Photos, videos, and credits

What's free, what uses credits, how to unlock photos and videos, and where to find everything you've unlocked.

Written By Arina

Last updated About 12 hours ago

In short: getting in and chatting are free. You only spend credits on photos, videos, and locked posts you choose to unlock. Tap Unlock, then Confirm, and nothing is charged until you confirm.

What's free and what uses credits

What	Price	Details
Access to The Lounge	Free	For everyone who gets a place
Messages	Free	Chat as much as you like
Greeting photo	Free	The first photo each character sends you
Listening to messages	Free	Play any character message as voice
Your first character	Free	Images included
Character personality	Free	Name, tagline, traits, and first message
Photo in the chat	5 credits	Opens right after you confirm
Video in the chat	25 credits	5-second clip without sound, ready in a few minutes
Locked post on a profile	Shown on the post	Unlock, then Confirm
Images for your 2nd+ character	Shown on the button	Each generate button shows its price

How to unlock

Step 1. Tap Unlock on a blurred photo, video, or locked post.

Step 2. Tap Confirm.

The second step is there on purpose, so an accidental tap never spends your credits.

Tapped Unlock and nothing happened? Check that you also tapped Confirm. That's the step most people miss.

A photo is ready in advance, so it opens right away. A video starts generating after you confirm and usually takes a few minutes, up to about 5.

If a video doesn't come through, the credits go back to your balance automatically.

Where to find what you've unlocked

Private album	Open the character's profile and go to the Private album tab. Everything you've unlocked in your chat with that character is there.
My Generations	Unlocked photos and videos also appear here, alongside everything else you create in ZenCreator.

Removing an item from My Generations only hides it there. It stays in your chat and in the character's album. The exception is a deleted chat: its purchases live only in My Generations, so removing them there deletes them for good.

Your credits

One balance. For now, The Lounge uses the same credit balance as ZenCreator.
No subscription. You only pay for what you unlock.
Running low? The top-up window opens on its own when you need more credits. See How to Top Up Your ZenCreator Balance for all the ways to add credits.

When credits come back automatically

A video fails to generate	Credits return to your balance on their own
You delete a chat with paid content that hadn't arrived yet	Those credits return to your balance

For anything else, our general refund rules apply.

FAQ

My video isn't arriving

Videos take a few minutes to generate, so give it up to 5 minutes. If the video fails, the credits come back to your balance automatically.

Unlock doesn't work

Make sure you tap Confirm after Unlock. If Confirm doesn't appear or the content stays locked, send us a screenshot in the support chat and we'll check it.

I was charged, but the content didn't open

Send us a screenshot in the support chat or at [email protected], and we'll check it for you.

The caption disappeared after I unlocked a photo

The photo is still unlocked and saved in the character's Private album, so you haven't lost anything.

Can I ask for a photo instead of waiting for one?

Yes. Just ask in the chat. Characters decide when to send content as the conversation goes, and a direct request usually works.

Do I need a subscription?

No. The Lounge works on credits only, so you pay just for the photos, videos, and posts you choose to unlock.

Are there special discounts for The Lounge?

There are no Lounge-only discounts. Your credits work the same way across ZenCreator and The Lounge.

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