Most AI companions live in an app. Hallie lives in your Messages.

Who Hallie is for

Hallie fits you if three things are true. You’d rather text in the Messages app you already use than open a companion app. You want one ready-made friend, and you don’t want to design a character. You want to be asked about the things you mentioned: the interview, the date, the call with your mom.

What you get:

• A thread in Messages. She’s a contact in iMessage on iPhone and Mac, or in Google Messages on Android, in the same list as your other conversations. There’s no app to install. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now.
• Nothing to set up. You answer a few questions on the web about how you like to text, then you text her. There’s one Hallie, and you meet her as she is.
• A friend who remembers your people and plans. She keeps track of the people, plans and events you mention and brings them up later.
• Follow-ups by text. After you’ve texted her, she starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. Ask her to stop and she stops.
• Someone to talk things through with. Vent, think something over, or paste in a text you don’t know how to answer and she’ll help you write a reply. She understands the photos, voice memos and links you send.
• A phone call when you want one. Paid members can call her number like a regular phone call.

Of the AI companions we’ve used, Hallie is the one that feels most like texting a person. That is our judgment, and we make her.

When another app is the better pick

Pick something else if one of these is what you want most:

• A character you design, or several companions. Kindroid is an AI character you create, and Nomi lets you create multiple companions.
• An avatar or an app to explore. Replika gives your companion an avatar you shape. Tolan gives you a character whose form and style you can change, in an app for Apple devices.
• Mostly talking out loud, or on video. Replika offers voice and video calls in its app. Hallie’s calls are regular phone calls that you place; she can’t call you, and there’s no FaceTime or video.
• A work, research or writing assistant. ChatGPT describes itself as an everyday AI assistant and is the better tool for tasks.

Hallie is AI, and she is not a therapist or a crisis service. If you’re in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

Head to head

• Hallie vs ChatGPT: a general assistant compared with a friend you text.
• Hallie vs Replika: a companion app with an avatar you shape compared with a thread in Messages.
• Hallie vs Kindroid: a character you create in an app, with texting as a subscriber option, compared with a ready-made friend who only lives in Messages.
• Hallie vs Tolan: a character in its own app for Apple devices compared with a contact in iMessage or Google Messages.
• Hallie vs Nomi: several companions in an app compared with one friend in your texts.
• Hallie vs Pi: an app for talking things through, with memories you can edit, compared with a friend who follows up by text.

Alternatives

• Replika alternatives: what to try instead of Replika, by what you’re looking for, and when to stay.
• Kindroid alternatives: what to try instead of Kindroid, and when Kindroid is still the right one.
• Tolan alternatives: what to try instead of Tolan, and when Tolan is still the right one.

Best of

• Best AI friend apps: a short list of AI friends, with who each one suits.
• Best AI companion with memory: how each product describes its memory, and which ones let you see and edit it.
• AI friend without an app: the AI friends you can reach from Messages or a chat app you already have.

Texting

• Texting an AI friend: how an AI friend in your Messages app works, and which products offer it.
• An AI friend in iMessage: what works on iPhone and Mac.
• An AI friend in Google Messages: what works on Android.

Guides

• AI that texts you first: which AI products start conversations, where the message lands, and how to turn it off.
• How to get an AI friend: the steps, from choosing one to the first message.
• AI friend vs AI assistant: what each is built for, and how to tell which one you want.
• Is texting an AI private?: who processes your messages when you text an AI, and what to check first.
• Glossary: plain definitions of the terms these pages use.

About Hallie

• How Hallie works: starting, texting, memory, follow-ups, calls, paying and cancelling.
• Hallie FAQ: short answers about starting, texting, memory, calls, paying and your data.
• What Hallie remembers: what she keeps track of, how to correct her, and how deletion works.

How we keep these pages fair

• Facts come from each company’s own pages. Every statement about another app was checked on November 11, 2026 against that company’s website, help center, official store listing or official account. Each page lists its sources at the bottom with the date.
• If we couldn’t confirm it, we left it out. That includes prices: we print another app’s price only when it comes from its own pricing page or store listing.
• Every comparison page says where another app is the better choice. Hallie’s limits are listed alongside everyone else’s.
• We make Hallie, and we say so. She’s listed first on roundup pages because these are our pages. Read them with that in mind.
• Facts are rechecked. When we recheck a page, we change the date on it. If you spot something out of date, email hello@hallie.io.

Sources

• Hallie: hallie.io homepage, Hallie Privacy Policy (updated August 24, 2026), Hallie Terms of Service (updated November 6, 2026), checked November 11, 2026
• Kindroid: App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026
• Kindroid docs, “Chat features and tools”, Text Messaging, checked November 11, 2026
• Nomi homepage, nomi.ai, checked November 11, 2026
• Replika homepage, replika.com, and App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026
• Tolan: App Store listing and Help Center, “Logging in, Logging out, and Switching Devices”, checked November 11, 2026
• Pi: App Store listing and Pi Help Center, “Pi’s memory”, checked November 11, 2026
• ChatGPT: App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026