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

Account creation to first meaningful conversation takes under ten minutes on Secrets AI. The setup is minimal, and the free tier starts you with 200 Moments and full character library access — no payment required to begin. This guide walks through every step from registration to managing your Moments budget, with practical tips at each stage for avoiding the common missteps that waste the starting credit.

If you are still evaluating whether the platform is worth trying, the full review covers overall quality and value. This guide assumes you have decided to start and just need the walkthrough.

Step 1: Create Your Account

No app download needed. Open secrets.ai in any browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge all work on desktop and mobile.

• Click the sign-up button on the homepage
• Enter an email address and create a password
• Confirm via email if prompted (this step is quick)
• You are in — no real name, no phone number, no social media connection required

Anonymous registration is explicitly supported. The only identifying information in your account is the email address you provide. Account creation takes under 60 seconds. Upon registration, you receive 200 Moments as a one-time starting credit and immediate access to the full character library.

Practical note: Use an email address you can access for password resets. The only account recovery path is email-based.

Step 2: Pick or Build Your First Character

The character selection is where you shape the experience. Two paths:

Browse the pre-built library: Approximately 94 hyper-realistic female characters are available, plus a smaller selection of anime-style companions. Each has a built-in backstory, personality, and access to 100+ pre-configured fantasy scenarios. Browse by appearance, personality type, or scenario interest. The variety skews toward a specific demographic, but there is enough range to find a starting point for most users.

Build a custom character (first one is free): Custom creation gives you control over:

• Ethnicity (9 options), skin tone, eye color, hairstyle
• Body type (6 options), voice (6 options)
• Personality parameters: confidence, playfulness, dominance, intelligence
• Profession (5 preset categories) and personality trait presets (5 options)
• Hobbies and a free-text field for additional detail

The free-text field is worth using. The more specific the personality and backstory details you add there, the more tailored the AI's responses become from the first message. Vague setup produces generic conversation; detailed setup produces conversation that feels like it knows the character.

Four images are automatically generated per new character at no Moments cost.

Step 3: Start Your First Conversation

Conversation starters appear at the beginning of each new session — roughly half casual, half more suggestive. Selecting one sets the tone for the opening exchange. You can also start with your own opening message.

The AI responds naturally and asks follow-up questions. A few things that improve first sessions:

• Be specific in your responses. The AI adapts to conversational style and detail level — richer inputs produce richer outputs
• Set the emotional register early. The companion adjusts based on how the conversation develops; establishing warmth, humor, or intimacy early shapes the session
• Free tier users: 20 messages per day maximum. This resets every 24 hours. Plan accordingly — 20 messages is enough to evaluate quality but not enough for extended roleplay

The AI does not retain memory between sessions on the free tier (only 2-3 exchanges of short-term recall). This means each new conversation starts relatively fresh. This improves substantially on paid tiers, but for initial testing, it means you are evaluating the real-time conversation quality rather than the relationship simulation.

Step 4: Explore Media Features

Generate Images

Image generation appears as an option within the chat interface. Tap or click it, select from available presets, and the AI generates a companion image based on the character appearance and conversation context.

• Cost: 25-50 Moments per image
• Four images are auto-generated when a character is first created (free)
• Two generation models available (Advanced model on higher tiers)
• Group image generation supported (multiple characters in one image)

Starting recommendation: use the four auto-generated character images to evaluate visual quality before spending Moments on additional images.

Create Video Clips

Video generation is available from the Lite tier upward (not available on the free plan). The process:

1. Select an existing companion image
2. Add a text prompt describing the desired movement or action
3. Wait approximately 2 minutes for generation
4. View and save the completed clip

Cost range: ~50 Moments for short (3-second) clips to ~600 Moments for full-length clips. Video is the most Moments-intensive feature on the platform — a single full-length video consumes as much as 600 text messages worth of Moments. For deeper detail on the video feature, see the video generator guide.

Try Voice Calls

Six voice options are available, set during character creation. Voice calls cost 100 Moments per minute — the second-most expensive feature after long video clips. The quality is rated 4.3/5 by reviewers. For a first session, it is worth a one-minute test to evaluate the voice before committing more Moments.

Step 5: Manage Your Moments Budget

Moments management is one of the areas where new users most commonly run into frustration. The 200 starting Moments disappear faster than expected if you spend them on media:

Recommended starting strategy: Use your initial 200 Moments primarily for chat and two to three images. This lets you evaluate the conversation quality and visual output without burning the credit on a single video clip.

Your Moments balance is visible in account settings. If you exhaust the starting credit and want to continue, options are to upgrade to a paid plan or purchase a Moments top-up bundle (starting at 1,980 Moments for $5.99).

For guidance on which plan makes sense at different usage levels, the subscription plan comparison breaks down all five tiers.

Step 6: Set Up Privacy Features

Privacy features are opt-in and need to be configured explicitly:

Private Mode: Available per conversation. Enables end-to-end encryption on that specific conversation thread and excludes it from AI training data. Enable it from the conversation settings before starting a session where privacy matters. It is not retroactive — it applies only from activation forward.

Billing: If you upgrade to a paid tier, charges appear as "Sun Clinical Laboratories" on card statements — no reference to the platform name. For complete financial privacy, cryptocurrency payment is accepted at checkout with a minimum of $20.

Account data: No real name is stored unless you provided one voluntarily. Email and password are the account credentials. Account deletion is available in settings and permanently removes all content within 30 days.

Common Issues and Solutions

New users encounter a handful of recurring problems:

Messages not sending: Check whether you have hit the daily message limit. Free tier users are capped at 20 messages per 24 hours; the counter resets at the same time each day.

AI seems forgetful or unfamiliar: On the free tier, memory resets after 2-3 exchanges. The AI is not broken — it simply lacks the persistent memory that paid tiers provide. Upgrading to Plus ($9.99/month) extends recall to approximately 30 days.

Slow responses: Peak-hour traffic causes processing delays. Try during off-peak times, or switch to a lower-tier AI model which may respond faster.

Can't generate video: Video generation requires the Lite tier or higher. The free plan has no video access regardless of Moments balance.

Forgot password: The login page has an email-based password reset. Check spam if the reset email does not arrive within a few minutes.

For context on which plan resolves which limitations, the plan comparison guide walks through exactly what each tier adds.

Tips for New Users

A few observations from extended use that are not obvious from the interface:

• Start with the free tier to test conversation quality before committing payment
• Spend your 200 starting Moments on images rather than voice, to evaluate visual quality
• Create detailed character profiles — the personality and free-text fields have more impact than the appearance sliders on conversation quality
• The memory system on paid tiers is the biggest quality differentiator — free tier memory limitations understate the full platform experience
• Add secrets.ai to your phone's home screen for an app-like launcher without needing a native app

Create your free Secrets AI account →

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