What is Sesame?
Sesame is a voice-first AI companion app from a team founded by Oculus veterans. On iPhone, you talk with one of four agents, Maya, Miles, Simone or Charlie, each with its own personality and memory. The agents can search the web, take notes and set reminders, and the app is free with no ads.
Most voice assistants handle commands, not conversation, and chatbots feel stiff when you speak to them. Sesame focuses on low-latency, natural-sounding dialogue so you can brainstorm, follow a thread or talk through a decision the way you would with a person. Memory grows across voice and text sessions, and the company plans to bring the same agents to its own eyewear in 2027.
Main Features
- Four agents, Maya, Miles, Simone and Charlie, each with a distinct voice, point of view and memory.
- Low-latency voice conversations designed to feel natural rather than scripted.
- Agents can search the web and show search cards with images.
- The app can create notes, set reminders and summarize takeaways from a conversation.
- A texting mode lets you continue a conversation when you cannot speak aloud.
- Incognito mode keeps a conversation out of memory.
- A browser research preview at app.sesame.com lets you try the voices without the app.
How to Get Started with Sesame
- Download Sesame: Personal Agents from the App Store on an iPhone running iOS 18 or later.
- Pick an agent such as Maya or Miles and start talking.
- Ask it to search, take notes or set a reminder during the conversation.
- Come back later and continue, since the agent keeps memory across sessions.
Sesame Pricing
The iOS app is free to download with no ads, and the web research preview is also free. No paid plans are published on its site.
Who Should Use It?
- People who like to brainstorm or think out loud with a conversational partner
- iPhone users who want a voice assistant that holds a real conversation
- Anyone curious about the state of natural AI speech
- Users who want a private sounding board for decisions
Sesame Alternatives
- ChatGPT: broader assistant with files and images, voice is one mode
- Character AI: huge library of user-made characters, mostly for roleplay
- Talkie AI: entertainment-focused character chat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sesame AI free?
Yes. The iPhone app is free to download, shows no ads and, according to the listing, does not sell your data. The browser research preview at app.sesame.com is also free to try.
Is Sesame available on Android?
Not at this point. It launched on iPhone (iOS 18 or later) and Apple Vision, and the company says the agents will come to its own intelligent eyewear in 2027. On other devices, you can use the web research preview.
Is Sesame private?
The company says conversations are private and you can delete your data at any time. An incognito mode keeps a session out of memory. The App Store listing notes it collects usage data, identifiers and user content for app functionality.