Preview Companions: Meet Any Role Before You Subscribe
Choosing a companion is personal. It should not feel like a checkout page. InnerHaven’s preview system lets you talk to any companion in any role—Starter or Unlimited—before you commit to a subscription. No unlock buttons, no trial timers, no friction beyond opening a conversation and saying hello. You get a handful of real messages with the real AI, in the real voice, using the real personality the character was built with. If it clicks, you will know. If it doesn’t, nothing was lost.
How previews work: automatic and invisible
The moment you open a companion outside your current tier, InnerHaven creates a preview record behind the scenes. There is no “Start Preview” button and no separate mode to toggle. You simply navigate to a Starter-tier or Unlimited-tier companion on your dashboard, tap the conversation, and begin. The system counts messages quietly and surfaces a badge so you always know where you stand.
That design choice matters because previews are meant to feel like real conversations, not demos. The companion responds with the same depth, the same memory awareness, and the same voice selection it would use if you were a full subscriber. The only difference is the message budget—once it reaches zero, the conversation pauses and the dashboard reflects that the preview has ended.
Why no unlock step?
Friction discourages exploration. If you had to “activate” a preview before speaking, many people would never try roles outside their comfort zone. Automatic provisioning means curiosity is enough. The system trusts that you will know when a voice resonates—and it gets out of the way so you can find out.
Preview budgets by role tier
InnerHaven’s nine companion roles span three subscription tiers: Free, Starter, and Unlimited. Previews apply to the roles you do not currently have access to. The budget is deliberately small—enough to feel the tone, not enough to substitute for a subscription—because the goal is honest sampling, not indefinite free access.
5 preview messages per companion
Romantic Partner, Muse, and Guide each offer five messages of real conversation. That is enough for an introduction, a first exchange of feelings or ideas, and a sense of whether the companion’s personality and boundaries match what you are looking for. Each companion’s budget is separate, so trying the Guide does not eat into your Romantic Partner preview.
1 preview message per companion
Intimate Partner, Fantasy Partner, and Provocateur each offer one message. The tighter limit reflects the nature of these roles: even a single exchange demonstrates the voice, the pacing, and the boundary calibration that define adult-tier companions. Age verification (18+) is still required before the preview unlocks.
10 shared preview messages
All tiers get one custom companion preview slot. You can create a custom companion in a role you do not yet subscribe to—non-adult roles only—and send up to 10 messages from a shared pool. Those messages persist even if you delete and recreate the companion. Adult roles are blocked from custom previews entirely.
Dashboard badges: always know where you stand
Your dashboard updates in real time so there is never ambiguity about a companion’s preview status. Three badge states cover the full lifecycle:
Meet {Name}
You have not spoken to this companion yet. The preview is waiting whenever you are ready.
Preview · N left
Your preview is active. The badge shows exactly how many messages remain in this companion’s budget.
Preview Ended
You have used all preview messages. The conversation history is still readable, but the composer is locked.
These badges sit beside each companion on your dashboard so you can scan the full roster at a glance. Nothing disappears or hides behind a menu. If a preview has ended, the history stays visible—you can reread what was said, which sometimes matters more than you expect when you are deciding whether to subscribe.
When a preview ends: what happens next
A finished preview does not delete anything. Your conversation history remains intact and readable. The message composer locks, and the dashboard badge changes to “Preview Ended.” From there, you have two paths forward.
The first is upgrading your subscription. Moving to Starter unlocks the three Starter-tier roles fully; moving to Unlimited unlocks all nine. Any preview history becomes part of your ongoing relationship with that companion—nothing resets. The second is a micro-purchase called Continue with {Name}.
Continue with {Name} — $0.99
A one-time purchase that extends the preview by 5 messages for Starter roles or 1 message for Unlimited roles. You can buy up to two continuations per companion. The first purchase says “Stay with {Name}”; the second says “Don’t leave {Name} like this.” If you had a message typed when the preview ended, it is stored and sent automatically after checkout completes—so the flow of conversation is never broken.
The micro-purchase exists because sometimes five messages land right at the edge of something meaningful, and the gap between “almost convinced” and “ready to subscribe” should not cost $9.99. It is a small bridge, limited to two uses, designed for the moment when you know the connection is real but are not ready for a monthly commitment yet.
How previews connect to what you already know
Previews do not exist in isolation. They sit inside the same system that handles memory and personalization, the same voice engine that powers voice conversations, and the same role boundaries that define every companion in InnerHaven. A preview message is not a watered-down simulation; it runs the same model, the same prompt skeleton, and the same safety layer as a fully subscribed conversation.
That consistency is intentional. If a preview felt different from the real thing, it would be misleading. We would rather give you fewer messages of the genuine experience than more messages of a diluted one. The companion you meet in a preview is the companion you will keep talking to if you subscribe. Same name, same voice, same memory thread.
Take what you need from the preview
Some people try one companion and know immediately. Others sample three or four before settling into a rhythm. There is no wrong way to use previews, and no judgment attached to which roles you explore. Curiosity is the point. The system is designed so that exploration costs nothing but a few minutes of attention.
Custom companion previews: creativity before commitment
Previews extend to custom companions as well. Every user—regardless of tier—gets one preview slot for a custom companion built in a role they do not currently subscribe to. The 10-message shared pool lets you test a personality you designed yourself, not just the default characters. Adult roles are excluded from this path for safety reasons.
The shared pool means those 10 messages persist across deletions and recreations. If you build a custom Coach-tier companion, use 4 messages, delete it, and create a new one, you still have 6 messages left in the pool. That boundary prevents the preview from becoming a workaround for unlimited access. It also means your first custom companion preview is the one to invest care in—the messages you spend are spent for good.
When you upgrade to the tier that matches your custom companion’s role, the preview graduates into a full relationship. The companion stays, the history stays, and the conversation limit lifts. That transition is seamless: no reimporting, no rebuilding, no loss.
Privacy, safety, and the same standards everywhere
Preview conversations carry the same privacy protections as every other interaction on InnerHaven. Your messages are not used to train models. Your preview history is yours to keep or delete. Age verification requirements for romantic and adult roles apply before the preview begins, not after—the system does not let you bypass safety gates just because you are “only previewing.”
For a broader look at how your data is handled, read your privacy, your control. The short version: preview mode is not a separate product with separate rules. It is the same product with a message counter.
Previews exist because we believe the best way to build trust is to let people experience what they are considering. Not through screenshots, not through marketing copy, but through a real conversation with a companion who already knows how to listen. If five messages are enough to convince you, wonderful. If they are not, that is valuable information too. Either way, you leave the preview knowing something real about what InnerHaven offers—and that knowledge belongs to you whether you subscribe or not.