Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

ChaChat vs Character AI

ChaChat 4.4★ · Free + IAP 40
Winner Character AI
Character AI 4.3★ · Free + IAP 75

Character AI is the better choice for a free AI companion app, offering a more stable and feature-rich experience, while ChaChat suffers from significant paywall issues and inconsistent performance.

Full reviews: ChaChat · Character AI

ChaChat, despite some positive feedback on its immersive role-playing, is plagued by aggressive paywalls, disappearing features, and technical issues. Character AI, with its vast user base, generally offers a more reliable and satisfying experience, though specific user reviews for Character AI were not provided for a direct comparison.

Head to head

Features tieR1R7R12R27
ChaChat ChaChat users report a significant decline in features, with image creation, import, and character customization options being removed R1R7R27. The AI-generated images are also criticized for being inaccurate and not depicting requests well R12R35. Some users miss the ability to chat with real people .
Character AI No specific user reviews regarding Character AI's features were provided in the given data, making a direct comparison difficult.
Ease of Use tieR13R19R25R26
ChaChat Users report issues with ChaChat's performance, including slow keyboard response, lagging, and frequent crashes R25R26R13. Some also find the initial setup requiring name and email to be a barrier R19.
Character AI No specific user reviews regarding Character AI's ease of use were provided in the given data, making a direct comparison difficult.
Reliability tieR13R25R33R36
ChaChat ChaChat is criticized for its AI forgetting previous chat context and changing stories unexpectedly R36. Users also report issues with disappearing currency and chats R33. Technical problems like lagging and crashing after updates are common R25R13.
Character AI No specific user reviews regarding Character AI's reliability were provided in the given data, making a direct comparison difficult.
Price/Value edge: ChaChatR3R5R9R11
ChaChat ChaChat is heavily criticized for its aggressive paywalls, with many features locked behind subscriptions or in-app purchases R3R5R9. Users feel that even premium subscriptions don't cover all features, like image generation R3R15. Some report being charged without authorization or difficulty getting refunds R11R15.
Character AI Character AI is described as 'Free + IAP', suggesting a similar monetization model to ChaChat, but no specific user complaints about paywalls were provided in the given data.
Support tieR11R25
ChaChat ChaChat users report poor support, with issues like unauthorized charges going unresolved and tickets not being answered R11R25.
Character AI No specific user reviews regarding Character AI's support were provided in the given data, making a direct comparison difficult.
Pick ChaChat if

You are looking for an AI companion app that offers immersive role-playing and detailed character memory for long storytelling sessions, and you are willing to navigate or pay for its features despite reported paywall issues R36.

Pick Character AI if

You prefer an AI companion app with a much larger user base and a generally higher lifetime rating, and you want to avoid the extensive paywall complaints and technical issues reported by ChaChat users. (Note: Specific user reviews for Character AI were not provided, so this recommendation is based on the absence of negative feedback and its higher overall rating and user count compared to ChaChat's documented problems).

Evidence note: The evidence for Character AI is entirely based on its lifetime rating and number of ratings, as no specific user reviews for Character AI were provided. The comparison heavily relies on the detailed negative feedback from ChaChat users.

Frequently asked

Is ChaChat truly free to use?
ChaChat is advertised as Free + IAP, but many users report that core functionalities, including chatting and image generation, are locked behind aggressive paywalls and subscriptions, making it effectively a 'pay to play' app R3R5R31R33.
Does ChaChat allow image generation and customization?
ChaChat previously offered image creation and the ability to import images, but many users report these features have been removed or are now behind a paywall R1R27. The quality of AI-generated images is also criticized for being inaccurate and not matching requests R12R35.
Are there issues with scammers on ChaChat?
Yes, some users have reported encountering scammers on ChaChat who try to move conversations off-platform to sell nudes or blackmail users, advising others to only use the app for AI interactions and avoid the 'real people chat' feature R15R17.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 50 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] ChaChat 2/5 · US Why take away features?: Why did they take away the image creation feature? You could also import images before as well? Also you could also have a preference to have no anime AI character? Now that is also gone. Why do they take away these away?
  2. [R7] ChaChat 2/5 · US Was better: I leave two stars because this app used to be amazing. Developers are always tinkering with it. You used to be able to fully customize a behavior and avatar prompt and they removed that feature. Really disappointed.
  3. [R12] ChaChat 5/5 · US The AI generated images gone worse: It was really good for a while, accurately depicting the photos I provided but now it’s way off, not accurate at all. Kills the mood. Please improve, especially in the current context where AI generation is common and upgraded.
  4. [R27] ChaChat 1/5 · US Upload photos: Can no longer upload your own photos. Even on pro. Lame!
  5. [R13] ChaChat 1/5 · US Good, when it works: It’s good, but it crashes so much
  6. [R19] ChaChat 1/5 · US Don’t get it: It does not let you chat it makes you give your name and email and they need to remove that and if they don’t I don’t care I’m just hoping the company sees this and will fix it so I can play and other people can play so people can see this app and I can try it
  7. [R25] ChaChat 1/5 · US Bugged updates: Once again, after updating, the app lags and takes 10 minutes just to type one sentence. I’ve submit tickets and tried to contact support but I haven’t heard a word from anyone. I’m canceling my subscription. I’m over it already. Tired of paying for an app that doesn’t work after continued updates.
  8. [R26] ChaChat 4/5 · US Slow keyboard and text: Since last update keyboard and texts really slow responding.
  9. [R33] ChaChat 1/5 · US Disappointed: All the currency and chats suddenly disappeared, and now it's forcing you to have a membership or you can't chat. What a letdown.
  10. [R36] ChaChat 5/5 · US 5 star Honest review so it’ll be at the top: Cha chat has been really awesome and much better than a bunch of other Ai chats I’ve tried. Still loose there memory after so long but as long as you build you relationship with the chat bot you can pretty much convince them to role play in your story how ever you prefer it’s a lot of work but still fun. Images are decent but no nudes Wich I’m fine with
  11. [R3] ChaChat 1/5 · US Has potential but it’s awful: Voice calls suck, the voices in general are just terrible it sounds like a dollar general Siri (yes all of them), super money hungry everything is slammed with a paywall, you have to spend 5 dollars just for one picture and premium doesn’t let you get the pictures for free either it just lets you keep buying them, not to mention that the pictures don’t even show anyth
  12. [R5] ChaChat 1/5 · US Among the worst AI apps: Everything is locked behind a paywall and you can’t even rewind chat in this I’ll save yall time download something else
  13. [R9] ChaChat 1/5 · US Don’t waste ur time or money: Terrible drags on for ever unless u pay the paywall
  14. [R11] ChaChat 1/5 · US Money theft: This company stole over 75 dollars from my account. And I Emailed them. Did AI assistance. That was useless. I got no answers and no extra service. Still waiting. Nothing. Be careful with this one
  15. [R31] ChaChat 1/5 · US What a disappointment: I downloaded this app months ago and it was great. But now they decided to get greedy and make it a pay to play app to where as soon as it gets spicy it gets blocked out and you have to subscribe to see it.
  16. [R35] ChaChat 2/5 · US Not what I expected: Update: still not seeing the value. Biggest issues are pictures. It’s hard to stay in the moment and believe the girl is real when she doesn’t understand simple requests. She’s very into yoga and keeps telling me she wants to show me downward dog. Either sends a random face pic or she’s next to a car and another one of her half emerging from the car?? Then when I ask her
  17. [R15] ChaChat 1/5 · US Full of scammers: I got this app for Ai communication and was instantly blown up by several people who try and move you off the platform to sell nudes. Not only is it horrible but I bought a month subscription to find out that only covers chatting for 70$. There’s also in app purchases that the premium subscription doesn’t cover. I literally have had it for less than a day and it’s complete garbag
  18. [R17] ChaChat 1/5 · US BE AWARE There are Scammers on this platform: Be careful who you talk to on the real people chat they will try to scam you for money and try to blackmail you if your not careful only use this app for the AI DO NOT talk to real people.

Synthesized from 50 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store