Privacy & terms, in plain English

Lilypad — lilypad.sh. Last updated 2 September 2026.

What Lilypad is

Lilypad turns a place you're subletting into one link you can send anywhere. People who are interested apply, and you pick who to talk to.

That's the whole product. Lilypad isn't a broker or a landlord, and it's not part of whatever you two agree to. Once you've swapped numbers, the conversation and the deal are yours.

What we ask you for

A phone number, verified by text — that's your whole account. No password, no profile, nothing to sign up for. Posting a place stores what you typed and the photos you picked; applying stores your name, email and note.

We never ask your gender or age, and a poster never sees a photo of you. That's a deliberate choice about housing discrimination, not an oversight — the guidelines explain why.

What we do with it

Your number signs you in and lets us text you about your own listings and applications. When a poster picks you, you each get the other's contact details so you can talk directly. Your number is never shown on a listing and never visible to the public.

Nothing here is sold, rented, or handed to advertisers. There's no tracking for anyone else's benefit.

Text messages

Two things come from Lilypad, and only these two: someone applied to your listing, or a poster accepted your application. You opt in afterwards, never beforehand — once your listing is live, or once your application has been sent, Lilypad asks whether you'd like a text. That dialog carries an unchecked box reading "I agree to receive text messages from Lilypad about my listings and applications", and nothing is sent unless you tick it yourself. Frequency varies with how much activity you have, and message and data rates may apply. The code you get when you sign in comes from a separate verification service and isn't part of that; nothing on the sign-in or code screen asks for message consent.

Ticking it is optional and it is not a condition of using Lilypad. Because you're only asked once the listing is published or the application is sent, declining can't affect either one — everything still works. You just won't be texted, and your listings and applications pages show every answer you'd otherwise have been texted about.

Reply STOP to any message to stop receiving them, or HELP for help. Opting out doesn't delete your account — you can still use the site, you just won't be texted, so you'd need to check your listings and applications yourself. We never send marketing texts.

Mobile information and SMS opt-in consent will never be shared or sold to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. No mobile information is shared with anyone for any purpose except delivering the messages you asked for, or where the law requires it. It is never sold or rented.

The full SMS terms — samples, keywords, frequency — are on the texting page.

Your listing is as public as your link

Anyone who has the link can open the listing and see its photos — that's the point of it, and it's worth remembering that links get forwarded. Previews in iMessage and Instagram show the photos too.

Closing a listing stops new people applying. Photos can stay reachable at their direct addresses until they're deleted, so if you need them gone for good, ask and we'll remove them.

Changed your mind?

Ask and your listings, your applications and your account go away — all of it. Questions get answered by a person, not a form. Email support@lilypad.sh.

A bit of common sense

Meet, video-call, or otherwise get a feel for someone before any money moves — Lilypad verifies that a phone number is real, which is not the same as vouching for a person.

Worth knowing before you commit: most leases need the landlord's OK to sublet, and short stays are regulated in a lot of places (in New York City, anything under 30 days has its own rules). Your situation is yours to know.

And be decent to people. Housing discrimination is illegal, and it's not welcome here either.