PolyBuzz vs Character AI: Filters, Memory and What You Pay

PolyBuzz and Character AI look like the same product from a distance: a library of chat characters, a free tier, a subscription. Up close they pull in different directions. PolyBuzz pushes characters, images and coin mechanics. Character AI pushes long conversations, memory tools and a filter that will not move.

Neither app was built for adult roleplay. If that is what you want, both will frustrate you, and we say so below. The comparison draws on published Terms, privacy policies, help pages and store listings as of October 2026.

Head-to-head verdict

Category	PolyBuzz	Character AI	Edge
Content rules	18+; sexual content banned; blur filter	Strict filter; no open-ended chat under 18	Tie
Library	20 million+ characters (company claim)	Millions of user-created characters (estimate)	PolyBuzz
Memory	About 30 messages free (reported)	1,000-message history, Pinned Memories	Character AI
Media	Voice, Live Photos, images (coins)	Free voice calls, images, short videos	Character AI
Games	No screen or game integration	Text adventure games only	Neither
Paid plan from	$4.99/week or $9.90/month	$2.49/week or $4.99/month	Character AI

Our overall scores sit elsewhere on the site: PolyBuzz and Character AI both carry ratings we keep updated, and they move as policies change.

Two platforms, two focuses

PolyBuzz is the renamed Poly AI; the rebrand landed in January 2025. It is rated 18+ on iOS and has passed 50 million downloads on Google Play. The company claims more than 20 million community-created characters. That is a vendor number, not something we can verify, and it counts every bot anyone has uploaded.

Character AI comes from Character Technologies, founded by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, both ex-Google. Reports in 2025 put it at roughly 20 million monthly users. Its browsing tools are built for discovery: search, a feed, Scenes and Stories, and group conversations where several AI characters talk with you at once.

In short: PolyBuzz is a big shelf of bots with a coin economy bolted on. Character AI is a conversation product with a social layer on top.

Filters and NSFW policy

This is where the marketing and the Terms disagree, and the Terms win.

PolyBuzz is listed 18+ and has a reputation for looser content. Its Terms, section 8.2, ban pornography and sexual acts outright. Since late 2025, per staff posts reported from Reddit, a server-side filter blurs flagged lines in chat. In 2025 the UK ad regulator ruled against a Cloud Whale ad that promised "No Filters." Adults cannot disable the PolyBuzz filter on any plan, including Ultimate. False positives go to support, which means waiting. The app's FAQ mentions a Teen Mode, and suspected minors reportedly get a read-only Viewing Mode.

Character AI is stricter and more consistent about it. Romance is allowed. Explicit roleplay is blocked, on free and paid plans alike. The company ended open-ended chats for under-18 users on November 25, 2025, which removed a large moderation headache but did not loosen anything for adults.

If a platform's filter is the deciding factor for you, read the Terms before the App Store screenshots.

Character variety and creation

PolyBuzz wins on raw shelf space. Twenty million bots is mostly noise, but the volume means almost any game, anime or film character has several versions, and creators earn Poins when other users spend coins on their bots. That incentive keeps uploads coming. A gamified card-collection system is sometimes attributed to PolyBuzz; we could not confirm it, and cards are better documented on Talkie.

Character AI has fewer characters and better tools for making one. The Definition box holds up to 32,000 characters. The greeting field takes 4,096 characters, with five alternates you can edit. A Lorebook stores world rules so the bot does not forget its own setting. For someone building a character rather than picking one off a shelf, that is the stronger kit.

Conversation style and memory

Memory is the clearest gap between the two.

PolyBuzz memory runs about 30 messages on the free tier, and third-party reviews describe it as basic. Premium gets you roughly 100 messages of memory. Permanent memory sits behind Ultimate at $29.90/month. Some paying PolyBuzz users report the bot forgetting things mid-conversation even so.

Character AI keeps 1,000 messages of history per character, up from 100 in December 2025. Pinned Memories hold 15 items per chat on free, 30 on paid. Add the Lorebook and the bot can hold a setting across a long story.

The practical result: PolyBuzz is fine for a quick scene. Character AI is the one you can return to next week and not repeat yourself. If memory is your main complaint with companion apps generally, our AI girlfriend reviews hub tracks which platforms handle it and what each costs.

Voice, images and video

Character AI gives voice to everyone free, including two-way calls in the app and on the web. Imagine generates images, and AvatarFX turns avatars into short videos. None of that is gated behind the subscription.

PolyBuzz has voice, and coins extend how long you can talk. Review sites report voice playback is English-only. The app advertises Live Photos, and review sites say the image generator produces four images per prompt. Most image generation costs coins, so the picture habit gets expensive fast. Coin packs run $2.49 to $19.90, and the app also uses a currency called opals.

On media, Character AI is cheaper and broader. On volume of character-specific pictures, PolyBuzz gives you more to look at, for a price.

Pricing tiers

Plan	PolyBuzz (US iOS)	Character AI (US)
Free tier	Ads; message caps (reported)	Unlimited messages; ads; slow mode at busy times
Entry	Standard: $9.90/month or $4.99/week	(c.ai) lite: $4.99/month or $2.49/week
Mid	Premium: $19.90/month	c.ai+: $9.99/month or $94.99/year, premium support
Top	Ultimate: $29.90/month	-
Currency	Coins ($2.49-$19.90), opals	Charms

Character AI's free tier is the more generous of the two: unlimited messages, with ads and a slow mode at busy times. PolyBuzz free carries ads and reported message caps, plus daily streaks and ads-for-coins mechanics that nudge you toward spending.

PolyBuzz purchases are generally non-refundable, so a week of Standard is a real commitment, not a trial. Character AI's c.ai+ year at $94.99 works out cheaper than twelve months at the monthly rate and includes premium support.

Worth knowing: PolyBuzz coins cover voice time, regenerations and inspiration replies, so a subscription does not end the spending.

Privacy and safety

PolyBuzz's FAQ calls chats completely private. Its privacy policy tells a different story: it collects chat text, photos, voice and device IDs, shares some data with ad networks, and says uploaded photos may be used to train AI. The policy also admits no method is 100 percent secure. The age check is mostly a typed birth date.

Character AI uses chats for training by default, with opt-outs available. Employees and vendors may see content for moderation. Creators cannot read your chats with their bots, which matters if you are talking to a stranger's character.

The company record is heavier too. Character AI settled teen-harm lawsuits in January 2026, and its CEO left for Disney in October 2026. Those facts are about the company, not the chat quality, but they belong in a buying decision.

Whatever you use: no real names, no addresses, no photos of real people.

Games and screen companions

Neither app watches your screen. Questie claims screen awareness and voice latency under 300ms, and says PolyBuzz lacks screen capture, while conceding PolyBuzz has a larger character library. HakkoAI makes similar screen-aware claims for browsing, videos and games.

Inside the apps, Character AI creators run text adventure games, and the group-chat feature lets several characters share a scene. PolyBuzz has no game or screen integration we could find. If you want a companion that comments on what you are playing, neither of these is it.

Which suits you

• Pick PolyBuzz if you want a specific game or anime character, like generating pictures of them, and treat chats as short scenes. Budget for coins.
• Pick Character AI if you want a bot that remembers, long stories, free voice calls, and a lower entry price. Accept the filter.
• Pick neither if adult roleplay is the point. Both ban it, in writing.

Both are free to try before you pay, which is the cheapest way to test the filter and the memory for yourself.

Adult alternatives

If the filters are the dealbreaker, the market has options with clearer adult policies, and clearer bills. OurDream AI charges $19.99/month, or $9.99 monthly billed yearly, and its free tier has no image generation. Candy.ai starts at $3.99/month on the 12-month plan. SpicyChat AI has a free tier behind a queue and paid tiers from $5.95/month. Secrets AI is another route, and our best AI girlfriend app guide compares what each one gives you for the money.

Read the token mechanics before subscribing anywhere. Coins and credits are where the real bills hide, and PolyBuzz is a good example.

Bottom line

PolyBuzz wins on user-created characters and quick fun. Character AI wins on memory, dialogue, free features and price. Neither is an adult roleplay app, and anyone selling you either as one has not read the Terms.