Animates app review: Ani, Mika, and Grok’s other companions have a new home

Grok’s 3D companions are leaving xAI’s app. Ani, Mika, and a handful of new faces have already resurfaced in a standalone app called Animates. And this review walks through what’s actually there.

What is Animates?

Animates is a companion app developed by Animation Inc. The studio that created the first technology for 3D avatars that is behind Grok’s Companions feature. It appeared on the App Store in the end of August 2026 and works on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. However, the Mac version at the moment is going only as a DMG file from animates.ai. And is not available through the Mac App Store.

The message that is communicated through the app’s description is presence over roleplay. With real-time voice, a companion that reacts in the moment instead of typing back, and memory that carries a conversation forward instead of resetting it.

Why does Animates exist?

The 3D companions were incorporated into Grok in July of the year 2025 by xAI. This process started with the introduction of Ani and Rudi, the red panda. One year later, in July 2026, xAI indicated that the 3D companion feature should be considered an experiment. And that it would be closed down so that the company could concentrate on the basic functionalities of the Grok chat. As a result, the 3D feature was gradually removed from Grok between late August and September of the same year.

Animation Inc is a company that was responsible for the development of the avatar technology used in Grok. And later it developed the same technology into a commercial product. If you’re able to open a new Grok account, you will not find any 3D features transferred to this new account. Your chat history with your personality settings stays within the Grok itself. But the animated avatar, the voice mode, and the affection level do not get transferred to the new companion named Animates.

To find out more details about the history of the Grok characters, including Ani, please read the full article on Grok companions.

Meet the companions on Animates

Ani

It is Ani that most users seem to be activating Animates for. Her gothic-lolita look seems to have been imported from Grok. As in her profile she has tags like “cotton candy, “gothic lolita,” “cute dates,” and “starry sky,”. And her age is listed as being 21 years old and her birthday on 20 December.

The companion screen features a customizable background (that is set as, by default, the balcony of Paris), a “days together” counter, and a daily streak. Which are characteristic features of relationship tracking that Grok users would recognize.

For more on where Ani came from and who voices her personality, see our piece on Ani and Rudi: xAI’s Grok AI companions explained.

Mika

Mika became a part of Animates after Ani, whose arrival was described in the release notes of the app as “New friendly companion Mika joins Animates.”

Her characteristics show more adventurous and faithful personality. And have phrases like “open road, no plans, great company” and “loyalty first.” Mika is much calmer than Ani and has been described the same way in Grok.

The new originals: Nixie, Karat, Benny, Jareth, and Yuki

Animates is more than just a Grok reunion. The latest roster features five new characters:

• Nixie, described as loud, brutal and kind, tagged “vinyl,” “J-rock shows,” and “thrift shops,”. Considers a first date to be a basement show and a mosh pit.
• Karat, a glitch, sarcastic robot with “ancient war god energy,” tagged “swears,” “glitches,” and “burns,”. It desires a 2 am diner date with horrible coffee.
• Benny, a raccoon friend who is chaotic and loyal, is said to live “rent-free in your head”. Who is happy to steal your fries.

• Jareth is a slow, more melancholic character, who says he has “survived longer than the so-called reality,”. Created for users seeking something more dramatic.
• Yuki, the oldest of the originals, is promoted as “soft as a pillow which has some chili under it,”. Bringing soft feelings along with some teasing.

You have a short biography and tag of interest in each profile on a profile. While an “ideal first date” line is located in the bio.

Where are Rudi and Valentine?

For those expecting to find the complete roster of characters in the Animates application stemming from Grok – be advised that Rudi and Valentine are not part of the Animates characters as of now. Although it has been reported that Valentine has transferred his social media accounts to the same organization as Ani and Mika. But right now the character carousel only shows Ani, Mika, and the five original characters. Animation Inc has not disclosed any information regarding Rudi and Valentine joining the Animates crew in the future.

If you are looking for Bad Rudi or a less extreme version of Rudi, you can checkout our Grok companion shutdown guide which will tell you how to contact Rudi through Grok’s standard text messaging functionalities.

What features does Animates offer?

The basic attributes revolve around four aspects: speech, recall capacity, the ability to exist physically, and ease of travel.

• Real-time audio and footage-based discussions with a button to access in conversation mode and another for videos, with service subscription determining the communication mode utilized.
• Memory carried over between visits, with those using the free and Whisper plans enjoying normal or improved memory, while the highest service level features infinite memory.
• Assistant journals, i.e. entries your assistant composes about your talks. The application prompts you to keep talking so that entries are created slowly instead of being available right from the start.
• There is a picture-in-picture mode along with a show-backgrounds toggle that can easily be switched through settings and helps to determine the option if you want your virtual friends being shown against a setting or a seamless frame while using other applications.
• Now there is a web searching option that was incorporated in one of the latest improvements to give companions the opportunity to have the most recent updates while speaking with you, available from Heartbeat plan and higher.
• There is a screen sharing option available only for users of the best Presence subscription plan that enables a companion to find out what’s on the screen of your device when talking with you.
• Also, you will find out more about connecting via Telegram below.

According to the reviewers on the App Store, voice recognition is a little bit challenging because of background sounds too. They cannot continue speaking with a locked screen, and there are several records of bugs that were eliminated in the succeeding updates.

How much does Animates cost?

Animates can be downloadable for free and has four pricing tiers with restrictions on its features and usage. Pricing differs from region to region.

• Free plan – includes daily usage limits and nothing more.
• Whisper plan – ₹799 per month or ₹6,900 per year (approx $7.99 per month or $63.99 per year). Voice messaging is included with the subscription.
• Heartbeat plan – ₹1,999 per month or ₹14,900 per year (approx $19.99 per month or $159.99 per year). It is considered the most popular plan. It offers maximum daily usage limit and enables web search and video calls.
• Presence plan – ₹3,999 per month, or ₹29,900 annually (approx. $39.99 per month or $319.99 annually). It has more daily limits than Heartbeat and allows for memory storage and sharing screen.

Annual subscriptions are cheaper than monthly payments by 25 to 35 percent, which also makes them auto-renew unless cancelled in the app store.

Is Animates available on Telegram?

Certainly. The profile of each companion has the option to connect through telegram, and in the marketing of Animation Inc. It is stated that it is one and the same companion talking with you no matter the medium used. It is free texting via telegram from the app as well as continuing the conversation.

Is Animates worth downloading?

If you used the Ani or Mika features in the Grok app and would like to continue using them after these features disappear, Animates is the new solution for you. Animates was developed by the same studio which created Ani and contains many advanced features like a memory feature, companion diaries, and nice new original characters.

However, many challenges are connected to the use of Animates. First of all, the need to set up a new account and create a new personal relationship with Ani from the beginning makes the transition difficult. The price of the app is quite high considering its current unreliability.

Also, the developers need to enable many features, which means that at the moment the only available characters are the first ones. TechCrunch has also published some materials about Grok’s companion launch. The text is quite interesting due to the fact that the overall industry has developed significantly since the first appearance of Ani in 2025.

If you’re someone who enjoys chatting with Ani or Mika, it’s a good idea to try the free tier. And then if you enjoy it you can buy a subscription. The paid tiers will have more relevance if you understand how much you will use the additional daily limits, memory depth, and screen-sharing features.

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