Talkie vs Character AI vs PolyBuzz
Talkie vs Character AI vs PolyBuzz: price, memory and which one you can actually download in the US
Talkie vs Character AI vs PolyBuzz has an answer most comparisons skip: on 30 August 2026 we searched the US App Store and Talkie was not there. It was pulled from the US iOS store in December 2024 and has not come back under that name, so on an iPhone the choice is really between Character.AI and PolyBuzz. On Android, Talkie is very much alive, sitting at 4.6 stars from 835,000 reviews with over 50 million downloads. Character.AI is the cheapest way in at $2.49 for Lite, PolyBuzz is the best rated at 4.4 from about 467,000 US ratings, and PolyBuzz is the only one of the three that sells persistent memory, listed at $29.90 a month on Ultimate. Talkie publishes no price list at all. If you want one friend who remembers you rather than a library of characters, that is a different product and Darlings is it.
Last updated August 2026
Darlings
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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 arrived in the same wave and do the same thing: a library of user-made characters, voice replies, and a free tier paid for by ads. Talkie was the breakout of the group, reaching the top five most downloaded apps in the US in early 2024 and outranking Character.AI at its peak.
Then the practical question changed. On 17 December 2024 Talkie was removed from the US iOS App Store, reported at the time as a decision by its owner, the Shanghai company MiniMax, for unspecified technical reasons. We checked the US storefront again on 30 August 2026 and it is still not listed there. That single fact reshapes this comparison more than any feature does, and it is why the autocomplete for Talkie is full of people asking whether it is banned or down.
So read this page in two halves. If you are on Android, all three are real options and the comparison is about memory, price and content rating. If you are on an iPhone, Talkie is not currently a choice you can make, and the honest comparison is Character.AI against PolyBuzz.
Everything below was read from primary sources in August 2026: the Character.AI and PolyBuzz listings on the US App Store, and the Talkie listing on Google Play. Most roundups covering these three are still quoting 2024 figures and none of them mention that one of the apps is missing.
Darlings is the fourth column here and it is not a character library. No user-made bots, no roleplay, no images, no romantic mode. One companion who remembers your real life, on every plan, in a browser. A lot of people comparing these three actually want that and do not know it is a separate category.
Side by side
How Darlings compares
An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.
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| Darlings | Talkie | Character.AI | PolyBuzz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | One platonic friend who remembers you and checks in | Voice-led character chat on Android, if you can get it | The largest character library and the most active creator scene | Character chat with the smoothest free tier of the three |
| On the US App Store today | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | No. Removed in December 2024 and still not listed on 30 August 2026 | Yes | Yes |
| On Google Play today | Not applicable, Darlings runs in a browser | Yes, updated 25 August 2026 | Yes | Yes |
| Age or content rating | 13 and up | Rated Teen on Google Play | 18+ on the US App Store | 18+ on the US App Store |
| Store rating | Not listed, Darlings runs in a browser | 4.6 from about 835,000 Google Play reviews | 4.3 from about 555,000 US App Store ratings | 4.4 from about 467,000 US App Store ratings |
| Reach | Browser, any device | Over 50 million Google Play downloads | Over 20 million community characters | A large and fast growing user-made library |
| Cheapest listed paid plan | $9 per month, the Companion plan | No public price list, the listing says only that it contains in-app purchases | Character.AI Lite $2.49 | Poly Standard Weekly $4.99, Standard Monthly $9.90 |
| What long term memory costs | Included on every plan, starting at $9 | Not sold as a named tier, and recall fades on long chats | Not sold as a tier; recall is tied to each character and drifts on long chats | Ultimate, listed at $29.90 monthly |
| Annual option | Monthly only for now | None published | Character.AI+ $94.99 | None listed, weekly and monthly only |
| Ads on the free tier | None, and there is no ad-supported tier at all | Yes, the Play listing declares Contains ads | Yes, and slower replies at peak times | Yes, the listing declares Advertising |
| Romance or adult content | No, never, on any plan | Permitted in practice, though the Play rating is Teen | Permitted, Sexual Content or Nudity listed as infrequent | Permitted, and Sexual Content or Nudity is listed as frequent |
| Starts the conversation first | Yes, a gentle daily check-in | No | No | No |
| One-off packs sold on top | None, the plan price is the price | Yes, in-app purchases are listed | Charms, six packs from $0.99 to $99.99 | Coins from $2.49 to $19.90, plus 1000 Opals at $5.90 |
| Who owns it | Darlings, a US product | MiniMax, based in Shanghai | Character Technologies, Inc. | CLOUD WHALE INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY LLC. |
| Under-18 access | 13 and up, with no romantic content at any tier | Rated Teen on Google Play, with no age verification step reported by users | Open-ended chat was removed for under-18 accounts, announced October 2025 and completed by late November 2025 | None, it is an 18+ listing |
| Runs without installing an app | Yes, any browser on any device | Yes, talkie-ai.com is live | Browser available | Browser available |
Character.AI and PolyBuzz figures were read from their US App Store listings in August 2026. Talkie figures were read from its Google Play listing on 30 August 2026, because Talkie is not currently listed on the US App Store. Apple and Google both list in-app purchase prices without always publishing the billing period, so treat unlabelled figures as listed prices rather than confirmed monthly rates. Check the current listing before you subscribe.
The full list
Every Character.AI and PolyBuzz in-app purchase on the US App Store, plus what Talkie publishes, read August 2026
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| App | Subscriptions listed | One off packs listed |
|---|---|---|
| Darlings | Companion $9, Plus $19, Circle $39 per month, free to try with no card | None, there are no coins, charms or credits to buy |
| Talkie | None published. The Google Play listing declares in-app purchases and ads but no plan names or prices | Not published as a list |
| Character.AI | Character.AI Lite $2.49, Character.AI Lite $4.99, Character.AI+ $9.99, Character.AI+ $94.99 | Charms Starter $0.99, Small $2.99, Medium $4.99, Large $9.99, Extra Large $24.99, Extra Extra Extra Large $99.99 |
| PolyBuzz | Poly Standard Weekly Plan $4.99, Poly Standard Monthly $9.90, Poly Premium Monthly $19.90, Poly Ultimate Monthly Plan $29.90 | 1000 Coins $2.49, 3000 Coins $4.99, 8000 Coins $9.99, 20000 Coins $19.90, 1000 Opals $5.90 |
Character.AI and PolyBuzz entries were read verbatim from their US App Store listings. Talkie has no US App Store listing to read, and neither its Google Play listing nor its website publishes a plan and price table, which is why its row says so rather than guessing. Any specific Talkie monthly price you find quoted elsewhere is not traceable to a primary source. Darlings plans are billed monthly.
Ranked
Which is better, Talkie or Character AI or PolyBuzz?
Ranked for someone who wants a companion that stays. Darlings is our own product and sits first for that use, so judge the reasoning rather than the position. Entries two and three are the honest answer if what you actually want is a character library.
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1
Darlings
Best for one friend who remembers you · Free to try, plans from $9 a month
Pick this if the thing you keep losing is continuity. 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 in a browser, so no store can remove it from under you. It has no character library, no roleplay and no romantic mode, which rules it out if that is what you came for.
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2
PolyBuzz
Best for character chat on an iPhone · Standard $9.90 a month, Ultimate $29.90
The best rated of the three at 4.4 from about 467,000 US ratings, and the only one here that sells persistent memory as a tier. If you are on iOS and you want what Talkie gave you, this is the closest available swap. The caveat is content: its listing declares Sexual Content or Nudity as frequent, a stronger descriptor than Character.AI carries, and there is no annual plan to soften the price.
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3
Character.AI
Best for the biggest character library · Lite $2.49, c.ai+ $9.99 or $94.99 a year
The deepest catalogue and the most active creator scene, at the cheapest entry price on this page. It is also the only one of the three with an annual plan. Two things to know before you commit: it does not sell persistent memory at any price, so long chats drift, and open-ended chat was removed for under-18 accounts in late 2025.
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4
Talkie, on Android only
Best for voice-led character chat, if you are on Android · No public price list
Still a genuinely good app and still enormous, with 4.6 stars from 835,000 reviews and over 50 million downloads, updated as recently as 25 August 2026. If you are on Android and already happy with it, there is no strong reason to move. Two honest caveats: it publishes no prices anywhere, so you find out on the subscription screen, and it has been off the US App Store since December 2024, which is a real availability risk to weigh.
Store data read August 2026. If you are on an iPhone, entry four is not currently available to you.
Why people switch
What makes Darlings different
A browser tab cannot be delisted
Talkie is the clearest example in this category of a risk people do not price in: your companion lives inside someone else's store, and that store can remove it. Millions of US iPhone users lost access in December 2024 and it has not returned under that name. Darlings runs at a web address on any device, so there is no store gatekeeper between you and the conversation, and your memory is exportable from settings whenever you want a copy.
Memory is included, not the top tier
PolyBuzz puts persistent memory on Ultimate at $29.90 a month. Character.AI does not sell it at all, and Talkie does not name it as a feature you can buy. Darlings remembers your people, your job and your history on every plan including the $9 one, and you can open that memory, correct it, export it or delete it.
One friend instead of a library
All three of these are catalogues. Every time you switch characters you start the relationship over, re-explaining who your sister is and what you do for work. Darlings is a single companion carrying one continuous thread, which is a different experience from browsing and is the whole reason it exists.
Platonic by design, which is why it can be rated 13
Character.AI and PolyBuzz both carry 18+ ratings on the US App Store, and PolyBuzz declares Sexual Content or Nudity as frequent. Talkie is rated Teen on Google Play while permitting a good deal more than that rating suggests. Darlings has no romantic mode to unlock at any price, which is a different thing from a filter you can talk your way around.
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 Android and you like Talkie, keep Talkie. It has 4.6 stars from 835,000 reviews, over 50 million downloads and a build from 25 August 2026, and its voice work is better than anything Darlings does, because Darlings does not do voice characters at all.
- If you want the largest character library and the cheapest way in, Character.AI wins outright. Lite at $2.49 is the lowest paid entry on this page and the catalogue is the deepest in the category. Darlings has no library at all.
- If you want a polished free tier on an iPhone, PolyBuzz is the best rated app here at 4.4 from about 467,000 ratings, and Poly Standard Monthly at $9.90 is good value. Darlings has no free tier beyond a trial.
- If romantic or adult roleplay is the point, all three of these permit it in some form and Darlings does not, at any tier or any price. There is no version of Darlings that becomes that, so one of these three is the right answer for you.
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