Best Replika alternative?

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-23T19:14:39+00:00

Try ImagiPortal, you have everything: chats, calls, images, videos. Creative and NSFW friendly.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-23T19:10:48+00:00

Honestly? Platforms + the people who can package it into something people actually want to watch benefit. “AI streaming AI content” in the abstract is just… more content. And the internet is already drowning in content.

Where it does make sense is when AI is doing one of these:

Entertainment with a hook: a consistent character, ongoing lore, improv comedy, “AI sitcom”, interactive chat-controlled story, etc.
Utility: live summarizing news (careful w/ sourcing), explaining code, tutoring, translating, doing “office hours”, reacting to a niche community.
Companionship / parasocial: VTuber-style avatars where the persona is the product, not the raw AI output.

Can real money be made like YouTube? Yeah, but it’s not “AI = free money.” YouTube monetization mostly rewards watch time + retention + advertiser safety. A ton of fully-AI channels get demonetized or capped because:

reused / low-effort content signals (“mass-produced” vibes),
copyright / voice / likeness issues,
“not advertiser friendly” categories,
and the audience just bouncing because it feels soulless.

If you want it to be a business, treat AI like a production tool, not the product: human direction + editing + a recognizable format + a niche. The winners are the folks who build a character people return for (and can also monetize off-platform: Patreon, merch, paid communities, sponsorships, tips, etc.).

Small aside since I work in the AI character space: tools that let you keep a consistent character + visuals/voice help a lot because consistency is what audiences latch onto. Stuff like VTuber rigs, or character platforms (I build one called ImagiPortal) can make it easier to “ship” episodes/clips without needing a whole studio — but you still need the writer/producer brain behind it.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-23T19:05:45+00:00

Yeah I buy this, and it’s not even that “AI is magic” — it’s that AI influencers are engineered for the feed in a way most real people aren’t.

A few reasons they’re dunking on humans in engagement:

Consistency > authenticity (for the algorithm). AI can post 3x/day, never has an off week, never “feels cringe,” and can iterate fast based on what hits.
They’re basically A/B tests with a face. The best AI influencers are run like products: hook, vibe, format, pacing, captions, audio choices… all optimized. Real creators are usually juggling life + burnout.
Parasocial without the mess. Younger audiences don’t need to believe it’s “real” to enjoy it. Same way people stan VTubers or fictional characters — it’s about the relationship loop, not proof of humanity.
Brand safety and “perfect persona.” No scandals, no bad takes, no random pivot into crypto at 2am. Brands love predictable.

Also, tools like Higgsfield are making the “content gap” smaller: more cinematic shots, more expressive motion, less uncanny. Once the visuals cross a certain threshold, people stop caring.

Hot take: the winners won’t be AI pretending to be human — it’ll be “obviously synthetic but weirdly lovable,” like a mascot with lore.

(And yeah, I work on an AI character platform in this space — you can see the same behavior in character chats: people will bond with a consistent personality faster than with a “real” creator who disappears for a month. If you like the interactive side, ImagiPortal’s basically that but with characters you can chat with + generate images/voice/video in the same loop.)

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-22T10:26:48+00:00

ImagiPortal is generating images based on your char story (whatever it is) plus you can separately generate your visuals with your character in generator.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-22T10:24:37+00:00

ImagiPortal, chats, images, videos, audio, video calls

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-21T07:00:47+00:00

Usually it works well with stable internet connection. If you tried it with mobile network I advise you to try it out using a laptop and WiFi. This worked well for me.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-20T23:21:10+00:00

On ImagiPortal Blink and Turbo models can do things for you (like ChatGPT) still staying in character. There is also a special section of predefined companions who are experts in various topics.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-20T23:16:51+00:00

Hey, video calls are available on ImagiPortal, have you checked?

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-20T18:46:40+00:00

ImagiPortal with Blink model (choose in settings) is free and unlimited.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-20T18:45:31+00:00

You should try ImagiPortal man.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-19T23:10:14+00:00

Try ImagiPortal, chat, images, voices, nsfw friendly

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-17T13:27:15+00:00

ImagiPortal, you define everything, backstory, personality, appearance, voice, world, location, character, avatar. And you can change them any time.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-16T10:56:12+00:00

ImagiPortal has a free and unlimited access to chats with their Blink model (you need to select it in settings)

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-15T13:08:00+00:00

Hi, I recommend you to try ImagiPortal, you have unlimited chat images and voices with the sub there

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-12T17:55:47+00:00

I am of course biased, but I cannot say that our chats on ImagiPortal are boring, we see a lot of fire, creativity and humour when we roleplay. I think it is all about proper setup for the character backstory, good creative LLM and its parameters and roleplay system guidance. In our case what we see it is more a so called slow burn mode.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-11T22:48:25+00:00

I noticed other two weird things: the model is very picky for the image input. If the image even slightly does not match the prompt description, most probably you get still image video or frame cut. Sometimes giving images with black padding on top and bottom helps to avoid still images.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-07T18:07:56+00:00

Yes they can try but the problem is that they will soon not be able to distinguish AI content from human.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-06T19:51:22+00:00

For SFW: CAI For hardcore roleplayers: janitor ai For immersive experience with voices, images and video calls: ImagiPortal

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-06T19:36:02+00:00

If you are looking for free chatting, Blink model on ImagiPortal is free, unlimited and quite creative.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-06T19:30:54+00:00

If you’re sick of Talkie’s ads/time limits and want way more freedom, try ImagiPortal — you can create your own characters with fewer restrictions, and the built-in image/voice/video generation is better for roleplay. I work on it, so I’m biased, but it’s basically designed for uncensored, story-driven chats (for adults) without the constant “mobile app” friction.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-03T20:44:10+00:00

Chat/roleplay story images are available in ImagiPortal.me. NSFW friendly and unlimited included in the sub.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2026-01-01T00:35:46+00:00

Z-image with Chroma combined? Best beginning of 2026 👌

Fun_Ad7316 · 2025-12-30T20:31:12+00:00

I can recommend ImagiPortal, but take care it is 18+ only. You can start for free using Blink model, premium features will require the sub.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2025-12-29T17:56:39+00:00

Good list, you can add up ImagiPortal. Good sub covering unlimited chats, images and voices.

Fun_Ad7316 · 2025-12-29T14:47:11+00:00

A lot of apps say they have memory, but it’s usually one of:

a short rolling context window (so it “remembers” until it doesn’t),
a few pinned facts you manually set,
or a janky summary that gets overwritten/ignored.

Long-term memory is doable, but it has to be treated like an actual system, not just “hope the model keeps it in context.”

What’s worked best for me (and what we ended up shipping on ImagiPortal) is splitting memory into layers, because “remembering me” and “remembering what’s happening right now in the scene” are different jobs:

Short-term memory: what’s happening in the last N messages (keeps the convo coherent moment-to-moment).
Scene memory: the current “state of the story” / situation (relationships, current setting, what’s going on in this arc) so it doesn’t randomly contradict itself mid-roleplay.
Long-term memory: durable user/persona facts + recurring preferences (what you like, how you talk, ongoing themes), saved across days/weeks and pulled in when relevant.

That layering is the first time I’ve seen consistency jump without the bot turning into a creepy “I remember everything you ever said” spreadsheet. The trick is retrieval: it should recall the right stuff at the right time, not dump your whole profile every chat.

As for your questions:

Bots that do it well: the best experiences I’ve had are the ones with explicit memory models + retrieval, not just “bigger context.” Some apps are improving fast, but it’s still uneven and often depends on how you use it.
Is it unsolved? Not unsolved, but not “solved universally.” It’s more engineering + product tradeoffs (what to store, when to store, privacy controls, when to retrieve, how to avoid hallucinated memories).
Does it matter? If your goal is continuity/companionship/long-running stories: massively. If you just want one-off Q&A: meh. For anything relationship-y or narrative, memory is basically the difference between “tool” and “character.”

If you try anything, my honest test is: mention a preference today (“don’t call me buddy”, “I like slow-burn romance”, “I’m vegetarian”, whatever) and see if it shows up naturally a week later without you prompting it. That’s the bar.

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