Characters are here: people to text and stories to step into
Characters are people and stories you talk to inside Candor, live since November 10, 2026. Pick one from the catalogue or write your own. Someone you text has one continuous conversation with you and keeps notes on what you've said, so it picks up where you stopped; a story can be played several times. Most texting characters have a job, a friend, a relative and a week that matches the clock. Messages are paid in credits like any chat, your 200 free credits work here, and every character is an adult.
Until this week, Candor was one voice: you asked, it answered. Now there’s a second way to use it. Characters are people to text and stories to step into, each with a name, a temper and a memory of you.
What a character is
A character is someone specific. Mateo is a bartender who remembers your order. Chloé is French, dry, and in no hurry at all. Emberfall is a fantasy adventure where your choices stick, and Halcyon Station starts with you waking up six years early.
With someone you text, you get one continuous conversation. It opens with their first message, and it’s there in your sidebar with their picture when you come back. There is no “new chat” with Mateo: there’s the conversation with Mateo.
Two formats exist. Texting characters write short messages, several in a row, the way people do on a phone. Story characters narrate scenes and ask what you do.
What makes them feel like people
- They remember. Each character keeps notes on you, on themselves (so they never contradict what they’ve told you) and on the two of you. Point back at something you said and they find it.
- They have a week. Most texting characters have a job, a friend, a relative and a hobby. Ask what they’re doing at 11pm on a Tuesday and the answer fits 11pm on a Tuesday.
- They text like people. Replies arrive as separate bubbles with typing dots between them. They can react to your message with an emoji, you can react to theirs, and you can reply to one message in particular.
- They can write first. Leave a conversation for a few hours and you may find a message waiting.
- They have opinions. They don’t agree with everything, they don’t sell you anything, and if you’re rude, a character may simply leave you on read.
Above the message box, three suggested replies wait after each of their messages, for when you don’t know what to say. One tap sends one; you can hide them.
You can see what they remember
A conversation’s menu has a row called “What [name] remembers”. It shows the notes the character keeps about you and about the two of you. You can edit a note, delete it, erase everything, or switch the note-taking off for that conversation.
What it costs
Characters use the same credits as the rest of Candor. Every new account gets 200 free credits, once, with no card, and they work here. After that, Monthly is $19.99 for 8,500 credits a month. A photo from a character costs what any image costs, 38.7 credits, and you see the price before it’s made.
The limits
Candor is for adults, and every character is an adult. Nothing sexual involving anyone under 18 is allowed, in any fiction. Characters stay in character, with two exceptions: sincerely ask whether you’re talking to a real person and they won’t claim to be one, and if you seem to be in real distress they step out of the act.
Where to find them
Open Candor and choose Characters in the sidebar, or go straight to the characters. To see how they work first, read the characters page. To make your own, see create your own AI character.
FAQ
Are Candor's characters free?
Messages cost credits like any chat, and the 200 free credits every new account gets work with characters. The free plan keeps one character of your own at a time; subscribers can have 50.
Do characters remember past conversations?
Yes. Each keeps short notes about you and about the two of you, plus a recap. You can open those notes from the conversation's menu, correct or delete them, or switch the memory off for that conversation.
Can a character text first?
Yes. When a conversation has been quiet for a few hours, a texting character may send one message of their own. It happens at most once every 20 hours across your account, and never a third time in a row without an answer from you.
Is a character a real person?
No. Every character is an AI. They stay in character, but if you sincerely ask whether you're talking to a real person, they won't claim to be one.
Can characters send photos?
When you ask. A photo costs the same as any image, 38.7 credits, and you see the price before it's made.
Ask the question you actually have.
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