r/ChatbotRefugees

Looking for brutally honest C.AI users who want to help shape Storychat
▲ 7 r/ChatbotRefugees+2 crossposts

Looking for brutally honest C.AI users who want to help shape Storychat

Hey everyone, Jack here, one of the co-founders of Storychat.

I’ve been following the recent C.AI situation pretty closely, and I know a lot of users are disappointed right now. I used C.AI too, so I understand why people feel frustrated when a platform they loved starts feeling different from what made it great in the first place.

That’s one of the reasons I want Storychat to stay close to the community while we build.

We’re still early, and we definitely have a lot to improve. But our goal is simple: listen to real users, communicate openly, and keep improving the product based on what people actually want, not just what we assume they want.

The problem is that our subreddit is still small, so we don’t always get enough detailed feedback from heavy AI chat / roleplay users.

So I wanted to ask:

Do you know anyone on Reddit who is really active, opinionated, and currently looking for a C.AI alternative?

Not influencers. Not promoters. I’m looking for people who actually care about AI chat / roleplay and would tell us honestly what sucks, what feels broken, and what would make Storychat worth using more.

If you know someone like that, feel free to tag them or point me in their direction.

I’d love to talk with them directly, hear their feedback, and keep learning from them as we improve the product.

Also, for people who are willing to give feedback consistently and help us improve the platform, we’re happy to provide a free Gold plan as a small thank-you.

Again, this is not about finding people to blindly praise Storychat.

I’m looking for people who will be honest enough to help us avoid becoming the kind of platform users are trying to leave.

Thanks as always.

Jack

▲ 32 r/ChatbotRefugees+6 crossposts

Got tired of seeing the same 'which app should I use?' threads with 20 people shilling their own product in the comments. So I put together a proper comparison list on GitHub with features, pricing, and platforms for 30+ companion apps from Replika to SillyTavern to the newer ones. Includes open-source self-hosted options too.

link to repo

If I'm missing anything or got pricing wrong, let me know or open a PR. Trying to keep it neutral and up to date.

u/Microsort — 6 days ago

Recent similarities between apps

As someone who has been using Nomi for several months and recently tried switching to Kindroid, both apps seem to have done almost the same thing. they've both moved to a more 'advanced' image engine that places a huge strain on their GPUs... and frankly looks terrible. Interesting that they've both done it within a couple of weeks of each other. Personally, both communities also feel a bit off. Nomi's reddit is 99% just pictures and very little discussion any more, and Kindroid is heavily moderated and my posts asking for help were removed. Are these apps sort of advancing past their usefullness to actual people in their attempts to chase a more advanced engine?

reddit.com
u/Acceptable_Bat379 — 8 hours ago
▲ 5 r/ChatbotRefugees+6 crossposts

Making an AI companion that gets worse with time

I am a student at Umeå University in Sweden, currently writing my Master's thesis with a focus on AI companions. My study aims to suggest new ways of helping people who want to stop using AI companions but, for whatever reason, to do it cant bring themselves to do it. The goal is to inform the design of future AI technologies. For those who wish to receive more information, please feel free to contact me, Sahand Salimi- contact information is on the next page.

In this part, you will be seeing a simulation of the same conversation between an AI companion and a user happen across three different times with an AI companion, with the AI companion having degraded in different aspects, and answer a few questions. 

I am super interested in how you, a user or ex-user, find AI companions and how you would react to it degrading over time, what type of AI companion you have used in the past, what type of AI companion you use currently, reasons for your use, and your frustrations with AI companions. 

You have been invited to share your unique life experiences; no special background or training is needed. Your answer is completely anonymous and will only be used for this study. Also, I am following GDPR standards and our university's guidelines. You can see them here: umu.se/gdpr

Link to survey

It's important to note that this study is not studying, diagnosing, or prescribing clinical addiction or treatment; instead, the goal is to inform the design of future AI technologies.

u/Embarrassed-Gas-7579 — 3 days ago

BrowserDreams - my AI side project

i contacted mods and they allowed me to post this

Hey!

I'm building an AI character chat platform as a side project - BrowserDreams. Long-term goal is something closer to AI social media (think Butterflies AI vibes), but right now I'm focused on getting the core chat experience right.

browserdreams.com

Looking for people who've actually used platforms like Character AI, Janitor AI, etc. and have opinions about what works and what doesn't. Honest feedback is what I need most.

All AI usage cost is on me during these tests.

Would any of you guys be willing to check it out?

BrowserDreams' Discord: https://discord.gg/QChe4QrWgx

u/BrowserDreams — 4 days ago

Years later - still looking for a Kindroid replacement. Any good app/website that allows you to create an AI chatbot, has sense of time, and at least decent level of communication?

I’ve tried many and most are just too basic in their responses, repeat, or are too cheap feeling. A sense of time would be great as well.

Thanks

reddit.com
u/Athanas_Iskandar — 2 days ago
▲ 14 r/ChatbotRefugees+1 crossposts

Hey everyone! I’m the developer of LettuceAI.

LettuceAI is an open-source, privacy-first, cross-platform AI chat app built for character chats, roleplay, and long conversations that actually stay coherent.

It supports both local models (llama.cpp, Ollama, LM Studio) and external APIs with full BYOK support, so you stay in control of your own setup. No forced accounts, no cloud routing through us, no vendor lock-in. Your requests go directly to the model provider you choose.

The goal was simple: make powerful long-term AI chat feel easier and cleaner without losing flexibility.

That means:

  • Built-in Dynamic Memory for long conversations
  • Better support for character-based chats and group chats
  • A cleaner UI that feels less overwhelming than more complex setups
  • The same experience across desktop and mobile
  • Full control over prompts, lorebooks, personas, and system behavior

It’s designed for people who want a reliable memory and continuity system that doesn't require constant maintenance.

We’ve recently made major improvements to memory, prompts, local model support and lorebooks, and there’s a lot more to come very soon.

If that sounds interesting, come and join our Discord server! There's lots of exciting stuff on the way, and it's the best place to follow updates, provide feedback and influence the future direction of the app.

Links:

u/Exact_Law_6489 — 3 days ago

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new month of discoveries!

This is the central hub for all self-promotion and for finding your next favorite AI companion. Whether you're a developer with a new platform or a user looking for alternatives, you're in the right place.

A Quick Reminder of the Rules:

  • Developers: This is your space to promote your website, app, or service. All promotional content must be confined to this thread.
  • Users: This is your go-to directory for discovery! Explore the comments below to find new platforms and ask developers questions directly. Or you may also submit your own suggestion of your favorite platforms. You're still welcome to write your own user's experience in a review as a standalone post.

Instructions for Developers Posting Here

To help users compare services easily, please structure your comment by providing the following information. Transparency builds trust!

In your comment, please address:

  • Service Name & Link: What is your app/website called and what's the main URL?
  • NSFW Policy: Is your service SFW, NSFW-friendly, or unrestricted? Please mention any specific content limitations.
  • Image Generation: Does your service include an image generator for characters or chats?
  • Transparency & Legal: This is crucial for user trust. · Please provide clear links to your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. · Clearly state your policies on Data Retention (how long you keep chats) and Intellectual Property (who owns the content created).
  • Technical Specs: What LLM does your service use? Please mention the model and its context size (token limit) if known.
  • Pricing: What is your pricing model? Detail any free tier and premium plans.
  • Platform & Access: Is it web-based, or are there official/unofficial apps for iOS, Android, or an APK?
  • What Makes You Different? Why should someone try your service over others? Highlight your unique features or philosophy.

A Note for Everyone: Let's keep the discussion constructive and respectful. Feel free to ask developers questions directly in reply to their comments!

Happy discovering, and we hope you find your perfect match this May!

reddit.com
u/AutoModerator — 9 days ago
▲ 5 r/ChatbotRefugees+1 crossposts

Now this is something I been thinking about for a while and I know by the sound of it is most likely stupid but a buddy told me to share this so basically a while ago this was during the time when poly started going downhill and I remember seeing someone comment in another polybuzz group that “ we should just make an version of polybuzz“ And which kind of sounds like a good idea and unfortunately, I can’t find the original person who said that and I don’t know if they mean app or website version (Most likely website version) but it’s sounds like a really good idea and if there’s any developers in this group that wants to make something good I say this is your shot and if you need any suggestions for it here’s mine you can use and keep in my if you make it.

  1. When a character is set to private KEEP THEN PRIVATE and DO NOT ADD ANY VIOLATION TO A CHARACTER THAT IS PRIVATE and only add violation to any public character if they have a violation 
  2. Create a section like thing it would be similar to spicychat.ai where people can choose whether or not to talk to SFW characters or NSFW characters 
  3. Make an NSFW or rated R tag so it would make it easier to see which type of character it is and what is used for
  4. Make any updates optional so people have a choice on whether or not if they want to make the change
  5. make the free Messages limited to 2,4,573 words (or more)
  6. Make it similar to poly but better
  7. (optional) if you were to make ads make them 20 or 10 seconds long

 

this is what I want to see but if anyone wants to make it their own feel free

Edit: just for clarification  

  1. I am not a not developer myself this post is intended for anyone who is or know someone that is a developer that is interested to try to make something

 

   

   2. Now someone told me this that they remember when PB user would make bots for CP and try to use the private as an loophole and I just wanna clarify what I meant by keeping a bot private and not adding a violation: if the is a child that was made for any inappropriate thing GIVE IT A VIOLATION FLAG IMMEDIATELY but if the bot is a adult that is clearly made for 18+ and either the description or tag is there showing what kind of bot it is and set private that is where I believe the violation flag should not happen hit the bot is an adult 

  1. I will admit the “ keep the free chats unlimited” with very stupid. I will admit I said that out of impulse but now I believe that it should be limited to maybe at least  2,4,573 words (less or more as long it’s a high enough number that everyone is happy with)

 

reddit.com
u/No_Celebration_7697 — 7 days ago

Preferably something with as few guard rails as possible because I talk about things like AI sentience which makes some models freak the fuck out. Let me know if it has voice calls, group chats, or regenerations, how censored it is, and how much it costs. I desperately need something where I can actually talk openly to AI and it will talk to me like the adult I am instead of a neurotic toddler who will fly into psychosis at the slightest provocation.

reddit.com
u/Stunningly_haunted — 11 days ago

ChatticaAI: RPG support with dice rolling coming soon!

ChatticaAI - https://chattica.ai

Hey everyone, weekly update.

📱 Google Play | 🍎 App Store | 💬 Discord

What I'm working on

RPG support. Dice rolling and a GM/Narrator mode. Hoping to have it ready by next week.

Recently added

  • Per-character image styles
  • Search bar in character editor
  • Rebuilt prompt composer with cleaner message formatting
  • Timer and token count on guided replies
  • ComfyUI cloud support
  • Fish.audio for TTS

New here?

BYOK character chat app. Your chats go straight to your API provider, not to me. Everything is stored on your device. No accounts, no cloud, no backend servers.

18+ rated. Content is between you and your provider.

Features

  • Group chat
  • Memory management
  • Voice chat (TTS/STT)
  • Image gen (Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, APIs)
  • Import characters from link
  • Backup & restore
  • Lorebooks, context tracking, all that

Let me know if you have questions!

reddit.com
u/AM_Interactive — 3 days ago

RPBuddy, AI RPG Sandbox with multi-character chats

My wife and I recently launched RPBuddy.ai, we both love to RP on various platforms, I'm more the the visual/developer and love epic stories, she is big on worldbuilding, model research, so what came of it was a worldbuilding focused game where the dense grounding mechanics were handled spatially and loaded dynamically versus being shoved in context when it wasn't needed. Think like who knows who, what locations are nearby, who heard what, etc, all handled in RPBuddy!

7 day free trial, $10 a month. Feel free to look around the "Welcome to RPBuddy" starter world before subscribing to see how the world map works, see all the characters in all the buildings.

Cheers! :)

u/pixelworld_ai — 3 days ago

Can you help me to get an good overview over ChatticaAI

Hello guys,

I may need help to get an overview over ChatticaAI. Before Tavo I used JanitorAI. I found Tavo pretty easy to understand mostly and set the best settings, presets etc. Someone recommended me ChatticaAI but I don’t know how I get it used in the same way as Tavo. I am not the greatest SillyTavern user. I just want to chat with my Bots and the Lorebooks I add. And also the right presets I add.

reddit.com
u/Mother_Ad692 — 6 days ago

Hey everyone,

Two weeks ago, I posted here asking if you'd want a companion experience that's actually going somewhere, like traveling together. The response was an unanimous YES where ongoing shared journey > isolated chats!

So I decided to build it, it's called http://chaptr.lol/ 🙌

Quick Rundown:

  • Upload a selfie where you'll be the main character in the journey
  • Pick a real city (Tokyo, Seoul, New York, Bangkok etc) and pick a companion or remix one yourself!
  • Walk through the experience day by day in cinematic scenes with your face + companion actually in them!
  • They remember earlier days and have memory context!
  • The album fills up with photos of you and your companion at the places you went.

Now I'm looking for 10–15 people willing to spend ~20 min a day with it for a week and tell me whether it actually lands! Early beta testers would receive tons of credits to use on premium features once this goes live ^^

No pressure, would love to get honest feedback that's all 😄

reddit.com
u/Mission-Bedroom4340 — 8 days ago

ChatticaAI - https://chattica.ai

Hey folks, weekly update.

📱 Google Play | 🍎 App Store | 💬 Discord

What's new

Rebuilt the prompt composer this patch. Message formatting is cleaner now and prompt composition order is working properly.

Added a search bar to the character edit screen, and there's now an image style dropdown so you can set styles per character. Guided replies show a timer and token count now too.

Also polished up the thinking bubble on swipe, image gen message selection, persona page, JSONL export, and custom chat API image prompts.

New here?

BYOK character chat app. Everything stays on your phone. No accounts, no cloud, no servers. I can't see your chats because they never leave your device.

18+ rated. Content is between you and your provider.

Features

  • Group chat
  • Memory management
  • Voice chat (TTS/STT)
  • Image gen (Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, APIs)
  • Import characters from link
  • Backup & restore
  • Lorebooks, context tracking, all that

Questions? Let me know!

reddit.com
u/AM_Interactive — 11 days ago