Is AION 2 Free to Play? Membership, Market Access and Kina vs Quna
Yes, AION 2 Global is free to play, and the paid membership is optional. This page explains what the Special Quai Membership costs, what it unlocks, what free players can and can't do on the Market, and how the two currencies, Kina and Quna, fit together. Everything here comes from NC's own notices and launch FAQ.
TL;DR
- Free to play. NC's launch FAQ: AION 2 is free to play with an optional monthly membership. No purchase is required.
- One membership: the Special Quai Membership, $14.99 for 30 days (USD; other currencies vary with exchange rates).
- It's per server. Benefits cover every character on the server where you bought it, and no other server.
- Free players can list items on the Market but can't buy there. Buying and the Kina ↔ Quna exchange need the membership.
- Kina is the in-game currency you earn by playing and spend on the Market. Quna is the premium currency for the shop and the Daeva Pass, and you can exchange it for Kina.
- Shop items: NC says cosmetics like outfits, wings and pets give no stats.
Yes, AION 2 is free to play
AION 2 Global costs nothing to play, whether you use Steam or PURPLE. NC's launch FAQ says it's "free to play with an optional monthly membership." NC lists three things you can pay for: optional cosmetic items, a Battle Pass (the Daeva Pass), and a membership that opens up the player-driven economy and currency exchange.
Special Quai Membership: price and purchase limits
| Item | Price (USD list price; may change and may differ by store) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Special Quai Membership | $14.99 | 30 days of benefits, counted from when you press Activate |
| Premium Daeva Pass: Dawn Legion / Ishalgen Mercenary | 1,500 Quna | Per character. The Basic track is free |
| Premium Daeva Pass: Planet's Call | 1,000 Quna | Per character. The Basic track is free |
| Daeva Pass levels | 50 Quna per level | Per character |
| Quna 400 / 1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000 | $5.99 / $14.99 / $29.99 / $59.99 | Premium currency packs |
How buying the membership works, per NC's membership notice:
- Where to buy it: In-Game Menu → Subscribe.
- The 30 days start when you activate it, not when you buy it.
- You can buy it only when fewer than 60 days of benefits remain.
- You can buy it up to 3 times per server per month.
- Prices in other currencies vary with exchange rates. NC's listed prices are based on the PURPLE store and may differ by store.
- Founder's Packs include one 30-day membership. It also runs for 30 days from Activate and applies to the server where you activate it. See the Founder's Pack guide.
Some older guides and search snippets still show a rounder monthly figure. NC's current membership notice lists $14.99.
With vs without membership
This table follows NC's membership benefit table.
| Benefit | Without membership | With membership |
|---|---|---|
| Market | List items for sale: yes. Buy: no | List and buy |
| World Market | Items can't be listed or purchased | Items can be listed and purchased |
| Kina ↔ Quna Exchange | Not available | Available |
| Remote Storage | Storage NPCs only | Available remotely |
| Wind Breeze Merchants | Merchant NPCs only | Wind Breeze Merchants shop access |
| Odyle Energy injections when opening reward cubes | Once, on Expedition (Exploration/Conquest) and Transcendence cubes | Twice, and Sanctuary cubes are added |
| Odyle Energy maximum capacity | Base capacity | Increased capacity (NC says details will be announced later) |
| Shugo Festa Key holding cap | 12 | 21 |
| Personal Trade | Not available | Listed as 5 per day, and the other player also needs the membership. See the note below |
Market and trading: what free players can actually do
Can free players use the Market? Partly. Without membership you can list items for sale on the Market, but buying needs the Special Quai Membership. The Kina ↔ Quna exchange needs membership too. Guides that say free players can use a global marketplace, or that skip the buying lock, leave this out.
Personal trades: NC's membership notice lists Personal Trade as a benefit (5 a day, and both players must have the membership). Separately, NC said in September that direct player-to-player trades are disabled as an anti-bot measure, and that the Market is the main way to trade between players. Check in game before you plan on personal trades.
World Exchange removed: NC's membership notice change note says the World Exchange benefit was removed, and NC says the Cross-Server Market opens after launch. Check in game for what's available on your server.
Server Market and Cross-Server Market: NC's Early Access Team Update describes two Markets. The Server Market is your server's local trading hub. It uses Kina and has been available since the start of Early Access. The Cross-Server Market connects all servers in your region, and NC says it isn't available at launch and opens later.
Membership is per server
NC's notice says membership benefits apply to all characters on the server where you bought it, and not to characters on other servers. If you play alts on two servers, each server needs its own membership.
That makes your server choice matter before you pay. Check the server overview on the home page first.
Kina vs Quna
| Currency | What it is | What it's used for |
|---|---|---|
| Kina | In-game currency earned through gameplay | The Market |
| Quna | Premium currency | Shop items, the Daeva Pass, and exchanging for Kina through the Exchange (the Exchange needs membership) |
A few more things to know:
- NCoin doesn't work here. NC says NCoin can't be used to buy Quna or other premium items in AION 2.
- Spelling: the global version spells them Kina and Quna. You'll also see "kinah" (from the original AION) and "Kuna" in videos and older guides. They mean the same currencies.
Daeva Pass and the cash shop
Daeva Pass: Season 1 has two passes, each with a free Basic track and a Premium track: Dawn Legion / Ishalgen Mercenary (Premium 1,500 Quna) and Planet's Call (Premium 1,000 Quna). Both are per character, unlike the membership, which is per server. You can also buy pass levels for 50 Quna each. Pass EXP comes from everyday play such as kills, gathering, crafting and dungeons, up to 50,000 per character per week on Dawn Legion / Ishalgen Mercenary and 15,000 on Planet's Call. Attendance EXP is listed for Dawn Legion / Ishalgen Mercenary only. Season dates and pass windows are on the first-week checklist.
Cash shop: NC says shop cosmetics (outfits, wings, pets, weapon skins and accessories) give no stats. NC also says consumables sold there, like potions and resurrection stones, can be earned in play and don't affect gear progression.
One membership in AION 2 Global
Older guides written for the Korean version may describe a different membership setup. NC announced in June that the Korean version's memberships would be consolidated into a single tier with reduced pricing (NC newsroom). For AION 2 Global, NC's launch FAQ describes one optional monthly membership, and NC's product notice sells one membership product: the Special Quai Membership. If a guide describes other membership products, check which version it's about. See Global vs Korea for more on telling the versions apart.
FAQ
Is AION 2 free to play? Yes. NC says AION 2 Global is free to play with an optional monthly membership, and no purchase is required to play.
Does AION 2 have a monthly subscription? Not a required one. The Special Quai Membership is optional and costs $14.99 for 30 days (USD).
How much does the AION 2 battle pass cost? Each Daeva Pass has a free Basic track. The Premium track costs 1,500 Quna on Dawn Legion / Ishalgen Mercenary and 1,000 Quna on Planet's Call, per character.
Can free players use the Market? They can list items for sale but can't buy. Buying and the Kina ↔ Quna exchange need the membership.
Is the membership per account or per server? Per server. It covers all characters on the server where you bought it and none on other servers.
Does the Founder's Pack include membership? Yes, every Founder's Pack includes one 30-day Special Quai Membership. It starts when you activate it and applies to that server.
Is AION 2 pay-to-win? We don't give a verdict. NC says shop cosmetics give no stats, and that shop consumables can also be earned in play and don't affect gear progression.
Can Americans play AION 2 Global? Yes. There are NA West and NA East server regions, and the United States isn't on NC's restricted-country list.
Can I trade items directly with other players? NC's membership notice lists Personal Trade for members, but NC also said direct player-to-player trades are disabled as an anti-bot measure, with the Market as the main way to trade. Check in game before you count on it.
Do I need a membership in my first week? No. The game is fully playable without it. The membership adds the benefits in the table above, mainly buying on the Market, the Kina ↔ Quna exchange and conveniences like Remote Storage. See the first-week checklist for what to claim first.
NC notices used on this page
- Launch FAQ: free to play, optional membership
- Special Quai Membership product notice: price, benefit table, per-server rule
- Team Update: Business Model: Kina, Quna, cosmetics
- Team Update: Early Access, How It Will Work: Server Market and Cross-Server Market
- Launch Scale Test Comes to a Close: direct trades disabled
- Daeva Pass product notice
- Common Product Info: Quna packs