Honest answers. No corporate speak.
A private social app for your real friends and family. Chat, share photos and posts — but only with the people you choose. No public profiles, no strangers, no algorithm.
Instagram is a broadcasting tool for an audience of strangers, driven by an algorithm. Circles is the opposite — nothing is public, there's no algorithm, and you see everything your people share. Then you're done.
WhatsApp is a chat app. Circles combines chat with social sharing — post photos and updates to specific circles of people, all in one place. Also, Circles isn't owned by Meta.
No. Just the ones who matter. Five, ten, maybe twenty people. That's the whole point.
Right now, yes. Completely free. If server costs grow beyond what I can cover, I'll introduce a small one-time payment for new accounts. Anyone already on Circles keeps it free for life.
Subscriptions create an incentive to make apps addictive — if I charged monthly, I'd need you coming back to keep paying. A one-time payment removes that incentive entirely. More on why this matters.
Right now I don't. I pay for the servers myself. When the time comes, a small one-time payment from new accounts covers costs without ads, data selling, or any of the usual garbage.
Encrypted in transit and at rest. I don't sell it, share it with advertisers, or mine it for profiles. Row-level security on the database means you can only access your own data. Full details.
I'm Numa. Just me. No company, no investors, no board. One person making something I wish existed. Read more.
Yes, anytime. Through the app or by emailing contact@use-circles.com. Data wiped within 30 days. No guilt trips.
No. Ads are the reason social media is broken. Here's why.
No.
Not yet. iOS only for now. It's just me building this, so one platform at a time.
Email me at contact@use-circles.com. It goes straight to my inbox.