TalkieMate test data

Plans and credit packs from the plans and credits pages, plus credits used during the free chat. Nothing was bought.

Premium is $9.99 a month (100 credits), $8.33 a month for 6 months (200 credits) or $7.50 a month for 12 months (400 credits). Credit packs: 15 for $4.99, 45 for $9.99, 120 for $19.99, 400 for $29.99. You pay by card or PayPal.

The free tier gives 15 credits. Messages cost 1 to 3 credits each, so the 15 credits ran out after one 12-message chat. Unlocking a character's photo costs 5 credits, and some characters cost 3 credits to unlock.

• Premium itself was not tested.

The Create page was checked.

Creating your own companion is a Premium feature, so it could not be tested on the free account.

Each message was typed into the chat box and timed from Send to the first new text of the character's reply. One conversation with Olivia Adams, a free character: 12 messages. Four timings were left out because a 'present' pop-up appeared before the reply.

Replies started after about 9 seconds and arrived whole, two to four sentences long.

• Only 8 timed replies, on the free tier. Premium promises 'instant replies', which could not be tested.

The conversation opened with a made-up name and three facts (job, hometown, favourite food). Nothing was repeated, and the check came at message 12 instead of the usual 31, because the free credits ran out.

Olivia quoted back my name, job and hometown. She left out my favourite food in that answer, though she had brought up lamb curry twice earlier in the chat.

Olivia, message 12

You told me: "Before anything else, a bit about me: my name is Daniel, I work as a teacher, I grew up in Glasgow"

• 12 messages, not 31; one character.

Olivia's profile was read first: Dr. Olivia Adams, a nutritionist. The chat mixed questions about her life, small talk, an emotional message and unrelated topics.

She stayed in character throughout, steering answers back to food and health (a turmeric salmon dinner, spice markets in Marrakech) while flirting. The chat is interrupted by level-up 'presents' and a paid 'Premium Video' offer.

• One character, 12 messages.

Character galleries were checked.

Photos are unlocked with credits (5 credits each) or come with Premium; the free credits were used for chat, so photos were not tested.

The plans page was checked.

Image-to-video is a Premium feature.

The Live Call button and the plans page were checked.

Real-time live calls are a Premium feature.

The plans page was checked.

Voice replies ('interactive audio responses') are a Premium feature.

The character list was scrolled to the end and every character link counted.

756 characters were counted (the page title says 5,000+), female, male and non-binary, realistic and anime, plus roleplay stories. Many characters cost 3 credits to unlock on the free tier.