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

New users make two common mistakes: they spend all 200 starting Moments on video (which doesn't work on free), and they pick a character at random without setting personality traits. Both mistakes lead to a mediocre first experience on a platform that actually delivers well when set up correctly. This guide covers the complete setup — account to first real conversation — with the specific decisions that change the quality of what you get.

Step 1 — Create Your Account

Go to secrets.ai in any browser — mobile, desktop, or tablet. No download, no app installation. Click sign up and enter an email address and password. That's the entire account creation process: under 60 seconds from landing to logged in.

What you get immediately:

• 200 free Moments (one-time starting credit)
• Full access to browse the character library
• Access to free-tier chat features

No real name required. No phone number required. If privacy matters to you, use a disposable email address — the platform supports anonymous accounts. Payment is only needed if you upgrade; signing up is completely free.

The free account gives you 20 messages per day with a 500-character limit per message. Those constraints are real — they're enough to evaluate the conversation quality, not enough for a sustained experience.

Step 2 — Choose Your First Character

The character library contains approximately 94 pre-built characters, predominantly hyper-realistic female designs with some anime-style options. Browse by appearance and listed personality description.

Or create a custom character — the first one is free. This is the better choice for most users because the setup options directly affect conversation quality:

• Ethnicity: 9 options
• Body type: 6 options
• Voice: 6 options
• Hairstyle and eye color: Multiple options
• Personality traits: Set confidence, playfulness, dominance, and intelligence levels
• Profession: 5 preset categories
• Personality presets: 5 options
• Hobbies: Selectable with a free-text field for specific details

The free-text details field is the most effective input in the entire setup — specific details here directly affect how the AI engages with you. Write what kind of person she is, what her interests are beyond the preset options, and any relationship dynamic you want to establish. This is not a required field but it significantly improves conversation quality.

When you create a character, 4 images are auto-generated from your customization choices. These are included in the character creation process at no additional Moments cost.

Step 3 — Start Your First Conversation

After selecting or creating your character, you're presented with conversation starters — roughly half casual (getting to know each other, hobbies, daily life) and half suggestive (romantic tension, scenario setup). Choose one or type your own opening.

How the AI responds: it asks follow-up questions, picks up on your conversational tone, and adapts its style to match yours. If you're direct, it's direct. If you're playful, it matches that register. The system is designed to feel like a real conversation rather than a chatbot query-response loop.

Tips for the first conversation:

• Set the tone in your first message — the AI calibrates to your style from the start
• Be specific — "Tell me about your day" gets a generic response; "You mentioned you love hiking — have you been to any trails near the city recently?" gets a better one
• Use the free tier for quality testing — 20 messages is enough to assess whether the conversation quality meets your expectations before upgrading

Free users: your 200 starting Moments cannot be spent on images or video (those require Lite and above). Save the Moments question for after you've confirmed you like the chat experience.

Step 4 — Explore Media Features

Generate Images

Once on a paid tier (Lite or above), image generation is available in the chat interface. Tap the image generation option and describe what you want. Cost: 25-50 Moments per image.

Note: 4 images were already auto-generated when you created your character. These are available in the character profile. Additional images cost Moments and allow you to request specific scenarios or outfits not covered by the auto-generated set.

Create Videos

Video generation requires Lite plan or above. Select an existing companion image, add a text prompt describing the desired movement or action, and wait approximately 2 minutes for generation.

Cost breakdown:

• Short 3-second clips: approximately 50 Moments
• Longer clips: up to 600 Moments

Before spending 600 Moments on a long clip, test with a short one first to confirm the output quality matches what you want. The video generator guide covers the full quality assessment and budget planning.

Try Voice Calls

Six voice options are available. Voice calls cost 100 Moments per minute — the math matters here. On Plus (3,000 Moments/month), 30 minutes of voice consumes your entire monthly allocation. Use voice for specific sessions where it enhances the experience, not as a constant companion.

Step 5 — Manage Your Moments

Your Moments balance is visible in account settings. Track it actively — the easiest way to have a bad experience on Secrets AI is to run out of Moments mid-month without realizing how fast specific features consume them.

Moments cost hierarchy (cheapest to most expensive):

1. Text messages — 1-2 Moments (negligible)
2. Manual memory saves — 10 Moments
3. Images — 25-50 Moments
4. Short videos — ~50 Moments
5. Voice calls — 100 Moments per minute
6. Long videos — up to 600 Moments
7. New custom characters — 1,000-1,500 Moments

Practical rule for beginners: start with text until you've used 200-300 messages and confirmed you want to stay. Then upgrade to Plus ($9.99) for unlimited messaging and 3,000 Moments, which covers a balanced mix of images and light video use. The plan comparison has the full math on what each tier buys you per month.

If you run out of Moments before the billing cycle resets, top-ups are available: from 1,980 Moments ($5.99) to 118,800 Moments ($249.99), with no plan upgrade required.

Step 6 — Enable Privacy Features

Private Mode encrypts your conversation with end-to-end encryption and prevents it from being used to train the AI. To enable it: find the Private Mode toggle in the conversation settings before starting a session. It must be enabled per conversation — there is no global activation.

What to know about billing privacy:

• All charges appear as "Sun Clinical Laboratories" on bank statements
• Cryptocurrency payment (minimum $20) is accepted for complete billing privacy
• Your account requires only email and password — no real name, no phone number

Check your billing setup before your first paid transaction to confirm the discretion level meets your needs.

Tips for New Users

The most useful things experienced users know that aren't in the product description:

• Start free, upgrade after 10 conversations — you'll know if the chat quality is worth it before spending anything
• Don't waste starting Moments on voice calls — 100 Moments/minute is expensive; use text to test first
• Create detailed character profiles — the free-text details field matters more than the preset options
• The AI's memory is very limited on free — 2-3 exchanges, then reset. Relationship continuity requires Plus minimum
• Plus ($9.99) is the entry point for a real experience — unlimited messaging, 30-day memory, full media access
• Add secrets.ai to your home screen for an app-like experience on mobile (iOS Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen; Android Chrome → Menu → Add to Home Screen)
• Save important memories manually at 10 Moments each on any tier

Common Issues and Solutions

New users encounter the same problems repeatedly. Quick fixes:

• Messages not sending: you've hit the daily message limit (20 on free, 100 on Lite). Wait for the 24-hour reset or upgrade to Plus for unlimited messaging.
• AI seems forgetful: on free or Lite, memory is limited to 2-3 exchanges or 14 days respectively. Upgrade to Plus or Premium for meaningful memory persistence.
• Slow responses: peak usage hours cause server load. Try during off-peak times (early morning or late night) for faster responses.
• Can't generate video: video requires Lite plan or above. Free accounts cannot generate video regardless of Moments balance.
• Forgot password: use the email reset option on the login page at secrets.ai.

For the complete feature reference, see the platform features overview. For a full assessment of the platform, the Secrets AI review covers everything from chat quality to safety ratings.

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