ThXChat

The more AI companions and roleplay apps I see launching, the more I believe the opposite will happen: people are going to want real human connection even more, not less.

That's basically why I built ThXChat.

I had this idea years ago but never seriously started. Work was busy, life was busy. A few months ago I finally committed and started building properly — solo, mostly after hours. It's been live for 4 months now, around 600+ users so far.

AI coding tools have been a huge part of this. Honestly, as a solo dev, it's been a game changer. As long as I can clearly think through the logic, the implementation just... happens. I feel like I can move at a pace I never could before.

The product itself: strangers get matched randomly, can chat with live translation across 23 languages, do voice/video calls, or talk to an AI companion when no one's around. More than just text chat.

The hard part? Retention. Both users have to be online at the same time for a match to work. That's a tough constraint. 4 months in, 600+ users, still figuring out growth. Revenue is tiny but real.

But I'm not stopping. Every time I see another AI chat product, I get more convinced there's a real gap for genuine human connection. That's the bet.

Anyone here tackled retention in real-time social apps? Would love to hear what actually worked.