About Lilypad
A small tool for subletting, built in Brooklyn.
Subletting a room mostly happens through people you know. You put it in a story, or a group chat, or you text the two friends most likely to know somebody. What's missing isn't an audience — it's the part after that, where six half-conversations are spread across three apps and you can't remember who said what.
Lilypad turns your place into one link. You make the page in about a minute, send the link wherever you were going to send it anyway, and everyone interested lands in a single list. You read the notes, pick someone, and only then do the two of you swap numbers.
How it works
- Make the page. Photos, your dates, the rent, and a bit about the place. You verify your phone once so people know a real person is behind the listing.
- Send the link. It opens as a real preview with your photos, and anyone can look at it without making an account.
- Pick someone. Everyone interested writes you a short note and has verified their own phone number. When you accept somebody, you each get the other's contact details and take it from there.
What it doesn't do
There's no feed and nothing to browse. A listing is findable only if somebody sent you the link, and listing pages are kept out of search results on purpose. Lilypad is a way to share your place with your own circle, not a marketplace to be discovered on.
No money moves through it. No deposits, no escrow, no payments of any kind — rent and deposits stay between you and the person you pick, the same as they would if a friend had introduced you.
Your number stays yours. It's never shown on a listing. The only person who ever gets it is the one you accept.
Who made it
Lilypad is made by one person in Brooklyn, and it started with the ordinary version of this problem: a friend with a room to sublet for the summer and no good way to tell people about it. It's free to use, and it's still early — if something's broken or confusing, writing in genuinely helps. support@lilypad.sh.
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