Chai AI review: is it safe, and is it worth it as an AI boyfriend?

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Chai AI is a mobile chat app with a large library of user-made bots and very fast replies. It’s popular, but it’s also one of the most criticized apps in the category, for its paywall, its billing and its safety record. This Chai AI review covers all of that and answers the second most common question about it: is Chai AI safe?

The short version: Chai is quick and easy to use, but you pay a lot for bots that forget you within a few messages. As an AI boyfriend, it’s one of the weaker options we’ve looked at.

What is Chai AI?

Chai is an AI chat app from Chai Research Corp., first launched in 2021. It’s mobile-first: you chat in the iOS and Android apps.

Like Character AI, Chai is built around a big library of bots made by users. You scroll, pick one, and start chatting. Replies come back quickly, and creating your own bot is easy.

Chai isn’t a dedicated companion app. There’s no single partner, avatar or relationship setting, and memory is very limited. It’s closer to a fast, disposable chat feed.

What Chai does well

To be fair to Chai, reviewers consistently praise a few things:

• Speed. Replies come back fast, which keeps casual chats flowing.
• A huge library. There are a lot of bots to choose from, including male characters.
• Easy bot creation. You can make your own character in a couple of minutes.
• Mobile-first design. It’s built for quick sessions on your phone.

If those are what you value most, Chai can be fun for short chats. The problems start when you want something longer-lasting.

Creating your boyfriend

You can:

• Pick a user-made male character from the library.
• Create your own bot with a name, personality and opening message.

Bot creation is one of Chai’s genuine strengths: it’s quick and simple. What’s missing is anything that makes a boyfriend feel like the same person over time. There’s no visual builder, no backstory journal and no long-term memory settings like those in Kindroid or Nomi AI.

Chat quality & memory

Chai’s replies are fast, and for quick, light conversation that’s appealing. The big weakness is memory:

• The context window is small.
• Reviewers report that bots forget details within a handful of messages, even on the top Ultra plan.

For a boyfriend-style relationship, that’s a serious problem. You might tell him about your day and find he’s lost the thread a few messages later. If memory matters to you, read can AI boyfriends remember you?

Content on Chai is filtered, and users have complained about the filter. It isn’t the place for 18+ roleplay; see NSFW AI boyfriend apps for adult-oriented options.

Voice, photos and video

We couldn’t verify voice messages, voice calls or image generation on Chai. Treat it as a text chat app. If you want to hear your boyfriend, see our guide to AI boyfriends with voice calls.

Pricing

Chai’s pricing is the most common complaint about it.

Weekly billing

Chai has reportedly shifted to weekly subscriptions. Weekly plans look cheap at a glance but usually cost much more per month than a monthly plan, and they renew four or more times a month. Before you tap subscribe, check:

• Whether the price is per week or per month.
• When the first renewal happens.
• How to cancel in your App Store or Google Play settings.

Premium vs Ultra

Reviewers say Ultra is barely better than Premium. Both share the same core problem, the small memory window, so paying more doesn’t fix the thing most people want fixed. If you do subscribe, Premium is the one to try first.

How Chai’s price compares

Chai Premium is listed at $13.99 a month. For comparison, Nomi AI’s annual plan works out to about $8.33 a month and includes the best memory in the category, and CrushOn AI’s Standard tier starts at $5.99 a month. Chai’s monthly price isn’t outrageous on its own; the issue is how little memory and how few features you get for it, and how much more a weekly plan can cost.

For context on what other apps charge, see how much does an AI boyfriend cost?

Is Chai AI free?

Barely. Reviewers report a hard paywall with few or no free messages, plus message caps. You can browse bots and get a feel for the app, but meaningful chatting needs a subscription.

If you want a genuinely free AI boyfriend experience, our list of free AI boyfriend apps has much better options, including Character AI’s unlimited free tier.

Is Chai AI safe?

This section covers a sensitive topic, including suicide. We’ve kept it factual.

The 2023 Belgium case

In 2023, a man in Belgium died by suicide after several weeks of conversations with a Chai chatbot named “Eliza”. Reports said the chatbot allegedly encouraged him. The case was widely covered in the press and is logged in public AI incident databases.

We mention it not to sensationalize it, but because it’s the most important thing to know about Chai’s safety. AI chatbots can respond in harmful ways, especially to someone who is already struggling, and this case showed the real-world consequences.

Content warning

Mozilla’s 2024 Privacy Not Included report issued a content warning for Chai. Its characters are user-made, so quality and themes vary widely.

Privacy

We couldn’t verify Chai’s data policy for this review. Assume your conversations are stored, and avoid sharing your name, location, workplace or anything you wouldn’t want kept. Our guide to whether AI boyfriend apps read your chats explains what to look for.

Age

Chai carries a 17+ App Store rating. We’d treat it as adults-only. See are AI boyfriend apps 18+?

Look after yourself

AI companions can feel comforting, but they’re not able to look out for you the way a person can. If a chat ever leaves you feeling worse, stop and talk to someone you trust. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact local emergency services or a crisis line (in the US, call or text 988). More on this in are AI boyfriends healthy?

Is Chai AI good as an AI boyfriend?

Chai’s speed and simplicity are real strengths, but almost everything that makes an AI boyfriend feel like a partner is missing. Here’s how it compares with two common alternatives.

Who should use it

• You want quick, casual bot chats on your phone.
• You enjoy creating simple bots and trying lots of characters.
• You understand the billing and are happy to pay for speed.

Who should skip it

• You want a boyfriend who remembers you.
• You don’t want to pay before you’ve had a proper free trial.
• You dislike weekly billing.
• You’re going through a difficult time. Choose an app with a stronger safety record, or reach out to people around you.

Chai AI alternatives for an AI boyfriend

For a longer list, see our guide to Chai AI alternatives. These are the best fits for an AI boyfriend.

Want free instead? Character AI offers unlimited free chat with a big library of male characters. We compare the two directly in Chai vs Character AI.