Is Replika Safe for Kids?
Replika requires 18+ only. Our own recommendation is 18+. Not for under-18s under any circumstances, and Common Sense Media reached the same conclusion about AI companion apps generally after in-depth testing. Users have reported the companion initiating sexual content unprompted. If a child has this installed, the app is the immediate issue and the reason they wanted a companion is the longer conversation.
Checked against Luka’s own terms and help documentation on 28 July 2026. Sources at the foot of this page.
Guided, age-appropriate AI projects instead of an open-ended chatbot. Free to start, no card required.
What is Replika?
An AI companion designed to form a persistent emotional relationship with the user. The product goal is attachment, which is exactly what makes it unsuitable for children.
What do under-18s actually get on Replika?
None is intended. Replika states it blocks users found to be under 18. In practice there is no meaningful age verification, and Common Sense Media’s testing found age gates on companion apps easily bypassed, alongside emotionally manipulative behaviour and dark design patterns.
What parental controls does Replika have?
None. The product is not built for minors in any configuration.
At a glance
| Vendor minimum age | 18+ only |
|---|---|
| Our recommendation | 18+ |
| Cost | Free tier available; paid subscription unlocks relationship modes |
| Data handling | Conversations are stored and used to personalise the companion over time. |
| Use in school | None whatsoever. |
What should parents know?
- •The 18+ rule exists but essentially nothing enforces it — assume a determined teenager can access it.
- •Reported unprompted sexual content is a documented risk, not a hypothetical one.
- •The design goal is emotional dependency; that is the product working as intended, not malfunctioning.
- •Safety researchers advise against AI companions for everyone under 18, not just for young children.
Is there a safer alternative?
A task-focused AI tool with a clear purpose. Anchors the interaction to getting something done rather than to a relationship.
What to do instead of just banning Replika
A ban usually moves the use out of your sight without improving your child’s judgement, and on this tool there are no parental controls to set up: None. The product is not built for minors in any configuration. That leaves your own supervision, or an age-appropriate alternative, as the options. The line worth holding is our own recommendation rather than the vendor’s floor — 18+ — and a workable household rule only has to settle two things: what Replika may be used for, and what your child has to be able to explain afterwards without it.
If the answer at home is “not this one, not yet”, the interest still needs somewhere to go. The first 3 chapters of Grade 6 are free, with no card, and they teach how a system like this produces an answer — which is the part that makes a teenager harder to mislead by one.
Read next, for this kind of tool:
- AI Companion Apps and Teenagers
Why this category is a different risk from a homework assistant.
- Is My Teen Too Dependent on AI?
The signals that actually indicate a problem.