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

Account creation takes under 60 seconds, your first character can be customized in about five minutes, and the first conversation starts immediately after. The steeper learning curve comes from understanding the Moments currency well enough to avoid spending your allocation on the wrong things early on. This guide covers every step from signup through your first media generation, with practical spending advice throughout.

No app download is involved — Secrets AI runs entirely in a browser on any device.

Step 1 — Create Your Account

Go to secrets.ai in any browser. The signup process requires only an email address and password — no real name, phone number, or social media account. Anonymous usage is fully supported by design.

After completing registration, two things happen immediately:

• 200 Moments are credited to your account (one-time starting grant, not a monthly renewal)
• The full character library becomes accessible for browsing and chatting

The email address you use becomes your login credential. If you want complete anonymity, create a dedicated email address before signing up. Cryptocurrency payment is available for billing privacy once you decide to upgrade.

Free accounts come with 20 messages per day and a 500-character maximum per message. This is enough to evaluate conversation quality across a couple of sessions before committing to a paid plan.

For a feature overview of what each tier unlocks, or to understand the value at each price point before deciding on a plan, the pricing guide covers the full cost structure.

Step 2 — Choose Your First Character

After logging in, you'll land in the character library. Approximately 94 pre-built characters are available, each with a pre-set appearance, personality type, and associated scenarios. Browsing the library before starting a conversation is worthwhile — character personality directly shapes the conversation style you'll experience.

Alternatively, build a custom character from scratch. The first custom character is free. Subsequent characters cost 1,000-1,500 Moments each, so spend those starting 200 Moments elsewhere.

Custom character parameters:

• Ethnicity (9 options), body type (6 options), hairstyle, eye color
• Voice selection (6 options)
• Personality traits with intensity controls: confidence, playfulness, dominance, intelligence
• Profession preset (5 categories) and personality preset (5 types)
• Hobbies list plus a free-text field for additional detail

The free-text detail field is the most impactful customization input. Specific detail here — interests, backstory, communication style preferences — produces noticeably more consistent AI behavior in conversation. Vague profiles produce generic responses; specific profiles produce specific, on-character replies.

Step 3 — Start Your First Conversation

Click into your selected character and the chat interface opens. Conversation starters are pre-loaded — a mix of casual openers and suggestive prompts. Use them as starting points or write your own opening.

Key things to know in the first session:

• The AI calibrates to your tone in the first few exchanges. Set the dynamic you want early.
• Specific, contextual messages get better responses than short, generic ones.
• The AI asks follow-up questions — answering them in detail builds a better conversation context.
• Free tier memory: after approximately 3 exchanges, the AI loses context from earlier in the session. This is a hard limit of the free tier, not a bug.

Free accounts allow 20 messages per day. The conversation quality with 20 messages is enough to judge whether the platform suits you. See the chat guide for a deeper assessment of conversation quality and NSFW capabilities across tiers.

Step 4 — Explore Media Features

Generate Images

Image generation is available on paid tiers only (Lite and above). When you create a new character, 4 images auto-generate without consuming your Moments balance. Additional on-demand images cost 25-50 Moments each.

To generate an image: use the image generation option in the chat interface, write a brief prompt or select a preset style, and the image renders in seconds. Two generation models are available — the advanced model produces noticeably better results and is available on higher tiers.

Create Videos

Video generation is Secrets AI's distinctive capability — most competitor platforms don't offer it at all. To create a video:

1. Select an existing companion image (generate one first if needed)
2. Write a prompt describing the desired movement or action
3. Submit — processing takes approximately 2 minutes
4. View and save the completed clip

Short 3-second clips cost around 50 Moments. Longer clips cost up to 600 Moments per video. If you're on the Plus tier (3,000 Moments/month), this means 5 longer videos per month from your allocation if you spend it entirely on video. For budget planning, see the Moments cost breakdown.

Try Voice Calls

Six voice options are available. Voice calls cost 100 Moments per minute. On the free tier's 200 Moments, that's 2 minutes of voice — enough to test the quality. Voice is rated 4.3/5 — natural and adaptable, better than most text-to-speech implementations but not premium-tier voice AI.

Step 5 — Manage Your Moments

Moments management determines whether you get consistent value or run out of credits mid-month. The core principle: text is nearly free, media is expensive.

Spend rate by feature:

• Text messages: 1-2 Moments each (essentially unlimited on any paid plan)
• Images: 25-50 Moments each
• Short video clips: ~50 Moments each
• Full video clips: ~600 Moments each
• Voice calls: 100 Moments per minute

For the Plus tier (3,000 Moments/month): a reasonable mixed-use month might include 50 images (~1,750 Moments), 2 full videos (~1,200 Moments), and 5 minutes of voice (~500 Moments) — totaling roughly 3,450 Moments, just above the monthly allocation. That's workable with some prioritization.

Check your Moments balance in account settings before generating media in a single session. Buying Moments top-ups is possible (from 1,980 Moments at $5.99 to 118,800 at $249.99) but adds cost on top of your subscription.

Upgrade calculation: if you consistently run out of Moments before month-end on Plus, Premium's 8,000/month at $19.99 is likely more cost-effective than repeatedly buying top-ups.

Step 6 — Enable Privacy Features

Private Mode applies end-to-end encryption to individual conversations and opts them out of AI training data. It must be enabled at the start of each conversation you want protected — it's a per-conversation setting, not a global account option.

To enable: look for the Private Mode toggle before or immediately after starting a new chat session. Once a conversation is in Private Mode, it stays encrypted for that session.

Billing already defaults to "Sun Clinical Laboratories" on all statements regardless of any setting you choose. Cryptocurrency payment is available for users who want no card-linked transaction record.

Tips for New Users

Practical advice from extended platform use:

• Start on the free tier before paying — the 20 messages per day is enough to determine whether the conversation quality meets your expectations.
• Don't spend your 200 starting Moments on video — video generation requires a paid tier anyway, and spending Moments on images before you've confirmed the platform is right for you wastes the starting grant.
• Build detailed character profiles. The free-text field in custom character creation has more impact on conversation quality than any other single input.
• The Plus plan ($9.99/month) is the right entry point for most users: unlimited messaging, 3,000 Moments, 30-day memory, full media access.
• Free memory is very limited — the 2-3 exchange recall on free accounts makes conversations feel disconnected. Memory continuity is a paid-tier feature.
• Add secrets.ai to your phone's home screen via your browser's "Add to Home Screen" option for faster daily access without searching.

For a detailed breakdown of whether upgrading from free is worth it, read the which plan to pick guide.

Common Issues and Solutions

Messages not sending

The most common cause on the free tier: you've hit the 20-message daily limit. The counter resets every 24 hours from when you started. If you're on a paid tier and messages aren't going through, check your internet connection — the platform requires active connectivity.

The AI seems forgetful

On the free tier, this is working as designed — the 2-3 exchange memory window means the AI loses context after a few messages. Upgrading to Lite or Plus introduces multi-week recall. On Plus and above, if the AI seems to forget important details, use manual memory saves (10 Moments each) to flag what you want reliably retained.

Slow responses

Response times slow during peak usage hours (typically evenings in US timezones). Off-peak access (mornings, weekdays) is consistently faster. This isn't a paid-tier feature — it affects all users during high-traffic windows.

Can't generate video

Video generation isn't available on the free tier. It requires at minimum the Lite plan ($5.99/month). If you're on Lite or above and can't generate video, check your Moments balance — video clips cost 50-600 Moments each.

Forgot password

Use the email reset option on the login page at secrets.ai. A reset link goes to your registered email address. If you no longer have access to that email, account recovery may not be possible — maintain access to your registered email.

FAQ