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

From opening a browser to having a fully configured AI companion takes under five minutes. The platform runs entirely at secrets.ai — nothing to download, no app store required — and the free account comes with 200 Moments and access to the full character library the moment you confirm your email.

This guide walks through every step in order, with spending advice for new users who want to make the most of those starting credits.

Step 1 — Create Your Account

Open any browser and go to secrets.ai. Click the sign-up button and enter an email address and password. No real name is required. No phone number verification is needed. The entire process completes in under 60 seconds.

Once your account is active, 200 Moments are credited immediately and the full character library is available without any payment. These starting Moments are a one-time grant — they don't refresh monthly unless you upgrade to a paid tier. A note on how to spend them wisely is in Step 5.

Step 2 — Choose or Build Your First Character

The character library contains approximately 94 pre-built companions. Most are hyper-realistic female characters with a range of visual styles; some anime-style options are also available. Browse the library and click any character to see their profile — name, backstory, and personality overview — before starting.

If none of the preset characters fit what you're looking for, you can create a custom one. The first custom character is free to create (subsequent characters cost 1,000-1,500 Moments). Customization covers:

• Appearance: ethnicity (9 options), body type (6 options), hair color and style, eye color, skin tone
• Voice: 6 voice options that affect both chat tone and voice call behavior
• Personality: sliders or presets for confidence, playfulness, dominance, and intelligence
• Background: profession (5 preset categories), hobbies, and a free-text field for anything specific

The free-text field is worth taking seriously. Companions configured with specific details respond more distinctively than those left at defaults. If there's a particular dynamic you want, define it here.

Step 3 — Start Your First Conversation

Every character page opens directly into the chat interface. The platform provides conversation starters — a mix of casual openers and more suggestive ones — but you're not required to use them. Start however feels natural.

The AI asks follow-up questions and responds to emotional cues rather than treating messages as isolated queries. Set the tone early: the AI adapts to the register you establish in the first few exchanges. A casual, conversational opener leads to a different dynamic than a direct, scenario-driven one.

Free tier users get 20 messages per 24-hour period with a 500-character limit per message. Text messages cost 1-2 Moments each, so your initial 200 Moments won't deplete through text alone. Save the Moments budget for media features.

For a deeper look at what chat quality to expect and how NSFW content works, the chat guide covers it in full.

Step 4 — Explore Media Features

Generate Images

Tap the image generation option within the chat interface to create a static image of your companion. Four images are automatically generated when you first create a custom character. Additional images cost 25-50 Moments each depending on the generation model used.

Two generation models are available on paid tiers — a standard model and an advanced model. The advanced model produces higher-quality, more realistic outputs. If you're evaluating image quality, test both before committing to a plan upgrade.

Create a Video Clip

Select an existing companion image, add a text prompt describing the action or movement you want, and submit. Generation takes approximately 2 minutes. Short 3-second clips cost around 50 Moments; longer clips can cost up to 600 Moments each.

Video generation is not available on the free tier — it requires Lite plan or above. Given the Moments cost, test with a short clip first before spending on longer ones. The full breakdown of video costs and quality is in the video generator guide.

Try a Voice Call

Six voice options are available, and the quality is rated 4.3 out of 5 by reviewers. Voice calls cost 100 Moments per minute — a meaningful rate, so the starting 200 Moments allows roughly 2 minutes of voice interaction. Voice calling is best saved for after you've chosen a plan with a monthly Moments allocation.

Step 5 — Manage Your Moments Budget

The Moments system is where new users most often run into friction. Here's the cost structure clearly stated:

• Text message: 1-2 Moments
• Image generation: 25-50 Moments
• Short video (3 seconds): ~50 Moments
• Full-length video clip: up to 600 Moments
• Voice call: 100 Moments per minute
• Manual memory save: 10 Moments
• New character creation: 1,000-1,500 Moments (first is free)

With 200 starting Moments, you can generate 4-8 images, or try about 90 seconds of voice, or a few short video clips — not all three. Prioritize based on what feature you actually want to evaluate.

When starting Moments run out, you can either upgrade to a paid plan (which includes a monthly Moments allocation) or purchase top-up bundles ranging from 1,980 Moments ($5.99) to 118,800 Moments ($249.99). Monthly allocations reset each billing cycle — unused Moments do not carry over indefinitely.

For most users, the Plus plan at $9.99/month is the starting sweet spot: unlimited messaging, 3,000 Moments per month, and full access to image and video generation. For a detailed comparison of what each tier includes, see the pricing breakdown or the free vs premium comparison.

Step 6 — Enable Privacy Features

Private Mode applies end-to-end encryption to a specific conversation. It also prevents that conversation from being used for AI training data. This is not a global setting — it must be enabled per conversation.

To enable it: open the conversation settings (usually an icon or toggle within the chat interface) and turn on Private Mode. Once enabled, the conversation is encrypted and excluded from training.

The billing descriptor used by Secret Labs Inc. is "Sun Clinical Laboratories" — this is what appears on bank statements and credit card records. No reference to AI, girlfriend, or adult content appears in billing. If discretion matters to you, cryptocurrency payments (minimum $20 transaction) are also accepted.

Tips That Make a Difference Early On

Starting with the free tier is the right approach — use the 200 Moments and 20 daily messages to evaluate whether the conversation quality and character design meet your expectations before committing to a paid plan.

Don't spend all 200 starting Moments on a single video. A full-length video at 600 Moments would exceed the entire starting budget. Instead, use starting Moments on a few image generations to evaluate quality, then spend remaining credits on text conversation to assess how the AI responds.

The AI remembers significantly more on paid tiers. On the free plan, memory resets after 2-3 exchanges — there is no continuity between sessions. This is the most noticeable quality difference between free and paid, and it's worth keeping in mind when evaluating the experience.

Add secrets.ai to your phone's home screen for an app-like experience. The process is simple on both iOS (Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen) and Android (Chrome → Menu → Add to Home Screen). The result launches the site in full-screen mode without browser navigation bars.

Common Issues and What Causes Them

Messages aren't sending

The most common cause is hitting the daily 20-message cap on the free tier. The counter resets every 24 hours. Upgrading to Lite or above removes this as a limiting factor — Lite allows 100 messages per day; Plus and above are unlimited.

The AI seems to forget previous conversations

This is expected behavior on the free tier and Lite plan. Free tier memory covers only the last 2-3 exchanges with no cross-session recall. Lite extends this but remains limited. Plus and above offer meaningful long-term memory. If relationship continuity matters to you, the free tier is not representative of the paid experience.

Responses are slow

Response delays during peak usage hours (primarily evenings in US time zones) are documented user feedback. If performance is slower than expected, trying during off-peak hours typically resolves it. This is not a billing tier issue — it affects all accounts during high-traffic periods.

Video generation isn't available

Video requires the Lite plan or above. Free accounts do not have access to video generation regardless of Moments balance. Once on a paid tier, video access is available as long as sufficient Moments are in the account.

Forgot password

The login page at secrets.ai has an email-based password reset option. The reset email is usually delivered within a few minutes. Check spam folders if it doesn't appear in the main inbox.

Frequently Asked Questions