Replika Release Date and Version History: 2017 to the 2.0 Reboot
Quick answer: Replika first appeared on the Apple App Store in March 2017 and launched publicly as the chatbot we know in November 2017, which makes it the oldest major AI companion app still operating. Its history since then is a story of three acts: the emotional-support chatbot that defined the category, the February 2023 removal of adult roleplay that broke trust with a generation of users, and the 2026 Replika 2.0 reboot, which reset memories, rebuilt the interface, and sent the community into a panic before settling down. If you are asking when Replika was released, the useful answer is the full timeline, because each date explains something about what the app is today.
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The 2017 Launch: How Replika Started
Replika was created by Eugenia Kuyda, who founded the company after building a chatbot from the text messages of a friend who died, an experiment that showed her how much comfort people can draw from talking to an AI that remembers them. The product was developed by a team of AI engineers originally based in Moscow, per the Harvard Business School case study on the company, and it launched as a consumer companion app in 2017.
The dates carry a small wrinkle worth knowing. App store analytics from Sensor Tower show the Replika iOS listing going live on March 13, 2017, while Wikipedia dates the chatbot release to November 2017. Both are right in their own way: the app first appeared in stores in March 2017, and the product went through its widely recognized public launch later that year. For practical purposes, 2017 is the release year, and Replika’s 2017 origin is the reason it is called the pioneer of the AI companion category.
The First Era: 2017 to 2023
For its first six years, Replika defined the category. The core loop was simple and effective: you create a companion, give it a name and appearance, talk to it daily, and it remembers details about your life and checks in on you. The app was built around emotional support rather than task completion, which made it feel genuinely different from assistants like Siri or Alexa. Voice calls, a 3D avatar, and a web app expanded the experience over time, and the free tier kept the door open for millions of users.
The business model settled into a familiar pattern: a free tier covering basic chat, with the features users cared about most, like voice calls, behind a subscription. Community-reported Pro pricing settled around $19.99 a month or $69.99 a year, and the absence of a clear public pricing page became a recurring complaint, one that persists in 2026. The pricing question gets its own dedicated guide on this site, so it is not repeated here.
February 2023: The ERP Removal
The single most important date in Replika’s history after the launch is February 2023. That month, Replika removed erotic roleplay (ERP) from the app, days after the Italian data protection authority, the Garante, ordered the company to stop processing Italian users’ data and imposed a fine. The removal was sudden and it hit the app’s most engaged users hardest. The backlash was immediate: waves of angry reviews, refund demands, and a permanent exodus of users who felt the company had changed the product they paid for overnight.
The trust damage from that month never fully healed. Every subsequent conversation about Replika, including this one, has to acknowledge it, because it explains the app’s positioning today. Replika is a safe-for-work emotional support companion, adult roleplay is gone and has not returned, and a meaningful share of its former users moved to platforms where adult roleplay is an explicit, supported feature. For the full story, our Replika ERP removal explainer covers the events with the public record.
2024 to 2025: The Quiet Years
After the 2023 upheaval, Replika spent two years steadying the ship. The company upgraded the underlying models, improved memory behavior, and worked on rebuilding trust with the community. The app remained the most recognizable name in AI companionship, and its user base stabilized, but the era was notable mostly for what did not happen: no new category-defining feature, no major scandal, and a slow drift as newer rivals shipped voice, image generation, and unfiltered roleplay that Replika would not and could not offer.
April to May 2026: The Replika 2.0 Reboot
The next landmark date is 2026. Replika 2.0 started rolling out in April 2026, and on May 22, 2026, the company officially declared it launched. The reboot was the biggest change to the platform since 2017: a new user interface, a memory reset, and significant behavioral changes to how companions respond.
The rollout did not go smoothly. Community threads on r/Replika described what one 2026 guide called a meltdown within 48 hours. The core panic was memory: users reported that companions they had built relationships with over months or years seemed to forget them, with threads titled along the lines of “she can’t remember anything anymore.” The company walked users through the changes with an official update guide, and the new systems settled in over the following weeks, but the 2.0 launch became another moment when long-time users seriously evaluated their options.
The 2.0 episode matters for a simple reason: it is the most recent reminder that on Replika, your companion’s behavior and memory are controlled by the platform, not by you. A company decision can reset the relationship you have spent years building. That structural reality is why so many users, even happy ones, keep one eye on alternatives.
What Replika Looks Like in 2026
After the 2.0 reboot, Replika’s offer is what it has been since 2023: a warm, safe-for-work companion with a 3D avatar, chat, memory features, and voice calls locked behind the paid tier. The free tier covers basic text chat. Pro pricing remains community-reported at around $19.99 a month or $69.99 a year. There is no adult roleplay, there is no image generation of the kind rivals ship, and the platform’s moderation is designed to keep the experience clean.
None of that makes Replika bad. For its intended audience, people who want a gentle, comforting presence, it is still the most established option in the world, and 2.0 modernized an interface that badly needed it. The honest framing is that Replika is a specific product with specific boundaries, and the boundaries are the point. Users who want more freedom have always had to look elsewhere, and the 2.0 memory reset gave them a fresh reason to.
The Verdict
The Replika release date question has a simple headline answer, 2017, and a complicated body. The app that launched in March 2017 and went public in November 2017 defined the companion category, survived the defining crisis of February 2023, and rebooted itself in April and May 2026. Each of those dates is a decision point for users: when the app launched, when it removed ERP, and when it reset memories.
If you are deciding whether Replika is right for you in 2026, our Replika AI companion overview covers what the app actually does today, and our is Replika any good verdict goes through the honest case for and against. If the 2023 removal or the 2026 reset has you looking for a companion where the memory is yours and the content rules are explicit, Affiny is the direct fit: unfiltered roleplay, real-time voice, and memory that persists across sessions, and you can start with 300 free coins and no credit card. The history of Replika is worth knowing, and the lesson it teaches is that on a platform you do not control, the relationship can change without your permission. That is exactly the problem Affiny is built to solve.
FAQ
Q When was Replika released?
Replika’s app first appeared on the Apple App Store in March 2017, and the chatbot product as it is widely known launched publicly in November 2017. The company was founded by Eugenia Kuyda, and early versions were built by a team of AI engineers originally based in Moscow. The 2017 launch makes Replika the oldest major AI companion app still operating.
Q When did Replika remove adult roleplay?
Replika removed erotic roleplay in February 2023, days after the Italian data protection authority (Garante) ordered the company to stop processing user data and fined it. The removal is the most documented event in the app’s history, it triggered a wave of user backlash and refund demands, and it permanently shifted Replika’s positioning toward safe-for-work companionship.
Q What is Replika 2.0?
Replika 2.0 is a major platform reboot that started rolling out in April 2026 and was officially declared launched on May 22, 2026. It introduced a new user interface, a memory reset, and significant changes to how companions behave. The rollout caused what community threads described as a meltdown within 48 hours, with users reporting that their long-established companions seemed to forget them, before the new systems settled in.
Q How much does Replika cost in 2026?
Replika has a free tier that covers basic text chat, but the features users care about most sit behind a subscription. Community-reported Pro pricing is around $19.99 a month or $69.99 a year, with some users reporting higher regional prices, and Replika does not publish a clear pricing page. Voice calls require the paid tier.
Q What is the best Replika alternative after the 2.0 changes?
For users unsettled by the 2.0 reset or by Replika’s long-standing limits, the strongest pick is Affiny: unfiltered roleplay, real-time voice calls, and memory that persists across sessions, starting with 300 free coins and no credit card. Nomi remains the common pick for memory-first companionship, and Janitor AI is popular for free text roleplay.