Which AI Roleplay Sites Have Shut Down, and Which Are Still Running
Figgs AI, Xoul AI and what actually killed them, plus Character.AI in bankruptcy and PolyBuzz off the iOS App Store. Updated status for every major platform, October 2026.
Half the "best AI roleplay platforms" lists online still recommend sites that no longer exist. This page tracks what has closed, what went dark and came back, and what is still standing. Last checked October 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us in the Discord and it gets corrected.
Update, 16 October 2026
Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 12 October 2026 and is still running while it is sold at auction. What it means for your characters. PolyBuzz has been reported missing from Apple's App Store in many regions since December 2025, with no public reason given. Its website still works.
Closed permanently
Figgs AI, 30 December 2024
The one that still appears on recommendation lists eighteen months later. Figgs AI let users build characters called figgs and had a genuinely committed creative community. Users began reporting login failures and frozen chat histories through late December 2024, and the developers posted on the platform's subreddit that they were shutting down, giving people time to save their characters and chats. By 30 December 2024 it was gone. Reporting attributes the closure to developer abandonment alongside a data exposure incident.
It has not returned and there is no relaunch. If a guide is recommending Figgs AI, that guide was written once and never updated, which tells you something about the rest of its contents.
ThotChat AI, reportedly 31 December 2025
Closed without meaningful warning, according to user accounts. People lost characters and ongoing stories overnight. Less widely covered than Figgs because it was smaller, but the pattern is identical.
Went dark, then returned
Xoul AI, offline 21 April 2025
A Xoul developer announced a shutdown and the platform went offline at 10pm Pacific on 21 April 2025. Users lost access to characters, chats and ongoing story projects with almost no notice, which is why "Xoul AI is gone" became a heavily searched phrase.
It came back. As of late 2025 the site was accessible again and by 2026 was operating with refined models and stated NSFW support. Whether that makes it safe to build on is a judgement call. A platform that has gone offline once with a day's notice can do it again, and returning is not the same as being stable.
Still running, but changed in ways guides often miss
These are alive. What has changed matters more than whether they exist.
| Platform | Status | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Character.AI | Running, in bankruptcy | Filed for Chapter 11 on 12 October 2026. Still online while a court-supervised sale runs, expected to finish late November or early December 2026, and wound down if no buyer keeps it running. What it means for users. Before that: under-18s banned from open-ended chat, 25 November 2025. Face-scan age verification, April 2026. Free chats metered, May 2026. |
| Janitor AI | Running | Mandatory ID verification to unlock uncensored Limitless Mode, added late 2025. Many guides still describe it as unrestricted. |
| Chai AI | Running | Native Apple and Google age verification announced 9 March 2026. Free-tier adult access is getting harder rather than easier. |
| Talkie AI | Running | Briefly pulled from Google Play and then reinstated between late April and mid-May 2026. |
| PolyBuzz | Running, off iOS App Store | Reported missing from Apple's App Store in many regions since December 2025, with no public reason given. The website still works. Rebranded from Poly.AI in late 2024. 2026 update moved newer models behind the paywall, widening the gap between free and paid accounts. |
| Replika | Running | Survived EU regulatory pressure by restricting relationship mode, then partially reversed the restriction. |
| SillyTavern | Running | Not a hosted service. It is a local frontend you install and connect to a model, so it cannot shut down in the same way. |
The pattern worth noticing
Look at what killed the two that died. Not competition and not lack of users. Figgs AI had a devoted community when it closed. It went because running one of these costs real money every single day, and the people running it stopped being able or willing to carry that.
Inference is not free. Every message a character sends costs the platform money, and a free tier is a bill that grows with popularity. That leaves three ways to survive: sell subscriptions, sell adverts, or spend investor money until it runs out. The third option is the one that produces the sudden shutdown notice, because it works right up until the moment it does not.
The other pattern is regulatory. Every change in that second table pushes in the same direction: stricter age checks, tighter filters, more content behind verification. Nothing on that list got looser. For any platform that answers to an app store or a courtroom, the cost of under-filtering is an existential lawsuit and the cost of over-filtering is annoyed users, so the direction of travel only goes one way.
How to protect yourself
Whatever platform you use, including this one, assume it could disappear.
- Keep your character definitions as files. If a platform lets you export a card or JSON, do it and keep a copy. If it does not, copy the text into a document yourself. This is the single thing that turns a shutdown from a catastrophe into an inconvenience.
- Screenshot or copy out chats you actually care about. Nobody does this until they wish they had.
- Prefer platforms that support card import. Not because it is convenient, though it is, but because it means your work is portable in both directions.
- Be wary of anything running purely on investor money. A platform with no visible revenue model is not being generous. It is being temporary.
- Check the date on any recommendation list. If it still recommends Figgs AI it is at least eighteen months stale.
Where RolePlaya sits in this
Funded by subscribers rather than venture capital, which means no runway to run out of and no exit to chase. Built and run by one person who is still here every day. Character cards import as PNG or JSON, so anything you bring stays portable. That is not a promise nothing ever changes, and anyone making that promise is not being straight with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is PolyBuzz still running?
Yes. PolyBuzz has been reported missing from Apple's App Store in many regions since December 2025, with no public reason given. Its website still works.
Is Figgs AI coming back?
No. It shut down permanently on 30 December 2024 and there has been no relaunch. Any guide still listing it has not been updated since.
Is Xoul AI safe to use again?
It is accessible and operating. Whether it is safe to build on is a different question. It went offline once with roughly a day's notice, so keep copies of anything you would not want to lose.
Why do these platforms keep shutting down?
Inference costs money on every message, so a free tier is a bill that grows with popularity. Platforms funded by investment rather than revenue eventually run out, and when they do the shutdown tends to be abrupt.
How do I back up my characters?
Export a card or JSON if the platform offers it. If it does not, and Character.AI and PolyBuzz do not, copy the description, personality, scenario and greeting into a document by hand. It takes a couple of minutes per character and it is the difference between losing your work and moving it.
Which platforms let me import my saved cards?
SillyTavern, Chub and RolePlaya all accept standard PNG character cards and JSON. RolePlaya handles V2 and V3 specs directly in the character creator.
Figgs AI, Xoul AI, ThotChat AI, Character.AI, Janitor AI, Chai AI, Talkie AI, PolyBuzz, Replika, SillyTavern, Chub and all other names used on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. RolePlaya is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or connected to any of them. Dates and statuses reflect publicly reported information as of August 2026 and may have changed since. Verify directly before relying on any of it.
