Privacy-Friendly AI Chat Apps: Data Export, Deletion and Ads

Before you move your chats to any app, check four things: can you export them, can you delete them, do ads or data sharing come into it, and is your text used to train AI models. This page lists what each service says on its own pages, including the limits of Castmanor’s promises. We read the pages; we did not audit anyone’s practice.

Updated 2026-10-21

What Castmanor is

Castmanor is a new app for adults where AI characters remember your name, your stories and your inside jokes, and you can see and edit what they remember. It is open now, and free.

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Free. Adults only. Everyone here is an AI character.

AI companion apps with built-in data export and deletion

The table lists what each service says, read on October 21, 2026. A statement on a page is not proof of what happens inside a company. “Not checked” means we did not read that part. Rows are in alphabetical order.

Service	Export your data	Delete	Ads and sale	Training on chats
Castmanor	In Settings: your chats, memories, characters and account details.	In Settings, Delete my account, then type DELETE. It takes a few seconds and cannot be undone.	The Privacy page says: “We do not sell your data and we do not share it for advertising.” It says it uses no advertising cookies or ad trackers.	Messages are sent to Google Cloud AI services to write replies. On the main setup these do not use them to train Google’s models. At busy times, some conversations and voice may go through other Google AI services whose terms allow Google to use them to improve its products.
Character.AI	Export Data in settings. The help center says it can take 3 to 4 weeks, and the link works for 7 days.	In the app or on the website. The company says it is permanent. It may keep some information for legal reasons, and may keep a popular character active.	The regional notice says it does not sell personal information for monetary consideration. It lists advertising providers as recipients of identifiers, age, approximate location, device data and inferences, which California law can treat as a “sale.”	The privacy policy lists training AI models among its uses. Users in the EEA and the UK can opt out in settings.
Chai	We could not find an export option in Chai’s help pages.	Not checked.	Its FAQ says it does not share personal data with third parties. It says Pro plans have no ads. Free messaging has been ad-funded.	Its FAQ says it trains its own models. It does not say whether chats are used.
Kindroid	Profile, Preferences, Account privacy, Export data. It emails a link that expires after 7 days. One request every 30 days. Read-only accounts can still export.	Read-only accounts can delete chats and media. Account deletion: not checked.	In the apps, a sheet asks whether to allow data usage for app improvement, personalized advertising and ad storage and access.	Its apps ask about “data usage for app improvement.” Not checked beyond that.
SillyTavern	Chats export as .jsonl files from the Manage chat files dialog.	You delete the files yourself, because the software keeps them on your own computer.	Not a service. It does not run ads.	Depends on the AI model you connect. A web AI service gets your messages; a model you run yourself does not.

Ads, paywalls and free tiers

No service we read promises no limits and no change. Chai says its Pro plans have no ads and that its free tier has been ad-funded. Kindroid ended unlimited free messaging on October 1, 2026. Character.AI says free messaging stays unlimited and that its paid plans add more.

Castmanor is free today. Its Terms say it may change, limit or end any feature, or the whole service, at any time. That is why export matters: you can export your chats from Settings whenever you like.

Data retention: what the pages say

Character.AI’s privacy policy says it keeps information “for the time necessary for the purposes for which it is processed,” and that deleted data may be kept where the law requires. It also says it may keep a popular character active after you delete your account.

Castmanor’s Privacy page says your chats, memories, characters and files stay until you delete your account. After deletion, a few things remain for a short time: a copy of anything you reported, without your account or your note; server logs for up to 30 days; and deleted files that Castmanor can still recover from storage for up to 7 days.

We did not read the retention terms of the other services.

Self-hosted and local AI for the most control

SillyTavern is free, open-source software that you run on your own computer or device. Its documents say it is an interface that talks to AI models, either web services, which are cloud-based and usually paid, or self-hosted models, which are local and free. The software keeps your chat history on your own machine.

This gives you the most control, with more work. If you connect a web AI service, your messages go to that provider. If you run a model on your own machine, they stay there. Nobody else keeps a copy for you, so keep your own backups.

Questions to ask any service before you move your chats

Can I export all my chats, and how long does it take?
Can I delete my account and my chats myself, and what stays behind?
Does it sell data or share it for advertising?
Does it use my chats to train AI models, and can I turn that off?
Where are my messages processed, and by whom?
Who can read my chats? Castmanor’s Privacy page says other users cannot, and that its team may look at a specific conversation to fix a problem, look into a report of abuse or follow the law.
What happens to my chats if the service changes or closes?

Castmanor is operated by Qualiaverse LLC. Questions about your data go to hello@castmanor.com, and the company says it acts within 30 days. See what to do about your Character.AI data first.

Questions and answers

Is there a free AI character chat without ads?

Castmanor is free today and its Privacy page says it does not share data for advertising and uses no advertising cookies or ad trackers. Chai says its Pro plans have no ads. Free tiers can change.

Is there an AI chat app with no daily message limit?

We did not find a service that promises that. Castmanor’s Terms say features may be limited or changed. Kindroid ended unlimited free messaging on October 1, 2026.

Which AI character chat app is privacy friendly?

We do not rank privacy. The table lists what each service says about export, deletion, ads and training so you can judge for yourself.

Which AI chat apps let me export my data?

Castmanor, Character.AI and Kindroid describe an export. SillyTavern saves chats as files on your own computer. We could not find an export option in Chai’s help pages.

Is there an AI companion app with data export and delete?

Castmanor lets you export in Settings and delete your account in Settings. Character.AI and Kindroid also describe an export, with limits on timing.

Related guides

Sources

We opened these pages on 2026-10-21. Pages can change after that.