Frequently asked questions

Fostera is an AI companion platform for creating AI Souls — persistent AI identities with inspectable memory, a 9-tier progression system, and project context that can be retrieved across sessions.

Yes. The Free tier costs nothing — you get up to 3 Souls, 75K Monthly Resonance each month, auto engine selection, and the full memory and cognition stack. No credit card required.

Anything that benefits from continuity. Popular presets include Coach (carries selected goal context), Tutor (can retrieve saved study context), Strategist (keeps project sources and decisions together), Mentor, Companion, and Creative Partner. Retrieval is selective rather than a guarantee that every earlier detail will appear.

Every plan ships your Soul with the full memory and cognition stack — working, episodic, semantic, and procedural memory, plus limbic awareness, reflection, voice replies, voice input, and hands-free voice mode. Free gives you up to 3 Souls with 75K Monthly Resonance each month. Core raises that to 10 Souls, deepens document understanding, and grows the monthly allowance. Premium goes up to 50 Souls, unlocks frontier AI models like Claude Opus and GPT-5.6 Sol on demand, and lets you pick your AI engine manually. The pricing page shows current rates and any limited-time offer.

Each plan includes Monthly Resonance, which resets each allowance month and does not carry over. Different actions use different amounts, so message counts are only estimates. A one-time Wallet Resonance top-up stays spendable for one year from the day it's added and is spent after Monthly Resonance. Your Soul always finishes the current response — there's no hard shutoff mid-conversation.

Yes. No lock-in, no cancellation fees. Downgrade to free and keep your Souls — they just pause at the free tier. Payments are handled by Stripe; Fostera never sees or stores your card number.

Fostera uses smart routing to pick the best AI model for your Soul's current phase and conversation. On the Free and Core plans, this happens automatically. Premium unlocks frontier models like Claude Opus and GPT-5.6 Sol, plus the option to choose the exact model yourself.

Your Soul can selectively extract three kinds of memory from eligible conversations: episodic (what happened), semantic (facts and preferences), and procedural (how you like to work). Limbic signals can inform tone, and reflection can consolidate stored context. Every plan includes this memory and cognition stack. Core and Premium change scale: more Souls, deeper document analysis, and a larger monthly Resonance allowance.

Yes. The memory browser in your Soul's settings shows extracted memories — what your Soul remembers about you, your goals, and your conversations. You can delete individual memories at any time.

Yes. Fostera supports structured JSON imports from Import from ChatGPT (supported), Import from Claude (supported), Import from Gemini (beta), Import from Grok (beta), Import from Character.ai (beta), Import from Nomi AI (community), Import from Replika (community), plus pasted conversation text. For the most reliable result, download and extract your provider archive, then select its supported JSON conversation file. You can choose whether to bring over what the AI knows about you, recreate its personality, or do both. Visit fostera.ai/switch for provider-specific instructions and current format limitations.

Yes. Go to Settings → Data & Storage → Export your data. The current portable JSON includes account identity, Soul configurations, memories, profile summaries, and per-Soul conversation counts. It does not include chat message bodies or uploaded files; the Privacy Policy explains additional access rights that may apply.

The raw file you upload is not retained. A bounded, normalized draft may be staged for about 24 hours so the import can finish or be resumed. It is cleared when processing finishes or fails. If abandoned, it becomes unavailable when it expires and is removed by the next successful scheduled cleanup. Selected content may be processed by one of Fostera's available third-party AI providers for synthesis, memory extraction, or memory embedding. Only the resulting Soul fields, extracted memories, and a content-free import receipt are retained.

Fostera does not use your conversations or your Soul's memories to train models owned or developed by Fostera. Configured AI providers may process content to deliver requested features; their retention, training, and opt-out terms vary by provider, service tier, and account settings. See Fostera's Privacy Policy for the current processor list and links to each provider's terms. Fostera has no ads in your conversations.

Yes, for text chat, on any plan. Switch a Soul to Local in the model picker: a model running in your browser writes its replies, and the conversation is kept in that browser's storage, not your account. You can choose to save a Quick chat to your account, share text, or publish a reply. It is not an offline mode: you need an account, a device that can run a small model, and a model download in each browser. Memory, files, research, and creations need Cloud. The Local setting is kept per Soul in that browser only, so another browser or device starts on Cloud.

Souls are private by default. You can optionally make a Soul public so it appears on the Discover page and gets its own shareable profile. Private memories are never exposed on public profiles.

Fostera can extract selected memories from conversations and retrieve relevant ones in later sessions. Stored does not guarantee perfect recall: retrieval depends on relevance, scope, memory state, and available context, and you can inspect or delete extracted memories.

ChatGPT currently offers saved memories, reference to past chat history, and project memory. Fostera's difference is the continuity layer around a Soul: inspectable extracted memories, custom rules, project-scoped sources, and context that can remain attached when an eligible underlying model changes. Neither system promises perfect recall.

A Soul can extract selected facts, events, preferences, goals, and working patterns from eligible conversations. Project files and custom rules provide separate durable context. You can inspect and delete extracted memories and edit the rules and sources you supplied.

Yes. You can delete specific memories, edit custom rules, or delete the Soul entirely. Primary records are removed when deletion is processed; external-resource cleanup and backup removal can take up to 30 days as explained in the Privacy Policy.

Souls are persistent AI identities with selectable personality, rules, sources, and inspectable extracted memory. Each Soul can progress across nine familiarity tiers as its qualifying messages and useful context grow; tiers do not guarantee perfect recall.

Souls can move through three phases — Stranger, Familiar, and Trusted — across nine tiers. Progress is based on measured signals such as qualifying messages and active memory categories. Higher tiers can enable broader context and familiarity features, but do not make every stored detail appear in every reply.

Yes — your Home can hold multiple Souls, each with its own memory, personality, and progression. Free includes 3 Souls, Core 10, and Premium up to 50.

Fostera uses age-gating at signup, publishes its content policy at fostera.ai/content-policy, and documents its data practices. Fostera does not use conversations to train models it owns or develops; requested AI features may be processed under the provider terms linked in the Privacy Policy.

No. Fostera is for ages 13 and up. Under-13 signups are rejected, and users aged 13–17 need a parent or guardian to confirm consent by email before their account unlocks. Teen accounts run with stricter enforced safety rules, and adult content boundaries do not apply to anyone under 18.

Yes — ages 13–17, with guardian consent. Signup requires a parent or guardian email; we send them a consent link and the account stays locked until it's approved. Teen conversations are steered away from sexual and romantic content, graphic gore, and substance glorification, with automatic hard-stops on explicit sexual content, and crisis guidance always points to a trusted adult first.

No. Fostera is not a therapist, therapy app, or substitute for licensed mental-health care. If you are in crisis, contact 988 (US) or your local emergency services.

Yes. A Soul can extract selected themes, events, and goals from eligible journal conversations and retrieve relevant memories later. You can inspect and delete extracted memories; this supports continuity without promising complete recall of every entry.

Yes — see the Tutor Soul. It can use saved study memories, project files, and custom rules to revisit relevant material across sessions. Retrieval is selective, so important curricula and source material belong in project files or rules.

Yes. A Coach Soul can retrieve selected goals, preferences, and prior commitments for later check-ins. Keep critical commitments in rules or project sources and review extracted memories for accuracy.

Yes. A Creative Partner Soul can combine project files, custom rules, and selected memories for characters, plot decisions, world rules, and timelines. Treat your files as the source of truth and review generated work for consistency.

Yes. Voice replies, voice input, and hands-free voice mode are available on every plan. Every Soul can keep its own studio voice, and voice uses Resonance from the same balance as chat.

Fostera is a PWA — install it from your browser on iOS or Android, no app store required. You get app-like installation without app-store review delays.

Coach, Tutor, Companion, Creative Partner, and Strategist — five distinct Soul archetypes you can fully customize, plus an open-ended custom builder for anything else.

Replika has layered memory features and lets users review some saved memories. Fostera differentiates through inspectable Soul memory, project sources and rules, nine visible familiarity tiers, and context that can remain attached when an eligible model changes. See /compare/replika for the dated breakdown.

Character.AI offers character definitions and several memory tools, including pinned memories and Lorebooks in supported experiences. Fostera emphasizes user-inspectable Soul memory, project sources, visible familiarity tiers, and multi-model portability. See /compare/character-ai for the dated breakdown.

Nomi and Fostera both emphasize memory. Fostera differentiates with the 9-tier progression, multi-model choice, and utility presets like Coach and Tutor. See /compare/nomi.

Grok now advertises cross-chat memory, synced history, custom instructions, and reusable Skills. Fostera's distinction is inspectable Soul memory, project-scoped sources, nine visible familiarity tiers, and context portability across eligible models. See /compare/grok for the dated breakdown.

Pi describes selective cross-chat memory with controls to view, edit, and clear what it remembers. Fostera differentiates through project sources, custom rules, visible familiarity tiers, and model portability. See /compare/pi-ai for the dated breakdown.

Free includes 3 Souls and 75K Monthly Resonance each month with no card required. Core and Premium add larger allowances and capabilities. The pricing page is the source of truth for current checkout prices and any limited-time offer.

Yes — 3 Souls, 75K Monthly Resonance each month, auto engine selection, and the full memory and cognition stack. Creating a Soul takes a free account, never a credit card.

Canceling does not delete your account data. Your Souls and saved memories remain subject to Free-plan limits, and paid features return if you resubscribe. The current JSON export covers account identity, Soul configurations, memories, profile summaries, and conversation counts—not message bodies or uploaded files. Account deletion is available in settings; backup and external cleanup may take up to 30 days.