What’s the Credit System?
Instead of a subscription model, Ashley Madison has opted for a credit system. Men using the platform need to pay for credits to interact with other users. Credits are more affordable the more you buy, and different actions require a different number of credits. It’s a bit complicated because Ashley Madison wants you to spend more money on their platform! Luckily, considering what you can potentially get out of the deal, it can be well worth it.
On one hand, it’s great that you only need to pay for the services you use. On the other hand, it’s still pricey!
Women, though, can do everything on the Ashley Madison platform for free, which is how Ashley Madison maintains such an active user base.
Signing Up: Signing up for Ashley Madison is completely free, and you don’t even have to give your credit card info. You also don’t have to use your real name or address. Some users choose not to use a profile picture, although this might make meeting people difficult!
On the Ashley Madison home screen, you’ll see a big, brightly colored button that says �BUY CREDITS.� If you can’t tell by now, they want you to take out the credit card!
Credit costs are subject to change and might also depend on your region or be affected by sales and promotions. Here’s a general idea of what you can expect credits to cost:
o NOTE: An Elite plan also nets you access to an �Ashley Madison Premium,� which gives you 24 hours of free chat, and �Priority Man� status. bumble vs coffee meets bagel Priority Man puts your name higher in search results, making it easier for interested seekers to find your account.
After you’ve purchased credits, Ashley Madison will prompt you to automatically �Top Up� your credits each month. In other words, they want you to set up automatic payment when your credits run low. We’d advise against this, but it’s your call.
Member Initiated Contact Fee: Upon purchasing credits, Ashley Madison prompts you to sign up for a Member Initiated Contact Fee (MIC fee), allowing you to view and respond to messages sent to you by other members for free (without using any credits). MIC is free for the first month and $/month after that. It’s optional, and you can choose to use credits to respond to these messages instead. If you’re a very active user, this might save you money in the long run.
What Can I Do With Credits?
As you can see, Ashley Madison’s credit plans are pricey. But it’s even more difficult to know how pricey until you know what you can do with them! Unfortunately, the credit system isn’t so straightforward.
It costs you five credits each time you send a message or open one sent by another user. Then, it will cost you credits depending on the time spent chatting with that user. You get charged 50 credits per hour of live chat with another user, and Ashley Madison will ding you another 30 credits once the hour is up, and another 20 credits once that hour is up.
Ashley Madison also allows you to send �virtual gifts� to catch the attention of other users. These gifts cost, you guessed it, credits. Depending on the gift, it will cost a different number of credits but typically ranges between 20, 30, and 50 credits.
Basically, as a man on the platform, you can expect every interaction you have to cost you credits. You can view your balance at any time, and you’re also free to re-up on credits at any time.