Frequently Asked Questions

You write reflections on the Altar. Your companion responds with empathy and insight. Over time, the app recognizes patterns in your journey and offers deeper wisdom through Weekly Whispers, Soul Profile, and more. Everything you write lives in your Journal, organized by timeline, themes, favorites, or search. Open Altar is powered by artificial intelligence (AI), designed to listen carefully and reflect back what it sees in your writing. It does not replace human relationships or spiritual leaders — it simply offers a private, nonjudgmental space for reflection.

Companions are spiritual voices rooted in different traditions—Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and universal or secular. Each has a distinct way of listening and speaking, but every companion is trained in universal wisdom and responds from an interfaith perspective. The Rabbi can speak to a Christian seeker, the Shepherd to someone drawn to Hindu devotion, the Zen Master to a Muslim—they honor your tradition and meet you where you are. You choose who resonates with you. They're here to help you hear yourself, not to tell you what to believe.

Yes! Open Altar is built for anyone seeking reflection and meaning—including those on non-traditional, mystical, folk, and diasporic paths that often go unseen. Our companions are trained to honor folk Catholicism (Black Madonna, Santa Muerte, folk saints), Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, Hindu bhakti, Islamic mysticism (Sufism), Indigenous spiritualities (land-based practices, honoring ancestors), African Traditional Religions, and African diasporic practices (Hoodoo, Vodou, Santería, Candomblé). If you follow an earth-based, eclectic, or otherwise non-traditional path—or if you're spiritual but not religious, questioning, deconstructing, or drawn to the mystical edges of any path—you belong here.

The Altar is where you write. It's just for writing—one focused space. Everything you save appears in Journal, where you can browse by timeline, favorites, themes, or search. Insights is where you find deeper patterns: Soul Profile, Year in Review, and Voice Library (Core and Premium). You'll also see a Monthly Letters card there—new Monthly Letters are a Premium benefit; Core and Free see upgrade messaging on that card and on the Monthly Letters page.

Free: 7 reflections to try, all spiritual companions, basic emotion tracking, sacred text snippets (plus 7 text prayers/meditations total). Core ($16.99/mo or $149.99/yr): unlimited reflections; unlimited text prayers/meditations; 20 voice prayers/meditations per billing period; weekly spiritual insights (Weekly Whispers); Monthly Snapshots; Quarterly Soul Profile; Annual Year in Review; gentle intervention blessings; voice preference selection; favorites collection; Voice Library for saved audio. Premium ($34.99/mo or $299/yr): everything in Core, plus 100 voice prayers/meditations per billing period (vs 20); Monthly Letters from your companion; Sacred Threads across time; and two additional premium voices in Profile → Voice & Tone (labeled Premium there).

Core gives you 20 voice prayers or meditations per billing period. Premium gives you 100. Monthly and annual subscribers both get 20 or 100 per month—annual plans reset on the same day each month as your subscription anniversary. When you open a reflection in Journal and tap the prayer or meditation section, you'll see "Voice generations remaining: X/20" (or X/100). That number updates each time you generate one.

Your usage this billing period (how many voice prayers or meditations you've already generated) doesn't reset to zero when you change plans—those still count toward your limit. If you upgrade from Core to Premium mid-period, you keep your current billing period and the higher monthly limit (100 instead of 20) applies for the rest of it. The same applies if you switch between monthly and annual billing. If you downgrade from Premium to Core or Free: You keep access to past Monthly Letters (read and listen anytime) but won't receive new Monthly Letters. Sacred Threads will no longer appear in your reflections—you'll lose access to that feature. If you downgrade to Free: You keep access to your Voice Library for recordings you already saved (replay and delete from Insights → Voice Library when you have saved audio). Generating new voice prayers or meditations still requires Core or Premium. If you already had Year in Reviews generated while you were on Core or Premium, you can still open and read them from Insights → Year in Review. New annual reviews are created each January only for Core and Premium when you qualify. Monthly Snapshots that already appear on your Journal timeline stay complete (narrative, emotions, and themes); only Core and Premium get newly generated snapshots each month.

If you upgrade, downgrade, or switch between monthly and annual billing partway through a billing period, Stripe (our payments partner) calculates a fair adjustment: you get credit for the unused portion of what you already paid, and you pay for the new plan for the rest of that period. You may see a small charge, a credit, or both on your next invoice—that's normal and means you're not paying full price twice for the same stretch of time. Exact amounts depend on your plans, your billing date, and when you change. You can always review invoices and receipts in the billing portal (Account → Manage Billing) or in your email from Stripe.

Upgrade: Open the hamburger menu (top right). If you're on the free plan, tap "Upgrade Plan" to choose and subscribe. If you're on Core or Premium, tap "Manage Subscription" to open your account, then tap "Change Plan" to switch plans or billing interval. Cancel: In Account, tap "Manage Billing" to open the Stripe portal, where you can cancel or update payment info. If you run into trouble, email support@openaltar.app.

Journal tab → top card. Tap to expand. The Weekly Whisper is a personalized insight from your companion reflecting on your week's emotions, themes, and patterns—plus a gentle invitation for the week ahead. A new Weekly Whisper appears each Sunday (Core and Premium) if you wrote at least one reflection in the past seven days.

Insights → "Monthly Letters" card (tap through to the Monthly Letters page). Each Monthly Letter is from your chosen companion, reflecting on your month. You can read the letter or play the audio whenever one is available to you. Premium: you receive new Monthly Letters while subscribed. Core and Free: you can open the same screens to read how the feature works and see upgrade options—you do not receive new Monthly Letters unless you subscribe to Premium. If you downgrade from Premium to Core or Free, you keep the Monthly Letters you already received (read and listen anytime).

Journal → Timeline view. Tap a month to expand it; the Monthly Snapshot appears inside that month—a short narrative, reflection count, emotion breakdown, and themes for that month. New snapshots are generated on the 1st of each month (for the previous month) for Core and Premium only. If you move to Free, you keep the full snapshot for any month that already has one; you won't receive new months until you subscribe again.

Insights → "Voice Library" card (Core and Premium). That's where your saved voice prayers and meditations live. To create new ones, open a reflection in Journal, scroll to the prayer or meditation section, and generate—it saves automatically. On Free, you'll see upgrade messaging on Insights unless you already have saved recordings; if you do, the Voice Library card stays available so you can replay them. Creating new voice audio still requires Core or Premium.

Open any reflection in your Journal and scroll down to the Sacred Threads section. It shows other reflections that resonate with the one you're reading—connections across time. Premium only.

Insights → tap the "Soul Profile" or "Year in Review" card when those appear. Soul Profile updates quarterly (after 10+ reflections) for Core and Premium. Year in Review is generated each January for Core and Premium and looks back at the previous calendar year. On Free, you won't see new Soul Profiles or receive new Year in Reviews—but if you already had reviews generated before you downgraded, your saved Year in Reviews stay readable from Insights (and you can switch years on the review page if you have more than one).

Account → Email or Password section. You'll need to confirm a new email via the link we send.

You can delete individual reflections and voice artifacts in the app anytime. To delete your entire account and all associated data: Account → scroll to Danger Zone → type DELETE to confirm. Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. If you have an active subscription, cancel it first (Account → Manage Billing). You don't need to email support to delete your data.

You own everything you write. We don't sell or share your reflections. For data export, email support@openaltar.app. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Open Altar works on desktop and mobile in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. For the best mobile experience, you can add it to your home screen to run it like an app.

Refresh the page first. If it's still broken, email support@openaltar.app with what happened and what device/browser you're using.

No. Open Altar is a tool for reflection and meaning-making. It doesn't replace therapy, spiritual direction, or medical care. If you're in immediate danger or might harm yourself or someone else, call your local emergency number (in the U.S., dial 911). In the U.S., you can also call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (24/7), or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. If you're outside the U.S., use emergency services or a crisis line where you live.

Yes. Open Altar is for adults (18+ or the age of majority where you live).