Character AI's Chapter 11 filing
On October 12, 2026 Character.ai announced a voluntary Chapter 11 process to run a court-supervised sale, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Reuters reported that Disney agreed to buy some assets for US$20 million as the opening bid, with estimated assets and liabilities each between US$50 million and US$100 million. The company says subscriptions remain active and billing is unchanged for now, that it expects the sale to finish by the end of November or early December 2026, and that if no buyer keeps the service running, the platform will be wound down.
Character AI plans and prices
| Plan | Price (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited messaging, with ads and slow mode |
| (c.ai) lite | $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week | Launched September 28, 2026; fewer ads and a daily taste of premium chat styles. Annual price not published. |
| c.ai+ | $9.99 a month | No ads, best memory, unlimited premium chat styles |
| c.ai+ annual | $94.99 a year | Shown as 21% off $119.88 |
Character.ai says prices vary by region but does not publish regional price points. A summer 2026 offer sold c.ai+ at $14.99 for the first 3 months or $59.99 for the first year. Billing runs through Apple on iOS, Google Play on Android and Stripe on the web, and payments are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise.
c.ai+ vs lite vs free
| Feature | Free | lite | c.ai+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads | Full | Less | None |
| Memory | Basic | Better | Best |
| Pins | 15 | 30 | 30 |
| Lorebook | Basic | Basic | Advanced |
| Slow mode | Yes | Less | No |
| Premium chat styles | None | Daily taste | Full access |
| Bonus Charms | No | No | +20% |
What are Character AI Charms?
Charms are Character.ai's in-app currency, launched December 18, 2025. Users earn them through quests and spend them on extra Imagine image generations, skipping slow mode and skipping ads. They cannot be redeemed for money. The US App Store sells six packs: $0.99, $2.99, $4.99, $9.99, $24.99 and $49.99. The number of Charms in each pack is not published.
How Character AI makes money
The company names three revenue sources in 2026: subscriptions (c.ai+ and lite), ads shown to free users, and Charms. In April 2026 it said it had added more ad placements for free users and described itself as serving millions of users every month with no outside investors. It has also licensed its technology: Google took a non-exclusive license to its models in August 2024, a deal the Wall Street Journal reported at about $2.7 billion (the company never published the figure).
- Founded: late 2021 by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, both formerly of Google.
- Funding: a $150 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz at a $1 billion valuation in March 2023; over $193 million raised in total, per PitchBook via TechCrunch.
- Revenue: not published by the company. PYMNTS, citing The Information, reported about $30 million annualized in mid-2025 with a $50 million year-end target.
- Users: 20 million monthly active users as of October 2024, per TechCrunch; no current company figure. Google Play shows 50M+ downloads.
- Age and content: the terms allow users from 13 (16 in the EEA and UK); open-ended chat for under-18s was removed starting November 24, 2025 in the US. Pornography and nudity are prohibited for everyone.
What Character AI's pricing tells an operator
Character.ai is the clearest test of the free-and-unlimited model. Every free message costs compute, so the company layered on ads, a cheaper plan and a currency to pay for it, and in August 2025 PYMNTS reported it was exploring a sale or new funding amid rising costs. A companion business is easier to run when chat is the paid product from the first conversation and heavy features are sold per use.
That is how WhiteLabelFans partner sites are priced: memberships, tokens, tips and unlocks, with the AI and content costs carried by the platform and up to 60% of total site revenue paid to the partner. See every app side by side in the pricing tracker, or read how to build an app like Character AI.
Sources
Checked on October 26, 2026. App Store prices are the US storefront in US dollars; web and Google Play prices can differ, and apps change prices often.
- Character.ai blog: An update on Character.ai (October 12, 2026)
- Reuters via CP24, October 13, 2026
- TechCrunch, October 13, 2026
- Character.ai plan page
- Character.ai blog: new styles, new plan (lite)
- Character.ai help center: about c.ai lite
- Character.ai help center: Charms FAQ
- Character.ai blog: PipSqueak 2 and more (ads, April 2026)
- Character.ai on the US App Store
- Character.ai terms of service
- Character.ai community guidelines
- TechCrunch, August 2, 2024 (Google deal)
- PYMNTS, September 25, 2024 (reported deal value)
- PYMNTS, August 20, 2025 (revenue report)
- SiliconANGLE, March 23, 2023 (funding round)
Frequently asked questions
How much is c.ai+?
c.ai+ costs $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year in US dollars, as published by Character.ai in October 2026. Prices vary by region.
What is Character AI lite?
(c.ai) lite is a plan launched on September 28, 2026 at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week. It removes banner ads, shows fewer interstitial ads and gives a daily allowance of premium chat styles.
Does Character AI have ads?
Yes, for free users. Free accounts see banner, full-screen and optional rewarded ads; lite removes banners and c.ai+ has no ads.
Is Character AI shutting down?
Character.ai filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026 to run a court-supervised sale. It says the service continues during the process and will be wound down only if no buyer keeps it running.
Does Character AI allow NSFW content?
No. Its community guidelines prohibit pornography and nudity for all users, and users under 18 lost open-ended chat in late 2025.