How to Use Secrets AI: Complete Beginner's Guide (2026)

New accounts on Secrets AI start with 200 Moments and access to the entire character library — enough to test the platform's conversation quality, explore a character or two, and generate a handful of images before needing to upgrade. Getting there takes under 60 seconds. This guide walks through every step from account creation to advanced tips, so you don't waste your starting Moments on the wrong things.

No app download is required. Everything runs through your browser at secrets.ai.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Open any browser on any device and go to secrets.ai. Click the sign-up button.

You need:

• An email address
• A password

That's it. No real name required, no phone number, no social media login. Anonymous account creation is explicitly supported. Signing up takes under 60 seconds, and you receive 200 Moments immediately upon account activation.

Your free account also gives you:

• 20 messages per day
• Full character library access (browse and chat)
• 500-character maximum per message
• Basic short-term memory (last 2-3 exchanges)

Note that free memory only covers the last few exchanges — the AI will not remember earlier parts of the conversation once it exceeds that window. If memory continuity matters to you, upgrading to at least Plus ($9.99/mo) will be necessary for a meaningful experience.

Step 2: Choose or Create Your First Character

After account creation, you land on the character library. Two paths are available:

Path A: Browse the pre-built library. Approximately 94 hyper-realistic characters are available, organized by type (realistic, anime, fantasy). Click any character to start a conversation immediately. This is the fastest way to start.

Path B: Create a custom character. Your first custom character is free. The creation flow offers:

• Ethnicity (9 options)
• Body type (6 options)
• Skin tone, eye color, hairstyle
• Voice (6 options)
• Personality traits: confidence, playfulness, dominance, intelligence
• Profession (5 presets)
• Personality trait presets (5 options)
• Hobbies and free-text detail field

Time investment: approximately 3-5 minutes for a detailed custom character. Four images are automatically generated after character creation. Additional characters beyond the first cost 1,000-1,500 Moments each.

Recommendation for new users: Browse the pre-built library first. Spend your starting Moments on testing chat and image quality before committing to a custom character creation.

Step 3: Your First Conversation

When you open a character, the chat interface displays conversation starters — a mix of casual and suggestive prompts. Use one as a starting point or type your own opener.

A few things to know about how the AI behaves:

• It responds naturally and asks follow-up questions rather than providing one-directional answers
• It adapts to your tone — casual input gets casual responses, more serious input gets more engaged responses
• Setting the relationship dynamic early helps: the AI picks up on how you position the relationship from the first few messages
• Specificity improves quality: "tell me about a day when something went unexpectedly well" generates more interesting output than "tell me about your day"

Free users have 20 messages per day. Plan accordingly — spending 10 messages on short back-and-forth exchanges leaves less room for extended conversations. Longer, more detailed messages tend to produce more satisfying responses within the same message count.

The chat guide explains the conversation system in more depth, including NSFW capabilities and roleplay options.

Step 4: Explore Media Features

Generate Images

Image generation is available on all paid tiers. For free users, the 200 starting Moments can be used for images.

• Cost: 25-50 Moments per image
• Tap the image generation option within the chat
• 4 presets provide style starting points
• Group image generation (multiple characters) is supported on higher tiers
• Quality is good but occasionally produces hand glitches — a common limitation in AI image generation

Budget advice: Generate 1-2 test images at 25-50 Moments each before committing to a custom character, to gauge image quality before spending 1,000-1,500 Moments on character creation.

Create Videos

Video generation requires a Lite plan or above — it is not available on the free tier. Process:

1. Select an existing companion image or generate a new one
2. Add a text prompt describing the desired motion or action
3. Wait approximately 2 minutes for the AI to process
4. View and save the completed clip

Short 3-second clips cost around 50 Moments. Longer clips can reach 600 Moments each. Starting with short clips is the right approach — test quality before spending on longer generations. See the video generator page for detailed cost math.

Try Voice Calls

Six voice options are available per character. Voice calls cost 100 Moments per minute. The quality is rated 4.3/5 — natural and adaptable.

Budget reality: 100 Moments per minute means your Plus allocation of 3,000 Moments supports 30 minutes of voice, or about 1 minute per day across a month if spread evenly.

Step 5: Manage Your Moments Balance

Moments management is the skill that separates satisfied users from frustrated ones on this platform.

Track your balance in account settings. Video is the fastest Moments drain — if you want to generate video regularly, Plus (3,000 Moments) supports 5-60 videos per month depending on clip length. If video is a priority, Premium (8,000 Moments) is more realistic.

Additional Moments can be purchased separately: 1,980 Moments for $5.99 up to 118,800 Moments for $249.99. Bulk purchases offer up to 30.4% discount. For the plan and pricing details, the pricing page has the full breakdown.

Step 6: Enable Privacy Features

Private Mode applies end-to-end encryption to a conversation and opts it out of AI training data collection. Enable it at the start of any conversation you want protected.

Two things to know:

• Private Mode must be enabled per conversation — it is not a global setting
• It is not retroactive — conversations already in progress without it are not covered

Billing appears on statements as "Sun Clinical Laboratories" — no AI or adult content reference. Cryptocurrency payment is available (minimum $20 transaction) for maximum payment privacy.

Tips for New Users

Advice based on what most new users get wrong:

• Don't spend your 200 starting Moments all on video. You can't generate video on the free tier anyway — use starting Moments to test image quality (25-50 per image) and basic chat.
• Create a detailed character profile. The more specific the free-text personality field, the more consistent and interesting the AI's voice becomes. Vague profiles produce generic responses.
• Free memory is essentially no memory. If you find the AI seems forgetful after a few messages, that's working as designed on free. Upgrading to Plus ($9.99) is the minimum for actual memory continuity.
• The Plus tier is the practical sweet spot. Unlimited messaging + 3,000 Moments + 30-day memory covers most use cases without the Premium price.
• Add secrets.ai to your home screen for an app-like shortcut if you're on mobile — use the browser's "Add to Home Screen" option.

For the comparison of which plan to pick, that page runs through the exact feature differences with honest guidance on when each tier is justified.

Common Issues and Solutions

Messages Not Sending

Check your daily message limit first (free accounts hit 20/day). If you've hit the cap, wait for the 24-hour reset or upgrade to a paid plan. If you haven't hit the cap, a browser refresh usually resolves connection issues.

AI Seems Forgetful

On free accounts, memory covers only the last 2-3 exchanges. This is working as designed. Upgrading to Plus provides ~30-day memory; Premium provides unlimited. If the AI forgets something within the current conversation session, use manual memory save (10 Moments per item) to explicitly lock in important details.

Slow Response Times

Peak hours (evenings in US time zones) produce the most noticeable slowdowns. Response time generally improves during off-peak hours. This is a platform load issue, not a settings problem.

Cannot Generate Video

Video generation requires Lite plan or above — the free tier does not include video access. If you're on a paid plan and encountering issues, check that your Moments balance is sufficient (minimum ~50 for a short clip).

Forgot Password

Use the email-based password reset on the login page. Sessions in active browsers typically persist without re-login, so this primarily comes up when accessing from a new device.

FAQ