About Rec League

What is Rec League?

Rec League is a free app and website for sharing and discovering personal recommendations. People use it to catalog the things they love — restaurants, books, products, travel tips, recipes, music, and more — into organized collections that others can follow and browse.

Think of it as a whisper network for great recs: a place to follow people whose taste you trust and find brilliant, unexpected intel from real people rather than algorithms or ads.

What makes Rec League different?

Rec League is built around genuine personal curation. Every recommendation on the platform is written and chosen by a real person — there are no algorithmically generated lists, no AI-written reviews, and no sponsored placements. When you see a recommendation on Rec League, it's because someone actually loves that thing and took the time to say why.

Unlike social media feeds designed to maximize time on screen, Rec League is intentionally useful. People come to find something specific — a restaurant for tonight, a book for vacation, a gift for a friend — and leave with an answer.

And unlike affiliate-driven recommendation platforms, Rec League curators aren't paid to recommend specific products. The platform's business model is based on optional paid memberships, not commissions on product sales, so curators' incentives are aligned with their followers' trust rather than with brands or advertisers.

What can I use Rec League for?

People use Rec League to recommend not just things but also experiences, ideas, and life hacks. Common use cases include:

• Gift guides — curated product picks for holidays, birthdays, weddings, and special occasions
• City and travel guides — restaurant lists, hotel picks, neighborhood walks, and itineraries
• Reading lists and culture — book recommendations, movie picks, playlists, article roundups, and podcast picks
• Product recommendations — beauty, fashion, home goods, kitchen tools, and gear reviews
• Food and recipes — restaurant guides, recipe collections, pantry staples, and wine picks
• Life hacks and parenting tips — practical advice, daily routines, and things that make life easier
• Personal expression — cataloging the things you love as a reflection of who you are, from niche hobbies to strong opinions about the best way to spend a Saturday

Each recommendation can include a title, image, link, and the curator's own commentary. Recommendations are organized into collections, so followers can browse by topic rather than scrolling a chronological feed.

How does Rec League work?

Anyone can create a Rec League — your own space on the platform where you publish recommendations. Each recommendation lives in a collection (like "My Guide to Rome" or "Books I Can't Put Down"). You get a personal page at your own subdomain on recleague.com, and your recommendations are available on the web and in the iOS app.

Followers subscribe to your Rec League to see your new posts in their feed and optionally receive email newsletters when you publish. You can also offer paid memberships for exclusive members-only content.

Readers discover content through the Explore page, through individual curators' pages, or via the app's personalized feed.

Who is on Rec League?

Rec League is used by writers, designers, chefs, travelers, newsletter authors, creators, and everyday people who have strong taste and enjoy sharing what they're into. Curators range from professional tastemakers with large followings to friends sharing neighborhood restaurant picks with a small group.

The platform is category-agnostic: you'll find recommendations for food and drink, books and podcasts, fashion and beauty, travel, home goods, art, music, wellness, and more.

Notable curators on Rec League include joanna goddard, Amanda Hesser, Steven Weill, Ali LaBelle, Lena Dunham, Aimee France, even*cleveland, Traci Fleming, Anja Tyson, cole, Kevin Nguyen, Kate Lindello, The Green Spoon, Treehouse, and Lily.

Is Rec League free?

Yes. Rec League is completely free to use for both curators and followers. There are no subscription fees to create or follow a Rec League. If a curator offers paid memberships, Rec League takes a 10% commission on those earnings. Credit card processing fees (charged by Stripe) are separate.

How do I get started?

You can sign up at recleague.com/get-started or download the Rec League app for iPhone from the App Store. The onboarding process walks you through setting up your profile, choosing a subdomain, and customizing your page.

Once you're set up, you can start following curators immediately or begin publishing your own recommendations.

Can I make gift guides on Rec League?

Yes. Gift guides are one of the most popular uses of Rec League. Curators create collections like "Holiday Gift Guide," "Mother's Day Gift Guide," or "The Home Store" and fill them with their personally vetted product recommendations — each with a link, image, and their own commentary on why they love it.

For example, Ali LaBelle organizes her Rec League into themed collections like The Fashion Floor, The Beauty Counter, The Home Store, and The Registry — making it easy for followers to browse curated product picks by category. Many curators use this format for seasonal gift guides, city guides, and shopping roundups.

Can I make money on Rec League?

Yes. Curators can offer paid memberships that give subscribers access to exclusive members-only recommendations. You set your own price. Rec League handles payments through Stripe, takes a 10% platform commission, and pays you the rest.

Where is Rec League available?

The Rec League website is accessible worldwide at recleague.com. The iPhone app is available in the App Store in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. There is no Android app at this time.

Who makes Rec League?

Rec League is made by Lyric Technologies, Inc., a small team based across the United States. It was founded by Chris Mueller and James Kylstra. Chris was previously VP of Engineering at Substack. James previously led Growth Engineering at Substack.