What is Chai?
Chai is the consumer character app from CHAI (chai-research.com). Corporate site: first consumer AI platform on the App Store, ahead of Character.AI and ChatGPT; in-house LLMs from 6B to 13B; RLHF on user retries; $70M/year B2C revenue in 2026; over $55M raised; 1.4 exaflop cluster. Google Play: 10M+ downloads, 16+, ads, in-app purchases.
You build ChatAIs — name, first message, memory, backstory, image, public or private. Web Lite signs in with Google, Facebook, or Apple. iOS Premium is $13.99/month or $134.99/year. Ultra is $29.99/month or $269.99/year (weekly Ultra $19.99). Pieces (coins) start around $2.79/200.
Who it is for
Someone who wanted a real mobile character app with a funded company, not a proxy workshop. Skip it if you wanted Janitor’s DeepSeek key or Candy Shorts.
Where it falls short
Free is ads and a cap. Ultra is expensive next to Sakura Infinite at $39. Play Store is 16+, not a pure 18+ girlfriend store.
Chai pricing
freemium
Free with ads · Premium $13.99/mo · Ultra $29.99/mo
Free ad-supported. iOS Premium $13.99/mo or $134.99/year. Ultra $19.99/week, $29.99/mo, $269.99/year. Coin packs (Pieces).
Free plan · Mobile app
Spec sheet
Chai at a glance
Reviewed 2026-08-29
Platforms
iOS · Android · Web Lite
Age
Play Store 16+
PriceFree with ads · Premium $13.99/mo · Ultra $29.99/mo· start free
Try ChaiCompany
- Maker
- CHAI
- Parent lab
- CHAI
- Model
- In-house social LLMs (6B → 13B + RLHF)
- Operator and billing
- CHAI. chai-research.com. Apps on App Store and Google Play. Over $55M raised.
- Native apps
- iOS / Android listed
- Languages
- English
- API
- No public API we list
- Trial
- Free plan
Companion
- Free vs paid
- Free: ads, usage cap. Premium $13.99/mo. Ultra $29.99/mo for the heavier model. Pieces for extras.
- Free-tier caps
- Ad-supported message cap on free.
- Companion chat
- 1:1 character chat. Community feed of ChatAIs.
- Character style
- User-built ChatAIs with backstory, memory, first message, image.
- Character creation
- Yes. Web Lite has Name, First message, Memory, Prompt/backstory, Image, private toggle.
- Image generation
- Bot image on create. Not a porn studio.
- Video generation
- No.
- Voice and live calls
- Chat-first consumer app.
- Live video
- No.
- Memory
- Memory field on the bot. Retention is the corporate obsession (RLHF on retries).
- Group chat
- 1:1.
- In-app currency
- Premium/Ultra plus Pieces.
- Training on chats
- They train on engagement signals. That is the whole roadmap page.
Update log
- Review from the official product.
Strengths
- + Named revenue and funding Real store apps
- + 10M+ Play downloads Printed Premium $13.99 / Ultra $29.99 You publish or keep bots private
Watch-outs
- – Ads on free Ultra is a steep rung 16+ store listing
- – not a pure 18+ girlfriend store listing
