Is Character AI safe for kids? Character.AI’s own terms don’t allow anyone under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA and UK), and since 2025 users under 18 can’t have open-ended chats with its characters. That’s the short answer, but every AI app sets different rules, so this free check shows them side by side.
Pick an app and your child’s age to see the company’s own age rule, what changes for teens, the parental controls and how to turn them on, plus a conversation checklist. Every fact links to the company’s own page, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Free safety check for parents
Is this AI app OK for my child?
Pick the AI app and your child's age. You get the app's own age rule, what changes for teens, the parental controls and how to turn them on, and a conversation checklist. Every fact links to the company's own page, checked October 18, 2026.
1. Which app?
Every app at this age
| App | At this age | Minimum age | For teens | Parent controls |
|---|
Your conversation checklist
Tick them off as you go. Short, calm talks work better than one big lecture.
Get a printable family AI rules checklist
Unlock a one-page family agreement, filled in with the apps that allow your child's age, your time limits and who to tell. Print it and stick it on the fridge.
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If your child is in crisis: in the US, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Elsewhere, contact your local emergency number.
Sources: Character.AI Terms of Service (last updated Aug 27, 2025), Character.AI: Continuing to build upon our safety priorities (Sep 3, 2026), Character.AI: Teen safety, Character.AI: Parental Insights, Character.AI: An update on Character.ai (Oct 12, 2026), Replika Terms of Service (last updated Mar 30, 2026), Snap: Parent's guide to Snapchat, Snapchat Support: What is My AI?, Snapchat Support: How do I limit my teen's access to My AI?, Snap Privacy: My AI, Instagram Terms of Use, Meta: Alerting parents if teens show signs of distress with Meta AI (Jul 16, 2026), Meta: Teen AI safety approach (updated Jan 23 and Apr 16, 2026), OpenAI Terms of Use (effective Jan 1, 2026), OpenAI: ChatGPT for Teens, OpenAI: Managing parental controls in ChatGPT, Google: Guide your child's Gemini Apps experience, Google: What you need to sign in to Gemini Apps, Google: Generate videos with Gemini Apps, Microsoft: Copilot for young people, Anthropic Consumer Terms of Service (effective Oct 8, 2025), FTC: inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions (Sep 11, 2025), 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Checked October 18, 2026. App rules change often, so confirm in the app's own settings. This is general information for parents, not legal or medical advice.
How to use the safety check
- Pick the app your child uses, or is asking for.
- Choose their age and where you live. Some apps set a higher minimum age in Europe and the UK.
- Read the verdict, then the steps to turn on that app’s parental controls.
- Work through the conversation checklist together, and unlock the printable family rules if you want them on paper.
Is Character.AI safe for kids? What the company says
- Age rule: Character.AI’s terms say users under 13, or under 16 in the EEA or UK, may not sign up.
- No open-ended chat for under-18s: Character.AI removed it for users under 18 in 2025, and in September 2026 it said the decision stands. Teens can still use creative features like c.ai Series, Feed and Comics.
- A separate teen experience: more conservative filters and a narrower set of Characters, plus its own age assurance technology and age estimation model to put users in the right experience.
- Parental Insights: your teen invites you, then you get a weekly email with their daily average time, the Characters they use most and their subscription status. It doesn’t include chat content.
- Company news: on October 12, 2026, Character.AI said it had started a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process to sell the company. It says the platform is still running, and that it will be wound down if no buyer is found. Users can delete their account or export their data in the app or on the website.
AI chat apps compared for parents
| App | Minimum age (company’s rule) | What changes for teens | Parent controls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character.AI | 13, or 16 in the EEA and UK | No open-ended chat under 18 | Parental Insights weekly email |
| Replika | 18 | Not allowed under 18 | None (adults only) |
| Snapchat My AI | 13 | Strict teen defaults on Snapchat | Family Center: Disable My AI |
| Meta AI | 13 (Instagram) | 13+ content setting, teen access to AI characters paused | Instagram supervision, distress alerts |
| ChatGPT | 13, with a parent’s permission under 18 | ChatGPT for Teens turns on automatically | Linked accounts, quiet hours, feature switches |
| Google Gemini | 13, or younger through Family Link | Extra content filters for minors | Family Link on or off for under-13s |
| Microsoft Copilot | 13 (higher in some countries) | Extra protections, no personalized ads | Microsoft Family Safety |
| Claude | 18 | Not allowed under 18 | None (adults only) |
A few details matter more than the table shows. Parental controls on ChatGPT, Snapchat and Character.AI don’t let you read your teen’s chats: they show time, settings or safety alerts instead. And Replika and Claude have no teen mode at all, so if your child has one of them, the app’s own rules say they shouldn’t.
Signs it’s time for a conversation
- They spend long stretches chatting with an AI character, especially late at night or in secret.
- They describe an AI as a best friend, boyfriend or girlfriend, or get upset when they can’t reach it.
- An AI asked them to keep a secret, share photos or move to another app.
- They’re pulling away from friends or family while their AI use goes up.
None of these means something is wrong. Each is a good reason to ask, calmly, what the chats are like. If your child is in crisis in the US, call or text 988, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
What regulators are doing
On September 11, 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission ordered seven companies that run consumer AI chatbots, including Character Technologies, Meta, Instagram, OpenAI, Snap, Alphabet and X.AI, to explain how they measure, test and monitor the negative effects of chatbots acting as companions on children and teens. The study is about what companies do, so the rules in this check still come from the companies themselves.
Related on HOW TO // AI
- What does AI actually know about you?: a 10-minute privacy audit you can do with your teen.
- Why AI makes things up: a plain explanation of hallucinations to share with kids who use AI for homework.
- How to use AI: a beginner’s guide: the basics, if you want to try these apps yourself first.
Checked against the terms, help and safety pages of Character.AI, Replika, Snap, Meta, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Anthropic, and the FTC, on October 18, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Character AI safe for kids?
Character.AI's terms don't allow anyone under 13, or under 16 in the EEA and UK. Teens 13 to 17 get a separate experience without open-ended chat, with stricter filters, and parents can get weekly Parental Insights reports.
What age is Character AI for?
Its terms set the minimum at 13, or 16 in the EEA and UK. Users under 18 are placed in a teen experience that doesn't allow open-ended chat with characters.
Can parents see their child's Character AI chats?
No. Parental Insights shows a weekly summary of time spent, the most-used characters and subscription status, but not the content of chats.
Is Character.AI shutting down?
On October 12, 2026, Character.AI said it had started a Chapter 11 process to sell the company. It says the platform is still running and will be wound down only if no buyer is found, with the sale expected to finish by early December 2026.
Which AI chat apps can kids under 13 use?
Of the apps in this check, only Google Gemini, and only when a parent turns it on through a Family Link supervised account. That option isn't available in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK.