# Students building for students

There’s no company behind Papillon. Just six students, a non-profit and an app we keep running between classes. 2 million downloads later, it’s still free, ad-free and open source.

## It was just for me

In 2021, Vince was still in school and felt his schedule, homework and grades deserved better. So he built his own app, in the evenings after class. He showed it to a few friends, who showed it to theirs. And it never stopped.

[Read the whole story](https://papillon.bzh/en/story.md)

## Five years on, it’s still free

The project between friends ended up in students’ pockets all over France, from middle school to university. And we still haven’t added a single ad.

- **2021** the very first version
- **#1** on the French App Store in 2024

## Six students, five cities

Rennes, Montpellier, Laon, Angoulême, Chambéry: we don’t live in the same place, so everything happens online, between classes. Hundreds of contributors lend us a hand. And whenever an event brings us together, we jump on a train.

- **Vince Linise** (Rennes), President and founder, BUT MMI, 3rd year · IUT de Lannion. He wrote the very first version in 2021. Today, he runs the product and keeps the association going.
- **Lucas Lavajo** (Montpellier), Vice President, BUT MMI, 1st year · IUT de Béziers. Here since day one, he co-leads the association and keeps an eye on everything that’s moving.
- **Tom Hélière** (Rennes), UI/UX Designer, BUT MMI, 2nd year · IUT de Lannion. He redid the whole app and its visual identity for v7. Since then, no screen ships without going through him.
- **Raphaël Schroder** (Laon), Developer, 1st year · Université de technologie de Troyes. The technical jobs nobody wants? Those are his.
- **Rémy Godet** (Angoulême), Developer, École 42 · Angoulême. Half dev, half designer, he turns mockups into real features.
- **Mael Duret** (Chambéry), Developer, O’Clock School · Chambéry. He tries everything, especially when he “just wants to see what happens.”

## What’s not going to change

- **Free, and staying that way.** No subscription, no ads, and we don’t sell anything to anyone. The app runs on community donations, and we set up the association in 2025 precisely to keep it going.
- **All the code is public.** Since 2022, anyone can read it on GitHub, check what the app does or suggest an idea. Hundreds of people already have.
- **We don’t keep your credentials.** They go encrypted, straight to the school. And the rest of your data never leaves your phone.

## Want to get involved?

The goal? Every student, from middle school to university, gets a free, fast app that respects their privacy. If that speaks to you, there are a few ways to lend a hand.

- **Support us.** Incubator, sponsor or company? Let’s talk over a coffee (or an email). And if you just want to give us a boost, donations are open. [Drop us a line](mailto:support@papillon.bzh) · [Donate](https://ko-fi.com/thepapillonapp)
- **Contribute.** Dev, designer or just curious? The code is on GitHub, and the whole community hangs out on Discord. [See the code](https://github.com/PapillonApp) · [Come say hi on Discord](https://discord.gg/wVKWBRTbfh)

Work at a school? Everything we do with data is explained in our privacy policy.