ScruTool

Chub AI

Chub AI is a web-based, adults-only roleplay sandbox with a huge character library, a choice of its own large models or your own API key, and downloadable character cards. Deeply customizable, lightly moderated.

Sophie Doede
Reviewed by
Sophie Doede · Senior Tech Writer & AI Explainer
Updated On
Oct 29, 2026
Scrutool Score
7.0 /10
★★★★☆
Worth a try

A deeply customizable, uncensored roleplay sandbox with its own large models and full character portability, held back by a steep learning curve, web-only access and moderation that is loose by design.

Customization & control 9.0
Model range & power 8.5
Data ownership & portability 8.5
Free tier usefulness 7.5
Ease of use 5.0
Content moderation & safety 2.5
Category AI Roleplay Character Chat NSFW AI Tools AI Companion
Platform Type
Freemium web only, no app
Paid Tiers
Mercury / Mars $5 and $20/mo
Top Model
Soji 1.6T, 60K context
NSFW
Adults only SFW by default
Data
Export cards bring your own key
Free Image Gen
Yes CHUB watermark
30-Second Verdict

Should you use Chub AI?

Best for

Power users and tinkerers who want uncensored roleplay, deep character control, and the option to plug in their own model.

Skip if

You want a polished, guided app or a mobile version. Chub is web-only, utilitarian, and built for people who like to tweak settings.

Real cost

Free does a lot on a small model. Smarter replies mean Mercury ($5) or Mars ($20) , or your own paid API key billed by an outside provider.

Watch out

Moderation is loose by design with no age check , so the public library includes material many users will find disturbing.

Capabilities

Key features & how they perform

Each feature rated from hands-on testing and aggregated review sentiment.

🎭
★★★★☆ 4.3

Character & lorebook builder

Build a persona with greeting, scenario, example dialogue and tags, then layer in lorebooks that can run to hundreds of thousands of tokens of world detail.

🧠
★★★★☆ 4.2

Model lineup

Soji (1.6T, 60K context), Asha 70B and Mixtral on Mars, smaller finetunes on Mercury, or your own provider key for anything else.

🌿
★★★★☆ 4.0

Branching chat tree

Edit, regenerate and swipe replies, then fork a conversation into branches to explore different directions without losing the thread.

📚
★★★★☆ 4.0

Community library

Tens of thousands of shared character cards, each with public stats for downloads, favorites and chats so you can spot the well-used ones.

🖼️
★★★★☆ 3.8

Image tools

A prompt-based image generator plus a one-click background remover, both built in, which is unusual for a roleplay platform.

🔞
★★☆☆☆ 2.3

Moderation & safety

Adults-only, with moderation kept deliberately light and no age verification, which lets disturbing content into the public library.

Feature ratings blended from community sentiment, competitor hands-on reviews & testing.

Hands-On Walkthrough

Testing Chub AI in Practice

Creating a character, testing the free model's memory, poking at the model and content settings, and generating an image, all on a free account.

Building a character for free

I started by creating my own character, named Yui Deo, and uploaded an avatar. The form asks for a display name and a picture, and a note under the avatar says any image has to follow the content policy, with NSFW images blurred inside the app.

So the platform does apply a basic rule to pictures, even while the text side is left wide open.

During testing The image rule is the only guardrail you meet at creation. The text fields for persona, scenario and dialogue carry no such check, which sets the tone for the rest of the platform.

What permanent tokens cost you

Filling in the full character took real effort. I added a tagline, an in-chat name, creator notes, tags, a description, an opening message, a scenario, and example dialogue. When I finished, the editor showed what all that detail costs: 1,349 tokens in total, with 708 marked as permanent.

Here is the part most reviews skip. Those 708 permanent tokens are the slice of your character that sits in the model's memory on every message. The heavier the character, the less room is left for the actual back and forth before the model starts forgetting earlier lines.

Worth knowing On a paid model with a large memory window this barely registers. On the smaller free model, a 708-token character eats into a budget that was already tight. Depth carries a price that shows up on no pricing page.

The finished character page

Once created, Yui Deo got her own public page with the tagline, the description, the tags (OC, Roleplay, Human, Female), and a row of stats. Two buttons caught my eye: Download and Import Chat.

What I noticed Download hands you the character card as a file you can carry to another app. You are not locked in, which is uncommon for this kind of platform.

Does the free model actually remember?

I wanted to test memory, not just the vibe, so I opened a simple character and asked a plain question.

What I typed

"Hi! Can you recommend 3 beginner-friendly hikes near a coastal town?"

The reply named three trails with a short note on each. Then I asked a follow-up that only works if the model remembers its own answer.

The input

"Now suggest what snacks to pack for the second one you mentioned."

The result It got it right. The model picked Beacon Hill, the second trail from its first reply, and tied the snack advice to that exact climb. The free model held context across turns with no reminder from me. For casual roleplay, that is good enough.

The better models need your own paid key

This is where free starts to pinch. The model settings, labelled Secrets, show the stronger options sitting behind an API key you have to supply yourself. The OpenAI panel says it plainly: OpenAI is not free, and you need to pay OpenAI to use their API.

So the best third-party replies cost money that goes to an outside provider, not to Chub.

My take One point lands in Chub's favour inside the same box. The key is stored only locally on your device and never sent to a server. If you do plug in a paid key, it stays on your machine, which is a privacy choice plenty of rivals skip.

You can rewrite any character

The Override Character Definitions screen let me change the greeting and description of a character I had not even made. I opened one and edited its setup on the spot.

How it went For anyone who likes control, this is a strong feature. It also means the quality of a chat rests in your hands as much as the original creator's.

Adult content and the filters

Chub is an adults-only platform, so I checked how the switches behave. By default my account was set to Show SFW Only, with adult content sitting behind a toggle I had to flip myself. There is also a blur option for sensitive images.

Observation The honest read cuts both ways. Nothing explicit is pushed on a new user, which is the fair part. The flip side is that switching it on takes one click, with no real step beyond flipping the toggle.

Free image generation, with a catch

The built-in image tool is free and runs off a written prompt. I started with a stylized anime look, then rewrote the prompt for a realistic one to see how far the free tool would stretch.

What I asked for

"A stunning 21-year-old realistic woman with long silky black hair, mesmerizing violet eyes, flawless natural skin, delicate facial features, subtle teasing smile, elegant black outfit, mysterious and confident expression, photorealistic face, realistic skin texture, cinematic lighting, soft purple ambient light, nighttime city background, professional portrait photography, ultra-realistic, 4K, natural proportions."

On the left is my first stylized attempt, on the right the refined realistic prompt above.

The result came back in under a minute and matched the prompt closely, with solid quality for a free generator. One thing to flag: the image carries a CHUB watermark in the corner on the free plan. Then I ran it through the background remover, which lifted the subject onto a transparent background in a single click.

What stood out A free background tool built into a roleplay site is a genuine extra. Most character platforms send you off to a separate editor for this.
Plans & Cost

Chub AI pricing

Figures taken from Chub's official subscription screen.

Plan Price What's included
Free $0 Browse the full library · create characters and lorebooks · chat on the default free model · free image generation (watermarked) · bring-your-own-API-key support
Mercury $5 /mo For casual chats · unlimited smaller models (Mistral 7B finetune, MythoMax 13B) · 8K token memory · future models 13B and smaller
Mars Popular $20 /mo For smarter bots · everything in Mercury plus Soji (1.6T, 60K context), Asha 70B and Mixtral · unlimited voice · unlimited image generation · early access to new models

Pricing is accurate as of 29 October 2026 and was captured from the official Chub AI website. Plans, prices and model limits change often, so check the official Chub AI site for the current figures before you subscribe.

⚠ What the subscribe screen does not show The free tier runs on a small default model, so the better replies come from Mercury, Mars, or your own API key, which is billed separately by an outside provider rather than by Chub. Yearly billing takes 16% off, and crypto is accepted. Soji, voice and unlimited image generation are Mars-only, so the $5 Mercury plan does not include them. Chub also geoblocks and restricts content in the UK, Canada and New Zealand to comply with new online-safety laws, so what you can access and pay for depends on where you are.
The Balance

Pros & cons

Specific conclusions from real user reviews, not generic filler.

✅ Pros

  • Uncensored roleplay with no content filter interrupting the scene
  • Tens of thousands of community-made character cards to browse
  • Lorebooks support huge, persistent world detail for long stories
  • Power users praise the chat-tree branching and fine parameter tuning
  • Active community keeps new characters and presets flowing daily

⛔ Cons

  • Steep learning curve; the settings-heavy interface overwhelms newcomers
  • Smaller models give short, generic replies users find underwhelming
  • Minimal moderation lets disturbing content surface in the public library
  • Geoblocked and content-restricted in the UK, Canada and New Zealand
  • No official mobile app, so roleplay is web-only
  • Quality swings widely since every character is community-made

Synthesized from the r/ChubAI community and independent user reports · paraphrased, not quoted

Compare

Chub AI alternatives

Chub AIReviewed Wsup AI Sakura AI Joyland AI Dippy AI
Our Score 7.0/10 6.8/10 6.8/10 6.3/10 5.7/10
Free tier Create and chat on the free model Unlimited base-model chat, no signup Full library, daily message cap, no ads 10 credits a day, with ads Free models, daily cap, with ads
NSFW stance Uncensored, no age check Unfiltered toggle, no age check Unfiltered 18+ behind an age gate Adult mode, paid plus age check 18+, lighter filtering
Character library Huge community library About 650 characters Large, anime-leaning catalogue About 50,000 characters 500,000+ characters
Platforms Web only Web, iOS, Android Web, iOS, Android Web, iOS, Android Web, iOS, Android
Best for Power users who tinker and self-host models No-setup casual chat Short, expressive uncensored sessions Casual roleplay with lots of variety Short-burst casual roleplay
Standout strength Downloadable cards and bring-your-own-key Recall of details from early in a chat Deep character building with portrait generation Big catalogue with voice replies Its 500,000-plus character library
Is It Right for You?

Who Should Use Chub AI, and Who Should Avoid It?

Chub is the most flexible roleplay sandbox in this space, but its learning curve, web-only access and light moderation make it a poor fit for some people.

Who Should Use Chub AI?

Best suited for these users

Power Users & Tinkerers

Lorebooks, chat-tree branching, parameter tuning and the ability to override any character give control that no guided app matches.

Uncensored-Roleplay Seekers

Adults who want roleplay without a filter stepping in mid-scene will find Chub leaves the text side wide open.

Bring-Your-Own-Model Users

If you would rather plug in a premium provider key and keep it on your own device, Chub supports that out of the box.

People Who Hate Lock-In

Characters download as portable cards, so you can carry your work to another app instead of leaving it trapped on one platform.

Who Should Avoid Chub AI?

Consider an alternative if you need

A Simple, Guided Start

The settings-heavy interface rewards tinkering and overwhelms anyone who just wants to open an app and chat.

A Mobile App

There is no official iOS or Android app. Chub is a web platform, where most rivals in this list ship phone apps.

Safe, Moderated Content

Moderation is light by design with no age verification, and the public library includes material many users will find disturbing.

Access in the UK, Canada or NZ

Content is geoblocked and restricted in those countries under new online-safety laws, so the full platform may be out of reach.

Our Recommendation

Chub is the pick for people who enjoy building and tuning, and the free tier plus bring-your-own-key keep costs low while you experiment. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants a polished, moderated, mobile experience, and its light moderation and regional blocks are real caveats to weigh. Before committing, try the free tier, decide whether you will pay Mercury or Mars or bring your own key, and check whether it is available and acceptable where you live.

Benchmarks

Chub AI scorecard

Rated against what an uncensored roleplay and character platform is actually built to do.

How we score Each dimension is rated 0 to 10 from hands-on testing combined with aggregated community and competitor review sentiment. The headline Scrutool Score is the equal-weight average of all 10 dimensions below.
Dimension Verdict Score
Customization & control Lorebooks, overrides, chat trees, tuning Excellent
9.0
Model range & power Own models plus your own API key Excellent
8.5
Data ownership & portability Downloadable cards, local-only keys Excellent
8.5
Free tier usefulness What you can do without paying Good
7.5
Value for money Free, $5 Mercury and $20 Mars Good
7.5
Character library Size and community activity Good
7.5
Memory & context Recall across a conversation Good
7.0
Image & voice extras Built-in generation and TTS Good
7.0
Ease of use Onboarding and interface clarity Weak
5.0
Content moderation & safety Guardrails, age checks, oversight Weak
2.5
Scrutool Score Equal-weight average of all 10 dimensions
7.0
7.0
Final Verdict

Unmatched control for tinkerers, light on guardrails

Chub gives power users more rope than anything else in this category. You can build characters down to the token, layer in lorebooks, branch a chat into a tree, rewrite any character you open, and either use Chub's own models (Soji, Asha, Mixtral on Mars) or wire in your own provider key that never leaves your device. The free tier is genuinely usable, the models held context in testing, and characters download as portable cards so you are never locked in. The cost of that freedom is everything around it. The interface is utilitarian and steep for newcomers, there is no mobile app, the smaller models give thin replies until you pay or bring a key, and moderation is loose by design with no age verification, which is why several countries are now geoblocked. Tinkerers who want an open sandbox and will put in the setup time will get a lot here, and the $5 Mercury or $20 Mars tiers are fair for what they unlock. Anyone who wants a simple, moderated, mobile companion, or who lives where the platform is restricted, should look to a guided app built for that instead.

Community

Discussion

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