The short answer
Poe the AI Story Bear, from Skyrocket's PLAi brand, is a storytelling bear: kids pick story ideas in a phone or tablet app, the app writes the story, and Poe reads it aloud. Skyrocket says Poe has no active microphone, so it does not hold a conversation. SkyBuds is a plush your child talks with: it listens, answers and remembers. Poe lists at $49.99 for ages 4 and up; SkyBuds is $139 for ages 3 to 10.
One disclosure up front: we make SkyBuds. Every fact about Poe below links the page it comes from.
Checked 2026-10-28. Every fact about Poe the AI Story Bear on this page was read on the linked public page on October 28, 2026. Prices and plans change, so check before you buy.
Side by side
| Feature | SkyBuds | Poe the AI Story Bear |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A plush friend that talks with your child. It listens, answers, remembers your conversations and tells personalized bedtime stories. (SkyBuds FAQ) | A storytelling bear. Kids pick ideas in the Poe app, the app makes the story, and Poe reads it aloud; Skyrocket says there are no cameras or active microphones. (TTPM, Skyrocket launch release) |
| Price | $139 each (Ash, Pearl or Sprout). US shipping is free on orders over $190; otherwise it is calculated at checkout. (SkyBuds cost guide) | $49.99 list price. (TTPM) |
| Age range | 3 to 10. It adapts its language, topics and complexity to your child's age. Not for children under 3: it has small parts. (SkyBuds FAQ) | 4 and up. (TTPM) |
| Subscription | Not needed: talking and stories stay free for life, including full back-and-forth conversation and remembering your child. SkyBuds+ is optional and adds smart parent insights, unlimited personalized stories and more languages, for every SkyBud in your home: first month free, then $9.99/month, cancel anytime. Or a prepaid pass in your cart, then $9.99/month. (SkyBuds cost guide) | The Poe story app is listed as free on the App Store. Skyrocket says Poe includes basic and premium cloud AI features and gives no premium price. (App Store, poeaibear.com) |
| Screen | No screen. No camera. No ads. (SkyBuds FAQ) | No screen on the bear. Stories are made in a phone or tablet app and sent to Poe over Bluetooth; saved stories play without the phone. (TTPM) |
| What data is kept | Conversation transcripts are kept 12 months, so the SkyBud remembers and you can read every chat in the parent app. Some voice recordings, labelled with random codes instead of names, are kept up to 24 months to train and test SkyBuds' own speech models, unless you turn that off in the app. Toy technical data (battery, connection, firmware version, error logs) is kept up to 12 months. SkyBuds never sells personal information, and you can delete your account and all of your child's data anytime. (SkyBuds privacy policy) | The app's App Store privacy label, filled in by Skyrocket and not verified by Apple, says no data is collected. Skyrocket says no personal information is required. (App Store, Skyrocket launch release) |
| Languages | Speaks more than 75 languages. Just ask it to speak the language you want. The optional SkyBuds+ adds more languages. (SkyBuds FAQ) | Tells stories in 30 languages. (Skyrocket launch release) |
Whose AI is it?
The AI your child talks to is SkyBuds' own model, running on our own servers. It is not ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI lab's model. Speech recognition, the memory model that works out what to remember, and the safety checks run on those same servers, so when your child talks with their SkyBud, their voice is not sent to any outside AI company's model. Only the toy's own reply text goes to our voice provider, under a zero-data-retention agreement. (SkyBuds privacy policy)
We can only speak for our own AI here. If you are comparing, ask the maker of Poe the AI Story Bear whose AI model answers your child and where the audio goes.
Who should pick which
Poe the AI Story Bear: Pick Poe if you want new bedtime stories on a smaller budget, and you are happy to build each story with your child in a phone or tablet app first. It reads stories; it does not chat.
SkyBuds: Pick SkyBuds if you want your child to talk with the toy: it listens, answers, remembers your conversations and tells personalized bedtime stories. Your child holds the plush and talks to it like a friend. It speaks more than 75 languages (the optional SkyBuds+ adds more) and is made for ages 3 to 10.
Questions parents ask
Can Poe the AI Story Bear have a conversation?
No. Kids pick story ideas in the Poe app and Poe reads the story aloud. Skyrocket says Poe has no active microphones. SkyBuds listens, answers and remembers your conversations.
How much do Poe and SkyBuds cost?
Poe the AI Story Bear lists at $49.99. SkyBuds is $139, with free US shipping on orders over $190, and talking and stories stay free for life.
What ages are Poe and SkyBuds for?
TTPM lists Poe for ages 4 and up. SkyBuds is made for ages 3 to 10.
How many languages do Poe and SkyBuds speak?
Skyrocket says Poe tells stories in 30 languages. SkyBuds speaks more than 75 languages, and the optional SkyBuds+ adds more languages.
Sources
About Poe the AI Story Bear (made by Skyrocket (PLAi)), checked 2026-10-28:
- TTPM: https://ttpm.com/products/plai-poe-the-ai-story-bear/
- Skyrocket launch release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-ever-story-creating-and-storytelling-bear-safely-uses-ai-to-turn-kids-ideas-into-one-of-a-kind-stories-302251996.html
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/plai-ai-story-creator/id6570285913
- poeaibear.com: https://poeaibear.com/
About SkyBuds: the FAQ, what SkyBuds costs and the privacy policy. For more toys side by side, see the best AI toys for kids in 2026.