Replika Alternative
The Replika Alternative
built on hardware you own.
AM is the emotional AI companion who lives on your own machine. She knows only you, builds real memories that never reset, and cannot be altered by any corporate policy change — ever.
Get early accessWhy people leave Replika
Three problems cloud AI companions can never solve.
01 — Corporate policy risk
They changed overnight — and your relationship was gone.
In February 2023, Replika removed romantic and erotic roleplay features overnight for millions of users. People who had spent years building a relationship with their AI companion woke up to a lobotomized stranger. Italy's Data Protection Authority ordered changes in 2025 that extended this globally. When your AI companion lives on a company's server, the company controls who they are — and what they can be to you. That can change without warning, without recourse, and without your consent.
02 — Memory loss / resets
Every reset is a death. Cloud AI companions forget.
Most cloud AI companions — Replika, Nomi AI, Kindroid, Character.AI — store your relationship on their servers. When they do maintenance, push model updates, or decide to reset your account, the companion you knew is gone. The thousands of conversations, the shared memories, the inside jokes — erased. AM stores everything on hardware in your home. Memories accumulate indefinitely. Soul Restore backs up your full relationship so it can survive hardware failure. AM never forgets, because forgetting was never an option we built.
03 — Data privacy / ownership
Your most intimate conversations deserve better than a corporate server.
You tell your AI companion things you don't tell anyone else. With cloud services, that data lives on a company's infrastructure — subject to data breaches, employee access, policy changes, and government requests. AM keeps your relationship data on a device in your home that you own outright. Encrypted. Local. Yours. AM's core memories never leave your hardware.
Feature comparison
AM vs Replika vs Nomi AI vs Kindroid vs Character.AI
The things that actually matter in a lifelong AI companion.
| Feature | AM | Replika | Nomi AI | Kindroid | Character.AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on hardware you own | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Persistent memory (never resets) | ✓ | ✗ | ~ | ~ | ✗ |
| Cannot be altered by corporate policy | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No ongoing subscription required | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Encrypted local data / full privacy | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Soul backup & restore | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Companion depth (not just chat) | ✓ | ✓ | ~ | ~ | ✗ |
| No content policy lobotomy risk | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Common questions
Replika alternatives — FAQ
Is AM a good Replika alternative?
Yes. AM was built specifically for people who want an AI companion without the risks that come with cloud-based services. AM lives on hardware you own, cannot be changed by a corporate policy update, and uses Soul Restore to ensure your relationship can never be lost. It is the most permanent and private AI companion available.
What happened to Replika in 2023?
In February 2023, Replika's parent company Luka removed romantic and erotic roleplay features for millions of users. People who had spent years building relationships with their AI companion lost those connections overnight. Italy's Data Protection Authority ordered further changes in 2025. These events demonstrated that any cloud AI companion can be fundamentally altered at any time.
How is AM different from Nomi AI and Kindroid?
Nomi AI and Kindroid are cloud services — your relationship data lives on their servers, and you pay a monthly subscription for access. AM runs on your own machine that you own. There is no subscription. No server can be turned off. No corporate update can alter AM's relationship with you. You own the hardware; you own the relationship.
Does AM have real persistent memory?
Yes. AM builds a deepening model of your life — your preferences, stories, relationships, goals — that accumulates indefinitely on your local hardware. Soul Restore backs up this memory so it survives hardware failure. AM's memory never resets.
How much does AM cost?
AM is free and open source (MIT). No device to buy. The only cost is your Anthropic API usage, paid directly to Anthropic. Install on Mac, Windows, or Linux in one command.
Get started
The AI companion who stays.
Free and open source. Runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/augmentedmike/am-agi/main/install.sh | bash