About us — Wollem

Our story

Why we built Wollem

We got tired of messaging apps that treat your conversations as inventory. Somewhere along the way, "free" came to mean you pay with your data — your contacts harvested, your habits profiled, your words mined to sell you something. We wanted the opposite: a place to talk where the business model isn't built on watching you.

So Wollem starts from a simple premise — privacy should be the default, not a premium tier you unlock later. Every private chat is end-to-end encrypted out of the box. There's no "secure mode" to remember to switch on, no upsell standing between you and a conversation that stays yours. The protective option is just the normal one.

The woolly mammoth in our name and logo isn't decoration. Mammoths were built for the harshest conditions on earth — strong, resilient, and fiercely protective of the herd. That's exactly the kind of guardian we want watching over your conversations: calm, sturdy, and impossible to push around. We're a tiny team, but we'd like to be a reliable one.

How encryption works

Encryption built on Signal's protocol

We didn't try to reinvent cryptography. We did the smarter thing and built on the work that the whole industry already trusts.

Wollem's end-to-end encryption is built entirely on the Signal Protocol — the open, audited, industry-standard protocol created by Signal. It combines X3DH (extended triple Diffie–Hellman) key agreement with the Double Ratchet algorithm to give every conversation forward secrecy and post-compromise security. It is the same protocol that secures billions of messages worldwide, and it is open for anyone to inspect.

The Signal Protocol is the only end-to-end encryption Wollem uses. We did not create — and do not use — any other, custom, or proprietary end-to-end encryption. When a Wollem conversation is end-to-end encrypted, it is protected by Signal's protocol, full stop. We think rolling your own crypto is exactly how privacy promises get broken, so we don't.

Wollem is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Signal Messenger LLC or the Signal Foundation. "Signal" is a trademark of its respective owner; Wollem simply builds on their open-source protocol.

For full transparency: Wollem also offers a convenience "Regular" chat mode that is encrypted on our servers using AES rather than end-to-end. It's there for lightweight, less sensitive messages — but it's a separate thing from the end-to-end story above, and we're clear about the difference in the app. When it comes to end-to-end encryption, the Signal Protocol is the sole answer.

See how encryption works

What we believe

The principles we won't trade away

These aren't marketing lines. They're the constraints we design every feature against.

Privacy by default

End-to-end encryption is on from the first message — no setting to flip, no premium tier to buy. The private option is simply the default.

No surveillance capitalism

Wollem is free, carries no ads, and never sells your data. You're a person we're building for — not a product we're packaging up.

Verifiable, not just promised

We lean on open, audited standards — the Signal Protocol — so anyone, including you, can inspect exactly how your messages are protected, instead of taking our word for it.

You hold the keys

Your account code and recovery phrase belong to you, and your encryption keys live on your device — not on our servers. Nobody can hand over what they never hold.

Read the fine print

Legal & contact

No buried clauses, no surprises. Read exactly how we handle your data, the terms you're agreeing to, and how to reach a real person.

Privacy shouldn't be a luxury.

If that idea resonates, you're our kind of person. Join the waitlist and help us build a messenger that keeps your conversations where they belong — with you.

Join the waitlist See the features

Built for people who'd rather keep things between us.