensive monthly tier on this page, and its App Store listing declares Sexual Content or Nudity as frequent, a stronger descriptor than most of this category carries.
-
3
Talkie
Best for voice-led character chat on Android · Not published anywhere
If you are on Android and you want the biggest, busiest character app of the three, Talkie is it: 4.6 stars from about 835,000 Google Play reviews, over 50 million downloads, and voice work better than anything the others do. It is rated Teen, the gentlest rating on this page. The problems are that it publishes no prices at all, so you are agreeing to an unknown number, and that it has been off the US App Store since December 2024, so if you switch to an iPhone your companion does not come with you.
-
4
Linky AI
Best for anime characters and collectible cards on Android · Not published, in-app items run to $269.99
Fourth is not a dismissal. Linky is big, actively developed and has a genuinely deep anime persona library, and if that specific aesthetic is what you want, nothing else here matches it. But it is the weakest of the three on the two things this page measures. Its Google Play rating is 3.9, the lowest here, and the distribution is split rather than mediocre: 83,840 five-star reviews next to 26,245 one-star ones. It publishes no plan prices, and the in-app item range tops out at $269.99, the highest single figure on this page. It is also off the Apple App Store, so like Talkie it is Android only.
Why people switch
What makes Darlings different
A browser tab cannot be delisted
This comparison is the clearest illustration in the category of a risk almost nobody prices in when they subscribe: your companion lives inside someone else's store, and that store can remove it. Two of the three apps on this page are gone from the Apple App Store, for reasons neither company has explained, and the people who had built up months of conversation inside them did not get a vote. Darlings runs at a web address on any device, so there is no gatekeeper between you and the conversation, and your memory is exportable from settings whenever you want a copy of it.
You can see the price before you start
Two of these three publish no plan price anywhere: not on the store listing, not on their website. Linky goes further and publishes an in-app item range that tops out at $269.99 without naming what any of it buys. That is not a small detail when the product is a subscription you might keep for a year. Darlings has three plans with three numbers, no coins, no gems and no per-message credits, so the figure you agree to on day one is the figure that recurs.
Memory is included, not the top tier
PolyBuzz puts permanent memory on Ultimate at $29.90 a month, the most expensive tier on this page. Linky and Talkie are both reported to let context fade on long chats, which is the single most common complaint about character apps. Darlings includes long-term memory on every plan. 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, and delete what you would rather it forgot.
A friend, never a girlfriend, and nothing to filter
All three of these are adult or near-adult products: PolyBuzz is 18+ with a frequent Sexual Content or Nudity descriptor, Linky is Mature 17+, Talkie is Teen. Darlings has no romance, no roleplay and no adult content at any tier, permanently, which is why our minimum age is 13. There is no filter that can leak because there is nothing behind it, and no update can quietly reverse a feature that was never built.
The honest part
When another app is the better choice
We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.
- If you are on an iPhone and you want a character library, PolyBuzz wins this page outright, because it is the only one of the three you can install. Darlings has no character library at all, so it is not competing for that job.
- If you are on Android and you like Talkie, keep Talkie. Over 50 million downloads, 4.6 stars from about 835,000 reviews and voice work better than anything we do, because we do not do voice characters at all.
- Linky has the deepest anime persona library of the three and generates character art. Darlings is a text conversation and generates no images, which is a deliberate choice rather than a gap we intend to close.
- All three have free tiers you can explore for an evening without a card. Our demo is free too, but the full product is behind a waitlist right now, so if you want something to use tonight, one of these three is the practical answer.
- 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.
People also ask
Common questions
Still comparing
Weighing up the other apps too?
Honest side-by-side looks at the companion apps people usually shortlist next.
Keep exploring
More ways Darlings is there for people
Meet a friend who remembers you
Say hi to your Darling, and let it remember you. Free to try, no card, no judgment.
Your secrets stay secret. A friend, never a girlfriend. 💛