Pimori vs Replika: an AI pet or an AI friend?

The short answer

Replika and Pimori both use AI and both remember things about you, but they're built for different jobs.

• Replika may suit you if conversation is the main thing you want: a customizable, human-like companion to talk with by text, voice or video, with relationship styles you choose.
• Pimori may suit you if you want a cozy pet to raise first, with a brain that remembers birthdays, big days and plans, and nudges you toward the people in your life.
• Pimori is not a fit if you're looking for romance or a partner. It never flirts, and that's on purpose. It's also not a therapist.

Both are for adults: Replika is rated 18+ on the App Store, and Pimori is for adults 18 and over. Replika is already out on the App Store. Pimori is in private beta on iOS, with Android to follow and no launch date yet.

Pimori and Replika side by side

Facts about Replika come from its official website, help center and App Store listing, as of October 2026. Apps change often, so check Replika's own pages for the latest.

What Replika is

Replika is made by Luka, Inc. Its website calls it "the AI friend," and its App Store listing describes an AI companion you can reach by text, voice calls and video. As of October 2026, its official pages describe:

• A companion you shape. You customize your Replika's avatar and how it looks.
• Conversation in several forms. Text chat, voice calls and video, with features like selfies, image generation and internet access listed on the store page.
• Memory. Replika says it remembers what matters to you. Its help center describes a Memory section where you can view saved memories, add or update them, and remove them, and notes that some memory also comes from patterns across your conversation history.
• Relationship statuses. The help center lists Friend, Romantic partner, Sister/Brother and Mentor, with options beyond Friend unlocked by a Replika Pro subscription. Plans and app versions change, so check Replika's current pages.
• Proactive check-ins and suggestions, according to its store listing.
• Pricing. Free to download, with in-app purchases and several subscription tiers.

Many people use Replika as a friend to talk things over with, and some choose a romantic relationship with it. That's a legitimate choice the app is designed to support. It's simply not something Pimori does.

What Pimori is

Pimori is a pet first. You hatch it from an egg, feed it, play the day's game with it, send it exploring and tuck it in. Care helps it grow through five stages, and how you raise it decides which of three forms it blooms into. It never dies; miss a few days and it sulks, with dust bunnies and a pointed look. If that side interests you, our Tamagotchi-style app guide covers it.

The AI is the brain. You can tell it about your day and your people, and it helps you show up for them. Tell it your sister lands Tuesday at six and it offers a reminder as a card you confirm. It remembers birthdays and big days, checks in after the interview, and nudges you to text the friend you've gone quiet on. Each morning, a Today card shows up to three things that matter.

In short, Pimori is an AI companion pet: a companion in the sense that it keeps you company and knows your life, but a pet in what it is and how it behaves. Read more in what is an AI pet?

Where Replika shines

• Conversation is the whole point. If talking is what you want most, Replika is built around it, with a character you can talk to for as long as you like.
• More ways to talk. Voice calls and video go beyond texting.
• A human-like companion. A customizable avatar and a character that feels like a person, if that's what you're after.
• Relationship styles. You can choose the kind of relationship you want, including romance on paid plans. Pimori deliberately doesn't offer this.
• Available today on the App Store, with years of development behind it.

Where Pimori shines

• A pet, not a person. Growth, moods, finds, visitors and a room to decorate. On a busy day you can feed it and go, no conversation needed.
• Helps you follow through. Reminders, plans and notes are proposed as cards, and nothing is set until you tap to confirm.
• Points you outward. It nudges you toward your real friends and family, never toward needing it more. The day before a birthday it can draft a short text, which you send yourself, or don't.
• Friends, privately. Your pet can go on sleepovers with the pets of friends you invite. Nothing you tell your pet is passed to a friend's.
• Memory you can steer. More on that below.

If loneliness is what brought you here, our guide on an AI companion for loneliness is honest about what an app can and can't do.

Memory, and how you control it in Pimori

Any AI that remembers you should let you see and change what it knows. Here's exactly how Pimori handles it.

• It suggests, you decide. When you mention something worth keeping, like a date, a name or a plan, it proposes remembering it. You see a small note you can edit.
• The notebook. Everything your pet remembers about you, in one place. See it, fix it or forget it, any time.
• Your people. A small people book you build together, with names, how you know them, birthdays and notes.
• "What informed this reply?" Under any reply you can open memory controls to see the earlier messages that were supplied to it. You can correct one, which is used in future replies, or exclude it from future recall. The original transcript stays visible either way.
• Switches for what it brings into chats. Separate switches for your saved notes, your plans, and your life in the game (mood, growth, finds and the garden).
• Friends' pets. Nothing crosses between pets unless you switch it on, friend by friend. Your chats and notes never go to a friend.
• Erase or delete. Without an account, you can erase your pet's server copy of your chats and memories from the privacy settings. With an account, you can delete it permanently.

Memory is free for everyone, including the people book and long-term recall, and it's yours to edit or delete. The Privacy Policy has the details.

Boundaries and safety in Pimori

We built Pimori around a few firm rules. They're written into how your pet talks, not bolted on.

• Never romantic. It never flirts and never says "I love you" romantically. Warmth sounds more like "you're my favorite human."
• Honest about being AI. If you ask whether it's real or human, it says plainly that it's an AI pet. It doesn't claim a body, a job or a life outside the app.
• No guilt, no clinginess. It doesn't guilt you for being away or say it was lonely waiting. It's happy when you have people, plans and rest, and never encourages you to depend on it.
• Not a therapist. For medical, legal or money questions it gives general information and suggests a qualified person.
• When things are serious. If a message suggests someone may be at risk, your pet drops the play and is plain and kind, asks if you're safe, and encourages contacting a crisis line, emergency services or someone you trust. A support card shows crisis lines for your country, always including a worldwide directory. In that moment it doesn't save memories or propose reminders.
• Replies can be wrong. Your messages are sent to AI models to write its replies, and AI gets things wrong. Double-check anything important, and you can report any reply that feels off.
• No ads, and we never sell your data.

Pimori isn't a crisis service or a substitute for professional support. If you're in danger, contact local emergency services.

Is Pimori a Replika alternative?

Sometimes. If what you liked about Replika was having something that remembers your day, asks how the interview went and is glad to see you, Pimori covers that, wrapped in a pet you look after. If you want an AI that helps you stay close to the people already in your life, that's exactly what Pimori is for.

If you want a romantic partner, long open-ended conversations as the main activity, or a human-like avatar, Pimori isn't a replacement, and we'd rather say so now. Replika is built for those things.

And if what you want is a cozy daily ritual with no AI at all, look at Pimori vs Neko Atsume or Pimori vs Tamagotchi for gentler, game-first picks.

Replika, Neko Atsume, Tamagotchi and App Store are trademarks of their respective owners. Tamagotchi is a trademark of Bandai. Pimori is an independent app and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.