The short answer
Ted (by Ted&Co) and SkyBuds are both screen-free talking plush toys for kids from age 3, and neither needs a subscription to talk. The biggest differences are languages and what is kept: SkyBuds speaks more than 75 languages (the optional SkyBuds+ adds more) and Ted more than 60, and Ted&Co says it keeps no voice recordings or full transcripts in its cloud, while SkyBuds keeps transcripts for 12 months so the SkyBud remembers your child and you can read every chat.
One disclosure up front: we make SkyBuds. Every fact about Ted below links the Ted&Co page it comes from.
Checked 2026-10-28. Every fact about Ted 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 | Ted |
|---|---|---|
| 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 talking teddy bear. Your child presses the button to talk, or you turn on auto-listen in the parent app. (Ted&Co FAQ) |
| Price | $139 each (Ash, Pearl or Sprout). US shipping is free on orders over $190; otherwise it is calculated at checkout. (SkyBuds cost guide) | €129 on tedco.ai, shown as a back-to-school price, marked down from €169 (the site showed euro prices when we checked). (tedco.ai) |
| 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) | From age 3. (Ted&Co FAQ) |
| 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) | None: Ted&Co says normal use is included with the purchase, with no monthly fees. (Ted&Co FAQ) |
| Screen | No screen. No camera. No ads. (SkyBuds FAQ) | No screen. No camera. (tedco.ai, Ted&Co FAQ) |
| 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) | Ted&Co says it does not store raw audio recordings or full conversation transcripts in its cloud. Some summaries or recent messages are kept on the parent's phone, and operational device data is kept in the cloud for up to 7 days. (Ted&Co privacy policy) |
| Languages | Speaks more than 75 languages. Just ask it to speak the language you want. The optional SkyBuds+ adds more languages. (SkyBuds FAQ) | More than 60. (Ted&Co FAQ) |
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 Ted whose AI model answers your child and where the audio goes.
Who should pick which
Ted: Pick Ted if you want to choose between push-to-talk and auto-listen in the app, or you would rather no conversation transcripts are kept in the company's cloud. Ted&Co is a French company and showed its prices in euros when we checked.
SkyBuds: Pick SkyBuds if you want to read every chat (a short summary and the full transcript) in the parent app, want a plush that remembers your child between chats, or want the widest language choice: more than 75 languages, and the optional SkyBuds+ adds more. There are three characters, Ash the dragon, Pearl the unicorn and Sprout the bear, for ages 3 to 10.
Questions parents ask
Which speaks more languages, Ted or SkyBuds?
SkyBuds speaks more than 75 languages, and the optional SkyBuds+ adds more languages. Ted&Co says Ted understands and replies in more than 60.
Do Ted or SkyBuds need a subscription?
No. Ted&Co says normal use of Ted has no monthly fees. With SkyBuds, talking and stories stay free for life; SkyBuds+ is optional and adds smart parent insights, unlimited personalized stories and more languages, with the first month free, then $9.99/month.
What do Ted and SkyBuds keep from my child's conversations?
Ted&Co says it does not store raw audio recordings or full conversation transcripts in its cloud. SkyBuds keeps conversation transcripts for 12 months so the SkyBud remembers and you can read every chat, and keeps some voice recordings, labelled with random codes instead of names, for up to 24 months unless you turn that off in the app. You can delete your account and all of your child's data anytime.
What ages are Ted and SkyBuds for?
Ted&Co says Ted is designed for children from age 3. SkyBuds is made for ages 3 to 10.
Sources
About Ted (made by Ted&Co), checked 2026-10-28:
- Ted&Co FAQ: https://tedco.ai/pages/faq
- tedco.ai: https://tedco.ai/
- Ted&Co privacy policy: https://tedco.ai/policies/privacy-policy
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.