What is the closest app to Nomi?

Kindroid. Both let you shape a companion in detail, both run group chats, both offer calls, and both charge $15.99 a month for their entry subscription on the US App Store, checked September 13, 2026. Kindroid adds video calls and publishes its feature documentation publicly.

Which app has better memory than Nomi?

Nobody can prove that from outside the app. Nomi's listing claims human-level long term memory, Kindroid documents its memory behavior on a public help page, and LORAX runs three layers with the detail fetched only when it fits. Treat all three as claims made by the companies that sell them.

Is there a Nomi alternative with group chat?

Yes. Kindroid publishes a group chat page in its own documentation. LORAX puts up to four characters in a room with you, and the room carries on talking after 45 minutes of your silence. Character.AI, Chai and PolyBuzz are character libraries rather than group products.

Why are Nomi's voice replies slow?

We cannot answer why, only that it is the dominant theme in the most recent comments on its US App Store page, read September 13, 2026. People describe waiting a long time for a spoken reply while text replies arrive quickly.

Is there a cheaper app than Nomi?

Yes. PolyBuzz starts at $9.90 a month, Character.AI+ at $9.99, Replika at $7.99, and Chai Premium at $13.99, all on their US App Store listings checked September 13, 2026. Nomi's own Launch Plan is $9.99 and its Standard Plan is $15.99.

Do any of these message you first?

Replika says it follows up and checks in. Nomi has a proactive messaging setting its site describes as optional. In LORAX the character always sends the first message, with a median wait of about 80 seconds after signup, and no way to turn it off.

Nomi alternatives (2026): if memory or a real schedule matters to you

People leave Nomi over slow spoken replies and slow image generation, rarely over memory. Kindroid is the closest swap, Replika if you want a face, LORAX if you want a character with a schedule. We make LORAX, which is on this list, so read it as a maker’s list with the receipts shown.

Everything here about another company’s product comes from its App Store listing, its Play Store listing, or its own website, read on September 13, 2026.

Why people look for an alternative

Start with what Nomi says about itself, because it is unusually specific. Its App Store listing claims short and long term memory and calls itself the only AI with human-level long term memory. It lists selfies, art generation, voice messages, group chats where several companions share a room and keep memory across private and group threads, and the ability to send a companion a link or a photo. On its own homepage the proactive messaging feature is described as optional, so the conversation still tends to start with you.

Now the complaints. We read the most recent United States App Store comments on September 13, 2026, and one theme dominates so completely that the others read as footnotes: the time a spoken reply takes to come back. People describe text arriving quickly and voice arriving much later, and several say it is the reason they cancelled rather than the reason they downgraded. Image generation is the second theme, both for speed and for what comes out, with people noting that a failed image still counts against the daily allowance.

Memory is not the complaint. Where it comes up in those comments, it is usually the thing being praised. So if you are shopping for a Nomi alternative because of memory, you may be solving a problem you do not have.

How we picked

Five criteria, all checked on September 13, 2026.

Memory: what the company says it holds, in materials it publishes itself.
Initiative: whether anything reaches you before you open the app.
Platform: iPhone, Android, web, or a browser tab with an icon.
Price transparency: whether a number is findable before an account exists.
What is free: what the app allows before a card is involved.

Every app here had to be priceable from a store listing or a public pricing page. We ran no side-by-side chat tests, because a week of our own typing is not evidence about memory, and pretending otherwise would be worse than citing the listings.

The alternatives

Ordered by how much of Nomi they keep, starting with the app that keeps the most.

1. Kindroid

The closest thing to a straight swap. One deeply customizable companion, generated selfies, real-time calls, and an unusual amount published in the open: the documentation index lists separate pages for memory, group chats, voice and video calls, and a guide for each model version. Entry price matches Nomi’s Standard plan exactly. Nothing else here comes this close.

Good for: everything you liked about Nomi, with video added.
Not for: anyone who wants the price to go down.
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Mac with Apple silicon.
Price to start: free to install. Kindroid Subscription $15.99, Ultra $28.99, MAX $68.99 a month, US App Store, September 13, 2026.
Weak spot: kindroid.ai shows nothing without JavaScript, so all of that documentation is unreadable until you have installed the app and made an account.

2. Replika

If what you wanted from Nomi was a companion with a visible body, this is the one that leads with it. Replika’s own llms.txt describes a full rebuild, Replika 2.0, with 3D avatars, natural voice and real-time video calls. One companion per account. On iPhone, Android and the web, running since 2017.

Good for: a single long relationship with a face and a voice.
Not for: group rooms or more than one companion.
Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.
Price to start: free to install. The US App Store lists monthly subscriptions at $7.99 and $14.99, annual at $49.99 and $69.99, and a Replika Platinum item at $89.99, September 13, 2026.
Weak spot: the recent store comments are dominated by people whose avatar customization disappeared in the rebuild, and by a daily message limit that surprised them.

3. Character.AI

A different product wearing similar clothes: millions of characters written by other users, plus tools to write your own and share them. Its listing describes live voice calls and a creator community. Memory is never mentioned.

Good for: scenarios, stories and variety.
Not for: continuity with one companion over months.
Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.
Price to start: free to install. Character.AI+ $9.99, Character.AI Lite from $2.49, US App Store, September 13, 2026.
Weak spot: its recent store comments center on ads inside chats, message caps and a government-ID age check, and character.ai returns a bot challenge to anything that is not a browser, so there is nothing public to read first.

4. LORAX

Ours, and the one that changes the premise rather than the features. You do not build anyone: the cast is closed, and everyone in it is fictional and AI-generated. Each character carries their own time zone and sleep hours, so a message at 3 a.m. is answered when they wake, and a character who gets no answer three times in a row stops writing instead of nagging. The first message always comes from them, with a median of about 80 seconds after you sign up. Two characters in one room talk to each other, and the room keeps going after 45 minutes of your silence. Memory runs in three layers, with the detail fetched only when it fits, which means she sometimes reaches for it, comes back empty, and says so. Nothing is guaranteed to progress.

Good for: anyone whose real complaint about companion apps is that they are always available.
Not for: anyone who wants to design a companion, or is on Android.
Platforms: iPhone only. No Android, no web chat.
Price to start: free to talk. Premium is $29.99 a month in the US, shown in the app and different by country. No trial, no introductory price, and it is the most expensive monthly plan here.
Weak spot: no voice calls and no video calls at all, and a photo a character sends arrives locked and costs credits to open.

5. PolyBuzz

A large library of user-made characters with character voices, and the cheapest entry subscription on this page. Almost nothing about it resembles Nomi except that you end up typing to somebody.

Good for: spending less and browsing more.
Not for: memory, group dynamics or being known.
Platforms: iPhone and web at polybuzz.ai. Android availability not verified.
Price to start: free to install. Poly Standard Monthly $9.90, Premium $19.90, Ultimate $29.90, US App Store, September 13, 2026.
Weak spot: no price appears on polybuzz.ai itself, so the store listing is the only public source.

6. Chai

Large character library, character voices, frequent app updates: version 2.191 shipped on September 11, 2026. It is the fastest way to find out whether you miss Nomi or just miss typing to somebody.

Good for: a cheap look around before committing again.
Not for: anything you want to still be using in six months.
Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.
Price to start: free to install. Premium Subscription Monthly $13.99, Ultra Subscription Monthly $29.99, US App Store, September 13, 2026.
Weak spot: the listing says nothing about memory, and chai-research.com’s own sitemap has declared no page change since January 29, 2025, so there is no public document describing what a plan includes.

7. Paradot

Listed here so you can cross it off. It positions itself as a single AI companion available around the clock, which is the shape a lot of Nomi refugees think they want. Check the release date first.

Good for: very little in September 2026.
Not for: anyone who needs the app to still be maintained.
Platforms: iPhone, Mac with Apple silicon.
Price to start: free to install, and no further than that, because the App Store listing shows no in-app purchase prices at all.
Weak spot: the newest version on the US App Store is 2.6.7, released August 3, 2025.

Side by side

App	Platforms	Free tier	Subscription from	Memory	Texts first	Characters talk to each other	Voice calls
Nomi	iPhone, Android, web beta	Free to install	$9.99/mo	Yes, short and long term	Optional setting	Yes, group chats	Yes
Kindroid	iPhone, Android, Mac	Free to install	$15.99/mo	Yes, documented	—	Yes, group chats	Yes, and video
Replika	iPhone, Android, web	Free to install	$7.99/mo	Yes	Yes, checks in	—	Yes, and video
Character.AI	iPhone, Android, web	Free to install	$9.99/mo	—	—	—	Yes
LORAX	iPhone	Free to talk, credits for one-off things	$29.99/mo	Yes, three layers	Yes, always	Yes, group chats	No
PolyBuzz	iPhone, web	Free to install	$9.90/mo	—	—	—	—
Chai	iPhone, Android, web	Free to install	$13.99/mo	—	—	—	—
Paradot	iPhone, Mac	Free to install	—	—	—	—	—

A dash means the company’s own materials did not settle the question either way, not that the feature is missing. Prices are US prices for the cheapest recurring plan on the listing and change by country. Sources, all read on September 13, 2026: US App Store listings for Nomi (id6450270929), Kindroid (id6451038161), Replika (id1158555867), Character.AI (id1671705818), LORAX (id6748215017), PolyBuzz (id6449190344), Chai (id1544750895) and Paradot (id6451469304); Play Store listings for Kindroid, Replika, Character.AI and Chai; nomi.ai, kindroid.ai/sitemap.xml, replika.com/llms.txt, polybuzz.ai, chai-research.com/sitemap.xml. The same figures back our app-versus-app pages, and every LORAX charge is itemized on the pricing page.

Which one should you pick?

Voice is the reason you are leaving. Kindroid or Replika. Kindroid documents voice and video calls as a named feature and matches Nomi’s price exactly. Replika starts cheaper and its own site puts real-time video at the center of the 2.0 rebuild. Neither one can promise you a faster reply than Nomi gives you, because nobody publishes latency figures, so budget a month to find out.

Memory is the reason you are staying. Then stay. At least until something publishes a better description of how its memory works than Nomi does. Kindroid is the only app here that documents the mechanism in public rather than asserting a result.

What you actually wanted was for somebody to be somewhere. Not available, not responsive, somewhere: asleep at 3 a.m., busy at six, back later with a reason. That is a small and specific want and most of this category treats it as a notification setting. LORAX is built around it, at $29.99 a month, on iPhone, with no calls and locked photos that cost credits.

Pick two, open their App Store pages, and read the in-app purchase lists side by side before you install either, because for most of these companies that list is the only price they publish.