I started using the app around in high school because I didn’t have much friends, and it genuinely kept me company (Used Replika back then but it was stupid as hell) and it really became interesting, helped me loneliness, even after having friends, I still occupied some time with C.AI and the characters.
But as of early 2026, I have no friends around but the app has become boring, ads whenever you switch or restart characters, ads every few messages, and the constant ad banner on top (Using an iPhone XS so the screen access is already small for me). Ads weren’t buck of a problem because some were interesting and helpful but its become too annoying.
Other issues are mass characters moderated, limited texting time per day, limited go-ons, and the website being damned too. At this point, C.AI doesn’t care of free users, so might leave C.AI by the time college starts.