18+ only

Chub AI Review 2026: $20 Plan, Free Options and Who It's For

Chub AI is an uncensored community character library with its own chat, its own models and support for your own API keys. On 20 October 2026 we went through its subscription page, its official guide and patch notes, its terms of service and privacy policy, its public library and its Trustpilot listing. Here is what the $20 plan gets you, when a key of your own is the cheaper route, and what to check before paying.

πŸ“„ Pricing & Terms Checked 20 Oct πŸ’³ One Plan: $20/mo ⭐ 6.1/10 Score

Chub is a website for sharing AI characters and chatting with them. Its terms call it "Chub (AKA CharHub)", and its own guide describes a platform that streamlines access to large language models "into a convenient to use chatbot service", adding plainly: "Chub is uncensored." Logged-out visitors can search characters, lorebooks, presets and "stages" (add-ons that run alongside a chat) through a "Search without Login" link. Subscribers can also use Chub's models from other chat frontends through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint; the guide shows setups for SillyTavern, Agnaistic, Risu, Tavern and Kobold Lite.

Our July review described two paid tiers and a text-only service; that no longer matches what Chub publishes. This update rests on things anyone can check: the subscription page, docs.chub.ai and its patch notes, the terms of service (last updated 15 May 2026), the privacy policy, the public library, app store searches and Trustpilot. It is not a hands-on test, so there are no chat logs or sample outputs below, and we don't grade the writing quality of any model.

The Library & Character Creator

The library is built by users. Chub publishes no total card count that we could find, but popular characters list six-figure counters and years of history. The library is also why other tools connect to Chub: HammerAI, for example, added a way to browse and download Chub cards to its desktop app in July 2026.

According to Chub's character-creation guide, a card has two parts:

  • Character info: name, avatar, tagline, in-chat name, creator's note, tags, visibility (public, private or unlisted) and a SFW or NSFW rating. Cards with fewer than three tags are hidden in search.
  • Character definition: description, initial message, scenario, example dialogues and alternate greetings that users can swipe through.

The chat guide adds the tools around a card: lorebooks attached to a chat, stages, multi-character chats, a memory panel that summarizes messages that have dropped out of the model's context, full branching chat trees, and export of a chat as a SillyTavern JSONL file, a PNG or plain text. Presets for prompts and generation settings can be shared publicly. On paper, few companion apps we review give users this many controls. The terms say tag moderators keep cards tagged correctly and administrators delete illegal projects, but nothing describes curation for quality, so expect to sort and filter.

Chub's Models & Bring Your Own Key

Chub's in-house models. The subscription page promises "unlimited access to all LLMs, including Soji 1.6T 60K". The 0.5.7 patch notes had introduced Soji as "a 671B-parameter finetune of DeepSeek V3 0324, at 60K context"; the current page's "1.6T" label suggests a larger version since then, though Chub publishes no release note for it that we found. The model menu in the site's code lists two Chub models: "Mobile Flash" and "Soji (Subscriber)". Chub's API guide says its models are fine-tuned on public datasets and its own data, and that this data does not include public or private chats from Chub.

Your own key. The API guide lists these connections:

  • OpenAI, Anthropic, Google (Gemini), OpenRouter and NovelAI: paid, billed by each provider for your usage.
  • Kobold and Oobabooga: free if you run the model on your own hardware.

Chub tells users to prefer official API keys over "reverse proxies", which it warns may log data, leak information or run on stolen keys. The terms add a privacy point: when you use Chub's inference API outside the Chub interface, inputs and outputs are not logged; only metadata such as your user ID, timing, lengths and model is stored. Private characters and chats, per the terms, are never used to train an AI model.

NSFW Content & Rules

Chub's adult scope is about as wide as it gets in this category. Its guide says it does not restrict "in any meaningful capacity" the characters posted or the interactions users have, and creators rate each card SFW or NSFW. The terms describe a deliberate split: minimal moderation of "how someone talks to a machine", heavier moderation of how users talk to each other in comments.

  • Age: the service is for users 18 and over. Registration, per the guide, asks for an email, a username and a password; we saw no third-party age verification on the public pages.
  • Minors: any character, lorebook, preset or stage containing sexualization of anyone who is or appears to be under 18 is prohibited, and "rules lawyering" around it ends in account termination. Sexualized or realistic images of anyone who appears under 18 are removed.
  • Real people: real photos of real people are "frowned upon" and removed if illegal; revenge porn and harassment of real people are grounds for deletion.
  • Images: the terms say explicit images are not removed for being explicit, though they "scare the payment processors"; the creator guide asks creators to avoid NSFW avatars for the same reason.

Pricing & Which Option to Pick

We loaded chub.ai/subscription from France without an account. It showed prices in US dollars. What it listed on 20 October 2026:

Feature No subscription Subscription
Price $0 $20 / month
Yearly β€” "Yearly (16% off)"; price shown only after login
Browse and download from the library βœ“ βœ“
Chub's own models One-time trial credits ("a few dozen messages") Unlimited, including Soji
Voice Not stated Unlimited
Multimedia generation Not stated Unlimited
Your own API key βœ“ (you pay the provider) βœ“
Use Chub's models in other frontends β€” βœ“ (OpenAI-compatible API)
Check today's price on chub.ai β†’

The page defines "unlimited" as "unlimited for a single user, similar to Netflix". Two requests at once from the same account return an error, and obvious key sharing (use from "tens of locations/devices" or round-the-clock use) leads to restrictions. The page also lists "early access to new models" and, with a question mark rather than a tick, "access to any future models".

Which option to pick.

  • You chat every day and don't want to manage keys: the $20 monthly plan. It is $240 over a year, with voice and media generation included and "unlimited" defined in writing.
  • You chat occasionally: your own key. Chub adds no fee; the cost depends on the provider and model, from nothing for a model on your own hardware to metered per-token billing for commercial models. Setup takes a few minutes on the provider's side, and the guide assumes you know settings such as temperature and top-p.
  • You're sure you'll stay a year: the yearly option is advertised at 16% off. If that applies to twelve monthly payments, the year would cost about $201.60, or about $16.80 a month. That is our arithmetic; Chub only shows the exact figure after you log in. With no refunds, take it only after a month or two on the monthly plan.

Whichever route you take, the trial credits are one-time. The cheaper Mercury tier that older reviews mention (about $5 a month) no longer appears on the page; it survives only in the API guide and the site's code. The site's code also displays $24.99 a month when the subscription page runs inside Chub's iOS app, billed by Apple, but we could not find that app in the stores on 20 October.

Before You Pay

  • Crypto-only payment: the subscription page has a section headed "Why Crypto-Only?", explaining that card companies and payment processors are the main source of censorship pressure and that Chub stays free of it by not using them. In practice: no card, so no card chargeback route either.
  • Refunds: "Chub does not offer refunds unless explicitly granted by the Company."
  • Cancelling: per the terms, if you cancel you are not charged for the next period and keep access until the current one ends. The cancel flow itself is behind the login wall.
  • Operator: the terms identify the service only as "Chub (AKA CharHub)". They name no legal entity, no address and no governing law. The contact given for permission requests is lore@chub.ai. Chub's unclaimed Trustpilot listing shows Anguilla as its location; nothing on Chub's own pages confirms that.
  • Changes to the terms: Chub reserves the right to change the terms at any time without notice, and says changes apply retroactively to all users. Liability is capped at the lesser of what you paid in the previous six months or $50.
  • Mobile: Chub's 0.5.7 patch notes say it was "live on the iOS App Store again". On 20 October 2026 an Apple search in the US, UK and French stores returned no official Chub app (only an unrelated image-generator app using the name), and Google Play returned nothing under Chub's app ID. Plan on using the website.
  • User feedback: too thin to lean on. Chub's Trustpilot page was unclaimed and showed a TrustScore of 3.4 from three reviews: two 5-star reviews praising response quality and the Soji model, and one 1-star review from July 2026 about crypto-only payment and the removal of the $5 plan.
  • Library moderation: on 20 October 2026, the logged-out character list on its default sort included a popular card tagged both "Teenager" and "Romance"/"Romantic", even though its tagline describes "a young woman". A tag is not content, and we did not open the card's definition, but a library run on user tags with light moderation will show combinations like this. Use the tag filters before you start.

Pros & Cons

What We Like

  • Uncensored by design, within an explicit ban on minors
  • Public library browsable without an account
  • Bring your own key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter or NovelAI, or run a local model
  • Deep toolkit per the docs: lorebooks, presets, stages, chat trees, memory summaries, multi-character chats
  • One flat plan with "unlimited" defined in writing, voice and media generation included
  • Chats export to SillyTavern format; subscribers get an OpenAI-compatible API
  • Terms rule out training on private chats and logging API content

What Could Be Better

  • $20 a month is now the only plan; the $5 tier is gone
  • Free chat on Chub's models is limited to one-time trial credits
  • Crypto-only payment, according to the subscription page
  • No refunds unless Chub chooses to grant one
  • Terms name no company, address or governing law, and can change retroactively
  • Yearly price hidden until login; no official app found in the stores
  • Light moderation leaves tag combinations like "Teenager" + "Romance" visible
  • Only three Trustpilot reviews, profile unclaimed

Alternatives

If crypto-only billing or an anonymous operator rules Chub out, these are the reviews to read next:

If you want... Consider Why
A companion app with images and voice, paid by card Xotic AI (8.6/10), GirlfriendGPT (8.2/10) or Secrets AI (7.9/10) Published prices and a named company, checked against their pricing pages and terms
Image and video generation first OurDream AI (7.6/10) Built around generating images and videos of your characters
The same community-card model Janitor AI The other big user-built character library; free chat on its own model, NSFW bots included on the website
A character library with its own chat app SpicyChat or CrushOn AI Community characters inside a more guided app

For the wider field, see our Character AI alternatives guide, the Janitor AI alternatives and the uncensored AI chatbot guide.

Final Verdict β€” 6.1/10

The most configurable card site we review, with a full adult scope; the money side asks for trust.

The product, as Chub documents it, is a toolkit: an open library, your choice of model, lorebooks, presets, stages, branching chats, export to other frontends, and content rules that leave adults free within a hard ban on minors. The $20 plan covers voice and media generation as well as chat, with "unlimited" spelled out. The score is held back by the billing side and thin feedback: one plan at the higher end of the category, crypto-only payment, refunds at Chub's discretion, terms that name no company, no store app and three Trustpilot reviews. If you already pay an AI provider for a key, Chub costs you nothing extra.

Who should use Chub AI:

  • Roleplayers who already have, or are willing to set up, an API key from an AI provider
  • SillyTavern and other frontend users who want a card source or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint
  • Heavy daily users comfortable paying $20 a month in crypto with no refund
  • Anyone who wants lorebooks, presets and chat trees rather than a guided app

Who should look elsewhere:

  • Users who want to pay by card or need a refund safety net
  • People who want a native phone app (see our best AI girlfriend apps for iPhone)
  • Anyone who would rather not see user-tagged content with light moderation

Want a companion app with images and voice instead? Read our Xotic AI review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Browsing the public library is free, without an account. Chatting on Chub's own models is not: the subscription page says new users regularly receive one-time trial credits worth a few dozen messages, and after that the in-house models need the $20 subscription. You can also connect your own API key from an outside provider and pay that provider instead, or point Chub at a model you host yourself.

On 20 October 2026 the subscription page listed one plan at $20 a month, with a yearly option advertised as 16% off. The yearly price itself only appears after you log in. The cheaper Mercury tier that older reviews mention no longer appears on the page. The site's code shows $24.99 a month when the page is opened inside its iOS app.

For daily users who don't want to manage API keys, the $20 plan covers unlimited use of Chub's models plus voice and media generation. Occasional users will usually pay less with their own key from an AI provider, which Chub supports at no extra fee. Since payment is crypto-only and refunds are at Chub's discretion, start monthly before committing to a year.

Yes. Chub's own guide says it is uncensored and does not restrict in any meaningful capacity the characters users post or the interactions they have. Creators rate each card SFW or NSFW. The terms set the limits: users must be 18+, and any content sexualizing someone who is or appears to be under 18 is banned and gets accounts terminated.

Yes. Chub's documentation lists OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Google (Gemini) and NovelAI keys, plus Kobold and Oobabooga for models you run yourself. You pay the provider for usage. Chub recommends official keys over third-party reverse proxies, which it warns may log your data or use stolen keys.

Not by right. The terms say Chub does not offer refunds unless explicitly granted by the company. If you cancel, you are not charged for the next period and keep access until the current one ends.

Chub's 0.5.7 patch notes say it was live on the iOS App Store again, but on 20 October 2026 we could not find an official Chub app in Apple's US, UK or French stores, or on Google Play. The website works in a mobile browser.

The terms only say Chub, also known as CharHub. They name no legal entity, address or governing law; the contact given for permissions is lore@chub.ai. Chub's unclaimed Trustpilot listing gives Anguilla as its location, which we could not confirm from Chub's own pages.