If you want adult fiction and roleplay in text, with your chats kept on your own device, the alternative to Chub AI we make is Hemmingway Unlocked, our uncensored AI for adults. If you came for Chub's library of community characters and lorebooks, another character site, or SillyTavern with the cards you already have, will suit you better.
Chub is two things: a library of characters, and a front end that talks to a model you connect. People who leave usually want one half without the other. The library without the set-up, the cards with a different model, or neither, because they want to write their own scene.
We make Hemmingway Unlocked. What we say about the others comes from their own sites.
What Chub AI is
Chub's main site would not load for our tools, so this comes from its guide at docs.chub.ai.
- A front end. The guide describes a platform for chatting with characters through large language models, reached through APIs.
- You pick the model. Before the first chat you connect an API: the guide lists OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, NovelAI, a model on your own or a rented machine through Kobold or Ooba, and Chub's own paid models, called Mars, which it describes as uncensored.
- Characters. A creator with a description, first message, scenario, example dialogue and alternate greetings. A character can be public, private or unlisted, rated SFW or NSFW.
- Around the chat. Lorebooks, branching chat trees, a chat memory built from summaries, image generation, text-to-speech, and Stages: add-ons written by other people that run inside a chat.
- Its rules. The guide calls Chub uncensored and says it does not restrict, in any meaningful way, which characters are posted or how you chat with them. Its terms and privacy policy sit on the main site, which we could not read.
- Taking chats with you. A chat exports as a SillyTavern JSONL file, a PNG or plain text.
Why people look elsewhere
- The settings became the hobby. Keys, presets, system prompts and post-history instructions give you control, and a page of settings before the first reply. The guide itself warns against free reverse proxies, which leaves a paid key or a subscription.
- Same cards, different model. The card is the part you care about. You want it in a front end on your own computer, with whichever model you choose behind it.
- You stopped browsing. You know the scene you want, and other people's characters get in the way.
- Nothing should leave your machine. Only a model on your own computer keeps every word at home.
The options side by side
| Option | What it is | Where the characters come from | Where the model comes from | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hemmingway Unlocked | Our adults-only chat and writing app, text only | You describe them in your first message | Built in, with open weights | No library, no images, no voice |
| SillyTavern with an API | A front end installed on your computer | Cards you import from a file or a link | Any API you connect | Each message goes to that API |
| SillyTavern with a local model | The same front end, with a model on your machine | The same cards | KoboldCpp or Ollama on your computer | Needs a strong graphics card |
| SpicyChat | A character chat site for adults | A user-made library, plus cards you import | Built in | Its own written rules. Some features on paid plans |
SillyTavern with an API
SillyTavern's docs call it a locally installed interface for power users. It comes with no model: you point it at a program on your computer or at a cloud API, OpenAI-compatible ones included. It has character cards, World Info for lore, group chats, and extensions for images and text-to-speech. It describes itself as free and open source.
For a Chub user it is the shortest move. Its docs describe importing a character from a file or a link, and Chub's guide says chats export in SillyTavern's format. The API you connect still receives each message, under that company's rules. SillyTavern API walks through the connection, and APIs for SillyTavern sets out the choices.
SillyTavern with a local model
Put the model on your own machine and nothing leaves it. SillyTavern's docs list KoboldCpp and Ollama among the local programs it connects to. KoboldCpp's page describes a single file that runs GGUF models with no install, and Ollama's site says it runs open models on macOS, Windows and Linux. The price is a strong graphics card and an afternoon of set-up. Open models for roleplay covers the choice.
Other character sites
SpicyChat is the closest thing to Chub's library with the model built in. Its docs describe user-made characters, public, unlisted or private, and an import button that takes a PNG character card. Its community guidelines say every user must be 18 or over and every character an adult, and list what is banned. Some features depend on the plan. SpicyChat alternatives goes further.
Janitor AI is another library of user-made characters. Its help pages cover making bots and connecting an outside model through a proxy. Janitor AI alternatives compares it with the rest.
Where Hemmingway Unlocked fits
Hemmingway Unlocked is the adults-only side of Hemmingway, at wise.hemmingway.io. It asks you to confirm you are 18 or over, shows its rules, then you sign in. There is no model to pick and no preset to tune. You type the scene and it answers.
- What it writes. Sex between adults, explicit and in full. Dark, violent fiction: horror, war, crime. Roleplay where you set the scene and it plays its part. Ordinary chat too. It does not stop a scene to lecture.
- What it never writes. Anything sexual involving anyone under 18 (or an adult playing someone under 18), a real person, animals, family, or anyone who does not want it. No help hurting a real person, no weapons, no making drugs, no help with self-harm. The full list is in our terms, and every answer has a Report button.
- Where chats live. In your browser, on your device. Not on our servers, and never used for training. Each message passes through our servers to be answered and is not kept. Chats do not sync between devices, and clearing your browser data deletes them.
- Cost. Free to try, with no card. After that, memberships from $9 a month. The Unlocked page has the rest.
Open Hemmingway UnlockedTry Hemmingway
Keeping your cards. Unlocked has an OpenAI-compatible API at https://wise.hemmingway.io/v1. In SillyTavern choose Chat Completion, then Custom (OpenAI-compatible), and enter the address and your key. Your cards, lorebooks and front end stay as they are, and Unlocked's model answers. You make the key inside Unlocked, and it needs a membership. Hemmingway Unlocked's API has the steps. We have not tried Unlocked inside Chub itself; SillyTavern's custom OpenAI-compatible source is the route we document.
Running it yourself. Unlocked's model has open weights: an adapter (LoRA) on Hemmingway-1, a 27B model built on Qwen3.8-27B, at Hugging Face under CC BY-NC 4.0, free for non-commercial use. At 16-bit the weights alone are about 54 GB, so it needs a strong GPU set-up. Run Hemmingway Unlocked locally explains how.
Where it does not fit
- You came for the library. Unlocked has no characters to browse and no character builder. You describe the character in your first message, or let the AI roleplay generator write the opening. If finding other people's characters is the fun, use a character site.
- You use Stages, expression packs or pictures. Unlocked writes text only. No images, no voice, no avatars. Chub or another character site keeps those.
- You want a companion who remembers you. Unlocked has no companion memory and no calls. A companion app such as Kindroid or Nomi is built for that.
- You want a phone app. There is no app-store app. It runs in the browser.
How to choose
- You write your own scenes and want them kept on your device. Hemmingway Unlocked in the browser.
- You want your cards and Unlocked's model together. SillyTavern pointed at Unlocked's API.
- You want your cards with a model you choose. SillyTavern with any API.
- Nothing may leave your computer. SillyTavern with a local model.
- You want the library with the model built in. SpicyChat or another character site. Read its rules first.
Common questions
Can I use my Chub characters somewhere else?
Usually, yes. A character is a description, a first message and some example lines. In a plain chat app such as Hemmingway Unlocked, paste the description as your first message, and say that the character is an adult. SillyTavern's docs describe importing a character from a file or a link, and SpicyChat's docs describe importing a PNG card.
Can Hemmingway Unlocked be the model behind my character cards?
Yes, through SillyTavern. Connect it as a custom OpenAI-compatible API at https://wise.hemmingway.io/v1, with a key from your Unlocked account. A key needs a membership.
Is there a Chub AI alternative with no set-up?
Yes. Hemmingway Unlocked, where you sign in and type, or a character site with a built-in model, such as SpicyChat. Neither asks you for an API key before the first reply.
Does Hemmingway Unlocked have a character library like Chub?
No. You bring the character in your own words. That suits people who already know who they want to write, not people who enjoy finding characters other people made.