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Character AI Review

uPDATED ON: January 28, 2025

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Tested with Scoring System 1.0

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Platform evaluates the quality of the platform hosting the AI character. Even the best AI character relies on a platform’s features to provide a great experience.

This includes:

Platform Score Summary

4.7 Average Score (50+ AI characters tested) 4.9 Best Score (Best Character AI Alternatives) 4.7 Worst Score

For more details, see our platform score explanation.

Passed

Memory Test

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Memory evaluates how well the platform allows the AI to remember past conversations. We test if it recalls details like your name, preferences, or roleplay history in future chats. Good memory makes interactions feel more connected and realistic.

Passing Grade Of: 20 Messages

Learn more about our memory score

Passed

Speed Test

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Speed measures how quickly the AI responds to your messages. Delays can ruin immersion, so we test response times across multiple prompts and different times of day to ensure consistency. Ideally, replies should feel instant and smooth for the best experience.

Passing Grade Of: 3 Seconds Max

Learn more about our speed score

Failed

Customization Test

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Customization checks if you can adjust the AI’s personality, backstory, or looks. Flexibility to personalize the AI makes the experience more engaging and tailored to your preferences.

Passing Grade Of: Customizable Responses

Learn more about our customization score

Failed

Privacy Test

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Privacy ensures your data is safe. We evaluate if chats are encrypted, anonymous, and whether you can delete data easily. A secure platform is key for sensitive conversations.

Passing Grade Of: No Chat Monitoring

Learn more about our privacy score

Passed

Extra Features

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Extra Features test for additions like images, voice, or videos. These tools enhance immersion and make interactions with the AI more dynamic and fun.

Passing Grade Of: 2 Bonus Features Minimum

Learn more about our extra features score

Best For

  • Roleplay with over 5 million unique characters.
  • Free voice and AI phone call features.
  • Fast, smooth chats with quick replies.

Considerations

  • Pre-made characters can’t be edited.
  • Memory limit of 20 messages.
  • Privacy concerns and no discreet billing.

Our Verdict

The platform’s memory limit is 3.2k, allowing for around 20 messages before it starts forgetting details. While this works for short to medium chats, it might not be ideal for longer roleplays. The servers are fast, with responses under three seconds, and there are no major complaints about downtime.

One downside is that pre-made characters can’t be customized. If you don’t like a character’s tone or responses, you’re stuck with it. Privacy could also be better—there’s no billing discretion, and there are reports of potential chat monitoring, so avoid sharing personal info.

Type: SFW Chatbot
Best For: Free Roleplay

Performance Tests

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Platform evaluates the quality of the platform hosting the AI character. Even the best AI character relies on a platform’s features to provide a great experience.

This includes:

Platform Score Summary

4.7 Average Score (50+ AI characters tested) 4.9 Best Score (Best Character AI Alternatives) 4.7 Worst Score

For more details, see our platform score explanation.

At Best Characters AI, we put each AI Roleplay platform to the test.

We test 12 different factors that impact the chat performance, privacy, and bonus features of the platform. We then take the results of those tests and calculate the overall platform score.

Check out the full performance table below to see how Character AI ranks:

Character AI TestTest Results
Platform Test Test Results
Overall Score

4.7

Memory Test

Passed

Memory Limit 3.2k
Average Character Memory 20 messages
Memory Cards Yes
Speed Test

Passed

Reply Speed < 3 Seconds
Customization Test

Failed

Customizable Backstory No
Customizable Chat Responses No
Privacy Test

Failed

Chat Monitoring No
Billing Discretion No
Extra Features

Passed

In-chat Images No
External Image Generator No
Voice Messages Yes
AI Phone Calls Yes

Passed

Memory Test

Question Mark Tooltip Icon

Memory evaluates how well the platform allows the AI to remember past conversations. We test if it recalls details like your name, preferences, or roleplay history in future chats. Good memory makes interactions feel more connected and realistic.

Passing Grade Of: 20 Messages

Learn more about our memory score

Character AI has a memory limit of 3.2k which is slightly below average (4k). This means that your AI character will most likely forget details making it more difficult for long roleplay,

Memory Limit

Average Memory

Memory Cards

We’ve spent countless hours chatting with over 50 AI characters on Character AI, and the average memory limit was around 20 messages. After that, it got hard for the characters to remember details. It’s worth noting that some characters have an even worse memory limit—some could only manage 6 messages.

Character AI also has chat profile cards.

You can upload your hobbies, traits, and other details here to ensure your AI character remembers them, no matter how long the roleplay goes on. We recommend using this feature right away, especially with AI characters that have a memory limit of fewer than 30 messages.

Passed

Speed Test

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Speed measures how quickly the AI responds to your messages. Delays can ruin immersion, so we test response times across multiple prompts and different times of day to ensure consistency. Ideally, replies should feel instant and smooth for the best experience.

Passing Grade Of: 3 Seconds Max

Learn more about our speed score

Character AI responds within 3 seconds which is about average because most Character AI alternatives we’ve tested responded within 3 seconds as well.

Character AI is the biggest chatbot after ChatGPT, so you’d expect top-notch servers—and they deliver. We chatted at five different times of the day over a week and didn’t notice any delays in responses due to server issues.

We also checked Reddit threads, Quora forums, and other online sources for complaints about busy servers but couldn’t find any recent issues mentioned.

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Although Character AI passed our tests, it’s important to note that you can experience a waiting line if the servers are busy. You need to upgrade to C.AI+ to skip to enjoy priority access.

Failed

Customization Test

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Customization checks if you can adjust the AI’s personality, backstory, or looks. Flexibility to personalize the AI makes the experience more engaging and tailored to your preferences.

Passing Grade Of: Customizable Responses

Learn more about our customization score

Character AI offers excellent customization options. Not only can you edit the tagline, description, and first message, but now you can even create an AI voice for your character!

Customizable Backstory

Customizable Chat Responses

The process is simple: upload an MP3 file, and Character AI will generate a custom AI voice based on it. It’s a premium-level feature that’s surprisingly free to use, adding a whole new layer of personalization to your AI characters.

However, you can’t edit AI characters you didn’t create. So, if you don’t like their messaging style or tone, you’re stuck with it.

Failed

Privacy Test

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Privacy ensures your data is safe. We evaluate if chats are encrypted, anonymous, and whether you can delete data easily. A secure platform is key for sensitive conversations.

Passing Grade Of: No Chat Monitoring

Learn more about our privacy score

Character AI isn’t as private as we’d hoped. Payments show up as “Character AI” on your bank statement, so there’s no billing discretion.

On the plus side, Character AI is strictly SFW, so the lack of billing discretion isn’t related to adult content.

While Character AI claims they don’t monitor chats, many Reddit threads and customer complaints suggest that real people (creators and the C.AI staff) might sometimes read or respond to chats. This hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s better to be safe.

To stay private, don’t share personal information, use a fake name and email, and be careful about what you say in your chats.

Passed

Extra Features

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Extra Features test for additions like images, voice, or videos. These tools enhance immersion and make interactions with the AI more dynamic and fun.

Passing Grade Of: 2 Bonus Features Minimum

Learn more about our extra features score

Character has more features than most AI roleplay platforms. Along with chatting, it also offers:

  • Voice Messages
  • AI Phone Calls

The voice messages on Character AI are some of the best we’ve tested. As mentioned before, you can create your own hyper-realistic AI voice, which is a great touch.

The AI phone calls are just as impressive. They’re smooth and fluent, unlike some other platforms where pauses between responses can break the flow.

What’s even better is that you can enjoy AI phone calls on the free plan, making this feature accessible to everyone!

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Looking for more details? here are detailed write-ups of all our Character AI reviews.

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