Soul Machines Alternative for Interactive AI Characters
Soul Machines built some of the most realistic digital humans on the market, used by brands for customer service and marketing.
In February 2026, the company went into receivership, and in September 2026 it was acquired by AppDirect, where it now runs as a standalone business inside a commerce platform. If you relied on Soul Machines, or were considering it, it makes sense to look at your options.
What changes for teams building interactive characters
Soul Machines always focused on enterprise customer-service avatars. Under new ownership, that focus is likely to stay on business software rather than games, simulations or learning experiences. And the receivership itself is a reminder to think about vendor continuity before you build on any platform.
Soul Machines vs Neocortex
| Soul Machines | Neocortex | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Enterprise customer-service avatars | Interactive AI characters for games, training and education |
| Status | Acquired by AppDirect after receivership | Independent, active |
| Character design | Enterprise configuration | Visual node editor anyone can use |
| Avatars | Proprietary digital humans | Bring any 3D character |
| Engines | Web embed | Unity, Unreal, Godot (beta), Web API |
| Voice | Yes | Streaming TTS and STT, voice cloning and design |
| Self-hosting | Not offered | Available for studios and institutions |
| Getting started | Sales process | Free plan, self-serve |
Why teams choose Neocortex
Use your own characters. Neocortex works with any 3D avatar in Unity, Unreal or Godot, so you keep control of how your character looks.
Design behaviour visually. Personality, emotion, knowledge, intents and actions are nodes in a graph that designers and educators can edit and test in the browser.
Characters that act. Characters can trigger actions in your scene and react to objects around them, which is what simulations and games need.
Own the stack if you need to. For organisations with privacy or continuity requirements, Neocortex can run on your own infrastructure.
Get started
If you are moving a larger deployment, contact us.
Soul Machines details come from public reporting, checked October 2026.
Written by
Sercan Altundas
Date
Oct 17, 2026
Read time
3 min
