We make the first app on this list, so we have skin in the game. We have tried to be fair about the others, describing them the way they describe themselves, and to be clear about who each one is for. If you only want to chat with an AI character, none of these is what you are looking for.
1. RP Nowz
Best for: groups who play from their phones and want characters, dice and discovery in one app.
RP Nowz is a free app for iOS, Android and the web, built only for collaborative roleplay. You keep a library of characters with real profiles and bring them into any chat. Messages have in-character, out-of-character and narrator modes in a single thread. Dice are rolled on the server and land in the chat in 3D. World lists public chats by genre and language, with a preview and owner-approved joining, so a group short a player can find one. It works offline, speaks ten languages, and has optional AI helpers for recaps and side characters that owners can leave off entirely.
Trade-offs: mobile only, no voice chat, closed source.
2. Discord, with bots
Best for: large communities, voice, and groups that already live there.
Discord is the default home of online roleplay communities, and for good reason: it is free, everywhere, and enormous. Roleplaying in it means adding bots for character proxies and dice and agreeing on conventions for in-character and out-of-character talk. Many groups run the community on Discord and the scenes elsewhere. See our full RP Nowz vs Discord comparison.
Trade-offs: everything roleplay-specific is a workaround; scenes and chatter split across channels.
3. RPNow.net
Best for: desktop groups who want the smallest possible tool.
A free, open-source, browser-based text roleplay site that calls itself dead simple. Create a roleplay, invite your people, write. No app, no dice, no discovery, and no relation to RP Nowz despite the name. More in our RPNow.net alternative page.
Trade-offs: needs a browser and a connection; characters live per roleplay.
4. Roleplay chat rooms: Roleplay.chat and RP Haven
Best for: meeting strangers and playing in the moment.
Browser chat rooms with a long history in the hobby. Roleplay.chat describes itself as a place for text roleplayers to meet new people and collaborate on stories, with tabbed direct messages, profiles, avatars, dice and moderation tools. RP Haven pitches real-time chat, private messages, friends and character management. Both are built around rooms full of people rather than a private table of friends.
Trade-offs: browser-first, room-based, and you are playing with whoever is online.
5. Zervo
Best for: original-character communities on mobile.
A mobile app whose listing highlights an OC system, themed groups and multi-channel worlds, with a community angle closer to a social network than a private table.
Trade-offs: community-first; check its listing for the current feature set and pricing.
6. A group chat you already have
Best for: two or three friends and a story that does not need tools.
WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram. Plenty of great roleplays have run in a plain group chat with square brackets for out-of-character talk. It falls apart around four players, when nobody can tell who is speaking, and the moment somebody wants to roll a die.
Side by side
| Real people | Character profiles | Built-in dice | Find players | Offline | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP Nowz | Yes | Library, reusable | Yes, 3D | World tab | Yes | Free, optional credits |
| Discord + bots | Yes | Via bot | Via bot | Server discovery | Read only | Free, Nitro extras |
| RPNow.net | Yes | Per roleplay | No | No | No | Free |
| Roleplay.chat / RP Haven | Yes | Profiles | Varies | Rooms | No | Free |
| Zervo | Yes | OC system | See listing | Groups | See listing | See listing |
| Plain group chat | Yes | No | No | No | Partly | Free |
How to choose
Ask two questions. Do you already have a group, or do you need to find one? And do you play from a phone or a desk? A group on phones that wants a proper table points to RP Nowz. A community that needs voice points to Discord. Someone looking to play with strangers tonight points to a chat room. Whatever you pick, our guide on starting a group roleplay works for all of them.
Try the one built for the table. RP Nowz is free on iOS, Android and the web.