Why there are no ads in Whisper

Whisper makes money one way: Whisper Unlimited, an optional subscription. There are no ads, we do not sell data, we do not use an advertising ID, and no profile is built from what you do. This page is why.

Ads and closeness do not mix

An app paid for by ads is paid for with your attention. Its job is to keep you looking a little longer, learn a little more about you, and sell that to someone. That is a fair trade for a lot of things. For the few people you are closest to, it is the wrong one.

A photo from your partner should not be a data point. A voice note from your best friend should not sit next to an ad that was picked because of it. So we built Whisper the other way round, and we would rather tell you exactly what that means than ask you to trust a slogan.

What we decided

• Only the person you send it to sees it. No followers, no strangers, no algorithm choosing what you see.
• We cannot read it either. Whispers are end-to-end encrypted on your phone, so our servers only ever hold a sealed copy they cannot open.
• It does not stay. Once a whisper is opened it can be replayed for a day, and then it is gone. Anything unopened expires after seven days.
• Nothing to count. No feed, no likes, no streaks, no follower numbers.
• No phone number, no contacts. You sign in with Apple or Google and add friends with a link or a code.

What we do know

Running an app means knowing a little. This is all of it:

• The email you sign in with, or Apple's private relay address.
• The name and photo you choose for your profile.
• Which friends you have added.
• Whether you have Whisper Unlimited.
• Crash reports, without message content.
• Anonymous app events, such as a whisper being sent, never tied to your account.

What you send, your location, your phone number, your contacts and your advertising ID are not on that list, because we never have them. The privacy policy has every detail.

How a subscription keeps it that way

When the people who pay are the people who use it, the product only has to be good for them. That is the whole business model, and it is why most of Whisper is free and stays free. Whisper Unlimited adds video whispers, longer voice notes and room for more friends, for the people who want more of it.

If you think we got something wrong, write to [email protected]. We read every message.