Why Franki exists
Loneliness is one of the largest, quietest crises of our time. It shortens lives more reliably than smoking. It hits older people hardest , many go days without a real conversation, but it touches almost everyone at some point: the adult child who lives a flight away from their parent, the partner of someone with dementia who can't have the chats they used to, the person who's grieving and finds friends have quietly stopped ringing, the new mother sitting awake at three in the morning.
This is supposedly the most connected age in history. We have video calls and group chats and feeds that never end. And we're lonelier than we've ever been. Connection, it turns out, isn't the same as contact. Broadcasting isn't the same as being heard.
Franki is one small attempt at a different shape of contact. A phone call from a calm, unhurried voice, not to sell anything, not to remind anyone about an appointment, just to chat. To ask how you've been. To listen.
What Franki is, honestly
Franki is an AI. It says so if you ask. It won't replace the people in your life, those relationships are too important, and too irreplaceable, for software to step into. But for the gap between human calls, for the hours when nobody rings, for the people whose address books have grown thin, Franki can be company. A small good thing in a long quiet day.
How Franki is different
Replika, Pi and Character.ai are app-based chatbots that you tap into on a screen. Franki is phone-only: you ring a real number and talk out loud, the way you would with a friend. No persona to pick, no avatar, no scrolling. Franki is also designed for someone else to use as easily as you can, which is why families schedule it for an elderly parent who would never download an app.
Franki is also not a crisis line and not a therapist. Samaritans (116 123 in the UK) and your local services do specific, important work that Franki is not built for. Franki sits in the everyday spaces between those: the walk home, the 4am feed, the Sunday evening, the quiet hour when there's nobody to ring.
Frequently asked
What is Franki?
A phone-only AI voice companion. You call a phone number, or send a text or WhatsApp message, and have a real conversation in your own voice. No app to download. Available in many languages.
How does it work?
Dial the toll-free UK number on the homepage and Franki answers. Text or WhatsApp the mobile number for a written chat. Or schedule a call: book a time, Franki rings at the agreed moment, you talk for as long as you like. The first call is free.
What languages?
Most major ones. English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Japanese and many more. The voice adapts to the language you start the call in.
How much does it cost?
The first call is free. Pay-as-you-go credits buy minutes for casual use. Franki Family is £7 a month and gives you regular check-in calls for someone you love, plus a short private summary of each call.
Is Franki private?
Yes. Call audio is not stored after the call ends. For scheduled family calls the buyer receives a brief written summary of how the call felt, not a transcript, so the recipient's words stay between them and Franki. Recipients can ask Franki to forget anything they have said, any time.
What Franki isn't
Franki is not a counsellor, and not a crisis line. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please ring Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24 hours) in the UK, or your local crisis line wherever you are. The people on those lines do specific, important work that Franki is not built for.
Who's behind this
Built in Norwich, UK by a small team, not venture-funded, not chasing scale. A thing worth making whether it grows or not.
If this resonates and you'd like Franki to call someone you love, there's more on the /family page. Or just send Franki a text yourself for a chinwag.