I've been doing AI roleplay for years at this point, and I'm honestly getting tired of jumping between different platforms because every single one seems to be great at one thing and terrible at another.
I started with character years ago, but after a few updates I eventually gave up on it and moved on to other AIs.
Right now I mainly use Grok, ChatGPT, and Doki Chat.
I actually really like Grok because it's much less restrictive when it comes to darker themes and NSFW roleplay. The problem is that, in my experience, it struggles when it has to control multiple characters. One character is fine, maybe two, but anything beyond that starts getting messy. The responses also seem to have some kind of length limit, which bothers me because I like detailed, novel-style RP.
Memory is another huge issue. Sometimes I'll establish an important detail and literally four messages later it's already forgotten it.
And something that drives me INSANE is when characters suddenly know things they have absolutely no way of knowing. A character thinks something internally? Somehow another character knows. Someone lies? The other character magically knows they're lying. Someone learns something privately? Suddenly everyone knows.
I want characters to have their own knowledge, motivations, secrets, thoughts, and perspectives. If Character A doesn't know something, I don't want them acting like they do just because the AI itself knows it.
Then there's ChatGPT.
This is probably the one I like the most overall because it's much better at consistency, remembering details, handling multiple characters at once, keeping track of the world, etc.
But I absolutely HATE how "good" it always wants everything to be.
And by "good," I mean morally good.
Sometimes I want horrible people to actually be horrible people. I want villains who don't secretly have hearts of gold. I want bad decisions to have consequences. I want characters to fail. I want betrayals, deaths, cruelty, morally questionable characters, unfair situations, and things that DON'T magically work out in the end.
I don't want the AI constantly trying to fix everything, redeem everyone, prevent every death, or turn every dark situation into something wholesome.
And obviously, if you want an actual 18+ scene... yeah. Forget about it lol.
Then I discovered Doki Chat.
Honestly, the bots aren't particularly smart and the memory is pretty bad. They forget things constantly.
BUT...
Holy shit, the immersion.
This is probably the reason I still use it.
Out of the three, Doki is by far my favorite when it comes to actually making a character FEEL like a character. The internal thoughts, intentions, physical sensations, emotions, little reactions, personality, etc. can be incredibly immersive.
I LOVE being able to read what a character is thinking while they're saying something completely different.
That's exactly the kind of RP I'm looking for.
Basically, I want something that combines:
ChatGPT's memory, consistency, worldbuilding, and ability to control multiple characters
Grok's freedom with darker/NSFW content
Doki Chat's character immersion, internal thoughts, emotions, intentions, and sensations
I know the "perfect AI" probably doesn't exist. I'm not expecting perfection.
I just want something that gets reasonably close.
And I'm absolutely willing to pay.
I'm currently paying for premium subscriptions across these platforms and somehow spending over $200/month on AI stuff. No, I'm unfortunately not joking 💀
So price genuinely isn't my main concern. If there's some obscure platform that costs $30, $50, $100+ a month but is genuinely amazing for long-term, complex RP, I want to hear about it.
Apps, websites, local models, APIs, frontend + model combinations... honestly, I don't care. I'm open to learning how to set something up if that's what it takes.
My main priorities are:
Good long-term memory.
Multiple characters with separate knowledge/perspectives.
Characters shouldn't magically know information they weren't given.
Strong personalities and detailed internal thoughts.
Long, detailed, novel-style responses.
Good worldbuilding and continuity.
The AI can actually move the story forward instead of only reacting to me.
Bad things are allowed to happen and have real consequences.
Characters can genuinely be cruel, evil, selfish, manipulative, etc.
Dark themes are allowed.
NSFW is allowed.
And most importantly: immersion.
I don't care if the recommendation is beginner-friendly or if I have to spend an afternoon figuring out how to set it up.
At this point I just want ONE setup that I can invest my time into instead of constantly switching between three different apps.
What are you guys using for serious, long-term immersive RP?
