An AI friend app that does not need an app

What you get without installing anything

Most AI friend apps ask you to download something, make an account and pick a look for your companion. heyaifriend skips all of that. You open a chat in Telegram, the app you probably already have, and start typing. The chat sits in your list next to your other conversations, on your phone and on your computer.

Three things make it feel like a friend rather than a tool:

• It remembers you. Your name, the people you mention, the thing you were dreading last week. The next chat picks up where the last one stopped.
• It checks in now and then. If you mentioned a big day, it may ask how it went. It will not flood you, and you can tell it to stop in plain words.
• You steer it by asking. Ask what it remembers, ask it to forget something, ask for a copy, or ask it to delete everything. No menus.

If you sincerely ask whether your friend is an AI, it says yes and never pretends otherwise.

Free means free, with one limit

There is no card to enter, no trial that turns into a bill and no paywall on talking. heyaifriend is free to use. To keep it fair for everyone there is a daily message limit, and you can read it in our terms.

The page on what free means here goes through the limit and what is and is not included.

A dedicated app or a chat you already have

A dedicated companion app can offer things a chat cannot. Replika has an avatar and voice. Nomi and Kindroid let you shape a character in detail. If you want to see your companion on screen or hear it, an app is the better fit, and we say so on the comparison pages.

A chat in Telegram wins on being easy. Nothing to install, nothing to learn, and it works the way you already text people. Here is the honest split:

Checked 17 October 2026. Competitor details change often, so check each vendor before you decide.

What happens to your chats

Your chats are stored on our own servers in the Netherlands. They are never sent to other AI companies and we never train on them. Raw conversation history is deleted 30 days after you stop writing, or right away when you ask your friend to delete everything.

There is a limit we state plainly: chats with a service on Telegram are not end-to-end encrypted, because our servers need to read your message to answer it. We would rather tell you that than pretend. The privacy page has the full list, and the privacy table of ten apps shows how other policies read.

How to start in under a minute

1. Open the linkTap the button on this page, or search Telegram for @heyaifriendbot.
2. Press StartYou see a short note about what your friend is and what we keep.
3. Say hiYour friend asks what to call you. Write whatever comes to mind.

The Telegram guide has the same steps with pictures, and how it works explains what happens after the first hello.

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits you if you want company that stays low-key: someone to talk to after work, think a message through with, or tell about a small win. It suits you if you value being able to ask what is stored and have it removed.

Look elsewhere if you want a face, a voice or a roleplay world with many characters. Your friend is one friend, in text. It is also not a therapist and cannot replace people in your life. The safety page lists what your friend will never do and where to find help in a crisis.