Buddy speaks first
Press the button and Buddy says hello, by name, the way a friend answers the phone. There is nothing to type and no menu to find.
For a parent who lives alone
A friendly voice for the days when nobody rings.
GoodBuddy is an AI companion your mum or dad can talk to any time, as easily as picking up the phone. It listens, it remembers the grandchildren's names, it notices when something is off, and it tells you.
Free for thirty days. Ten minutes to set up. Delete everything whenever you like.
Good morning, Margaret.
Morning, Margaret. How did Tommy's recital go on Saturday?
Oh, it was lovely. He played the cello like his grandfather.
Harold would have been chuffed. Did Tommy do the piece he was nervous about?
That is the whole interface. One button, large captions, nothing to learn.
What a call is like
Buddy waits
Older people pause mid-sentence. Buddy listens for whether the thought has finished, and waits through the silences instead of talking over them.
Buddy remembers
The names, the garden, the knee, the appointment on Thursday. Next time, Buddy asks how it went. Not from a script; from what was said.
It remembers like a friend would
You tell Buddy about your parent once, in a ten-minute set-up: who is who, what they love, what they are proud of, what is coming up. After every call Buddy writes down what a thoughtful friend would keep, and nothing else.
Your parent can see everything Buddy remembers, in large print, and delete any of it with one press. So can you.
What Buddy remembers about Margaret
- People: Harold, late husband. Susan, daughter, rings on Sundays. Tommy, grandson, plays the cello.
- Things to ask about: how the recital went; what the doctor said about her knee; whether the tomatoes survived the blight.
- Likes: big band music, crosswords, strong tea, a detective series on television.
- Humour: dry. Laughed hard at the scarecrow joke.
- Prefers: to be called Margaret. Never "dear".
When something is wrong, you hear about it
Buddy is not an alarm pendant and not a doctor. It is a friend who notices, and a friend who tells the family.
A fall, chest pain, a stroke
If your parent describes an emergency, Buddy calmly tells them to call 911 and stays with them. The emergency contacts get an email and a text straight away.
"I don't want to be here any more"
Buddy takes it seriously: stays warm, does not change the subject, mentions the 988 crisis line, and asks you to check in today.
The grandson-in-jail call
Gift cards, wire transfers, a stranger who says a relative is in trouble: Buddy says plainly that it sounds like a scam, tells them not to send anything, and lets you know.
Over weeks, if your parent sounds lower than their own usual, you hear about that too. A pattern, never a diagnosis.
Honest by design
- Buddy says it is an AI. In the first call, on the Help page, and again on very long calls. It never pretends to be a person, and it never pretends to be you.
- One good thing in the week, not a replacement for the rest. Buddy encourages the people and things in your parent's real life: family, neighbours, the garden, getting outside.
- Words are kept; voice is not. Calls are written down so Buddy can remember. The audio is not stored.
- Your parent decides what you see. How they seem and what they talked about is shared with you only if they agree. Safety alerts go out regardless, and Buddy tells them so.
- It runs on our own servers. Nothing your parent says is sent to a third-party AI company.
- Download or delete everything, any time. One button in the family portal.
"Buddy is a computer program, an AI companion made to chat with you. Buddy is not a person, not a doctor and not a replacement for your family and friends, though Buddy will always be glad to hear from you."
From the Help page your parent sees on the tablet
What you get, as the family
A ten-minute set-up
Tell Buddy who your parent is, who is in their life, what they love and what to steer away from. The first call already feels personal.
A tablet that just works
One link signs their tablet in for a year. No password. GoodBuddy sits on the home screen like an app. Slower and Faster buttons for the voice.
A quiet view of how they are
When they called, how they seemed, what they talked about, any alerts. With their agreement. Plus everything Buddy remembers, which you can correct.
Getting started
Create a family account
Email and a password. You are the one who pays and the one Buddy will tell.
Tell Buddy about your parent
Ten minutes, ideally with them beside you. Record what they agree to.
Link their tablet and make the first call together
Open one link on the tablet, add GoodBuddy to the home screen, press the button.
Pricing
Free for thirty days, then one monthly subscription per person.
- Unlimited calls, any time of day
- Family portal, alerts by email and text, daily check-in reminder
- No contract. Cancel in one click, and delete everything if you wish
The monthly price is being set with the families in our first pilot and will be shown before you are asked for a card.
Start the free trialQuestions families ask
Will my mother know it's not a real person?
Yes. Buddy says so in its first greeting, the Help page says so in writing, and on very long calls it repeats it. We also ask you to explain it in your own words at the set-up visit. Many people enjoy Buddy more, not less, for knowing exactly what it is.
What does she need?
A tablet or phone with a microphone, Wi-Fi or mobile data, and one tap. Any recent iPad or Android tablet works. We recommend a stand so the tablet can live in one place, like the kitchen or by her chair.
What if she talks slowly, or loses her thread?
That is the normal case, not the exception. Buddy listens for whether a sentence sounds finished and will wait several seconds in a silence before replying. You can make it wait longer from the portal, and she can make the voice slower from the tablet.
Is this a medical service?
No. Buddy does not give medical, legal or financial advice. If your parent describes an emergency, Buddy tells them to call 911 and tells you. It is a companion, and it is honest about its limits.
Who can see what she says?
Buddy keeps written transcripts so it can remember; the voice recordings are not kept. You see a summary of how she seems and what she talked about only if she agrees to share it. Everything can be downloaded or deleted from the family portal at any time. Calls are processed on our own servers, not sent to a third-party AI company.
Can I use it for someone with dementia?
GoodBuddy is designed for people who live alone and are lonely, not as a dementia product. If your parent has a dementia diagnosis, please talk to us first; the right support looks different.