Chub AI vs Janitor AI: the character hubs compared

Janitor AI is the free-first hub. Its free plan lists unlimited chats on its built-in JLLM model and access to all public characters. One outside source puts the free allowance at about 50 messages a day instead, which disagrees with the official wording, so sources differ.

Either way, it is a real free plan you can stay on, and few hubs of this kind offer one. The paid tier, Janitor+, is $12.99 a month and mainly buys more memory. It also meets you on your phone, with iOS and Android apps.

Chub AI is the pay-to-play hub. There is no standing free plan: new users get a one-time batch of trial credits, enough for a few dozen messages and sent out regularly, plus the option to self-host with tools like Kobold or Ooba. The Mars plan at $20 a month then opens everything: all of Chub's own models, voice, and multimedia generation, without limits on paper.

My take is that these two suit different people more than they compete. If you want to chat for free and upgrade only if memory annoys you, Janitor AI is the obvious start. If you already know you want voice and pictures on top of text, Chub AI gives you more for the extra $7.01 a month.

Chub even sells paid API access, which tells you who it is really built for: people who like to tinker.

What neither app gives you is a clear, published privacy picture in the records, and I come back to that below. The table right after this section lays out the features, yes, limited or no. For the full story on the free side, my Janitor AI review covers JLLM, the context limits and Janitor+ in depth.

Chub AI lists memory as a feature, though there is no number on file for how far back it reaches. On paper, Chub wins this one.

Janitor's answer is breadth instead: its free plan opens all public characters, which is a huge library to browse at no cost.

On content settings, the two are level. Both allow adult content, and neither record shows a paid-only limit on that. For a deeper look at Chub's models and the Mars plan, my Chub AI review goes through each feature.

Chub AI's billing details on file come only from a secondary source. If privacy is your main concern, read each policy yourself before paying.

The strength that matters most for roleplay is character voice. Other reviewers report that Chub keeps a character's voice steady across several tested characters, even as scenes turn more mature. For a character hub, that is the whole point, and it is why I rate Chub highly for long-form stories.

There are flaws, and they are real. Outside reports mention dialogue confusion and repetition, including the AI writing both sides of a conversation. That is annoying in a long scene. If it happens, a short correction usually steers the story back, but I'd expect to do some editing.

The free start is where I hesitate. There is no standing free plan, only a single round of trial credits for newcomers, good for a few dozen messages, plus self-hosting for the technical crowd. That is a short look before paying $20, and it rewards people who can set up self-hosting more than everyone else.

And the refund side is strict. A secondary source describes the policy as no refunds outside exceptional cases, and firm on that. With so little free room, I'd use every trial message before buying Mars, and I'd give it time before committing.

If you want to see how Chub stacks up against other apps too, the list of head-to-head comparisons has more pairings.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: $20.00 monthly (Mars)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web

Few free plans among hubs are that open, and it explains why Janitor AI turns up in so many comparisons.

The catch is memory. JLLM's context budget is about 8,000-9,000 tokens per chat, which is modest. Outside reports agree: memory holds within a session, but weakens across longer, multi-day chats and can feel session-based.

If you run long stories, you will notice it, so keep your own short summary of key details and paste it back in when the character slips.

That is exactly what Janitor+ is for. At $12.99 a month it gives 5x more context, unlimited priority messages and more swipes with frontier models, plus a golden username and checkmark. My view: that is a fair price if memory is your problem, and pointless if it isn't. Stay free until the forgetting bothers you.

There is no voice, no image generation and no group chat on file, so don't pay expecting those. Cancelling on the web is under Settings, Billing, Manage Subscription, which sends you to Stripe's billing page. On a phone, you manage it through the App Store or Google Play.

As a rule, subscriptions are not refunded, unless the Terms of Service or the law say they must be.

If you'd like to see how I weigh official pages against outside reports for apps like Janitor AI, how I check the apps explains the method.

• Starting free: Free tier
• Lowest price: $12.99 monthly (Janitor+)
• Allowed: mature chat permitted
• Runs on: web, ios, android

For Janitor AI, a light user can pay nothing at all. The free plan covers JLLM chat and every public character, and that is enough for a lot of people. A regular user who runs longer stories will feel the memory limit, and that is when Janitor+ at $12.99 a month earns its place.

There is no heavier tier on file, so $12.99 is the ceiling. I like that. You always know the worst case, and it is not a big number.

For Chub AI, the light option barely exists. The trial credits are a one-time taste, so any regular use means Mars at $20 a month. Heavy users get the best value here, because that $20 covers unlimited voice and multimedia generation, with no coin meter on file.

For a light user, though, $20 for a few chats a week is poor value, and I'd point you to Janitor AI's free plan instead.

So here is my sorting. Light use: Janitor AI free. Regular text roleplay with long memory: Janitor+ at $12.99. Voice, images and group scenes: Chub AI Mars at $20.

The extra $7.01 a month is fair for what Chub adds, but only if you would really use those extras. And remember both refund rules are strict, so pay monthly first.

If your shortlist is shifting towards companion apps with coin systems, my Candy AI vs OurDream AI comparison shows how differently those two price their extras.

Chub AI is my pick for a narrower group: people who already know they want voice, images and group scenes, and who are fine paying $20 a month from the start. For them, Mars is a better deal than stacking extras elsewhere. The catch is the thin trial, so it is a leap of faith with a strict refund rule behind it.

Here is what I'd avoid: paying for Chub just because it has more features on paper. If you only type, Janitor's free plan or Janitor+ covers you for less. The quick answer below boils this down, with a third option if you want a companion app rather than a hub.

• Open Janitor AI's free plan first. It costs nothing and shows you whether hub-style roleplay is for you.
• If long stories keep losing details, try Janitor+ for one month at $12.99 and see if the 5x context fixes it.
• If you catch yourself wanting voice, pictures or group scenes, use Chub AI's trial credits before paying anything.
• Only then buy Chub AI's Mars plan at $20, and pay monthly, not longer.

The reasoning behind that order is simple. Janitor AI lets you learn what you like for free. Chub AI asks for money almost straight away, and a secondary source describes its refund policy as firm, with refunds only in exceptional cases.

Janitor AI's subscriptions are generally non-refundable too, so on both apps the free or trial stage is your real test. Starting free also shows you how much the memory limit really bothers you, which is the one thing a feature table cannot show.

One more thought. Some people come to hubs like these and realise they wanted a single companion who remembers them, not a library of characters. If that is you, a companion app may fit better, and my Candy AI vs Nomi AI comparison is a good place to see two of them side by side.