A Heyyyy alternative: a whole cast that texts you, not one chat at a time

What is Heyyyy?

Heyyyy ("Heyyyy: Stories that text back", by heyyyyAI Inc) is an AI texting app where you build a relationship with fictional characters one conversation at a time. Its official site calls it "an interactive fiction game featuring AI-powered characters", with story arcs and multiple endings, and its terms say it is not a dating service. Its App Store listing promises characters who "have opinions, set boundaries, and won't stick around if you take them for granted", remember small details and let relationships grow "over days and weeks", with thousands of characters to choose from.

As of October 2026:

• iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. Its iPad version also installs on Apple silicon Macs and Apple Vision.
• Rated 18+ on the App Store (Google Play shows 12+), in English and 9 other languages since its September and October 2026 updates.
• Free to download, with Premium at $7.99 a week, $19.99 a month, $49.99 a quarter or $144.99 a year, and gem packs from $4.99 to $24.99 on the US App Store.
• Well rated: 4.7 stars from about 4,200 US App Store ratings, and 4.6 stars with 500K+ downloads on Google Play, last updated October 18, 2026.
• Photos and AI images: you can send characters photos, and a Couple Selfie feature generates an AI picture of you with a character.

Neither store listing says Heyyyy contains ads.

Sources: Heyyyy on the App Store (developer, description, age rating, languages, prices, rating, version history), Heyyyy on Google Play (downloads, rating, last update), heyyyy.ai (interactive fiction, endings, web app, Couple Selfie, not a dating service).

Why look for a Heyyyy alternative?

Heyyyy is popular and well rated. People who look for apps like Heyyyy usually want one of these:

• A lower price. Premium runs from $7.99 a week to $144.99 a year, plus gems for some actions.
• Fewer waits. A July 2026 review by AI Companion Guides reports that free texting works on a cooldown and that opening photos or sending voice notes spends gems; some Google Play reviewers complain about hitting a message limit.
• More than one person at a time. In Heyyyy, the story lives in your chat with one character. Some players want a world full of people who know each other.
• Something lighter than romance. Heyyyy's App Store subtitle is "So real, you'll catch feelings". Not everyone wants every story to be a relationship.

Circle answers the first, the third and the fourth. It has limits too, a free daily energy gauge, but no gems and no ads.

Sources: Heyyyy on the App Store (prices, subtitle), AI Companion Guides (review: cooldown, gems), Google Play (user reviews).

Heyyyy vs Circle

Heyyyy prices are US App Store prices checked October 28, 2026 and may differ in your country.

How does Circle play?

The characters come to you

In Circle you don't pick a character from a list and open a chat. You make a profile in a world, post a photo or a few words, and the characters notice: they comment, follow you and often slide into your DMs first, about your photo, your story or something in your bio. You type whatever you want back, and they react to what's actually in the photos you send. Take a screenshot of the chat and they find out.

A cast, not a single chat

Every character in your world has a name, a face, a job, a personality and a memory, and they know each other. Under your post they reply to each other and take sides. What you tell one of them in a DM can reach the others, so flirting with two at once can get out. See how characters influence each other.

You can read their minds

A Thoughts screen on every profile shows what that character really thinks of you, which isn't always what they say. You can set who each one is to you, from best friend to ex who wants you back, and they act on it. If you want romance, the Secret Relationship world has you secretly dating the biggest pop star in the world while fans and gossip accounts watch every post.

Free every day, with no ads

Every player gets a free daily energy gauge that refills at 5 AM and covers dozens of messages or around ten posts a day. There are no gems and no ads. Circle+ ($4.99/week, $8.99/month or $39.99/year in the US) gives 10 times more daily energy and a longer memory in long conversations, and unlocks nothing else. Details on the pricing page.

What Circle is not

Circle suits some Heyyyy players, not all of them. Here is what you'd give up:

• No library of thousands of characters. You play your world's cast and the characters you create.
• No slow-burn romance engine. Characters remember and have feelings about you, but Circle has no story arcs, no endings and no character who leaves you for good.
• No AI images. Characters write text; the only photos are yours.
• No voice. Everything is written.
• Not on Android or the web yet. Circle is on iPhone and Apple silicon Mac; an Android version is coming.
• Not unlimited. When the daily energy runs out, characters pause until the next morning.

Best for: Heyyyy players who want characters to come to them, a world of people who talk about each other and a lower price. Not for: people who want one deep relationship with a character, couple selfies or an Android app today.

Other apps like Heyyyy

• Mystic Messenger (Cheritz) is the classic texting romance: scripted routes, real-time group chats, iPhone and Android. See games where characters text you.
• Character.AI is the best-known app for one-on-one chats with community characters, on the web, iPhone and Android. Circle vs Character.AI
• PolyBuzz is a character chat app with voice, group chats and AI images; its listing says it contains ads. PolyBuzz alternative

Questions