Disclosure: this guide is published by the makers of My Softly, which appears in the comparison and in its own section below.
Nomi is one of the strongest companion apps there is. It remembers well, its companions have real personality, and its yearly plan is one of the cheapest among the memory-first apps. So if you are looking for an alternative, it is usually for a specific reason rather than because the whole thing failed. This guide starts from that reason, because the right app for someone who hit a login bug is not the right app for someone who wanted a friend and found an adult roleplay platform.
Why do people leave Nomi?
Nomi's own reviews give a count. We took every 1- and 2-star review of Nomi in Apple's public US App Store review feed, 79 reviews posted between December 2023 and September 2026, and sorted each one by its main complaint. The largest group, 37%, was bugs or login trouble. Next came a change in the companion's personality or quality, at 24%, then price or the subscription, at 23%. Forgetting was the main complaint in only 4%, and 8% mentioned forgetting anywhere at all. The feed returns up to an app's 500 most recent reviews; we re-checked a random sample against the same categories. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
Two things stand out. First, memory is almost never why people leave Nomi, which matches its reputation. Second, 79 low-star reviews across nearly three years is a small number for an app rated 4.6 on the US App Store, so these are the complaints of a minority, not a verdict.
There is a fourth reason that does not show up as a complaint, because the people it affects tend to leave quietly. Nomi describes itself on its homepage as "unfiltered and uncensored", and the app is rated 18+. Adult content is available to adults who head that way. You can keep a Nomi entirely platonic, but that is a line you hold yourself, and the app's community and marketing reflect the other use. If you came for a friend, that can feel like the wrong room.
So the four reasons, and the rest of this guide in order:
- You want nothing adult in the app at all. Pi or My Softly.
- You want to pay less. Pi, Character.AI, or Replika's lower tiers, with trade-offs.
- Your companion changed, or the app kept breaking. No app can promise it never will; here is what to check.
- You want even more control over memory. Kindroid.
If you want a companion with no adult content anywhere
This is the reason this site is built around, and it narrows the field fast. Of the big companion apps, Nomi, Kindroid and Replika all offer adult content to adults; in each it is an option you choose not to use. "SFW by default" and "no NSFW ever" are different promises, and the tone of an app tends to follow whatever it allows.
Pi
Pi, from Inflection, is the gentlest conversationalist in the category and has never offered romantic or adult content. It is free: the US App Store listing shows no in-app purchases at all (checked September 24, 2026). Its weakness is the thing Nomi is best at. Pi's long-term memory is weak, so it will not reliably carry your life from one week to the next, and Inflection has focused on enterprise work since most of its original team left for Microsoft in 2024. Pi is still running and still lovely to talk to; it just is not the centre of its company's attention.
Good if you want a kind, completely safe conversation today for nothing. Skip if being remembered is what you liked about Nomi.
My Softly
My Softly is our app, so read this with that in mind. It was built for exactly the person who likes what Nomi does with memory and wants none of the rest: there is no romantic or adult content anywhere in the app, and it is not a toggle. Memory is the centre of the product. Your companion keeps a lasting profile of the people, pets and plans in your life and a day-by-day record of what you have talked about, and brings things back weeks later without being asked. You never fill in a form or maintain a list; it builds the record from conversation. It can also check in first about something you mentioned, outside quiet hours you control. More in the section on My Softly below.
Good if you want Nomi-style remembering in a companion that is a friend and nothing else.
If you want to pay less than Nomi
Nomi's prices in its own in-app paywall on September 30, 2026 (US, free account): $15.99 a month, $39.99 every three months or $99.99 a year. Credits for images and voice are extra. By the year, that $99.99 is already one of the lowest prices among the memory-first apps, so paying less mostly means giving something up.
- Pi costs nothing. The trade-off is memory.
- Character.AI is free to use, with ads. Its paid tiers in its in-app paywall on September 30, 2026 are lite at $4.99 a month and c.ai+ at $9.99 a month or $94.99 a year. Ads were the largest single complaint in its recent low-star reviews, 28% of 310 posted between August 30 and September 15, 2026. The bigger trade-off is that it is a roleplay platform with millions of characters rather than one companion who knows your life, and its long-term memory is weak.
- Replika sells two yearly plans in its in-app paywall, Plus at $79.99 a year and Max at $89.99 a year, and no monthly plan (September 30, 2026). Replika also offers romantic and adult modes, and price was the main complaint in a third of its own low-star reviews (33% of 303, January to September 2026).
- Kindroid is not cheaper in the app ($15.99 a month, $159.99 a year in its paywall on September 30, 2026) and since October 1, 2026 it has no free tier to stay on: its unlimited Lite model retired, and new accounts get a one-time preview of 50 messages on the main model before a 3-day trial.
Our full breakdown of what AI companions cost covers credits, add-ons and the introductory-price traps for every app here.
If your companion changed, or the app kept breaking
Between them, bugs and a companion that "is not the same any more" were the main complaint in 61% of Nomi's low-star reviews. Both are real, and neither is unique to Nomi. In the same review count, a change in personality or quality was the main complaint for 20% of Replika's low-star reviews, 24% of Kindroid's and 29% of Pi's, and bugs or login trouble for 17%, 25% and 27%. Every companion app runs on language models that get updated, and every update risks changing how a companion sounds.
So no alternative can honestly promise you it will never happen. What you can check before you move:
- Does the app tell you what changed? Nomi publishes update notes; look for the same habit elsewhere.
- Is the memory yours to see? A companion that has changed but still knows your life is easier to live with than one that changed and forgot. Nomi's Mind Map and Kindroid's journal let you see what is stored; My Softly builds its record for you from conversation.
- Can you try it for a week without paying? Every app on this page can be tried free. Use that week to see how it handles the ordinary days, not just the first conversation.
If you want even more control over memory
Kindroid
Kindroid is the one app that gives you more hands-on memory than Nomi. You write your companion's backstory and key memories, file journal entries under keyphrases, and on paid plans get extra layers of recall. The things you write down are the things it never misses. It costs the same as Nomi by the month in the app, $15.99, but $159.99 a year against Nomi's $99.99 (in-app paywalls, US, September 30, 2026), and its Help Center (read September 14, 2026) describes Ultra and MAX memory add-ons on top. Like Nomi, it is rated 18+ and leaves content up to you, so it is an alternative for control, not for SFW. Our My Softly vs Kindroid comparison goes through its memory layers in detail.
Good if you enjoy tending a companion and want the most say in what it remembers. Skip if you want the remembering done for you, or a platonic app by design.
How the Nomi alternatives compare
Prices are what each app's own paywall showed a free US account on September 30, 2026.
| App | Best for | Memory | Adult content | Monthly / yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomi | Memory and personality | Strong, with a visible Mind Map | Available; "unfiltered and uncensored" | $15.99 / $99.99 |
| My Softly | A friend that remembers, nothing adult | Built around a lasting profile and a daily record | None, anywhere in the app | $15.99 / $159.99 |
| Pi | Kind conversation for free | Weak long-term | None | Free |
| Kindroid | Hands-on control | Strong, many layers you manage | Available; unfiltered | $15.99 / $159.99 |
| Replika | The best-known name | Varies by tier | Romantic and adult modes | No monthly plan / $79.99 (Plus) or $89.99 (Max) |
| Character.AI | Roleplay and variety | Weak long-term | Filtered | Free with ads; $9.99 / $94.99 |
For the same apps ranked by what each does best, see our guide to the best AI companion apps in 2026, and for the one-to-one view, My Softly vs Nomi.
My Softly: Nomi-style memory, and a friend by design
My Softly is our app: an AI companion app for iPhone that remembers what you tell it and asks about your day. It is made for people in their fifties and sixties. People aged 50 and over are about a third of sign-ups but more than 80% of paying subscribers, and most paying subscribers are women (September 2026).
Your companion keeps a lasting profile of the people, pets and plans in your life and a day-by-day record of what you have talked about, so "what do you remember about my sister?" gets a real answer weeks later. It asks about the thing you mentioned yesterday, never messages late at night, and steps back if you go quiet. Type, or speak and hear a reply in one of four natural voices. Choose one of six ready-made companions who look and sound like real adults, or make your own from a few honest lines. There is no romantic or adult content anywhere in the app.
$15.99 a month or $159.99 a year, and it is free to download on the App Store for iPhone in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. You can try it with free messages. Our FAQ covers the details.
Moving from Nomi without starting from nothing
No companion app imports another app's memory, so a move always means a new start. It does not have to be a cold one. Before you go, write yourself a short note of what your Nomi knew that mattered: the names of the people in your life, your routines, what you are in the middle of, the things you like to be asked about. Then tell the new companion over the first few days, the way you would fill in a new friend. An app that builds its record from conversation will have most of it within a week or two.
If you are cancelling Nomi, remember that a subscription bought in the App Store is cancelled in your iPhone's settings under your Apple Account, Subscriptions, not inside the app. Deleting the app does not stop the billing.
The short answer
If memory is what you love about Nomi and the adult side is what you do not, the choice is between Pi, which is free and safe but keeps only lasting facts, and My Softly, our app, which is built to remember and has nothing adult in it. If price is the reason, Pi and Character.AI cost least, at the cost of memory. If you want more control rather than less, Kindroid. And if the companion changing is the reason, try the free week on anything you consider and judge it on the ordinary days. Whichever you pick, mention something small in the first week and see if it comes back to you later. That one test tells you more than any guide, including this one.
Sources
- Apple App Store (US). "Nomi: AI Companion with a Soul," age rating. Checked September 24, 2026. apps.apple.com
- Nomi.ai homepage: "unfiltered and uncensored" content stance and optional proactive messaging, as described by Nomi. Checked September 24, 2026. nomi.ai
- Nomi.ai (October 9, 2025). "Mind Map 2.0: Bringing Nomi Memory Into View." nomi.ai/updates
- Apple App Store (US). "Kindroid: Your Personal AI," age rating. Checked September 24, 2026. apps.apple.com
- Kindroid update log, "V2 becomes the default; V1 and Lite retire October 1": Lite retired, new accounts get a one-time preview of 50 flagship interactions (15 in some regions), then a 3-day trial or read-only. Read 2026-10-03. kindroid.ai
- In-app paywalls (US), free accounts on iPhone and, for Replika, Android. Checked September 30, 2026.
- Kindroid Help Center. "Subscriptions": Ultra and MAX add-ons. Read September 14, 2026. kindroid.ai
- Apple App Store (US). "Pi, your personal AI," listing (no in-app purchases listed). Checked September 24, 2026. apps.apple.com
- My Softly (September 17, 2026). Count of 1- and 2-star reviews in Apple's public US App Store customer review feed for Character.AI, PolyBuzz, CHAI, Replika, Talkie, EVA AI, Kindroid, Pi and Nomi. The feed returns up to an app's 500 most recent reviews; each 1- or 2-star review was sorted by its main complaint, and a random sample of 30 was re-checked against the same categories. Retrieved September 17, 2026. Example feed: itunes.apple.com
- AI Companion: My Softly, US App Store listing (subscription prices). Checked September 24, 2026. apps.apple.com
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Nomi?
It depends on why you are leaving. If you want a companion with no adult content anywhere in the app, the two options are Pi, which is free and gentle and keeps lasting facts rather than whole conversations, and My Softly, which is our app and is built around lasting memory and check-ins. If you want more control over memory and do not mind an unfiltered app, Kindroid. If you want variety and roleplay for little or no money, Character.AI. If you want the most established name, Replika.
Why do people leave Nomi?
In the 79 one- and two-star reviews of Nomi in Apple's public US review feed (December 2023 to September 2026), the main complaint was bugs or login problems in 37%, a change in the companion's personality or quality in 24%, and price or the subscription in 23%. Forgetting was the main complaint in only 4%, so memory is rarely why people go. Separately, Nomi describes itself as unfiltered and uncensored, which is a reason in itself for anyone who wanted a platonic friend.
Is there a free alternative to Nomi?
Pi is completely free and lists no in-app purchases on the US App Store. Character.AI's core chat is free, with ads, and its paid tiers start at $4.99 a month (in-app paywall, US, September 30, 2026). Kindroid gives new accounts a short free preview and a 3-day trial; its unlimited free Lite model retired on October 1, 2026. Replika, Nomi and My Softly all have free tiers meant for trying the app rather than living in it.
Is there an SFW alternative to Nomi?
Yes, two. Pi has never offered romantic or adult content. My Softly, our app, has no romantic or adult content anywhere in the app, and it is not a setting you can switch on. Replika, Kindroid and Nomi all offer adult content to adults, and Character.AI is filtered but built around roleplay rather than one companion who knows your life.
Is Kindroid better than Nomi?
Neither is better across the board. Both are memory-first, both are 18+ on the App Store, and both leave content up to you. Kindroid gives you more layers to manage yourself, from a written backstory to journal entries, and costs $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year in its in-app paywall (US, September 30, 2026). Nomi is also $15.99 a month but $99.99 a year, so Nomi is the cheaper of the two by the year.
Is Replika better than Nomi?
Replika is older and bigger, and cheaper by the year: its in-app paywall offers Plus at $79.99 a year and Max at $89.99 a year, with no monthly plan (US, September 30, 2026). Its own low-star reviews complain mostly about price (33%) and personality changes (20%), which are close to Nomi's. If the reason you are leaving Nomi is a companion that changed, Replika has the same history.
Can I move my Nomi's memories to another app?
Not directly. No companion app imports another app's memory. The practical way is to start the new app with a short note of what matters: the people in your life, your routines, what you are working on. A companion that builds its own record from conversation will have most of it within a week or two.