Premium Membership Benefits

Subscription Membership Benefits

Plus Membership

Plus memberships provide the following benefits:

Premium Membership

Premium memberships provide the following benefits:

Premium Plus Membership

All Premium Plus memberships provide the following benefits:

Standard Premium Plus memberships also receive Linden dollar rewards as part of their subscription. Premium Plus Without Stipend members do not receive these Linden dollar rewards, but do receive all other benefits of the Premium Plus subscription.

Upgrading to a membership subscription

To upgrade from basic to any paid membership subscription:

  1. Log into the Second Life website.
  2. On the left side of the screen, click Change Membership
  3. The Choose your membership plan screen opens, displaying a chart of Membership plans and prices.
  4. Select the membership subscription you wish to have.
  5. Review the Review changes to your plan page, and click Continue to checkout.

Note: Premium and Premium Plus (standard) members get a one-time sign-up bonus of L$1000 for Premium memberships and L$3000 for Premium Plus (standard) memberships. You will also receive a weekly stipend of L$300 (Premium) or L$650 (standard Premium Plus). You may only receive the L$ sign-up bonuses once per account.

Benefits Overview

Linden Homes

Linden Homes are ready-to-move-in homes that belong to a themed community and are available only to Premium and Premium Plus members.

Note: Linden Homes are available only to users at least 18 years old.

For more information on Linden Homes, see:

Linden dollar rewards

As a Premium or standard Premium Plus subscriber, you receive a sign-up bonus and a weekly stipend of Linden dollars. Plus members do not receive a sign-up bonus, but do receive a weekly stipend each week. Premium Plus Without Stipend members do not receive a sign-up bonus or a weekly stipend.

Sign-up bonus

For Premium members, the first time you sign up as a Premium member you'll receive a sign-up bonus of L$1,000 deposited directly into your Second Life account once your membership subscription has been active for 45 consecutive days. Sign-up bonuses are only granted to an account the first time the account becomes a Premium member (and remains so for 45 days).

When you register for a standard Premium Plus Membership, you'll receive a sign up bonus of up to L$3000. These are deposited directly into your Second Life account once your membership subscription has been active for 45 consecutive days. 

Premium Plus Without Stipend members do not receive a Linden dollar (L$) sign-up bonus.

Plus memberships also do not receive a Linden dollar (L$) sign-up bonus.

Weekly Linden dollar rewards (stipend)

Eligible accounts receive stipends each week whether they log in or not. Stipends are paid every week on Tuesdays. To be eligible to receive a stipend, an account must have Plus, Premium, or standard Premium Plus status as of approximately 9pm Pacific on Monday (the day before stipends are sent out for the week). Delinquent accounts will not receive their stipend until their balance due is paid (up to 24-48 hours after the balance due is fully cleared).

  • If you begin an eligible membership subscription on Monday, April 14, you will receive your first stipend on Tuesday, April 15.

    If you begin an eligible membership subscription on Tuesday, April 15, you will receive your first stipend on Tuesday, April 22.


Stipend payments may appear late in the day on Tuesdays or possibly not until Wednesday
  • Plus Membership Weekly Stipend: L$150
  • Premium Membership Weekly Stipend: L$300
  • Premium Plus Membership Weekly Stipend:L$650*
    • Premium Plus Without Stipend members do not receive a weekly stipend of L$.

Stipends for old accounts

The stipend amount for older accounts depends on what type of account you have and its age.

Premium accounts created or upgraded from basic:

  • On or after November 1, 2006 receive L$300 per week for Premium Memberships, or L$650 for Premium Plus Memberships.
  • Between July 21, 2006 and November 1, 2006 receive L$400 per week for Premium Memberships, or L$650 for Premium Plus Memberships. 
  • Before July 21, 2006 receive L$500 per week for Premium Memberships, or L$650 for Premium Plus Memberships. 

Certain old basic accounts get a stipend; basic accounts created

  • Before June 6, 2006 receive a stipend of L$50 per week, if they log in that week.
  • After June 6, 2006 do not receive a weekly stipend.

Premium virtual goods (gifts)

As a Premium or Premium Plus member, you periodically get an premium virtual good as a benefit. The premium virtual goods are designed by Residents commissioned by Linden Lab. 

How to get your premium virtual good

To get your premium virtual good, go to one of the inworld vending kiosks listed in the Second Life Destination Guide: http://secondlife.com/destinations/premium/gifts.  If you are logged in to the website, go tohttps://secondlife.com/destinations/premium/gifts instead.

To use one of the kiosks:

  1. Right-click the kiosk.
  2. Choose Buy.
    Note: You won't be charged—the item is free for premium account holders.

The item will then be transferred to your inventory.

The inworld vending kiosks only provide the latest premium virtual good. You cannot get older ones.

Premium sandboxes

A sandbox is an area put aside for building practice. Much like real sandboxes and conceptual sandbox games, these are spaces of creativity and chaos.  For more information on sandboxes, see Building tips.

Several sandboxes exist for specific purposes—such as the Weapons Testing Sandbox—but the majority are simply for regular building.  Signs within each sandbox area make it clear what kind of activities are allowed there.

Sandboxes usually have auto-return enabled to clean themselves several times a day; look for auto-clean information before building, so you aren't caught by surprise. Since sandboxes are experimental, they may also be unstable—be sure to take regular inventory backups of anything that's important.

Premium sandboxes are accessible only to Residents with premium membership.  Each sandbox is made up of four regions. Generally, there is one sandbox per Linden Home continent.  

Find the premium sandboxes through the Second Life Destination Guide: http://secondlife.com/destinations/premium/sandboxes.

Other premium benefits

Premium membership also provide additional benefits!

Phone support

Residents with Premium Plus accounts are eligible to receive phone support for a broad range of topics. Premium and Basic accounts do not qualify for this kind of support, but are welcome to contact our Support team through other channels such as support tickets or LiveChat (for Premium subscribers).

Live chat support

Residents with Premium or Premium Plus memberships may initiate a live chat for support issues via the support portal. While Basic and Plus accounts do not qualify for live chat access, they are welcome to submit a ticket for assistance from the customer support team. Plus members have access to a wider variety of support topics for their ticket submission.

Certain membership levels permit Residents to own land on the mainland, which features large connected continents with roads, trains, and community spaces. The mainland is operated directly by Linden Lab, and only eligible membership levels may own land there.

Residents with a Plus, Premium or Premium Plus membership can buy mainland parcels. A certain amount of land maintenance fees are included with each level of maintenance, and Residents only need to pay an additional monthly fee if their land holdings exceed that included land allowance.

Plus members receive a land allowance of 512m² included in their membership fees. Premium members receive a land allowance of 1024m². And Premium Plus members receive an initial land allowance of 2048m², allowing them to own twice as much mainland as a Premium account before becoming subject to additional land use fees. For more information, please see Land Use Fees.

Name Changes

Name changes are available for all Residents, but have lower pricing tiers for Premium and Premium Plus membership holders. Premium members can change their name for $34.99 per name change, and Premium Plus members can change their name for $14.99 per name change. All may be done via the Second Life dashboard.

Increased caps on missed IMs

Subscribing members have an increased number of missed Instant Messages saved as a perk of their membership. Basic subscribers have an offline message cap of 30, Plus members receive 40, Premium members receive 120, and Premium Plus members receive up to 240 offline messages saved while they're away.

Immediate access to adult-only areas

Linden homes and some adult areas are accessible only to those 18 years and older. If you are 18 years or older, when you sign-up for a Premium or Premium Plus membership, you will automatically have access to these areas. For more information, see Age-restricted content and Accessing Adult land and content.

Increased number of group memberships

Residents with a Plus Membership account may be a member of up to 55 groups at a time. Residents with a Premium Membership account may be a member of up to 80 groups at a time. Premium Plus Membership holders may be a member of up to 150 groups at a time. Basic (free) members may join up to 50 groups.

Preferred access to highly populated regions

Regions in Second Life have a bonus capacity to allow region owners, estate managers, and Residents with Premium or Premium Plus accounts to enter an otherwise full Region. The default limit on the number of avatars allowed in a region is as follows:

  • Full Regions support an extra 10% (100 to 110)
  • Homesteads support an extra 25% (20 to 25)
  • Open Spaces support an extra 20% (10 to 12)

For full details on access to bonus region capacity, see Improved Region Capacity and Access on the Second Life Blog.

Reduced L$ Fees for Premium Plus

Premium Plus Membership holders have the perk of reduced fees for many things in Second Life. This includes a reduction from L$10 to L$0 for uploading textures, animations, mesh and sounds. Additionally, Premium Plus members can create repeating events for L$0, and can create groups for only L$10.


Don't see what you need here?  Check out our expanded Knowledge Base article!


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