Messaging built to be owned by the people who use it
Gistnode started in Lagos with one complaint: the messaging apps everyone already uses don't actually work for the people using them.
Why we built this
The messaging apps most people are stuck with today force features on you that you never asked for, treat small businesses like a liability instead of a customer, and run on data models that quietly profit from your metadata even when the message content itself is encrypted. The more private alternatives, meanwhile, tend to be thin on features or short on real support when something goes wrong.
Gistnode pairs the parts of messaging that actually matter • speed, reliability, a feature set people expect • with the two things we think shouldn't be optional: genuine data ownership, and a company that actually listens.
Screenshot needed:
What we won't do
A few standing rules we've held to since round one.
No ads, ever
Not now, not when we need the revenue.
No selling data
Your data or metadata is never monetized.
No forced AI
Gistnode AI is opt-in, and stays off if you switch it off.
No forced channels
Broadcast feeds only ship if the community votes for them.
No token gimmicks
No crypto bolted onto a messaging app.
Community-voted roadmap
You help decide what we build next.
A small, founder-led team in Lagos
We're early, shipping in public, in rounds, with founder testing driving almost every release. Some of what's on our roadmap is still in progress, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than pretend otherwise.
See what we're building nextScreenshot needed:
Come gist with us
Available on Android and desktop today, with iOS and web on the way.