Did Character AI remove age verification? What's on file

My read: if you saw a post saying it's gone, treat it as a rumour until that help article changes.

Here is how the official pages describe it today:

• A partner, Persona, handles all age assurance attempts, and Character AI calls it "a trusted identity assurance provider"
• Usually the app itself asks for the check at the point it is needed
• You can also start it yourself from Settings > Advanced > Verify Age, on web and mobile
• Users must generally be at least 13, and at least 16 in the EU

I like that there's a manual route. If you'd rather get it done on your own schedule than be interrupted in the middle of a conversation, you can. What I don't love is how little the help centre explains about what happens to your details afterwards, which I come back to further down.

It's also worth knowing what the check doesn't touch. Nothing on file ties it to a plan or a price: the Free plan, (c.ai) lite and c.ai+ are listed the same way either way. The table right below, "The apps side by side", sets Character AI next to five other apps, Candy AI and OurDream AI among them, so you can compare features and costs while you decide whether to stay.

If the process makes you want to leave, don't just abandon the account. Start with my walkthrough on deleting your Character AI chats, because account deletion there is permanent and cannot be reversed. I'd rather you choose what goes than lose it by accident.

There's a wrinkle worth knowing. Apple's App Store shows its own rating for the app, 18+, in the Entertainment category. That's Apple's content rating, not a Character AI policy, so the two numbers answer different questions. I'd go by the company's own rule when you're thinking about who the app is for.

• When the process was first introduced, and why at that moment
• Which details Persona asks for during an attempt
• What Persona keeps afterwards, and for how long
• What happens if an attempt fails, and whether you can try again

I'm not saying any of those answers is bad. I'm saying they aren't published where I can point you to them, and I'd want them before handing over anything personal. If you feel the same, it's fair to hold off until you're comfortable, or to contact Character AI's support and ask.

What the help centre does make clear is the route in. The app prompts you when it needs to, or you start it yourself from Settings > Advanced > Verify Age. Those are the only two entry points on file, and I'd use nothing else.

On the rest of the app, the story hasn't changed: free and unlimited messaging, custom characters, group chats and voice calls, with paid plans for fewer ads and more memory. My full Character AI review covers all of that in detail, including what each plan adds and where the free tier stops. None of it depends on the check, as far as the official pages go.

With that said, here is how I'd think about the main options if you're comparing:

• Nomi AI has a permanent free plan of 50 messages a day, with no ads, and bills as NOMI.AI
• SpicyChat promises unlimited text chat on its free tier, with ads and possible waiting lines, and bills as NDAI.CHAT
• OurDream AI lets you sign up free and chat at 1 Dreamcoin per message, and bills as DREAM STUDIO LLC AL
• Candy AI gives a free account 3-5 messages in total, then plans start at €13.99 for one month

Of those, Nomi AI is my pick for anyone who liked Character AI's free side. Fifty messages a day isn't unlimited, but it's a real, published number, and the company behind it, Glimpse.ai, is a Maryland corporation you can name. SpicyChat is closer to Character AI's no-cap free chat, if you don't mind ads.

Candy AI is the one I'd only choose once you're sure. Its 12-Month Plan works out to €3.99 a month, but that's €47.88 billed upfront, and buyers outside the EU and UK get 24 hours after payment to ask for a refund. That's tight.

OurDream AI sits in between. It lists 55 Dreamcoins to start, but its help centre says it does not currently offer free dreamcoins, so treat the free start as uncertain until you see it.

A privacy note, since many people leave over data worries: every one of these apps has its own policy, and none of them is automatically more private than Character AI just because it's smaller. For a wider field ranked by how close each app comes to Character AI's strengths, see my list of Character AI alternatives. Below, a quick facts box sums up OurDream AI.

What I can give you is solid advice on the part you control, which is where scams usually happen.

Only start the process from inside the app. That means the prompt Character AI shows you when required, or Settings > Advanced > Verify Age on web or mobile. Those are the two routes the help centre names.

Anything else, such as a link in a chat, a message from someone claiming to be staff, or a website offering to "verify" your account, is a red light. Close it.

Never send a photo of an ID or any personal document to a character, a creator or another person in a group chat. A character can't verify anything, and a human asking for it has no official role in the process. If someone pushes, report it and move on.

Keep in mind how Character AI treats the rest of your data. It says it keeps some of what you share so it can train its models and make them better. People in the EEA or UK can opt out: the web path is Settings > Account > Manage Account & Data > Model Improvement, or Settings > Data & Privacy in the app, by unticking "Improve the Model for Everyone". Opting out has limits: your data can still feed search, recommendations and safety classifiers.

My view: the check itself isn't the biggest privacy question on Character AI. What you type every day is. So verify through the official route if you choose to, and keep your chats light on personal details either way.

If you're weighing the risk and want a hand with the other practical questions, from deleting data to cancelling plans, my help section with all my guides is a good place to continue. The offer line below leads to Character AI itself, for anyone happy to carry on there.

The money side makes it worse. Paid plans such as c.ai lite and c.ai+ come with no refunds, other than where a law requires them. So a lost account can mean lost time you've already paid for, and I wouldn't count on getting that back.

There's also a simpler point. A check like this exists to keep the minimum age meaningful. Trying to dodge it isn't a clever hack, it's working against the one part of the app meant to keep the platform what it says it is. I'd rather you verify through the official route or pick a different app.

When the prompt does come, completing it is the only legitimate way forward. I wouldn't treat the gap before the prompt as a loophole. It's just how the process is described, and it can change whenever Character AI decides.

If you want to be done with it, starting the check yourself from Settings > Advanced > Verify Age is the calmer option. You choose the moment, and the question stops hanging over your chats. The prompt could otherwise arrive in the middle of a conversation you care about. Getting it out of the way early is the option I would pick.

For anyone curious where these facts come from: they are taken from Character AI's own help-centre articles and official pages, and anything unpublished is marked as such. The page on how I read each app's official sources explains that approach in full.

If anything changes, it'll show up first in the help centre, not in a forum post. That's the one source I'd trust on this question. Rumours about Character AI's rules come and go, and most of them never match the official pages.

Policies on other topics shift too. My guide on whether Character AI will change its content rules looks at another question that attracts a lot of rumours, and how to tell a real change from wishful thinking.

Second, if you like Character AI and plan to stay, do the check through the official route when it suits you. Starting it from Settings > Advanced > Verify Age puts you in control of the timing. Keep your ID away from chats and links, and only use what the app itself shows you.

Third, if you're uneasy about handing details to Persona and the missing information bothers you, it's fine to hold off and contact support first. Asking what's kept and for how long is a reasonable question for any service.

Fourth, if you decide to leave, clean up first. Delete what you don't want kept, then choose a new app for what it offers.

Fifth, if you plan to pay, choose the plan after the check, not before. The entry plan, c.ai lite, is $4.99 a month, c.ai+ is $9.99, and there is no point paying for either until you know you are staying.

None of this is dramatic. Character AI still gives free and unlimited messaging, and the check is one step in using it. My take is that it's a small price for a big free app, as long as you do it the official way.