Why people look for a Chub alternative
Chub's draw is its library: a very large collection of character cards that other people made, which you can chat with or take to other tools. The things people tend to want instead are an app on the phone rather than a website, a chat that doesn't depend on a connection, and not having to manage accounts, models or settings. We couldn't open Chub's own pages from our location when writing this, and we haven't used its current version, so we've kept the claims about it to a minimum. Check chub.ai for how it works and what it costs today.
Castmates vs. Chub
| Castmates | Chub | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you use it | Native iPhone app | Website (no official iPhone app found in the US App Store) |
| Where the AI runs | On your iPhone | Check chub.ai; it can also connect to outside models you supply |
| Works offline | Yes, after the model download | Not as a website that needs a connection |
| Characters | A curated cast of 35, plus your own custom characters | A large library of user-made character cards |
| Import character cards | Yes, PNG and JSON (V1 to V3), with lorebooks | Core feature |
| Account | None | Check chub.ai |
| Pricing | 30 free messages a day; Pro $6.99 a month | Check chub.ai for current plans |
| Phone requirement | iPhone with 6 GB RAM or more, ~2 GB model download | Any device with a browser |
| Languages | English | Check chub.ai |
| Age rating | 18+ | Check chub.ai |
Sources: our own app for the Castmates column. For Chub, only that it is a website built around character cards, and that a search of the US App Store on 10 October 2026 found no official Chub app. Everything else we've left to Chub's own site. If anything here is out of date, tell us at [email protected] and we'll fix it.
The honest trade-offs
- No card library of its own. Castmates imports cards, but you find them on Chub or elsewhere. Inside the app you get 35 written characters and can build your own.
- You need a recent iPhone. The model runs on the phone, which takes 6 GB of RAM or more and about 2 GB of free space. On an older phone, a website is the better choice.
- Less control. You can't pick a different model or tweak prompts. The model that ships with the app is the one you use.
- A phone-sized model. Replies come from a model small enough to fit on an iPhone, so it won't match the largest cloud models for long, detailed scenes or memory across weeks of chats.
- English only, iPhone only. No Android or web version.
What you get instead
Every reply is generated on your iPhone, so your messages aren't sent to a server, there's no account to make, and it works in airplane mode once the model is installed. The free plan gives you 30 messages a day with the full cast and one custom character. Pro lifts the daily limit and the character cap.