How to Use OurDream AI: Complete Beginner's Guide

⚠️ OurDream AI is an 18+ adult AI companion platform. If you're new to AI companion platforms, read our responsible use guide before diving in.

OurDream AI has over 10 million users and 36 million monthly visits — yet the platform's full feature set takes time to discover. Most users spend their first few sessions using 20% of what's available. This guide covers everything from first login to advanced features like lorebooks and group chats, in the order that makes most practical sense.

Step 1: Create Your Account

1. Visit the OurDream AI website or download the app (iOS App Store or Google Play)
2. Click Sign Up and choose email registration or Google sign-in
3. Verify your email address via the confirmation link
4. Set a strong, unique password — the platform has no two-factor authentication (2FA), making password strength your primary security layer
5. Complete the age verification step (18+ required)
6. Your account is created with 55 DreamCoins credited automatically as a welcome bonus

The free plan gives you 50 messages per day, 5 free image generations daily, and 3-day memory retention. Premium plans start at $9.99/month (annual billing) and expand all limits significantly.

Step 2: Choose or Build a Character

You have two paths from the start:

Browse the Community Library

With over 7 million characters available, the community library covers virtually every personality archetype. Use the search filters to narrow by:

• Personality type (romantic, intellectual, adventurous, mysterious)
• Content rating (SFW for all users, NSFW for paid subscribers)
• Popularity ranking (more interactions typically means better-calibrated character behavior)
• Language preference

Higher-rated community characters with detailed tags produce more consistent, engaging conversations than newly created characters with minimal setup.

Create a Custom Character

Custom creation offers 28 configurable parameters across appearance, personality, backstory, and voice. The more detail you invest at setup, the more coherent your character's behavior will be across long conversations.

Key fields that matter most:

• Personality traits: define 3–5 core traits specifically (not just "kind" but "prioritizes others' comfort to the point of self-sacrifice")
• Communication style: formal, casual, poetic, direct — this shapes every response
• Backstory: give the character history, motivations, and relationships
• Voice profile: choose from 19 available voice profiles for audio interactions

Step 3: Start Chatting

Once you select a character, the chat interface opens. A few practices that improve conversation quality from the first message:

• Set context early: introduce yourself and establish the scenario in your first 2–3 messages
• Be specific: detailed messages produce more relevant responses than vague ones
• Stay consistent: the character's behavior is most coherent when conversation topics are connected
• Use the edit function: if the character breaks character or responds incorrectly, use the edit/regenerate button rather than trying to correct it through the conversation

The free plan limits you to 50 messages per day. Premium users get unlimited messages with a 400+ message history backed by 30-day memory retention.

Step 4: Using DreamCoins for Images, Video, and Voice

DreamCoins are the platform's virtual currency. Here's what each feature costs:

Feature	Cost	Notes
Image generation	10 coins	Per image request
Voice message (received)	5–10 coins	Character speaks in audio
Real-time voice chat	50 coins/min	Billed by minute of active conversation
Short video (15–30 sec)	100–150 coins	Standard video generation
Live Action video (up to 120 sec)	200–300 coins	Available since February 2026

Practical advice for videos: The video generation failure rate is approximately 40%. When a video fails, coins are usually returned automatically — but monitor your balance and contact support if a refund doesn't appear within 24 hours.

To get more DreamCoins without paying, see the DreamCoins guide.

Step 5: Enable Memory and Set Up Lorebooks

Memory System

Memory works automatically on paid plans. The platform stores the last 400+ messages across a 30-day window. Your character will remember your name, preferences, and conversation history within that window.

To manage memory:

1. Open the character's profile
2. Go to Memory settings
3. Review entries, edit incorrect information, or delete specific memories

On the free plan, memory lasts only 3 days — limiting the depth of any ongoing character relationship.

Lorebooks

Lorebooks are persistent context documents that give your character consistent world knowledge beyond the standard memory window. Create entries with trigger keys that load relevant context when those keywords appear in conversation.

Example lorebook entry:

• Key: "the Archive"
• Value: "A vast underground library where [character] spent years before the events of the story. Contains forbidden texts and is guarded by a secret order."

When you mention "the Archive" in chat, that context loads automatically and shapes the character's response. Lorebooks are the most powerful way to build coherent, long-running narrative roleplay.

Step 6: Group Chat

Group chat lets you run multiple AI characters simultaneously in a single conversation thread — a feature not commonly available on competing platforms like Character.AI.

To start a group:

1. Select Group Chat from the main navigation
2. Add 2 to 5 characters
3. Set a group name and optional scenario description
4. Begin the conversation

Group chats work best with characters that have contrasting personalities. The AI manages turn-taking, but you can direct your message to a specific character by addressing them by name. Message consumption is standard — one message per response cycle across all characters.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Starting a video without checking your coin balance — video failures are common and the refund process requires support contact
• Not canceling before downgrading — if you upgrade then decide to change plans, cancel the current subscription before subscribing to a different tier
• Ignoring lorebooks — users who skip lorebook setup report much less satisfying long-term interactions
• Using one-line messages — the model produces proportionally richer responses to detailed, contextual input

For a complete breakdown of what each paid plan includes, see our analysis of OurDream AI pricing.