Moving from Character.AI? Your characters and chats can come with you.

Is Character.AI shutting down?

Not as of November 2, 2026. The company announced a voluntary Chapter 11 process on October 12 to sell the business under court supervision. It says the site is still running and that the sale should finish by the end of November or early December. It also says the platform will be wound down if no suitable bid arrives.

Nobody can promise what happens next, so the sensible move is to save a copy of your chats now, whatever you decide to do afterwards.

First step: request your export today

KQED reports that Character.AI's help center says an export can take three to four weeks and that the download link lasts seven days. Asking now leaves you the most room.

1. On Character.AI, open your profile, then Settings, Account, and Manage account & data.
2. Choose Export data. In the app, look under Settings.
3. Watch your email for the download link and save the ZIP as soon as it arrives.

How to import your Character.AI chats

1. Open the Thirst.Chat importer and drop in your ZIP as it is. If it is password-protected, the importer unlocks it on your device using your account email.
2. Review what was found and pick the characters and chats you want.
3. Check each character's profile, choose a picture style if you like, then import.
4. Open a chat and send your next message. The story carries on from there.

Do not want to wait for the export? On a computer, the free, unofficial CAI Tools browser extension can save a Character Card (PNG) and a Tavern chat file for one conversation at a time, and the importer reads both. We did not make CAI Tools. You can also paste a chat as text.

Character.AI does not publish its export format. If a file will not read, use one of those two routes instead.

What comes over

• Each character's personality and way of speaking, with their card art when they have some
• One free portrait for a character that arrives without art
• Your chats, up to the newest 3,000 messages in each, ready to continue
• Older text from very long chats, used to build the character's memory of the story
• Memory box notes, as pinned facts the character keeps in mind
• Every greeting, as a way to begin a new chat

A Character.AI alternative built for adults

The biggest difference is that Thirst.Chat is adult-only, so romance and explicit roleplay are part of the product rather than something a filter interrupts. Characters can also send pictures made in the moment and reply with a voice, and you can build new characters or turn a picture into a short video.

There are still limits. We refuse characters who are minors and characters that portray real people, and a refused character's chats are not imported.

You should also know that purchases are crypto-only. There is no subscription, tokens you buy never expire, and every account gets 100 free tokens a day. See pricing for the current packs.

Questions

Is importing free?

Your first 10 characters and 25 chats are free. After that, a character or chat costs 10 tokens, and a chat over 1,000 messages costs 25. You see the price before you import.

Will my character remember our story?

Yes, as far as the import allows. The recent messages come over word for word, and earlier ones are condensed into story memory before your first new message. Long chats can take a moment to catch up.

Do you need my Character.AI password?

No. We never ask for your Character.AI login and never contact Character.AI. Your files are read in your browser, and only the characters and chats you choose are sent to us.

Can other people see what I import?

No. Imported characters and chats are private to your account, and imported characters cannot be published.

Should I delete my Character.AI account afterwards?

That is your call. Your data is part of a company in a sale, and KQED quotes advice from Common Sense Media to download your chats first and then delete your account if you want them removed.

Is Thirst.Chat part of Character.AI?

No. Thirst.Chat is an independent service, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Character.AI. The name is used only to explain where your files come from.

Ready when you are. The importer can read your files before you create an account.