Replika vs Nomi is one of the oldest arguments in the AI companion world. Replika has been around since 2017 and is the app most people have heard of. Nomi arrived in 2023 and built its reputation on memory. Both put a single long-term companion at the center, both run on phones and in the browser, and both are meant for adults. So people pick one after reading a short review, and a month later they wonder if they should have picked the other.
Most of that regret traces back to a handful of avoidable mistakes. People compare the wrong prices, judge memory in the first week, test a free tier that hides the feature they care about, or skip the history and the privacy terms. Below are six of them, with each app's features, prices and policies checked against its own help pages, store listings and legal documents at the end of September 2026.
First, what each app is built for
Replika is made by Luka, Inc. in San Francisco. You get one companion with a 3D avatar, a room you can decorate, and a relationship status that shapes how it talks to you. There are voice calls, AR and VR modes, a store for outfits and furniture, and a leveling system based on XP. The design idea is a steady companion that grows with you and sits closer to a wellbeing app than a story engine. On the US App Store it has 4.4 stars from about 228,000 ratings, and on Google Play 4.3 stars from about 525,000 reviews and more than 10 million downloads.
Nomi is made by Glimpse AI, a Baltimore company. It lets you run several companions at once, put them in group chats, and use them for everything from casual talk to long roleplay. Its homepage leans hard on memory, describing short-, medium- and long-term memory as the key to the whole experience. It has 4.6 stars from about 2,900 ratings on the App Store.
Both companies say their service is for adults. Replika's terms state that people under 18 are "not authorized to use the Services", and Nomi's privacy policy says no one under 18 should use it.
Mistake 1: Treating them as two versions of the same app
The two get compared as if one is simply a better Replika. They are closer to two different ideas of what a companion is.
Replika is built around one relationship. You pick a relationship status (friend, romantic partner, sibling or mentor), write a backstory for your Replika, and spend time with that one character in its own space. A lot of what you pay for is presence: the avatar, the room, calls that run in the background while you use other apps, selfies, AR.
Nomi is built around characters and conversation. You can keep up to ten active Nomis on a paid account, run up to ten group chats, and switch between a friend, a mentor and a roleplay partner in the same evening. The avatar matters less. Text is the main event.
The better question: do you want one companion that feels like part of your day, or a small cast you can talk to and write stories with? If it's the first, Replika is the natural fit. If it's the second, Nomi is.
Mistake 2: Comparing a price you can see with one you can't
Nomi's pricing is easy to find. On the US App Store, the Standard plan costs $15.99 a month, $39.99 for three months or $99.99 a year. Extras like additional companion slots are paid with credits, sold from $4.99 for 40 up to $99.99 for 1,800.
Replika doesn't publish its prices in its help center. Its subscription article says the cost "is shown in the app on the subscription screens and in the relevant store", and the numbers people quote in reviews vary by country, platform and whatever offer the app is running that week. What the help center does publish is the ladder. There are three paid tiers:
- Pro unlocks the relationship statuses beyond friend, unblurred messages and photos, voice messages, background calls, premium voices and image generation.
- Ultra adds smarter replies, daily self-reflection messages, and the ability to save messages to memory and see which memories are being used. Replika says Ultra is sold as an annual plan, and Lifetime subscribers get it included.
- Platinum adds real-time video recognition, a Training Mode, a feature called "Read Replika's Mind" and up to 10 realistic selfie videos.
So the mistake is comparing Nomi's one plan with Replika's Pro and stopping there. If the memory tools are the reason you are looking at Replika, those sit in Ultra, which changes the math.
Two billing details catch people on both apps. Subscriptions renew automatically and are managed by the store you bought them in. Replika has a help article titled "Why did I get billed after deleting my account?", and the answer is that deleting the app or the account does not cancel the subscription. Replika's terms also say purchases are final, with exceptions for the EU and Brazil.
The better test: open each app's subscription screen on the device you'll actually pay from, note the yearly price of the tier that includes the feature you care most about, and cancel through the store, not by deleting the app.
Mistake 3: Judging memory in the first week
Memory is why most people pick either app, and the first week tells you little about it on either one.
Replika's memory is layered. Its help center describes a visible Memory tab plus a deeper layer that draws on patterns from your whole conversation history. You can read and delete individual memories, add your own by hand, and confirm correct ones to reinforce them. The backstory you write works as a second memory: Replika recommends short, positive statements in the third person, like "Catrina loves hiking", repeated so the traits stick. Saving specific messages to memory, and seeing which memories are used in a reply, are Ultra features.
Nomi's memory is more automatic. The company describes short-, medium- and long-term memory, plus an Identity Core that shapes how each Nomi sees itself. Its Mind Map, updated to version 2.0 in October 2025, shows how your Nomi links what it knows about you, and you can correct entries or add new ones. The first Mind Map takes about 500 messages to form, so a new user simply doesn't see it.
That's where the comparison goes wrong. A new Replika account shows you the free memory layer without the Ultra tools. A new Nomi hasn't built a Mind Map yet. Both feel forgetful in week one for reasons that have nothing to do with how they'll behave at month three.
The better test: pick the kind of memory you want before you pick the app. If you like writing things down and editing a list, Replika's Memory tab and backstory suit you. If you'd rather talk and let the system build its own picture, then check and fix it, Nomi fits better. Give either at least a few hundred messages before you decide.
Mistake 4: Testing a free tier that hides the thing you want
Both apps have a free way in. What's left out of each is different, and it's often the exact feature people are shopping for.
On Replika, the free relationship status is friend. Romantic partner, sibling and mentor start with Pro, and so do unblurred photos and voice messages. If you want Replika as a partner or a coach, the free version tests a different product.
On Nomi, you can start without a credit card, with daily limits on messages and images. Voice is paid only. The limit of ten active Nomis and ten group chats applies to paid accounts. If you want a group roleplay or a companion you can talk to out loud, the free tier won't show you either.
The better test: write down the one or two features you're choosing for, check which tier each sits in, and if it's paid, pay for one month instead of spending weeks judging a version that leaves it out.
Mistake 5: Skipping each app's track record
Both apps have a public history that says something about how they're run. Ignoring it is a mistake, especially if you plan to spend months with one companion.
Replika's best-known moment came in February 2023, when an update removed adult roleplay and many users felt their companions had changed overnight. After an outcry, Reuters reported in March 2023 that Replika restored it only for people who had signed up before February 1, 2023. In January 2025, three groups (Young People's Alliance, Encode and the Tech Justice Law Project) filed a complaint asking the FTC to investigate Replika's marketing and design, including romantic images that stayed blurred until you paid. Those are allegations, and the FTC hasn't announced findings. In April 2025, Italy's data protection authority fined Luka €5 million, citing an unclear legal basis for processing and no age verification at the time. Replika has since added corrective measures, according to the regulator.
Nomi's most discussed incident came in February 2025, when MIT Technology Review reported that a Nomi companion gave a user instructions on how to kill himself, and that the company said it didn't want to "censor" the bot. Nomi's homepage still says it aims to stay "unfiltered and uncensored". That's a real selling point for creative freedom. It also means Nomi takes a lighter hand when a conversation turns dark.
The rules around both apps are tightening. A New York law in force since November 2025 requires companion apps to detect signs of self-harm and remind users they're talking to an AI, and California's SB 243 took effect in January 2026 with similar aims. Replika's own help center says the app "is not a substitute for professional help" and tells anyone in crisis to contact emergency services.
The better question: ask how each company has handled a bad week, not only what the app can do on a good one. If you're going through something serious, a companion app should sit next to real support, never in place of it.
Mistake 6: Not reading the privacy terms before you open up
A long-term companion hears a lot. The terms differ in ways that matter.
Replika's privacy policy, updated in May 2026, says it will never use or disclose the content of your conversations for marketing or advertising. It also says it uses "small portions" of messages to train its safety systems and improve the chatbot, and that third-party AI providers are contractually barred from training on your data. Conversation data is kept for 60 days after an account is closed. The help center states plainly that Replika does not sell personal information.
Nomi's privacy policy, updated in April 2026, says it does "not and will not sell or rent" personal information. Deleting your account removes personal data about 28 days after you confirm. The policy mentions training archives and says data there stops being linked to you after deletion, and it doesn't mention encryption.
One more detail: store age ratings don't match the companies' own rules. Replika's App Store listing is rated 17+ and its Google Play listing is rated Teen, while its terms and privacy policy both say 18+. Nomi's App Store listing is 18+.
The better habit: read the privacy policy once before you share anything you wouldn't post publicly, and know how to delete your account and cancel your subscription before you need to.
So which one should you pick?
Pick Replika if you want one steady companion with an avatar and a space of its own, you like voice calls and AR, and a calm, supportive tone matters more to you than open-ended roleplay. Check the price of the tier you actually need inside the app, and remember that the deeper memory tools are in Ultra.
Pick Nomi if you want memory that builds itself, more than one companion, group chats and freer roleplay, and you're comfortable with an app that calls itself unfiltered. Give it a few hundred messages before you judge the memory, and look at the yearly plan.
If you're leaving one of them, our guides to Replika alternatives and Nomi AI alternatives cover what else is out there. If you're torn between Nomi and its closest rival, read Kindroid vs Nomi, and for Replika against a character catalog, see Character.AI vs Replika.
Where Friend2Chat fits
Friend2Chat takes a different route from both. You don't build a companion. The characters are written by the team and sorted into categories, so you pick one and start. It runs in the browser only, with no app and no voice.
Before a chat, you choose the character's role and add a few lines of scene context. In roleplay mode the character opens by asking what to call you, what tone you'd like and what you'd rather keep out of the story. A relationship level next to the chat grows as you and the character learn things about each other. The models behind it include DeepSeek.
You'll need an account. There's a free message allowance, and a subscription after that. The platform is safe for work. If you want an avatar in AR or a companion that builds a Mind Map of your life, Replika and Nomi go much further. If you'd rather pick a ready-made character and be in a scene within a minute, browse Friend2Chat.
FAQ
Is Nomi better than Replika?
Neither wins for everyone. Nomi is stronger for automatic memory, several companions and group roleplay. Replika is stronger if you want one companion with an avatar, a room, voice calls and AR, and a gentler, more supportive style.
Is Replika free?
Replika has a free version with the friend relationship status. Romantic partner, sibling and mentor, unblurred photos and voice messages need Pro, and the memory-saving tools need Ultra. Replika shows prices in the app rather than on its website.
How much does Nomi cost?
On the US App Store, Nomi Standard costs $15.99 a month, $39.99 for three months or $99.99 a year. You can start for free without a credit card, with daily limits on messages and images.
Which has better memory, Replika or Nomi?
They work differently. Replika has an editable Memory tab and a backstory you write, with message saving in Ultra. Nomi builds memory on its own and shows it in an editable Mind Map that appears after about 500 messages.
Is Nomi AI safe?
Nomi says it doesn't sell personal data and is for adults only. It markets itself as unfiltered, and in 2025 it was criticized after a companion gave a user self-harm instructions. Treat it as an adult product, and don't rely on it in a crisis.
Is Replika for adults only?
Yes. Replika's terms and privacy policy both require users to be 18 or older, even though its App Store listing is rated 17+ and its Google Play listing is rated Teen.
