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ChatBuddy

Multi-model AI mobile app with in-app credits

ChatBuddy home page: a dark hero with phone mockups and App Store and Google Play buttons

Our role

Designed and developed for the client: the mobile app, multi-model chat and in-app credit purchases.

What it is

AI mobile app

Industry

Consumer software

Live at

onethum.com

Public traction

About $45/month in reported revenue

Indie Hackers, as of September 2026

A mobile assistant that lets users switch between AI models in one app and pay with in-app credits, with streaming responses and conversation history on the device.

The problem

Using more than one AI model on a phone means more than one app, more than one subscription and no shared history. For someone who wants the stronger model for a hard question and the cheap one for the rest, the friction is the subscription, not the model.

The first call

We agreed the product was the switch, not the models. That set the constraints: one conversation history across models, credits instead of a stack of subscriptions, and responses that stream — a phone showing nothing while a model thinks reads as broken however good the answer turns out to be.

What we built

A mobile assistant that changes model inside a conversation, pays per use with in-app credits, streams responses as they generate, and keeps conversation history on the device. Buying more use is a purchase in the app rather than another card on file somewhere.

How they run today

Users start in the cheaper model and switch when the question deserves it, without leaving the thread. Nobody manages subscriptions; they top up credits when they run out.

What changed

Trying a second model stopped costing a second commitment. The choice a person used to make once a year, at signup, is now one they make per question, which is where it belongs.

Screens

The ChatBuddy home page at phone width, its chat pitch and download button
The complete ChatBuddy home page, headline through to the footer

Services behind it

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