About Character App

Character App is an AI video studio that turns a sentence or a photo into Characters, a World, and Episodes — with the same Cast consistent across a whole Series — for creators, families, and fans making their own shows on the web and iPhone.

What Character App does

Start from a sentence or a photo

Type what your show is about, or add up to five photos. Character App reads it as a show, not a script, and builds the first Character and World around it. You go from "me and my cat as roommates" to a Cast you can direct, without writing a screenplay first.

Build Characters and a Cast that stay themselves

Describe a Character once or start from your own photo, and they keep the same face, build and wardrobe direction in every Scene you put them in. Add them to a World's Cast and they carry into every Episode after. The result is a recurring lead, not a one-off picture that drifts by the third shot.

Give every World its own Look

A World is where a show lives: its setting, its Cast, and its Look, whether that's cinematic realism, anime, adult 2D cartoon, stylized 3D, graphic novel or painterly fantasy. Set the Look once and everything made inside the World keeps it. Episode 10 still looks like the same show as the pilot.

Write the Story, Scene by Scene

One Story press writes the outline and the Scene direction, and draws the Scene Images. Then you edit the board: rewrite a line, reorder a Scene, recast a part, ask for another take. You get a planned Episode rather than a pile of unrelated clips.

Film Clips and assemble Episodes

Film turns an approved Scene into a real video Clip with its own motion and timing, not a still with a slow zoom. You watch each take, keep the ones that land, and they become the Episode. The next Episode opens where the last one ended, running gags and grudges included.

Plan with the AI Director

The AI Director is the conversational planning side of the Studio. Ask it for a premise, a sharper cliffhanger, the next Episode, or a better entrance for the villain, and it drafts while you decide. Planning gets faster and you still make the final call.

Play fast in the Playground

The Playground is for quick Images and Clips without building a World first: try a look, test a joke, make another take. When something works, you can add it to a World or start a new World from it.

Keep it all in the Library, and the facts in the Bible

Every Image and Clip you make lands in one Library. Facts you settle about a World or a Character go in the Bible, so later Episodes remember what already happened.

What makes Character App different

The price is on the button before you spend

Every Clip and Film press shows its exact Credit price the moment the Scene is ready. There's no "checking price" wait, and the server checks that same number before a single Credit moves. A 5-second Clip made from an Image on the default model, H3 Max Turbo, is currently 15 Credits. If a price changes, the app shows you the new number and you press again, so nothing is charged by surprise.

Free to start, no card, and plans you can read in minutes of video

Every account gets the free Studio, currently one World build, one Character a day, and 4 Lite Images a day, with no card. Plans say what they buy in minutes of video: Starter ($19.99 a month, 800 Credits) is about 4 minutes of H3 Max Turbo Clips from an Image, or 200 Lite Images. Creator is $39.99 for 1,600 Credits and Pro is $99.99 for 4,000 Credits.

You direct a show; you don't chat with a bot

Character.AI's own App Store listing is titled "Character AI: Chat, Talk, Text," and Cantina's subtitle is "Videos, Storytelling, Chat." Those apps are built around talking with characters. Character App has no chat window with your Cast. You write a Scene, and it becomes a video Clip you keep in an Episode.

Web and iPhone today

Character App runs in the browser at character.app and as a native iPhone app on the App Store, with the same account, Cast and Worlds on both. For comparison, Showrunner's site currently lists its iOS app as "coming soon to the USA."

Your AI agent can run the Studio, and it has to ask before spending

Character App has an MCP connector at mcp.character.app, with setup steps for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini CLI, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed and Devin CLI. Your agent can read your Worlds, write Stories, and make Characters, Images and Clips. Every paid step comes back to you as an exact quote and waits for your yes. What you make is yours: under the Terms you own your Outputs, and Character App does not use them to train AI models.

Who uses Character App

• Solo creators building an original vertical drama, romance, sitcom or anime series for TikTok, Reels and Shorts
• People who want to star in their own show, using their own photo
• Families making a movie about their family, with everyone's permission
• Couples making a wedding or anniversary film together
• Parents making bedtime stories with original characters for their kids
• Anime, fantasy and fandom-minded fans who want an original World in a Look they chose
• Writers and small teams trying out a pilot before paying for a production
• Builders who run the Studio from Claude Code, Codex or ChatGPT through the MCP connector

The team behind Character App

Character App is made by charactr, inc., a company based in San Francisco, California. It was founded by Paul Jaski, who builds and ships both the web app and the iPhone app. The team comes from NVIDIA, Meta / Oculus and a run of startups, and has spent years working where content and technology meet. We're building Character App so creators can make the shows they imagine, with characters people come back for.

How Character App works

Start on the web at character.app or in the iPhone app. Type what your show is about, or add a photo of yourself. Character App builds your first Character and World, and the first World build is free. Then one Story press writes the outline and draws the Scene Images. That part runs on Credits or the daily free Lite Images and doesn't need a plan. When you're ready to Film, a plan unlocks Clips and Episodes, and every press shows its exact price on the button before you spend. Your first Scene can be generating within minutes of typing the premise, and a watchable pilot takes an evening, not days.

If you work with an AI agent, connect it through the MCP connector. It uses the same Worlds, the same prices and the same consent rules as the app, and it asks for your approval before any spend.

You can use your own likeness, or someone else's with their permission. The content policy doesn't allow identifiable real people without their consent. Help with billing, accounts, safety reports and moderation questions is at character.app/support, or email support@charactr.com.

Key facts

Frequently asked questions

Is Character App the same as Character.AI?

No. Character.AI is an app for chatting with AI characters, while Character App is for making things: you create original Characters and direct them into Scenes, Clips and Episodes. There's no chat window with your Cast.

How much does Character App cost?

You can start free: the free Studio currently includes one World build, one Character a day and 4 Lite Images a day, with no card. Plans are Starter at $19.99, Creator at $39.99 and Pro at $99.99 a month. A plan unlocks Clips and Film, and every Clip shows its exact Credit price on the button before you press.

Can I put myself in the show?

Yes. Add your own photo and the lead Character will look like you. You can put anyone in a show with their permission, and the content policy doesn't allow identifiable real people who haven't consented, including public figures.

Will my Characters look the same in every Episode?

That's the point of a Cast. Once you create a Character, it keeps its design across Scenes, Episodes and the World's Look, so a callback in Episode 6 still looks like the pilot.

Is it a real video or a slideshow?

It's real video. Each Scene you Film becomes a generated Clip with its own motion and timing, and Episodes are built from the takes you choose to keep.

Is Character App for kids?

Character App is for creators 17 and older. Adults can make stories for kids, like a bedtime series with original characters, but the app itself is not designed for children to use.

Is Character App on iPhone and Android?

There's a native iPhone app on the App Store, and the web app at character.app runs in any modern browser, including on Android phones. Your account, Cast and Worlds are the same on the web and iPhone.

Who owns what I make?

You do. Under the Terms you own your Outputs and can use them for personal or commercial purposes, subject to the Terms and each model provider's terms. Character App does not use your Outputs to train AI models.

Can Claude, ChatGPT or Codex use Character App for me?

Yes. The MCP connector at mcp.character.app lets agent apps like Claude Code, Codex and ChatGPT read your Worlds, write Stories and make Characters, Images and Clips. Every paid step comes back to you as an exact quote first and waits for your approval.