Apps Like Tolan but Free: 7 AI Companions That Cost Nothing to Start in 2026

Tolan won people over with a simple idea: a small alien friend who talks with you by voice, remembers your life, and nudges you back into the real world feeling steadier. Then the other side of Tolan shows up. Your chat slows down, your energy runs dry, and the app points you at a membership. That is why searches like “apps like Tolan but free” and “is Tolan free” keep climbing. People are not trying to leave their alien. They are trying to work out how much of it they get before paying.

So we went through the free plans properly. Below is an honest answer on what Tolan gives away and where it stops, followed by seven apps with a similar gentle companion feel that cost nothing to start. We judged each one on what you can do before paying, how hard the limit hits, and how well it remembers you.

Is Tolan free? What the free plan includes, and where it stops

Tolan is free to download, and it does have a real free tier. Portola launched Tolan as a subscription only app in 2024, then added a free version in 2025. On the free plan you meet your Tolan, hold voice and text conversations, build a little planet together, and benefit from the memory system that makes Tolans feel like they know you. Chatting runs on energy, earned by spending time with your Tolan, and free accounts hold only a limited supply.

Where it stops is the energy wall. When your energy runs out, the conversation pauses until you earn or wait for more, and Tolan’s own App Store description carries the honest fine print: “Full Tolan app experience requires a subscription.” The membership tiers are now listed as Lite and Plus, and US pricing has historically run about $9.99 a month or roughly $70 a year. Two more limits matter: Tolan is iPhone only, with no Android or web version, and the current app requires iOS 18. If either of those is your problem, the list below is where to go.

The free plans, side by side

1. SoulLink: the closest match to Tolan’s one friend feeling

SoulLink makes the same bet Tolan does: one companion, known deeply, beats a catalogue of strangers. Your companion is 4D, a fully animated character who lives in her own 3D world. You talk by text or voice, work through more than 20 story chapters, and open themed Echo chats. The feature former Tolan users notice first is the memory: SoulLink keeps a journal of your shared life that you can open and read, so being remembered is something you can check, not a promise.

It is free to start, and the free start covers meeting 4D, chatting, and opening the story. The paid layer is Plus at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, plus Lumen and Prism credit packs for premium outfits and extras. Honest weaknesses: SoulLink 2.0 is live on iOS with Android still coming soon, the download is a hefty 1.1 GB, and one character means a tiny library next to Character AI. You can download SoulLink or read more on the official site.

BEST FOR People who want Tolan’s one friend feeling, but visible, voiced, and keeping notes.

2. Tolan: the reference point, still lovely in short bursts

Tolan itself belongs on this list because for many readers the answer is to stay. Nothing else replicates the exact formula: a soft spoken alien who asks about your day, reflects on your conversations overnight, and aims to push you toward people rather than away from them. The app holds a 4.8 star rating with more than 180,000 ratings, The free tier suits a daily check in of ten or fifteen minutes.

The case against staying is the section above: energy cuts longer talks short, the full experience sits behind the Lite or Plus membership, and Android users cannot get in at all. If your pattern is one long evening conversation, the free plan will frustrate you within the week. If it is a morning chat with coffee, it may never cost you a cent.

BEST FOR iPhone owners whose Tolan knows them, chatting in short daily bursts.

3. Replika: the original companion, calm and diary like

Replika is the app that started this category, and its free tier still covers the core ritual: a companion who is always pleased to see you and remembers details across chats. The free plan gives you text chat in friend mode and a basic avatar. It also runs on iOS, Android, the web, and even VR, the widest platform spread here.

The catch is how much has moved behind Pro since 2023. Replika’s own terms list the paid additions: relationship status changes, premium activities, selfies, image generation, voice messaging, background calls, and premium voices. Voice calls matter most, because Tolan users who talk out loud will miss them on the free plan. Pro runs about $19.99 a month.

BEST FOR Gentle journaling chats and check ins on any device.

4. Talkie: playful characters with voices, free on the web

Talkie trades Tolan’s single friend for a crowd. Thousands of community characters cover anime, games, and films, and many talk back in voice as well as text. Talkie’s own FAQ is unusually direct about money: the core chat experience is free, messaging on the web version is unlimited, and you can start with no account at all. For pure free volume, it is one of the strongest offers here.

The app version adds an economy on top. Gems pay for premium cards and extras, collectible cards tempt spending, and Talkie+ at $9.99 a month adds daily gems and removes friction. Two warnings: memory is shallow, so characters forget last week in a way a Tolan would not, and iOS availability varies by region, so some readers will be limited to the web or Android versions.

BEST FOR Fandom roleplay and voiced characters, in playful short sessions.

5. Character AI: unlimited free messages, at a price of patience

If your one complaint about Tolan is that free conversations end, Character AI is the blunt answer. Messaging is unlimited on the free plan, and the company has confirmed that stays true across its tiers, including the newer lite plan. Millions of community characters, group rooms, and full creation tools are all open without paying.

You pay in other currencies. Free chats carry ads, replies slow down at busy times, and free users can land in waiting queues while c.ai+ members skip ahead for $9.99 a month. The deeper issue for Tolan refugees is memory: characters here are brilliant inside a scene and forgetful across weeks, and the pin based memory that helps most sits with the paid plan. Strict content filters also end romantic storylines without warning, on every tier.

BEST FOR Writers who want a new character every night and no cap, ever.

6. Nomi: the memory specialist on a daily ration

Nomi built its reputation on the thing Tolan users care about most: being remembered. Each Nomi keeps detailed notes on your life and follows up on threads from weeks ago. Their selfies add surprising presence for a text based app. Free members get one companion, which suits the one friend model fine.

The free plan is a ration, and you feel it: around 50 messages a day, a cap of roughly 400 characters on your own messages, and no voice calls. Fifty messages sounds like plenty until a good conversation eats it by lunch. The subscription, $15.99 a month or $99.99 a year, removes the cap and adds voice, up to ten companions, and a daily photo and art allowance. Treat the free plan as a week long interview for the paid one.

BEST FOR One deep friendship where being remembered matters most.

7. Chai: the bot arcade, generous hours and heavy ads

Chai is the scrappy end of the market: thousands of community made bots, minimal polish, and a free allowance that resets through the day instead of once each morning. Chai’s own FAQ puts the free limit at 70 messages every 3 hours. Bot quality varies wildly, from genuinely witty creations to one note novelties.

The real price of free Chai is advertising. Video ads appear as you open and switch between bots, constantly breaking the flow. Premium at $13.99 a month removes ads and unlocks unlimited messages; Ultra at $29.99 a month adds the strongest models. User reports through 2026 complain that free limits have tightened beyond the published numbers, so treat that 70 message figure as a ceiling, not a promise. Memory across sessions is close to zero.

BEST FOR Quick, disposable roleplay bursts with strange community bots.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tolan completely free?

No. Tolan is free to download and has a genuine free tier with voice chat, memory, and planet building, but free accounts run on limited energy, so longer conversations pause until you earn more. Tolan’s own App Store description states that the full experience requires a subscription, via the current Lite and Plus memberships.

Which free Tolan alternative remembers you best?

Two stand out. Nomi keeps the most detailed notes of any app here and follows up on old threads for weeks, although its free plan rations you to around 50 messages a day. SoulLink takes a different route: its companion keeps a journal of your shared life that you can open and read, Character AI and Chai sit at the other end, shining inside a scene and forgetting across sessions.

Which of these apps are actually unlimited for free?

Character AI offers unlimited messaging on its free plan, paid for with ads and slower replies at busy times. Talkie’s web version also offers unlimited free character chat, per its own FAQ. Every other app here rations you somehow: Tolan by energy, Nomi by a daily count, Chai by a rolling message window, and Replika and SoulLink by keeping their best extras behind a plan or credits.

Which apps like Tolan work on Android?

Replika, Talkie, Character AI, Nomi, and Chai all run on Android today. SoulLink 2.0 is live on iOS now, with Android coming soon. Tolan is the outlier: iPhone only, currently requiring iOS 18, which is one of the most common reasons its users look for alternatives.

Should I tell a free AI companion personal things?

Treat these chats the way you would treat any cloud service: assume what you type is stored on a company’s servers, and read the privacy policy before sharing anything sensitive. These apps can be genuinely comforting, but none of them replaces professional mental health support.

The bottom line

Every app here costs nothing to start, so the real question is which limit you can live with. If what you miss about Tolan is presence, one friend in a world of her own who keeps the receipts of your life together, SoulLink is the natural next home. If you miss being remembered in fine detail, try Nomi and watch the daily counter. If you never want a conversation to end, Character AI and Talkie’s web version are waiting. And if your Tolan already greets you like an old friend each morning, there is no rule that says you have to leave. Keep the alien, keep your chats short, and keep your wallet closed.