moonlightA note from the founder
People ask me two questions about Moonlight more than any other: how it makes money, and whether it will still be here next year. Both deserve a straight answer, so here it is.
Is Moonlight free?
The map is free. Every verified member sees the reports, the Sis Havens and the local news the moment they go up, can post a report, and can reach their Safety Squad. That stays free, because a safety map works when everyone can use it.
Plus and Pro, our paid plans, pay the bills. Plus is for one person. Pro is for one person and four people they choose, like a family plan. What they add is comfort on the way home and more room for the people you choose. The map, the reports and your Safety Squad are the same on every plan.
Why does a safety app cost money at all?
Because Moonlight is small and, for what it does, expensive to run.
Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map. Identity checks cost money per check. Keeping your data safe costs more than the cheap way. The people who do this work are paid for their time, the same way anyone reading this expects to be paid for theirs.
Some people asked in our first survey whether it is right to charge for something like this. I understand the question. My answer comes from the eighteen safety apps we studied before building Moonlight. Four of them are gone or asleep. All four had good ideas. What they ran out of was money: a sponsor left, nobody paid, the updates stopped. A tool that is still here next year protects people. Being here costs money.
Where does the rest of the money come from?
From the Partner tab, and only from there.
Sis Havens, the venues that let a member step inside when something feels off, pay nothing. A promise to help is free, always. Businesses that make something our members would want, from self-defence classes to products we have tried ourselves, can pay to be listed in the Partner tab. Every paid listing is marked as paid, and every member sees the same tab.
That is the one place in Moonlight where anyone pays to be seen. The map and the reports belong to the members.
What happens to my data?
It stays with you and with the people who keep the map working.
Your reports are read by our moderators and shown on the map the way you chose, with your name only if you add it. Your Safety Squad list and your location stay between you and your app. Your Evidence Vault is yours alone; we built it so that we cannot open it.
One thing we do look at closely: when several reports describe the same person in the same area, we put them side by side. Where it looks serious, and with your consent, we take that pattern to the police, case by case. Researchers only ever receive numbers that lead to nobody.
Why not take money from advertisers like everyone else?
Because a company answers to whoever pays it.
If advertisers paid for Moonlight, the map would end up serving them: which reports get seen, which areas look good, which businesses get placed. Because members pay, Moonlight serves members. It is that simple, and it is why we set it up this way from day one.
What about investors?
Moonlight was built with the founder’s own money and a small angel investment. We are raising a round to build the app properly and pay the people who run it. Investors get a share of the company. The map stays with the members. The rules on this page are part of how we work, and an investor who agrees with them is the investor we want.
Where does this leave you?
You pay for Moonlight, or you use the free map that the paying members carry. Either way, you are the user, and Moonlight works for you.
If any of this changes, this page changes first, and I will tell you why.
Firly Maulana, founder
Want to help?
Venues: if your café, bar, shop or studio would let someone step inside when something feels off, become a Sis Haven. It costs nothing. moonlightapp.de/sis-haven
Businesses: if you make something that helps on the way home and want our members to find it, ask about the Partner tab. moonlightapp.de/partners
Investors: if you would like to invest in Moonlight, write to Firly directly: hello@moonlightapp.de
Moonlight is a small team in Berlin. Every link above lands with a person.