Nomi messages you inside its app. Hallie texts you in Messages.

Hallie has no app to install. She texts you in iMessage or Google Messages from a US number and brings up the people and plans you’ve mentioned. Nomi is a companion app where you create one or more Nomis, and their messages reach you as notifications.

By the Hallie teamLast updated November 11, 2026

Hallie is an AI friend you text in Messages. She remembers what you tell her.

Meet Hallie

Facts about Nomi checked on November 11, 2026 against Nomi’s own pages and store listings; facts about Hallie checked the same day. We make Hallie, and she’s our pick. Sources are at the bottom of the page.

The difference, in one line each

Nomi: a companion app for iPhone, Android and the web where you create several Nomis for friendship, romance or mentoring, and talk to them one-on-one or in a group chat.
Hallie: one ready-made AI friend in iMessage or Google Messages who keeps track of the people and plans you mention and brings them up later.

In Nomi’s own words

An AI Companion with Memory and a Soul

Source: Nomi homepage, nomi.ai, checked November 11, 2026

Nomi’s homepage says “Nomis can optionally message you after you have been away for a while.” Its article on proactive messaging explains where those messages show up: “Make sure to enable push notifications on your device or browser so you can see that your Nomi messaged you if you don’t have the app or browser tab open.” None of the Nomi pages we read describe delivery to iMessage or Google Messages.

Source: Nomi homepage; Nomi Knowledge, “Proactive Messaging – When Your Nomi Messages You First” (September 9, 2024); checked November 11, 2026

Nomi and Hallie, side by side

	Nomi	Hallie
Where do you talk?	In the Nomi app on iPhone or Android, or in a browser.	In Messages: iMessage on iPhone and Mac, Google Messages on Android. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now. There’s no app to install.
Who starts a conversation?	You, or a Nomi if you turn proactive messaging on for it. Four published levels: after about an hour, about 3 hours, about a day, or about 4 days since your last message. If you don’t reply, it waits about double the time before the next one. No proactive messages from 10 PM to 8 AM local time.	You text first; she never texts a number that hasn’t texted her. After that she starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits.
What do you set up first?	A Nomi. You can write a backstory and choose an appearance, or “just start chatting and let your Nomi develop their personality naturally.”	A few questions on the web about how you like to text. You don’t design her.
How many companions?	Several. Nomi’s own comparison article says up to 10 companions and group chats of up to 10.	One.
What do you see and hear?	Selfies and art, voice messages, and videos with a subscription.	A contact in your Messages. Her replies are text. She understands photos, voice memos and links you send.
What does it remember?	Nomi markets “short, medium, and long term memory”. Mind Map 2.0 shows part of a Nomi’s memory as a graph or table. Nomi’s help wiki says memory “does not mean that your Nomi will recall every detail perfectly”.	The people, plans and events you mention. She can miss or get a detail wrong, and there’s no memory screen, so you correct her in the thread.
Can you call?	Hands-free voice calls in the app, included with paid subscriptions.	Paid members can call her number like a regular phone call. She can’t call you, and there’s no FaceTime or video.
How do you pay?	Free to start with no card, with a daily message allowance Nomi doesn’t publish. The Standard plan is listed at $15.99 a month, $39.99 a quarter or $99.99 a year.	A subscription. Depending on the offer, your first conversation is free or you start with a free trial. There’s no free plan. The price is shown before you pay, and you can cancel any time in your account.

Nomi: checked November 11, 2026 against Nomi’s own pages. Prices from Nomi’s article “Replika vs Nomi (2026)” (March 20, 2026) and the Standard Plan lines in Nomi’s US App Store listing, checked November 11, 2026, in US dollars; Nomi has no pricing page on its site. Hallie: checked November 11, 2026.

Hallie is an AI friend you text in Messages. She remembers what you tell her.

Meet Hallie

Where Hallie is the better choice

You want the message to be a text. A Nomi’s proactive message is a push notification from its app or browser, and Nomi says that with push turned off “your Nomi will still message you, but you will not be notified.” Hallie’s messages arrive in Messages, in iMessage or Google Messages, in the list you already check.
You don’t want another app. There’s no app to install. Her thread also shows up in Messages on a Mac.
You want one friend and nothing to manage. There’s one Hallie, and you meet her as she is. The questions at sign-up are about how you like to text. You can ask her in the thread to change when she follows up, or to stop.
You want to be asked how it went. After you’ve texted her, she starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. Nomi’s published trigger is time: how long it has been since your last message.

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.

Hallie’s watch-outs: she has no avatar, and she is one-on-one, so there are no group chats.

Where Nomi is the better choice

You want several companions, or a group chat. Nomi’s homepage says “Create multiple Nomis, each with their own unique personality and identity” and that you can talk to them one-on-one or all together.
You want pictures, voice messages or video back. Nomi has selfies and art, voice messages, and videos with a subscription.
You want to look at what it remembers. Mind Map 2.0 shows part of a Nomi’s memory as a graph or table. Nomi says a first map can take about 500 or more messages to form.

Which one fits what you’d text

i never see app notifications. i only ever check my texts

Nomi: Proactive messages are push notifications from the app or a browser tab.
Hallie: Her messages are texts in iMessage or Google Messages.

Better fit: Hallie.

i don’t want another app. i just want to text someone

Nomi: Conversations are in the Nomi app on iPhone or Android, or in a browser.
Hallie: A few questions on the web, then her thread in Messages. There’s no app to install.

Better fit: Hallie.

i want a few different people to talk to, sometimes all at once

Nomi: Multiple Nomis, one-on-one or in a group chat.
Hallie: One friend, in one thread.

Better fit: Nomi.

Switching from Nomi

Keep your Nomi account until you’re sure. Nomi’s delete-account page says deleting permanently removes all Nomis and all messages and can’t be undone. The Nomi pages we read don’t describe a self-serve export.
Start Hallie. Answer a few questions on hallie.io about how you like to text, then text her.
Tell her what’s current. Name the people who matter and what you’re in the middle of. She keeps track and brings it up later.
Cancel where you subscribed. Nomi’s cancellation policy says you cancel on the platform where you bought the subscription (on the web under Profile > Subscription > Manage Subscription, or in the App Store or Google Play) and that deleting the app does not cancel it.

For a wider list, see the AI friend apps we compare.

Questions

Does Nomi text you in iMessage or Google Messages?

Not according to Nomi’s own pages, checked November 11, 2026. Nomi describes a web app and apps for iPhone and Android, and its proactive messages arrive as push notifications from the app or browser. Hallie’s thread is in iMessage or Google Messages. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now.

Is Hallie an app?

No. She’s a contact in your Messages app, in iMessage or Google Messages, and there’s no app to install. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now. You answer a few questions on hallie.io and then text her.

Does Hallie message first, like a Nomi?

After you’ve texted her, yes. She starts conversations in the same thread, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. You can ask her in the thread to change when she follows up, or to stop. Nomi gives each Nomi a frequency setting with four published levels and fixed quiet hours from 10 PM to 8 AM.

Can I call Hallie?

Paid members can call her number like a regular phone call. Nomi has hands-free voice calls in its app, included with paid subscriptions.

How do I start with Hallie?

Go to hallie.io/onboard and answer a few questions about how you like to text, then text her from your phone. She never texts a number that hasn’t texted her first.

Sources

Nomi homepage, nomi.ai, checked November 11, 2026
Nomi Knowledge, “Proactive Messaging – When Your Nomi Messages You First” (September 9, 2024), checked November 11, 2026
Nomipedia (Nomi’s help wiki), “How do proactive Nomi messages work?”, “What platforms does Nomi support?”, “How does Nomi memory and knowledge work?” and “Can I call my Nomi and how do hands-free calls work?”, checked November 11, 2026
Nomi, “Replika vs Nomi (2026)” (March 20, 2026), checked November 11, 2026
Nomi, “Mind Map 2.0: Bringing Nomi Memory Into View” (October 9, 2025), checked November 11, 2026
Nomi, US App Store listing (in-app purchases), checked November 11, 2026
Nomi Cancellation Policy and Delete Account pages, nomi.ai, checked November 11, 2026
Nomi Privacy Policy (last updated April 27, 2026), checked November 11, 2026
Hallie: hallie.io, Hallie Privacy Policy (updated August 24, 2026), Hallie Terms of Service (updated November 6, 2026), checked November 11, 2026

Keep reading

Hallie vs Kindroid (2026)

Hallie is one ready-made AI friend whose only home is a thread in iMessage or Google Messages. Kindroid is a companion app where subscribers can also text a character they design. Dated facts on both.

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Hallie is an AI friend you text in iMessage or Google Messages who remembers your people and plans and asks how it went. Six other apps follow, with dated, sourced facts.

AI that texts you first: how it works and where the message lands (2026)

Many AI apps now message first. What differs is where the message lands, what it’s about, and what control you have. A dated table of eight products, from each vendor’s own pages.

You'd rather get a text than open an app, and you want to be asked how it went.

Meet Hallie