What credits actually are.
mobieusCredits are the in-community currency members use across a Mobieus tenant. They buy cosmetics, push a thread back to the top of its forum, sponsor a thread for a number of hours, tip another member, gift a paid file, change a username, and a list of perks that’s growing. They earn by participating: posting, getting upvoted, filing a helpful report, the first post each day, being selected for a Staff Pick. Daily caps prevent farming. Per-action amounts and caps are configured per-tenant at /admin/economy.
Top up via Stripe in three taps.
What we did not have until today was a way to buy credits when you wanted more. Now you do. /account/cosmetics opens to a gradient hero with your current balance and three packs:
- 1,000 credits for $1 (Starter)
- 6,000 credits for $5 (Best Value)
- 13,000 credits for $10 (Power User)
Each top-up uses an 80/20 split: 80% becomes a bill credit toward your platform fees, and 20% covers Mobieus infrastructure costs.
Click a pack, Stripe Checkout takes the card, credits land in the wallet within seconds of payment confirmation. The success page is honest about that. It does not pretend the wallet is updated before the webhook confirms it; it tells you the credits are landing and to refresh once. Stripe emails the receipt automatically.
Why three packs and not a slider.
Sliders look flexible. They actually slow purchases down. Three packs cover the three real intents: try it cheap, get the best per-dollar rate, stock up. The Best Value badge is friction-removal. It tells the buyer what they came here to learn before they have to do the math.
Refunds.
Refunds happen through standard Stripe support. If a refund is processed, the purchase is marked refunded in our ledger. Credits are not automatically debited from the buyer’s balance. By the time a refund comes through, the member may have already spent them on a cosmetic or a thread bump. Reconciliation is a human decision, not an automated one.
Where credits show up.
The most-used spend surfaces today:
- Cosmetics at
/account/cosmetics— username colors, avatar frames, chat-bubble shaders, profile-effect particles, name badges, profile banners, post borders. Each cosmetic renders everywhere it makes sense, including the new mobieusChat rooms. - Thread bumps — push a thread back to the top of its forum.
- Sponsored slots — pin a thread in a forum for a number of hours.
- Highlight a post — visual highlight ring on a specific post.
- Tips — send credits to another member with an optional message.
- Gift downloads — give another member access to a paid file.
- Username changes — change your @handle.
Tier policy.
Earn-and-spend works on every tier. Credit purchases via Stripe work on every tier. Starter at $19/mo, Pro at $99/mo, Creator at $199/mo, Creator Plus at $599/mo, and Sovereign at $2,500/mo all include the full credit economy. The only tenant-level knob is the credit-system master switch at /admin/config#section-features. Admins who do not want any economy in their community can turn it off entirely.
Two questions members ask.
Are credits transferable between communities? No. Credits are per-tenant. A member of Tenant A who is also a member of Tenant B has two separate balances.
Do credits expire? No.
What's next.
More earn surfaces (achievement unlocks, course completions in mobieusLearn, knowledge contributions in mobieusKnow) are in flight. More spend surfaces too. The next batch focuses on giftable items and event tickets. The changelog tracks each one as it ships.
Try it.
If you are on a Mobieus tenant, visit /account/cosmetics and the top-up packs are at the top of the page. If you are not on Mobieus yet, the free trial spins up a tenant in about two minutes with the credit system enabled by default.