Melissa Blake

Senior Editor · AI Companion Platforms · Amsterdam

I write about AI companion apps and character-chat platforms as products people actually use. The PolyBuzz AI page on this site is mine, from the approach and sourcing to the corrections.

Short version

I'm a senior editor who has covered AI companion apps and character-chat platforms since 2022, when the category started to separate from general-purpose chatbots. My beat is consumer-facing: the products people sign up for, chat with and decide whether to pay for. This site is where my PolyBuzz writing lives, and my wider reading across the category feeds the comparisons rather than standalone coverage.

The beat

My beat is consumer AI companion apps, character-chat platforms and the tools around them, with PolyBuzz as the focus of this site. Beyond it I follow Character AI, Janitor AI, Chai, Candy AI, Replika, Talkie and Kindroid. That range gives the comparisons on the main page a wider reference point than a single-app view would.

How I approach a platform

I start from the platform's own materials and then check them against the live product. For this site that means reading the App Store and Google Play listings, the official FAQ, the community guidelines and the privacy policy, then confirming sign-in, the chat list, the creator and the filter on a free account on the web and on iOS. Paid-tier features come from the store listings and the FAQ, and I say so rather than imply I used them.

Claims about pricing, tiers and content policy are re-checked against the current store listing before publication, not carried over from an older draft. Where a claim rests on someone else's work, such as a pricing breakdown or the text of a law, it is cited inline with a link. The full process is on the methodology page.

What I don't do

I don't take sponsored coverage. I don't give platforms an advance look at critical material about themselves, and I don't cover a product I hold a financial interest in beyond the affiliate revenue disclosed on the editorial policy page. If any of that changes, the editorial policy is where I log it first.

Contact

LinkedIn is my primary channel: linkedin.com/in/melissablake1. Corrections, requests and press queries all go to the same place. Corrections get a seven-working-day turnaround, and press queries fit around active editorial work.

Location note

I'm based in Amsterdam, so the check dates on this site follow Central European Time. Prices, however, are quoted from the US App Store in US dollars, because that is the market this site writes for, and they can differ in other countries' stores.

Bylines on this site

• PolyBuzz AI chat - platform overview, sign-in, pricing, content policy, apps, community, alternatives and FAQ
• Methodology - how the site is sourced, checked and updated
• Editorial policy - independence, affiliate handling, sponsored content and corrections
• About us - site position, contact and disclosure
• Age verification - adult access policy

Profile last reviewed: October 6, 2026