You did the one-time earns, so you have an opening balance that’s larger than anything you’ll see from a day’s activity for a while. It’s also the easiest money on the platform to waste.
Here’s how I’d spend it — the ordering principle being buy learning first, output second.
The rates you’re spending against
From the plans page, identical on every tier because plan is volume rather than quality:
| Thing | Rate |
|---|---|
| Text chat | 1 N / min |
| Voice call | 2 N / min |
| Live camera | +2 N / min on top of the call |
| Aura’s voice | 4 N / min |
| Image | 5 N each |
| Deep research run | 16 N / session |
| Video | 10 N / second — a 4-second clip is 40 N |
Read the units carefully. Video is billed per second, and that one line explains most surprised balances.
Spend on learning what fits you
Talk to several different avatars for a few minutes each. At 1 N a minute this is nearly free, and it’s the fastest way to find out which of the nine types you actually want — which is a better question than any amount of reading about them.
Make one voice call. Your first one earns +25 N, so it pays for itself and then some. Voice is also the thing most likely to change your mind about what this product is; text undersells it.
Run one deep research session on something you genuinely need. 16 N for a real research run is the best value on the rate card, and it’s the clearest demonstration of the difference between an assistant and an operating system.
Then spend on making
Create avatars — they earn rather than cost. +10 N each up to nine, which is the platform paying you to run the experiment part two of the creator series argues for. There is no reason not to do this early.
Images before video. 5 N an image lets you try a dozen ideas for the price of a few seconds of video. Find the thing worth animating then animate it.
What to leave alone at first
Video, until you know what you want. Not because it’s bad — because 10 N a second means an unplanned afternoon of generating clips is the one way to empty a healthy balance quickly. It also needs a Base plan or higher, so it isn’t a free-floor activity anyway.
Long unfocused voice sessions. Voice is worth its rate when you’re doing something with it. Leaving a call open while you think about what to say is the most expensive way to be quiet.
The spending order is on your side
Worth knowing because it’s genuinely protective: your monthly plan allocation is drawn first, then earned Nuggets, then purchased ones. The balance you paid actual money for is always the last thing touched.
So topping up doesn’t mean immediately burning what you bought — it means having a floor under you while your earned balance does the daily work. And nothing expires: earned Nuggets are yours until you spend them, and plan Nuggets credit to the same wallet each month with no reset or sweep.
If you run dry
Three options, in the order I’d try them.
Wait a day — logins, active time, and streaks refill steadily, and the balance you emptied learning things has already done its job. Buy a Pay As You Go pack if you need something now and don’t want a subscription. Or move to a plan if you’re topping up every month, because at that point the cushion is simply cheaper.
None of those is a trap door. That’s the point of the whole arrangement: an economy rather than a paywall, where running out means waiting rather than being locked out.
That’s the series. Stay free, invite well, and spend the opening balance on finding out what you actually like.