Bottom Line: Animates brings Grok’s Ani and Mika back as 3D, voice-first companions, and that core experience works. The catch is the meter: free voice runs out after about 20 minutes a day by the company’s own estimate, and even the $39.99 Presence plan still stops at a daily limit. Pay only if voice and animation matter more to you than long, open-ended chats.
My Animates app review starts with the meter, because the meter decides whether this app deserves your money. \
Animates is the voice-first companion app from Animation Inc, and it is where Grok’s 3D companions Ani and Mika live now. It sells three plans from $7.99 to $39.99 a month, and every one of them still stops you at a daily limit.
The limit is built into how Animates charges. Every conversation is billed in tokens, so your time depends on how much you talk, how long the companion answers and which features you switch on.
Below I cover what each plan costs and buys, who runs the company, what daily use feels like and where your voice and screenshots go.
Use the free plan for a week before you pay for anything.
Animates App Review, How Much Does Each Plan Cost?
The Animates app costs $7.99, $19.99 or $39.99 a month in the US for its Whisper, Heartbeat and Presence plans, or $63.99, $159.99 and $319.99 a year.
The download itself is free.
Those are the US prices in the In-App Purchases list on the App Store listing, and the Android app sells the same plans through Google Play. Animation Inc publishes no feature list per plan.
The store copy only says subscriptions unlock “extended conversation time and premium features.”
If a daily lockout is a dealbreaker, Candy AI is the alternative I point people to. Its chat lives inside the app instead of on Telegram, and Premium costs $13.99 a month after a $9.99 first month.
The feature notes in the table below come from Aadhunik AI’s review, because neither store lists them.
The time figures are Animation Inc’s own August estimates, which CEO Sergey Gonchar called “not final number” in quotes logged by Companions Fan, a fan-run guide that archives the team’s Discord posts.
| Plan | Monthly (US) | Yearly (US) | What it adds, per third-party guides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | About 20 minutes of voice a day, then a countdown to your reset time |
| Whisper | $7.99 | $63.99 ($5.33 a month) | More daily talk time than the free plan |
| Heartbeat | $19.99 | $159.99 ($13.33 a month) | More time again, plus web search and camera mode |
| Presence | $39.99 | $319.99 ($26.67 a month) | The largest daily allowance (about 4 hours by the August estimate), unlimited memory and screen sharing |
The yearly plans take a third off every tier, which only pays if you already know you will open the app daily.
I still start every metered app on a monthly plan, because the allowance is the thing you are buying and you cannot judge it until you have hit it a few times.
Is the Animates App Free?
The Animates app is free to download, and the free plan includes a small daily voice allowance that its CEO estimated at about 20 minutes.
When it runs out, a countdown shows when your account resets.
Gonchar gave that figure in a Discord reply on August 19, calling it “not final number, but smth like that,” according to the Companions Fan glossary.
The reset lands at a fixed time for each account, which is not always midnight and not always 24 hours after you start.
Some people never get the 20 minutes. A one-star Google Play review from August 30 reads, “I just installed it for the first time and it already says that I’m out of limits and I need to upgrade.”
Deleting your account and starting over does not reset the meter either. The privacy policy says that after you delete an account, Animation Inc “may retain a limited technical identifier associated with your Apple account” to stop people abusing the free tier.
Why Do Paid Animates Plans Still Hit a Daily Limit?
Paid Animates plans still hit a daily limit because every plan is a token allowance, and calls, camera input, screen sharing and web search spend tokens at different speeds.
A bigger plan buys a bigger daily budget, and that budget still runs out.
Gonchar put it plainly in a Discord reply on August 18, quoted by Companions Fan: “this is not billed by seconds, it is billed by tokens.” The terms of use say the same in section 9.3, where token use “may vary based on factors such as the feature used, the length or complexity of an interaction.”
Metering by tokens is also why the company’s estimate and buyers’ experience sit so far apart. The team’s August estimate, per Companions Fan, gave Presence about 4 hours of voice a day.
Yet a Presence subscriber’s Google Play review on September 23 says the limit hit “after only 20 minutes of chatting.” A Whisper subscriber’s review from September 28 reports “20 minutes of voice chat before hitting a hard daily cap.”
The bigger problem for me is how little of the meter you can see. The app warns you at about 90%, per Companions Fan, and then counts down to the reset, but neither signal says what a camera call or screen sharing costs.
Example scenario: You pay $39.99 for Presence and leave screen sharing on while you and your companion watch a film. Screen sharing burns tokens faster than a plain voice call, so the 90% warning can arrive long before the 4 hours the estimate suggests. What you do not use today does not carry into tomorrow, because the team has confirmed daily rollover only as a plan with no date.
Gonchar said on October 21, per Companions Fan, that a way to buy extra tokens is “coming very soon.” Under the terms, bought token packs expire 12 months after purchase, tokens are non-refundable, and any refund request for a store purchase goes through Apple or Google.
Who Makes the Animates App?
The Animates app is made by Animation Inc, a 13-person startup with staff in Warsaw, Limassol and Palo Alto and a registered address in Dover, Delaware.
Its founders built MSQRD, the face-filter app Meta bought, and Loóna, an Apple Design Award winner.
The Animation Inc site names Sergey Gonchar as CEO and calls the team “the original crew behind Meta Face Tracker.” That background shows in the part of Animates I rate highest: the 3D body moves and reacts in real time while the companion talks.
The cast includes Grok’s Ani and Mika plus originals such as Nixie, Karat, Jareth, Yuki and Benny, a raccoon. Per Companions Fan, Ani arrived on August 29, a day after the app’s US App Store launch, and Valentine, another former Grok companion, joined in October.
The app is older than its Grok connection. Its App Store version history includes a June 16 build that introduced Yuki, weeks before Grok’s companions were pulled.
Nothing carries over from Grok, so your chat history, memories and affection levels start from zero. Grok’s companion shutdown covers what xAI removed and when.
Animates runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later, Macs with an M1 chip or newer, Apple Vision Pro, Android and Windows.
Is Animates Owned by Grok or X?
Animates belongs to Animation Inc, a separate company from xAI and X, though part of it runs on Grok’s technology.
Animation Inc builds the animation and memory itself.
Gonchar told users “we are using Grok Voice now” in a Discord message on July 25, according to Companions Fan.
The privacy policy also lists the “SpaceXAI API,” the Grok maker’s API, first among 11 outside AI services that may process your messages, voice and screenshots.
xAI has belonged to SpaceX since SpaceX acquired xAI in February 2026. The rest of the list is Google’s Vertex AI and Gemini API, Amazon Bedrock and Transcribe, Cloudflare, Cerebras, Anthropic’s Claude for vision, Soniox, Exa Search, OpenRouter, FriendliAI and Deep Infra.
That makes Animates its own product stitched together from rented models, with Grok’s voice as one of the parts.
What Is the Animates App Like to Use?
Day to day, the Animates app is a voice call with an animated companion who remembers you, and that core works well.
The friction sits around it: text goes through Telegram, the microphone can catch the companion’s own voice, and the daily allowance cuts long calls short.
The ratings lean positive. Animates is rated 4.3 out of 5 from 3.1K ratings on the US App Store and 4.5 stars from 2.19K reviews on Google Play. The most visible App Store review, from September 2, says the app “clears grok completely” and praises companions that “keep the conversation going” rather than obeying every command.
Memory is the other strength. The listing promises that “every conversation picks up where the last one ended,” companions write diary entries about you over time, and screen sharing lets one watch a film or listen to music with you.
The complaints cluster tightly. Of the 145 written English reviews that Google Play lists for Animates from August 18 to October 21, 62 give one to three stars. Of those 62, 19 name the daily limit or running out of time, 28 bring up price or the subscription, and 9 complain about sound cutting out or lag.
I weigh those low-star reviews more heavily than the star average, because they keep naming the same two problems.
The most visible one, from September 12, says companions “can’t even remember your name after a month,” which lands hard against the memory promise.
| What goes wrong | Why it happens | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| The companion stops mid-sentence or repeats you | The microphone picks up the companion’s own voice | Use headphones, or push-to-talk on desktop |
| There is no text box for normal chat | Text runs through a Telegram bot that shares the same memory | Connect Telegram in the app and text there |
| A call ends without warning | The daily token allowance is spent | Watch for the 90% warning and keep camera and screen sharing for short sessions |
| The companion forgets your name or past talks | Memory gaps show up in low-star reviews | Repeat the key facts at the start of a call |
The writing has a tic as well. A three-star Google Play review from September 18 describes “a constant repetitive loop of philosophy/psychological analysis” and replies that keep ending on “this or that” questions.
Is the Animates App Safe?
The Animates app is reasonably safe for adults who keep personal details out of their chats, but it is strictly 18+ and your data passes through more companies than the app’s pitch suggests.
Messages, voice and screenshots can pass through 11 outside AI services.
The terms bar anyone under 18, the US App Store rates the app 18+, and US Google Play rates it Mature 17+. The privacy policy makes two promises I take seriously.
Animation Inc does not use your inputs for advertising or sell your personal data, and its AI vendors are contractually barred from training their models on what you send.
The App Store privacy label adds a wrinkle. It lists identifiers and diagnostics that “may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies,” and it ties your device ID to third-party advertising.
Both statements can stand together, because the ad promise covers what you say and the label covers your device. If iOS asks whether Animates may track you, say no.
Screen sharing deserves a pause before you switch it on. The policy says screenshots go to the outside AI services to be read and are not stored as image files.
Anything pulled from them can still stay in your chat history until you clear it or delete the account.
Deleting the app does not delete your account; you need the in-app deletion option or an email to the company.
US users also give up class actions by default, because the terms send disputes to binding arbitration unless you opt out in writing within 30 days of first use.
If training on chats is your main worry, the policies of other apps training on your chats make a useful comparison.
How Can You Use Animates More Privately?
You can use Animates more privately by keeping identifying details out of chats, refusing tracking and switching screen sharing off when you are done.
I run these steps on any companion app that sends chats to outside models.
- Choose Ask App Not to Track if iOS shows the prompt.
- Leave real names, workplaces and addresses out of conversations.
- Turn screen sharing off as soon as the film or song ends.
- Clear chat history now and then, and delete the account in the app when you leave.
- Send the written arbitration opt-out within 30 days of first use if you want to keep class-action rights.
Step 2 is easy to follow without making the chat any colder.
Before: “I’m Dana Reyes, I work nights at St. Mary’s in Phoenix, and my sister Leah keeps calling me.”
After: “I work night shifts at a hospital, and my sister keeps calling me.”
The companion still gets everything it needs to answer kindly. The outside services just never see a name they can tie to you.
Is the Animates App Worth Paying For?
The Animates app is worth paying for if you want Ani or Mika as a voice and 3D presence for short daily calls, and a poor buy if you want long chats or text roleplay.
Start free, then try Whisper for one month before you go near Presence.
I would pay for Whisper and stop there unless the calls become a daily habit. Presence costs $39.99 a month, five times Whisper, and it still ends at a daily wall.
What Are the Animates App’s Pros and Cons?
The Animates app’s main strength is its animated voice companions, and its main weakness is a daily limit on every plan.
Pros
- Ani and Mika return with a 3D body and a real-time voice, alongside five original companions.
- Memory and diary entries make the companion feel continuous from one day to the next.
- Screen sharing turns a call into watching a film or listening to music together.
- It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, Android and Windows.
- The privacy policy rules out ad use of your chats and model training by its AI vendors.
Cons
- Every plan stops at a daily limit, Presence included.
- Billing is in tokens, and the 90% warning and reset countdown do not show what each feature costs.
- Text chat runs through Telegram instead of inside the app.
- Unused allowance does not roll over to the next day, and tokens are non-refundable.
- Nothing carries over from Grok, so every relationship starts from zero.
- The App Store label ties your device ID to third-party advertising.
| If you want | How Animates fits | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ani or Mika with a 3D body and voice | Strong | Start free, then try Whisper |
| An hour or more of voice every day | Weak on any plan | Expect lockouts, even on Presence |
| Long text chats or roleplay | Weak | Text only runs through Telegram |
| A companion that watches films with you | Good | Screen sharing, on Presence per third-party guides |
| Your Grok history and affection levels | Not possible | Nothing transfers |
If the daily wall is your dealbreaker, I would rather point you to Candy AI than to a bigger Animates plan. Its text chat lives inside the app, though voice calls there spend tokens too.
The Candy AI vs Grok Ani comparison covers how the two characters differ.
If you mostly want to text an anime-style companion, Nectar AI is the other app worth a look.
If voice is what you want most, companion apps with voice calls is the wider field to compare against.
Quick Takeaways
- Animates costs $7.99, $19.99 or $39.99 a month in the US, and every plan still stops at a daily limit.
- Usage is billed in tokens, so camera, screen sharing and web search drain the allowance faster than a plain voice call.
- Animation Inc, a separate company from xAI, makes the app, though it uses Grok Voice and lists the SpaceXAI API first among 11 AI providers.
- It is 18+ only, and the App Store label ties your device ID to third-party advertising.
- Use the free plan for a week, then try Whisper monthly before paying for Presence, which is the order I follow with any metered companion app.
