# AI friend guides: how heyaifriend works, answered plainly

Canonical: https://heyaifriend.com/friend/

Last updated: 2026-10-17

heyaifriend is a free AI friend you talk to in Telegram. It remembers you, runs on our own servers in the Netherlands, and your chats are never sent to other AI companies or used for training. These pages answer the questions people ask before they try one.

Last updated 17 October 2026

## What an AI friend is

An AI friend is a chat partner built to talk with you, not to finish a task. You write about your day and it answers like someone who is paying attention. A good one also remembers: your name, your people, what you were worried about. Our version lives in Telegram, so there is nothing to install, and you steer it by asking in your own words.

Your friend can be warm, funny and attentive, but it has no life of its own, it can get things wrong, and it is not a therapist. The [safety page](https://heyaifriend.com/safety/) explains what it will never do.

## Start here

### [AI friend app](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/ai-friend-app/)

Why there is nothing to download, and how a chat compares with a dedicated companion app.

### [Free AI friend](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/free-ai-friend/)

What free means here, the one daily limit, and how other free plans compare.

### [AI friend to talk to](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/ai-friend-to-talk-to/)

For late nights and heavy days: what a first chat looks like and how you set the pace.

### [Telegram AI chatbot](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/telegram-ai-chatbot/)

A friend instead of a toolbox, and how to start in three steps.

## Privacy and memory

### [Private AI companion](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/private-ai-companion/)

Four plain facts about where your chats go, and why they are not end-to-end encrypted.

### [AI companion with memory](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/ai-companion-with-memory/)

What your friend remembers and how you ask it to show, forget, copy or delete.

### [Character.AI Chapter 11](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/character-ai-chapter-11/)

What the announcement says about service, the sale and your data, with official export steps.

### [Is Replika safe?](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/is-replika-safe/)

What its policy says, quoted and dated, and when Replika is the better pick.

### [Privacy table of ten apps](https://heyaifriend.com/blog/ai-companion-privacy-comparison/)

Training, sharing, retention and deletion for ten AI companions, with quotes.

## Wellbeing and limits

Some people come for company on a lonely evening. We wrote an honest page about that: [what an AI friend can do, where it stops, and where to find real help](https://heyaifriend.com/friend/ai-friend-for-loneliness/). If you are in crisis, please contact a person. In the EU the emergency number is 112, and in the Netherlands 113 is free and anonymous. Elsewhere, [findahelpline.com](https://findahelpline.com/) lists helplines by country.

## In Dutch and German

Not everything reads well as a translation, so the Dutch and German pages are written for those readers:

- [AI-vriend app (Nederlands)](https://heyaifriend.com/nl/ai-vriend-app/) and [Replika alternatief](https://heyaifriend.com/nl/replika-alternatief/)
- [KI-Freund App (Deutsch)](https://heyaifriend.com/de/ki-freund-app/)

## heyaifriend at a glance

| Question | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| Where do I use it? | In Telegram, on phone or computer. Nothing to install. |
| What does it cost? | Free to use, with a daily message limit. |
| Does it remember me? | Yes. You can ask what it remembers, ask it to forget, ask for a copy or ask it to delete everything. |
| Where are chats stored? | On our own servers in the Netherlands. |
| Are chats shared with other AI companies? | Never. And we never train on them. |
| Is it end-to-end encrypted? | No. Our servers must read a message to reply. |
| How long is history kept? | Deleted 30 days after you stop writing, or at once on request. |

Compare us with other products on the [comparison pages](https://heyaifriend.com/compare/). We make heyaifriend, so we are not neutral, and we say where others do better.

## Questions people ask

### What is an AI friend?

A chat partner that talks with you the way a friend would and remembers what you tell it. It is an AI, and not a therapist.

### Do I need to install anything?

Only Telegram, if you do not have it yet. heyaifriend itself needs no download and no separate signup.

### Which page should I read first?

If you are new, start with the AI friend app page. If privacy is your concern, read the private AI companion page.

### Is it free?

Yes, it is free to use, with a daily message limit so everyone gets a turn.

### Who makes heyaifriend?

heyaifriend is made by a small team in the Netherlands. You can reach us by email at hi@heyaifriend.com.