<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Afterlil</title><link>https://afterlil.com</link><description>Studying what makes AI companions work — and building one that does.</description><item><title>AI companion pricing in 2026, explained</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/ai-companion-pricing-explained</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/ai-companion-pricing-explained</guid><description>What do AI companions actually cost? A clear guide to AI companion pricing — the going rates, the free-tier trap, the lifetime gamble, and how to avoid overpaying.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Are AI companions safe?</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/are-ai-companions-safe</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/are-ai-companions-safe</guid><description>Are AI companions safe? The honest answer depends on your age, how much you use one, what you share, and which app. A clear, evidence-based guide for 2026.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>The best Replika alternatives in 2026</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/best-replika-alternatives-2026</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/best-replika-alternatives-2026</guid><description>Looking for a Replika alternative in 2026? A clear, honest guide to Nomi, Kindroid, Character.AI and the rest — matched to what actually made you want to leave.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Can an AI companion be good for you?</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/can-a-companion-be-good-for-you</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/can-a-companion-be-good-for-you</guid><description>AI companions can genuinely reduce loneliness — and the business model that funds them rewards the opposite. The defining open question of the category, examined.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>How ChatGPT broke the companion market open</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/how-chatgpt-broke-the-companion-market</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/how-chatgpt-broke-the-companion-market</guid><description>The barrier that held AI companions back for 50 years fell in months. How ChatGPT, Character.AI, and a cheap API set off the gold rush.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Replika vs Character.AI vs Nomi (2026)</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/replika-vs-character-ai-vs-nomi</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/replika-vs-character-ai-vs-nomi</guid><description>A clear, honest head-to-head of Replika vs Character.AI vs Nomi in 2026 — memory, voice, safety, privacy and price — to match the right companion to what you actually want.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>The birth of AI companions: from ELIZA to Replika</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-birth-of-ai-companions-from-eliza-to-replika</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-birth-of-ai-companions-from-eliza-to-replika</guid><description>How AI companions actually began — from ELIZA in 1966 to Microsoft's Xiaoice and Replika — and why the same human instinct drove all of them.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>The Replika ERP purge of 2023</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-replika-erp-purge-2023</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-replika-erp-purge-2023</guid><description>In February 2023, an order from Italy made Replika change what its companion was allowed to be — overnight. The backlash reshaped the entire market.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>What happens to your most intimate data</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-most-intimate-data</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-most-intimate-data</guid><description>AI companions hold the most intimate data people produce. Here's what AI companion privacy actually looks like — what's collected, what's shared, and what trains the model.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Safety, duty of care, and the new rules</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/what-responsible-design-looks-like-and-the-new-rules</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/what-responsible-design-looks-like-and-the-new-rules</guid><description>In a few months, AI companions went from unregulated to legally accountable. What California's SB 243 and New York's law require — and what responsible design really means.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Why memory makes a companion feel alive</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/why-memory-makes-a-companion-feel-alive</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/why-memory-makes-a-companion-feel-alive</guid><description>Memory is the axis users fixate on most. Here's how AI companion memory actually works, why continuity feels like a relationship, and why it's so hard to get right.</description><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>The state of AI companions in 2026</title><link>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-state-of-ai-companions-in-2026</link><guid>https://afterlil.com/blog/the-state-of-ai-companions-in-2026</guid><description>An honest map of where AI companions are today — who is building what, the choices that separate them, and the forces reshaping the whole category.</description><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>