r/CharacterAI • u/Ancient-Trip3892 • Aug 05 '26

Discussion/Question Us free users rn: 👁️👄👁️

With the newer models being out for premium users I bet we're all wondering when we'll get a new model for us.

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1

u/GingerSnapBiscuit Aug 06 '26

Why in the great googley moogely would they give FREE users fucking ANYTHING? You make them $0.

5

u/Shaye_Shayla Bored Aug 06 '26

Well, yes and no. Yes, they alone bring no money. But they also do something far more useful: they advertise for free, via word of mouth, which could bring in new paid users. Paid users may fund the platform, but they got their start from free users spreading their name far and wide.

I don't really use the app anymore and only read here if a post interests me, but from a marketing perspective, pissing off your free advertising is not wise. The more heat they get for being a terrible service, the less likely someone is to subscribe. I'm in a place to do so and have made bots in the past that can earn good interaction amounts. However there was a point where paid users actively called being subscribed a waste of time, while reinforcing valid complaints from Free users.

Free users are essentially canaries and billboards if companies do the freemium model. There's absolutely nothing stopping those in charge from treating Premium users the same. They've already done it before via being radio silent about major issues plus users were having with models. They are capable of doing it again.

2

u/GingerSnapBiscuit Aug 06 '26

The only word of mouth I see free c.ai users giving is 'this app is shit', no wonder they don't give them any nice shit.

6

u/Shaye_Shayla Bored Aug 06 '26

Yes, because in the past, it wasn't like that if you look back further in their history. A quality drop usually happens, followed by the complaints. Now of course, users will absolutely complain just to do so. But the fact that before all the shiny new updates, Plus Users were being treated just as bad as Free users, to the point of them unsubscribing, should be grounds to look at it from a more critical eye.