Character.ai Gaining Ground on ChatGPT in Mobile App Usage
According to a recent analysis by market intelligence firm Similarweb, the AI app maker Character.ai is catching up to ChatGPT in terms of mobile app usage. The iOS and Android apps for Character.ai, which is backed by a16z, now have 4.2 million monthly active users in the U.S., compared to ChatGPT’s nearly 6 million U.S. actives.
Growth and Retention
Since its launch in May 2023, Character.ai has seen notable growth. In its first week, it had over 1.7 million installs. While installs don’t equate to active users, Character.ai has been able to retain some of its early adopters and grow its user base. This is impressive considering the average mobile app only retains about 3-4% of users after 30 days.
Web vs. Mobile
While Character.ai is growing in mobile app usage, ChatGPT still surpasses it on the web. Many of Character.ai’s users prefer building and interacting with their AI chatbots on their personal mobile devices rather than through a website.
Youthful Demographic
One advantage that Character.ai has is attracting a much younger demographic compared to ChatGPT and other AI apps. Nearly 60% of Character.ai’s audience falls within the 18-24-year-old age bracket. This figure remained consistent even as website traffic to ChatGPT declined.
Competition Among Younger Demographics
When compared to other AI providers, Character.ai stands out with its strong adoption among younger demographics. For example, compared to Character.ai’s 60%, the percentages of the 18-24-year-old demographic group for Perplexity.ai, Midjourney, Anthropic, and Google’s Bard were 22.7%, 22.3%, 25.3%, and 18.46% respectively.
Recent Trends
In recent months, ChatGPT has seen a decline in global website visits, but this trend is starting to turn around. With the start of the school year, ChatGPT’s traffic has begun to bounce back, with an increase in website visits by 0.4% in August. Unique visitors also rose by 3% month-over-month in the U.S. and by 0.3% worldwide in August.
Potential for Growth
Character.ai has significant potential for further user base growth, as it secured $150 million in Series A funding earlier this year, valuing its business at $1 billion. The startup’s founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, have extensive AI expertise and are recognized as trailblazers in the field. Investors bet on their ability to continuously improve Character.ai’s product as more people create and engage with its characters.
The Future of Character.ai
While Character.ai has shown promising growth and appeal among young users, only time will tell if it will continue to gain popularity or fade away like other AI fads. For now, we await Character.ai’s response to Similarweb’s data and will update accordingly.