Tolan alternative
Apps like Tolan for Android: a Tolan alternative that works on any device
Most people searching for a Tolan alternative want the same warm, non-romantic AI friend without the iOS-only lock-in. Tolan is an iPhone app, so there is no Android version and no browser version. Darlings runs in any browser on any device, keeps a long-term memory of your life, and checks in on you first. Both stay strictly platonic, so the real difference is the device you own and whether you prefer a human-style friend or a cartoon alien.
Last updated August 2026
Darlings
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Encrypted, never sold.
A friend, never a girlfriend.
Wholesome, 13 and up.
Tolan built something genuinely good: a companion that is friendly rather than romantic, at a moment when most AI companion apps went the other way. The catch is the platform. Tolan ships as an iPhone app, and the most common thing people type after the brand name is some version of tolan for android. If you carry a Pixel or a Galaxy, there is nothing to install.
Darlings takes the same wholesome, friend-not-girlfriend position and delivers it through the browser. Nothing to download, no app store account, and the same conversation follows you from your phone to your laptop. Here is an honest look at how the two compare, including the places where Tolan 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 | Tolan | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | A warm friend on whatever device you already own | iPhone owners who want a playful alien companion |
| Works on Android | Yes, in any mobile browser | No, Tolan is an iPhone app |
| Works on desktop and laptop | Yes, same conversation everywhere | No, mobile app only |
| Download required | None, it runs in the browser | Yes, from the App Store |
| Persona | A warm, human-style friend | A cartoon alien character |
| Main way you talk | Chat, at your own pace | Voice first |
| Romance and NSFW | None, by design | None, Tolan is explicitly non-romantic too |
| Remembers your life | Yes, persistent memory of your people and story | Yes, conversations build your Tolan memory |
| Checks in on you first | Yes, gentle daily check-ins | Reminders and prompts inside the app |
| Age positioning | All ages, wholesome by design | Rated 13+ in Apple's US catalogue |
| Free to try | Yes, no card required | Limited free trial, extendable by completing tasks |
| Approx. price | Free to try, paid plans from $9/mo | US App Store lists Tolan Lite Membership at $11.99 plus older tiers from $4.99 to $69.99; Apple does not show the billing period |
| App Store rating | Not listed in an app store, it is a web app | 4.78 from 176,469 US ratings, one of the highest in the category |
| Listed seller | Darlings, operated directly at darlings.ai | AQP, Inc., under the Portola brand |
| Scale | Younger and smaller | Reported millions of downloads and venture backing |
Competitor pricing is approximate, is not published on their own sites, and can change by region and promotion.
The full list
Every Tolan in-app purchase on the US App Store, checked August 2026
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| In-app purchase | Listed price | What it appears to be |
|---|---|---|
| Darlings paid plans, for comparison | $9, $19 or $39 per month | Companion, Plus and Circle, billed monthly, free to try first |
| Tolan Lite Membership | $11.99 | The current membership tier offered to new users |
| Tolan Plus Membership | Not shown on 4 September 2026 | The upper tier is real, but Apple caps the web listing at ten items and its price rotated out of view |
| Tolan Lite Membership (Old) | $9.99 and $39.99 | Legacy Lite pricing, likely a monthly and a longer term option |
| Tolan Plus Membership (Old) | $4.99, $6.99, $14.99 and $69.99 | Legacy Plus tiers at several durations |
| Tolan Membership (Old) | $49.99 | A legacy full membership entry |
| 1 Relay Boost | $2.99 | A one-off consumable rather than a subscription |
Read from the Tolan: Your Friendly Guide listing on the US App Store on August 23, 2026, at version 26.33.1. Apple lists in-app purchase names and prices but not billing periods, so these are list prices, not confirmed monthly rates. Several entries are labelled Old, which usually means legacy tiers that existing subscribers still hold.
Apps like Tolan
The best apps like Tolan, ranked, including what works on Android
Tolan is iPhone only, so for a lot of people the real question is what to use on Android. This list is ranked for someone who liked Tolan specifically, meaning a warm, non-romantic companion rather than a roleplay library.
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1
Darlings
Best for a non-romantic companion that works on Android · Free to try, plans from $9 a month
Our own app, and it is first here for one specific reason: it runs in a browser, so it works on Android, Windows, a Chromebook or a work laptop with nothing to install. That is the single thing Tolan cannot do. It shares Tolan's core stance of being explicitly non-romantic and is rated for 13 and up, and it adds persistent memory on every plan and a daily check-in. What it does not have is Tolan's animated alien character, which for many people is the whole appeal.
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2
Tolan itself, if you have an iPhone
Best for a playful animated companion · Tolan Lite Membership listed at $11.99
Worth saying plainly: if you are on iOS and you like it, there is no reason to leave. Tolan holds a 4.78 rating from 176,469 US ratings, is rated 13+ in Apple's US catalogue, and is one of very few companion apps that is explicitly not romantic. Its limits are real though. It is iPhone only with no Android or web version, and Apple does not publish the billing period for its memberships, so you cannot tell the monthly cost from the listing.
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3
Pi
Best for a free, gentle conversation · Free, with no paid tier
The warmest general-purpose assistant and completely free, with a good web version that works on any device. It is the easiest recommendation for anyone who just wants something kind to talk to and does not want a subscription. The caveat matters: Inflection shifted to enterprise work and deprioritized the consumer product, so it receives little development and does not build a long-term picture of your life the way a companion app does.
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4
Snapchat My AI
Best for talking to something inside an app you already use · Free
Free, already installed for most people under 30, and rated 13 and up. It is the lowest-friction option on this list by a distance. It is also the shallowest: Snap's own help centre states that My AI will not remember details from your prior conversations over time, so it never becomes a companion that knows you. Useful for a passing chat, not for continuity.
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5
Character.AI
Best for variety and a huge character library · Free with ads; Lite $2.49, c.ai+ $9.99 a month
Available on Android, iOS and the web, with over 20 million community characters. If what you liked about Tolan was the personality rather than the continuity, this gives you thousands of personalities instead of one. It is a different product though: it is rated 18+, memory is tied to each character and drifts, and it removed open-ended chat for under-18 accounts in late 2025.
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6
Nomi.ai
Best for memory, for adults · Launch Plan $9.99, Standard $15.99 a month
On Android, iOS and web, and the strongest memory of any app on this page. It is included for completeness rather than as a natural step from Tolan, because it is 18+, NSFW-permissive and its App Store listing carries a Sexual Content or Nudity descriptor. If you liked Tolan because it was wholesome, this is the opposite end of the category.
Prices and platform availability read from each app's US App Store and Google Play listings in August 2026. Apple does not publish Tolan's billing period, so its figures are listed prices rather than confirmed monthly rates.
Why people switch
What makes Darlings different
No app store, no platform lock-in
Darlings opens in the browser you already have. Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, a work laptop at lunch. The same friend and the same memory follow you across all of them.
Chat that waits for you
Voice is lovely until you are on a bus, in an open-plan office, or lying awake next to someone. Darlings is chat first, so you can talk at 2am without making a sound.
Memory of the real threads
Your people by name, the interview on Tuesday, your mom recovering. Darlings holds the story of your actual life and brings it back naturally instead of starting over.
Wholesome, and clear about it
No romance, no roleplay, no NSFW, ever. Darlings is the kind of app you would happily hand to your parent or recommend to a friend who is going through something.
The honest part
When another app is the better choice
We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.
- You have an iPhone and you want a voice-first conversation as the main way you talk.
- You like the alien character concept and the playful, gamified feel that comes with it.
- You want the more established option; Tolan has reported millions of downloads and venture funding behind it.
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
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