Tolan

Tolan is a voice-first AI companion app with an animated alien friend that chats, remembers past talks and helps people reflect.

Tolan is a voice-first AI companion app made by Portola. Each person gets a Tolan, an animated alien character from the fictional Planet Portola, that talks with you by voice or text, remembers what you share and helps you reflect on your day and your goals. It launched on iOS in February 2025 and grew to millions of downloads, and it is built on OpenAI models.

Tolan at a glance

Best for: Student
Runs on: iOS
Pricing: Free to download; a subscription unlocks more.
Released: February 2025
Category: AI chat assistant
Website: tolans.com

Key features

Voice and text conversations with a companion character
Remembers what you share over time
Prompts for reflection and goals
Animated alien character

Use it for

Everyday conversation and company
Reflecting on your day
Talking through goals and habits

Alternatives to Tolan

Character.AI — Huge library of community-made characters for role-play and stories
Soulor — Get seven distinct AI analyst perspectives and a companion with memory in one app.
Pi — Warm, patient conversation partner, free to use
AI Virtual Phone — Simulates complete mobile phone interactions with AI characters in the browser.
Sesame — Personal intelligence with a unique point of view for curious people.
Ollama — Run open models locally or in the cloud with private prompts
Buddy House — Connects users with twelve distinct characters for personal chat, writing, and daily support.
Hello History — Provides life-like, personal conversations with influential historical figures.
Otaku AI — Get personalized anime recommendations and chat with characters for free.
AI Chat Menu Bar — Access chatbots instantly from the menu bar without switching windows.
LM Studio — Runs open source language models locally with real-time voice transcription.
The Sentient World — Autonomous characters live real-time lives without user control or scripts.

All Tolan alternatives