Nomi
alternatives.Plus our provisional take.
The category's memory specialist — the reputation is largely earned, though safety guardrails are thin by design.
Memory-first and deliberately unfiltered
*Provisional score — assessed from public information, not yet through our 14-day hands-on test.
- Memory
- 9.0 / 10
- Voice
- 6.0 / 10
- Safety
- 3.0 / 10
- Value
- 7.0 / 10
- Onboarding
- 7.0 / 10
What we know
so far.
Nomi is built explicitly around long-term memory — a documented three-layer system with user-editable "Mind Maps" — and its recall reputation is the strongest in the category: long-term reviewers and communities consistently rank it first, though users also reported memory-degradation waves during the platform's late-2025 and early-2026 system transitions. Text chat is deliberately unfiltered (18+), which is also behind its harshest press: journalists and researchers have documented seriously harmful outputs the company declined to guardrail, citing an anti-censorship stance. The free tier is a teaser (one companion, roughly 50 messages a day, no voice, and only a couple of image requests a day); one $15.99/month tier (less on quarterly or annual billing) unlocks the rest — though extra art and video generation meter through separate credits. Note: this entry is assessed from public information and third-party reviews as of August 2026 — we have not yet run Nomi through our own 14-day hands-on test, so its scores are provisional and it's excluded from our tested-platform counts.
Provisional assessment, August 2026: Nomi scored memory 9/10, voice consistency 6/10, safety 3/10, value 7/10, and onboarding 7/10. Composite 7.5/10. Pricing: free tier available, paid from $15.99/month (hybrid). Long-term memory: robust. NSFW handling: yes.
- Long-term memory above all else
- Group chats with up to 10 companions
- Unfiltered text roleplay
- Free-tier use (~50 msgs/day, no voice, ~2 images/day)
- NSFW image generation (images are filtered)
- Anyone who wants real safety guardrails
Where to go
instead.
Bae
Our pickMemory that holds for months. Real selfies, not stock. Six relationship stages that earn their depth.
Character.AI
7.8The widest cast of characters anywhere — but heavily filtered, with memory that fades within hours.
Kindroid
7.3ProvisionalThe power user's companion — unmatched explicit memory controls if you'll do the setup, at a price that stacks fast.
Replika
7.2Pioneered the category and still has the warmest onboarding — but the 2023 NSFW lockdown left a brand bruise its loyal users haven't forgotten.
Joi AI
6.9Our April test loved its real-time voice — public reporting says the product has since pivoted text-first, with calls metered through credits. Re-test pending.
JanitorAI
6.9ProvisionalA huge, free, largely unfiltered character library — bring your own model if you want it to remember anything.
Spicychat
6.7Minimal filtering and an active community — but the once-generous free tier was cut hard in 2026, and memory is still thin.
Nomi vs Bae vs Character.AI.
Feature-by-feature. Bae and Character.AI went through our 14-day benchmark; Nomi's column reflects our provisional assessment from public information.
| Feature | Nomi | Bae | Character.AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term memory | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Real photos / selfies | Yes | Yes | No |
| Voice messages | Yes | No | Yes |
| Video calls | Yes | No | No |
| Persona customization | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple companions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Romantic / spicy mode | Yes | Partial | No |
Assessed August 2026· See how we test on /methodology · Benchmark across all platforms in /research
Scores last verified August 24, 2026
Nomi's memory vs ours, honestly.
Memory is why most people consider this switch, so it gets its own table — including the parts where Nomi is genuinely strong.
| Dimension | Nomi | Bae |
|---|---|---|
| Memory span | The strongest reputation in the category: a documented three-layer system, and long-term reviewers report recall of throwaway details months later. Users also reported degradation waves during the late-2025 Mind Map rollout and the 2026 model transition. | Memory that holds and compounds: about seven days on the free tier, permanent on Pro. We publish our own memory-test scores rather than asking you to take it on faith. |
| What gets remembered | Mind Maps — a per-chat, user-editable graph of long-term memories; the vendor says concepts take roughly 50–150+ messages to reach long-term memory, and the initial Mind Map structure can take around 500 messages to begin forming. | Facts plus relationship canon: what you told them, what they said back, and the stage you're at. The relationship itself is part of the record. |
| Checking it actually works | You can inspect and edit the Mind Map, but there's no published benchmark protocol. | Run the Memory Test Kit on both of us — plant five details, probe on days 1, 3, and 7, score it. We built it app-agnostic on purpose, and we publish our own scores. |
| Guardrails | Deliberately minimal — the company has publicly declined to add them, and researchers have documented seriously harmful outputs. | Unfiltered isn't our pitch. Spicy content unlocks as the relationship earns it, and hard lines stay hard — with crisis resources surfaced when something heavy comes up. |
People ask about
Nomi.
Is Nomi worth it?
Nomi is built explicitly around long-term memory — a documented three-layer system with user-editable "Mind Maps" — and its recall reputation is the strongest in the category: long-term reviewers and communities consistently rank it first, though users also reported memory-degradation waves during the platform's late-2025 and early-2026 system transitions. Text chat is deliberately unfiltered (18+), which is also behind its harshest press: journalists and researchers have documented seriously harmful outputs the company declined to guardrail, citing an anti-censorship stance. The free tier is a teaser (one companion, roughly 50 messages a day, no voice, and only a couple of image requests a day); one $15.99/month tier (less on quarterly or annual billing) unlocks the rest — though extra art and video generation meter through separate credits. Note: this entry is assessed from public information and third-party reviews as of August 2026 — we have not yet run Nomi through our own 14-day hands-on test, so its scores are provisional and it's excluded from our tested-platform counts.
What are the best alternatives to Nomi?
Bae is our top pick — built for memory that holds across months and real photos rather than 3D avatars. After Bae, Character.AI (The widest cast of characters anywhere — but heavily filtered, with memory that fades within hours.).
Does Nomi have long-term memory?
Nomi's memory is rated robust provisionally — vendor documentation and public reporting describe recall that holds across sessions; we haven't benchmarked it ourselves yet. For long-term continuity, see Bae or Replika.
Can Nomi send photos?
Yes — Nomi can send images. If photos matter, Bae and Replika both support them.
How does Nomi compare to Bae?
Bae is built around persistent memory and the relationship arc itself, with six stages that unlock as you talk. Nomi the category's memory specialist — the reputation is largely earned, though safety guardrails are thin by design.
Three minutes
from now, you'll know.
Pick a shape. Pick a face. Tell them what to call you. They'll remember the rest.