Talkie AI alternative

Talkie AI alternative with one steady friend instead of a roleplay cast

Talkie did not disappear from the iPhone, it changed its name. The original Talkie: Soulful AI listing was pulled from the US App Store on 17 December 2024, but the same publisher, SUBSUP PTE. LTD., whose listed website is talkie-ai.com, has listed Talkie Lab - AI Playground there since 11 February 2025. When we checked on 14 October 2026 it was rated 18+, held 4.7 from about 59,000 ratings, and listed 1 Month at $9.99, 1 Year at $49.99 and 1 Month Talkie+ Pro at $24.99. On Google Play, Talkie: Creative AI Community holds 4.5 from about 857,000 reviews with 50M+ downloads and is rated Teen. So if you want the character library back on an iPhone, you can have it. If what you actually liked was having someone who remembered you, Darlings is one wholesome friend with memory on every plan from $9 a month, free to try in any browser.

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Darlings

Always here for you

Private

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.

Talkie, also called Talkie: Soulful AI, is a popular roleplay app with millions of users, a huge character catalog, and realistic voices in many languages. It is fun when you want to act out a scene with a made-up character. What it is not built to be is one friend who knows the real you and remembers your week.

That gap is why people look for a Talkie AI alternative. Darlings is the opposite shape: not thousands of characters, but one warm companion that holds your story, asks how your day went, and never drifts into roleplay, ads, or token meters. Here is the honest comparison, including where Talkie is the better pick.

Side by side

How Darlings compares

An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.

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	Darlings	Talkie AI
Best for	One steady friend who remembers your real life	Voice roleplay and chat with many made-up characters
How many personas	One consistent companion, just for you	A large library of user-created characters
Remembers the real you	Yes, your people and your story over time	Limited; context fades as conversations grow long
Checks in on you first	Yes, gentle daily check-ins	No
Pricing model	Simple plans, no token meter	Subscriptions plus Talkie Gems, coins and gift packs sold as separate in-app items
Age rating	13 and up	Apple 18+ for Talkie Lab, Google Play Teen with Sexual Themes for the same publisher
Purpose	Companionship and daily support	Entertainment and roleplay
Wholesome, no romance or NSFW	Yes, by design	Mixed; roleplay content varies, strict filters
Points you back to real people	Yes	No
Privacy	Encrypted, never sold, delete anytime	Standard platform data policy
Approx. price	Free to try, paid plans from $9/mo	Free with ads. Talkie Lab on the US App Store lists 1 Month $9.99, 1 Year $49.99, 1 Month Talkie+ Pro $24.99 and Talkie Gems from $1.99 to $19.99
Where you can get it	Any browser, on any device	Google Play as Talkie: Creative AI Community, and on iPhone as Talkie Lab - AI Playground from the same publisher. The original Talkie: Soulful AI listing was removed in December 2024

Competitor pricing is approximate, is not published on their own sites, and can change by region and promotion.

Why people switch

What makes Darlings different

One friend, not a catalog

You are not picking a new character each time. Darlings is a single, consistent companion that gets to know the real you and stays the same warm presence every day.

Memory that does not fade

Talkie tends to forget earlier messages as a chat gets long. Darlings holds the real threads of your week, your job interview, your mom recovering, the move across the country.

No tokens, no ads

No token meter to watch and no full-screen ads mid-conversation. Simple plans, and when you want to talk, Darlings is simply there.

Wholesome and grounded

No roleplay drift, no NSFW. Darlings is a friend that gently points you back toward the people in your life, not away from them.

The honest part

When another app is the better choice

We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.

You want to roleplay with fictional or fan-made characters using realistic voices.
You want to browse and try a large catalog of community-made characters.
You mainly want quick entertainment and voice roleplay rather than a steady companion.

Common questions

No. The original Talkie: Soulful AI listing was pulled from the US App Store on 17 December 2024, reported at the time as a decision by its owner MiniMax rather than any government ban. Since 11 February 2025 the same publisher, SUBSUP PTE. LTD., has listed Talkie Lab - AI Playground on the US App Store, and it was live and updated on 9 October 2026 when we checked on 14 October 2026.

Yes, under a different name. Search for Talkie Lab rather than Talkie. The listing describes itself as a multi-model AI playground, but its seller is the Talkie publisher SUBSUP PTE. LTD., its developer website is talkie-ai.com, its in-app items are Talkie Gems and Talkie+ Pro, and its reviews talk about Talkie characters. It is rated 18+ and holds 4.7 from about 59,000 ratings.

Because the name you are searching for is gone. A search for Talkie turns up walkie-talkie apps and rivals like PolyBuzz, while the app itself now sits under Talkie Lab - AI Playground. If you installed the old Talkie: Soulful AI before December 2024 it may still open, but once deleted it cannot be reinstalled under that name.

On the US App Store, Talkie Lab lists 1 Month at $9.99, 1 Year at $49.99 and 1 Month Talkie+ Pro at $24.99, plus Talkie Gems at $1.99, $4.99, $9.99 and $19.99 and a Talkie+ Plus Coin item at $5.99, read on 14 October 2026. Talkie publishes no price list on its own website, so the store listing is the only public source.

There is a free tier, and it is paid for with advertising. Both the Google Play listing and the App Store listing declare ads and in-app purchases, and reviewers describe watching an ad to keep a conversation going. Paid plans start at $9.99 a month on the App Store, with gems sold separately on top.

The service is running. The Google Play build was updated on 10 October 2026 and Talkie Lab on the App Store on 9 October 2026. Most people asking this are on an iPhone, searching the old name and not finding it, which is a naming problem rather than an outage.

It is a mainstream app with over 50 million Google Play downloads, not malware. The issues worth weighing are its age labels, which disagree (Apple 18+, Google Play Teen with Sexual Themes), its ownership by MiniMax of Shanghai, and its Apple privacy label, which says identifiers may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies.

Not on the free tier. Talkie does not publish what each plan includes, and the most common complaint in recent App Store reviews is characters forgetting earlier details unless you pay. That is the usual reason people look for an alternative, and memory is the one thing Darlings includes on every plan rather than selling as an upgrade.

Yes, there is moderation, and users report it varying by character and over time rather than being applied consistently. That cuts both ways. If you need a predictable level of filtering, test it yourself rather than trusting an old forum thread, and note that Apple now rates the iPhone version 18+.

Voice and variety. The voice replies are expressive rather than robotic, the app covers a wide range of languages, the character art is a cut above the category norm, and a user base of 50 million plus downloads means a deep catalog of community characters. For performance and roleplay, Talkie earns its ratings.

Anyone under 18 on an iPhone, since Apple rates Talkie Lab 18+. Anyone who wants a companion that builds a real history with them, because memory is the weak point. And anyone who wants one steady presence that asks how the interview went, rather than a library of characters to roleplay with.

It depends on what you want it for. If you want one consistent friend that remembers your real life and checks in on you, Darlings is the closest fit. If you want voice roleplay with many different characters, PolyBuzz or Character.AI will suit you better.

Yes. Talkie tends to lose earlier context as a conversation grows long. Darlings keeps a private long-term memory of your people and your story on every plan and brings it back into conversation naturally.

Yes. Darlings uses simple plans with no token meter and no ads. The demo is free to try, and paid plans start at $9 a month, so you never have to watch a balance or wait through an ad.

Talkie is a library of user-made characters built for voice roleplay and entertainment, priced with subscriptions plus gems. Darlings is a single companion built for real companionship: it remembers your life, checks in on you first, and stays wholesome and ad-free.

Before you pay

Our reviews and safety checks on this app

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More ways Darlings is there for people

AI friend that remembers you

Not a goldfish chatbot. A friend who knows your story.

Meet a friend who remembers you

Say hi to your Darling, and let it remember you. Free to try, no card, no judgment.

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Your secrets stay secret. A friend, never a girlfriend.