Is Character AI down? How to check, and why it may not be working

This page does not track Character.AI live. The quickest way to tell an outage from an account problem is to check whether other people see the same thing, then look at the reasons below that only affect your account.

One thing to know first: status.character.ai no longer shows a status page. When we checked on 30 October 2026, that address redirected to the homepage of Statuspage, the service that used to host it, instead of listing Character.AI's systems. Third-party outage trackers still cite it, so treat their "official status" labels with care.

• Character.AI's help center at support.character.ai is the official source for how the service works; it is where changes such as reading mode and age assurance are explained.
• Character.AI's official social accounts, linked from character.ai, are where outages are usually acknowledged.
• Unofficial outage trackers collect user reports. They are useful for seeing whether others have the same problem, but they are not run by Character.AI and can lag or overreact.
• Try the other version. Character.AI runs on the web, iOS and Android. If one works and the other does not, the problem is local to that app or browser, not the service.

What you see	Likely reason	What the help center says
You can browse characters and read old chats, but cannot send messages	Reading mode	Accounts placed in the under-18 experience can browse characters, view past chats and create characters, but cannot chat.
The app asks you to verify your age	Age assurance	Age assurance runs on all accounts. Accounts verified as 18+ keep chat; accounts verified as under 18 get reading mode. Checks run with Persona.
A premium chat style stops answering	Plan limits	Unlimited messaging stays on every plan, including free; premium chat styles are limited. c.ai+ costs $9.99 a month.
Replies stop or get cut off on adult topics	The content filter	The community guidelines prohibit pornographic content and nudity. This is a rule, not an outage.

For the filter in detail, see the Character.AI NSFW filter guide. For plans and limits, see the Character.AI review.

• Do not install unofficial apps or browser add-ons that promise to fix Character.AI or remove its filter. They can collect your login.
• Do not send ID documents to anyone except the in-app age check. Character.AI's age assurance runs inside the service with Persona; nobody else needs your ID to restore your chats.
• Do not create new accounts to get around reading mode. The help center ties chat to age assurance, and new accounts go through it too.

Character.AI does not allow sexual content, and that will not change during or after an outage. If adult roleplay is what you were trying to do, compare services whose written rules allow it: Character AI alternatives for adults lists them with free limits, prices and privacy terms. A few of them are below.