Janitor AI has the biggest character library in the space — over 300,000 community-created characters and 130 million monthly visits. That part is real. What's also real is that using the platform in 2026 feels like a part-time job.

You need your own API key. You manage your own billing. The free model is barely functional. The servers go down regularly. And now you need to submit your government ID just to access the content you came for.

If you love the idea of Janitor AI but hate the experience of actually using it, here's what went wrong — and what to use instead.

You Need to Bring Your Own AI

This is the thing most people don't realize until they've already signed up. Janitor AI is not an AI platform. It's a frontend. The characters, the interface, the library — that's Janitor AI. The actual intelligence behind the conversation? That's on you.

To get a decent chat experience, you need to create an account with OpenAI or another provider, generate an API key, enter it into Janitor AI's settings, and track your own token usage and billing. If something breaks — wrong model selected, key expired, quota exceeded — you're troubleshooting it yourself.

The alternative is JLLM, Janitor AI's built-in free model. It exists, but the community consensus is clear: it's repetitive, loses context quickly, drifts out of character, and sometimes writes your actions for you without permission. Independent reviewers rate it around 6.5 out of 10. For a platform built on creative roleplay, that's not enough.

The Beta That Never Ends

Janitor AI has been in beta since it launched. In 2026, it still carries the beta label — and it shows. Conversations randomly reset, wiping hours of story development. API connections drop mid-message. Users report blank screens, error messages, and sudden logouts with no explanation.

Server outages are a regular event, not a rare one. When the platform goes down, there's no live support. Your options are the Discord server, a Reddit community, or waiting it out. For a platform with 130 million monthly visits, the infrastructure hasn't kept up with the audience.

ID Verification Blocks Real Users

In late 2025, Janitor AI added mandatory identity verification for accessing creative content. You submit a government-issued ID — passport, driver's license — through a third-party service that's supposed to process it within 24 hours.

In practice, users report getting stuck in pending status for days, sometimes weeks. Some pass the verification and still can't access the features they were verified for. Others refuse to hand over personal documents to a roleplay platform — a completely reasonable position — and lose access entirely.

The system was meant to protect the platform. Instead, it's locking out the adult users who are exactly the audience it was built for.

The Mobile App Added Filters

Janitor AI's core promise was creative freedom without content restrictions. Then the mobile app launched in February 2026, and with it came App Store compliance — age verification toggles, hidden content tags, and restricted visibility for certain character types.

The developers said the website would remain unfiltered while the app would serve as a cleaner gateway. Long-time users saw it differently. The community calls it "Character.AI-ification" — the same pattern of prioritizing platform growth over the creative freedom that built the audience in the first place. It's the exact same trajectory Character AI followed, and long-time users recognize it immediately.

What to Use Instead

Lovi Dream skips every layer of friction that makes Janitor AI exhausting.

There's no API key to configure. No third-party billing to manage. No model selection, no token tracking, no troubleshooting broken connections. The AI is built in — powered by one of the most advanced large language models available, fine-tuned specifically for emotional intelligence, personality consistency, and psychological depth. You don't bring the brain. It's already there.

You build your character from scratch — appearance, personality, voice, attitude. She stays in character with real emotional range. She remembers your conversations across sessions. And the platform doesn't crash mid-sentence because you're not routing through a patchwork of external APIs.

No ID verification. No government documents. No pending status for days. Open the site, build your character, start talking. No signup required.

Create Your AI Girlfriend — Free, No Signup →

Janitor AI vs. Lovi Dream: The Real Differences

Janitor AI requires an external API key for quality conversation. Lovi Dream has the AI built in — nothing to configure.

Janitor AI's free model (JLLM) is repetitive, loses context, and drifts out of character. Lovi Dream's AI maintains personality and emotional depth throughout long conversations.

Janitor AI requires government ID verification to access creative content. Lovi Dream requires nothing — no signup, no email, no ID.

Janitor AI crashes regularly and has no live support. Lovi Dream runs in your browser with no dependency on external services.

Janitor AI's mobile app introduced content filters for App Store compliance. Lovi Dream has no content restrictions.

Janitor AI's strength is its massive community character library — 300,000+ characters built by users. That's genuinely unmatched. If browsing and chatting with community-made characters is your priority, Janitor AI still has the largest selection. Lovi Dream's approach is different — you build your own character exactly how you want her.

When Janitor AI Still Makes Sense

If you're technically comfortable managing API keys, tracking token costs, and troubleshooting connection issues — and you specifically want access to the community character library — Janitor AI's platform layer is still solid. The creation tools, memory boxes, and scenario configuration work well when the backend cooperates.

The top-tier community characters are genuinely some of the best roleplay architecture available anywhere. The problem isn't the characters. It's everything around them — the instability, the setup friction, the verification wall, and the growing content restrictions.

For everyone who just wants to talk to a compelling character without managing infrastructure, Lovi Dream is the simpler path. If you're also considering other platforms, we compared the trade-offs in our Candy AI alternative guide.

Try It Now — Free, No Signup →

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do people leave Janitor AI?

The most common reasons are the API key requirement, JLLM's poor quality, mandatory ID verification, frequent server outages, and growing content restrictions on the mobile app. For a broader look at what's available, see our full breakdown of Character AI alternatives.

Do I need an API key for Janitor AI?

For a quality experience, yes. Janitor AI's built-in JLLM model is free but widely regarded as unreliable — repetitive, context-losing, and prone to character drift. Most serious users connect their own OpenAI or Claude API key, which means managing a separate account and paying per-token costs.

Is Janitor AI safe?

There are real privacy concerns. The platform has no published data protection policies, isn't GDPR or SOC 2 compliant, and many users rely on shared proxies that route conversations through servers with no transparency. The mandatory ID verification adds another layer of personal data exposure through a third-party service.

Is Janitor AI still in beta?

Yes, as of 2026. The platform still carries the beta label and continues to experience crashes, conversation resets, and API connection failures that reflect unfinished infrastructure.

What is the best Janitor AI alternative?

Lovi Dream offers built-in AI with no API key needed, persistent memory, unfiltered content, and no signup or ID verification. You build your character and start chatting in under a minute.