Press kit

Press

Facts, quotes, story angles, and brand assets for journalists writing about Mirlo. For interviews or attributable quotes beyond what's here, email hello@mirlo.social.

At a glance

Launched: June 2026
Available: Apple App Store, across Europe
Pricing: €4.99 / month or €34.99 / year (14-day free trial)
Founded: 2026
Entity: Mirlo Social, the Netherlands (KvK 98105701)
App Store: apps.apple.com/app/id6760918863
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mirlo-social

The name

Mirlo /ˈmiɾ.lo/, MEER-loh is the Spanish word for blackbird, which is what the mark in front of the wordmark depicts.

About Mirlo

Three lengths, each copy-paste ready. Use whichever fits your piece.

Long

~100 words

Mirlo is a European social app built for real human connection. Calm, private, ad-free, and designed without the engagement hooks that make other apps hard to put down. No likes, no public comments, no algorithm, no infinite scroll for its own sake. Every connection is mutual, so the conversation stays between the people in it.

Everything is built and hosted in the EU under GDPR and the Digital Services Act. No ads, no data sold, no third-party tracking. Mirlo is subscription-only: €4.99 a month or €34.99 a year, with a free trial.

Built by Dutch founder Mathijs Lemmers and launched publicly across Europe in June 2026. The conviction behind it: social media should bring people peace, not anxiety, and the way you build it determines whether it can.

Medium

~50 words

Mirlo is a European social app built for real human connection. Calm, private, ad-free, and designed without engagement hooks. No likes, no algorithm, no public comments. Every connection is mutual. Subscription-only, hosted in the EU under GDPR. Launched in June 2026 by Dutch founder Mathijs Lemmers.

One-liner

~25 words

Mirlo is a European, subscription-only social app for real human connection. No likes, no algorithm, no ads, no engagement hooks. Calm, private, mutual.

Product

No likes, no public comments, no algorithmic feed
Designed without engagement hooks; no infinite scroll, no dark patterns
Mutual connections only. No followers, no public profiles
EU-built and EU-hosted; GDPR and DSA compliant
No ads, no data sold, no third-party tracking
Subscription-only business model

Founder

Mathijs Lemmers

Founder, Mirlo

Mathijs Lemmers (33) is a Dutch software engineer based in a town near Nijmegen. He started Mirlo in 2026 after years of growing frustration with how social media had drifted from connecting people to extracting attention from them. The idea was simple. Build something that does the opposite. No likes. No algorithm. No ads. Real conversations with real people, on your own terms. Mirlo is built and run from the Netherlands, with hosting and operations kept entirely in Europe.

LinkedIn Headshot (JPG)

Quotes

Pre-approved for attribution to Mathijs Lemmers, founder of Mirlo. Copy as-is or trim to fit.

On why Mirlo exists

“I built Mirlo because I noticed my own social apps were taking more than they gave back. Not in a dramatic way, just in a slow, daily way that I couldn't unsee anymore. Mirlo is what I wished I had instead.”

On no likes, no algorithm

“Likes and algorithms turn relationships into metrics. The moment you measure connection, you start optimizing for it, and the thing you measured stops being the thing you wanted. So we left them out.”

On building in Europe

“Europe doesn't need to wait for the next platform from California to show up and decide what we get. We have the people, the rules, and the values to build social media that respects the people using it. Mirlo is a small contribution to that.”

On subscription-only

“If you're not paying for it, you're the product. We say that a lot, and then we use the apps anyway. Subscription isn't a sacrifice, it's just being honest about who Mirlo serves: the people who use it, not the people who advertise on it.”

On designing against addiction

“The hardest part of building social media right now is resisting the design patterns everyone else uses. Likes, algorithms, infinite scroll, streaks, notification stacks. They all exist for a reason: they work. They keep you on the app. The whole point of Mirlo is to not do that. To make something you can pick up, use, and put down without feeling like you've been played.”

On the bigger picture

“Social media doesn't have to be a place you escape from. It can be a place you check in with the people who matter, share something real, and then put your phone down. That's not a feature. That's a starting point.”

Story angles

If you're looking for a hook, here are a few we think the story can hang on.

01
The European alternative
A privacy-first social app built and hosted entirely in Europe, under GDPR and the Digital Services Act. No data leaves the EU.
02
The end of likes
Mirlo's design choices (no likes, no public comments, no algorithm) reflect a thesis: social media doesn't have to be measured to be meaningful.
03
Designed against addiction
Mirlo is built without the engagement hooks other apps depend on. No likes, no metrics, no algorithmic feed, no infinite scroll for its own sake. A live test of whether social media can be designed for wellbeing rather than time-on-app.
04
Subscription social
Mirlo asks users to pay so it doesn't have to sell their data or attention. A test of whether people will pay for less, on purpose.
05
Peace, not anxiety
The conviction behind the product: social media should bring you peace. Mirlo is a real, shipped attempt to prove that's possible.