Create AI girlfriend characters with clear notes and privacy boundaries

Build an ordinary fictional adult companion with clear character notes, memory controls and privacy boundaries in Nomi, Character.AI and Replika.

AArtur PuleevUpdated 2026-10-29How we test

18+ only. Use original fictional adult characters for ordinary, non-explicit conversation.

To create AI girlfriend characters, start with a short fictional biography and a reason for the conversation. A name, some interests, a speaking style and a clear setting are easier to manage than a long list of traits that contradict each other. Nomi's free tier caps each input at 400 characters and allows 50 messages per day, so it pays to be concise from the first character conversation.

This guide covers neutral personalisation in Nomi, Character.AI and Replika. The controls differ: Nomi describes backstories and shared notes, Character.AI offers 15 free pins, and Replika has editable Memory entries. These are ways to organise information. They do not show that a generated character is a real person or that it will remember everything. For a broader view of account features, see the companion feature comparison.

Build the character, then organise the information it needs

Start with an original fictional adult. Give the character a made-up name and a role that explains why you are talking: an imaginary museum conservator discussing an exhibition, say, or an invented travel companion planning a fictional trip. Add a few interests that fit together and a speaking style. Leave out real addresses, identifying workplace details, private messages and personal histories borrowed from someone else. You want a fictional premise you can use, not a disguised record of a real person.

A plain starter brief might read: Mara is an adult fictional museum conservator. She is curious, patient and interested in local history. Speak plainly and ask about the exhibition we are planning. The museum and its staff are invented. This is only an example of a neutral biography; it does not claim that any particular field or command has been tested. An instruction can describe what you intend, but it cannot guarantee how the model responds.

In Nomi, set up the persona with the character-creation feature, then separate the stable backstory from details that belong only to the current conversation. Nomi describes shared notes, backstories and Mind Maps as different places to keep information, so a temporary plot event shouldn't automatically turn into a permanent trait. The basic premise should make sense without every earlier message staying in context.

Free Nomi messages are limited to 400 characters per input; paid inputs can run to 800. The Standard subscription includes up to 10 companions and 10 group chats. Those figures are capacity, not a target. Create the fictional identity the conversation actually needs. More characters can make the premise harder to follow, and they won't fix contradictions in the original biography.

When you use Nomi's memory-related features, keep notes factual within the invented setting: what the character does, what the current conversation is about, and which detail has changed. Marketing about persistent memory doesn't mean perfect recall. If a reply contradicts the premise, correct the fictional detail briefly rather than adding a second, conflicting biography. You don't need personal information to keep the setting coherent.

In Character.AI, the documented creation feature and the community-character system are separate from your own private information. Give the character an invented name, an adult background and an ordinary purpose. The service offers 15 free pins and 30 Lite pins. Pick the details that matter to the current story instead of treating every sentence as equally important. The number of pins says nothing about long-term accuracy.

Private Lorebooks are a c.ai+ feature, and the web subscription costs US$9.99 a month or US$94.99 a year. A bigger feature set doesn't mean you have to pay to invent a simple character premise, and it doesn't change the provider's content rules. Character.AI prohibits pornographic content on all its plans. The setup in this guide stays within ordinary fictional conversation.

If you have an ongoing Character.AI project and want to keep your original setting notes, store a copy separately. On 12 October 2026, the company announced that the service was operating in a voluntary Chapter 11 sale process, with subscription billing continuing and a conditional risk of wind-down. That matters for continuity. It is not a completed closure, and it guarantees nothing about future features, ownership or migration to another service.

In Replika, initial setup creates a 3D avatar and includes choosing the avatar's gender. Use that visual identity as part of an original fictional adult character. Appearance and conversation details do different jobs: choosing an avatar doesn't create a memory, and a saved preference doesn't prove that every reply will follow the personality you picked. Start with a simple fictional role you can correct later.

Replika's Memory area, reached through the companion's name from Home, lets you review and remove individual facts. Check a stored entry if the conversation has picked up a wrong detail. Removing a saved fact is different from removing the full transcript, which requires deleting the account. So use the narrow control that fits the problem; there's no need to close an entire account over a small fictional inconsistency.

Paid controls have specific scopes too. Replika's Platinum tier lists 100 Training uses and 50 Read My Mind uses per week. These counters aren't a general conversation limit, and they don't prove that each use leads to a lasting improvement. Before treating an upgrade as necessary for a believable fictional biography, decide whether a named feature solves a concrete need.

Once setup is done, try a short, ordinary exchange about the invented setting. Ask about the exhibition plan or a fictional travel preference, then see whether the answer contradicts the brief. This is a suggested way to check your own configuration; it is not a report on testing any of these products. Change the smallest relevant note, and keep the updated description consistent across whichever saved fields you use. One good reply doesn't show that the character has permanent memory.

A good correction fits the existing fiction. If the museum character suddenly claims a different profession, restate the chosen role and, where the service allows it, remove the conflicting saved fact. Replika's Memory control is meant for reviewing individual entries; Character.AI's 15 free pins are a different way to mark selected information. Don't answer every mismatch by making the biography longer. A short, coherent description makes the intended role easier to check, even though it can't guarantee what the model says next.

Review the setup before continuing

Revisit the description when the story changes instead of piling up instructions that conflict. If the character should speak briefly, a short style note is more direct than buying a larger allowance and hoping the problem goes away. Nomi's 50 free daily messages and Character.AI's 15 free pins are available controls; what goes into the fictional premise is still your design choice.

• The character is an invented adult with a made-up biography. The account holds no real person's private correspondence, identity details or sensitive history as character material.
• The premise has a clear reason for the conversation. In Nomi, the 400-character free input limit is a good reason to keep each instruction focused instead of submitting a needlessly long profile.
• Stable background is kept apart from temporary story events. Character.AI's 15 free pins mark selected information; the number doesn't mean all earlier conversation stays equally available.
• Stored facts can be reviewed where the product offers that control. In Replika, remove an inaccurate Memory entry instead of assuming that deleting the app icon changes the saved account record.
• Paid entitlements are matched to their actual unit and period. Nomi's 10 included Standard companions describe account capacity; Replika's 100 weekly Training uses describe a named feature. Neither is a realism score.
• You have read the account-exit rules before adding more information. Nomi describes deleting personal information in about 28 days, with exceptions, while Replika treats account deletion and subscription cancellation separately.

Keep personal information out of fictional character material

The generative-AI principles from Canadian privacy authorities advise limiting the use of personal information and preferring synthetic information where real personal data isn't needed. Personal information that is publicly accessible can still be protected. So a fictional conversation is still a privacy decision if its notes contain real details about identifiable people. The official principles were checked 2026-10-29.

The product policies give practical reasons to keep biographies invented. Nomi says conversations are not end-to-end encrypted and describes deleting personal information in about 28 days, with exceptions. Replika's policy separates message and profile records from some financial and device records that are kept for at least 10 years. Don't treat a character-creation screen as a private diary with a deletion date that applies everywhere.

The Canadian account and payment guide covers local purchase questions. A store's age label doesn't replace the service's rules, and a paid feature doesn't remove them. For questions about stored information, use the actual account settings and privacy contact; an ordinary character conversation is not the place to send identity documents or payment details.

Frequently asked questions