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.