Our story
Buddiz did not come out of a business plan. It came out of two very concrete problems, ours.
2023
When I started playing padel, you needed a Facebook group and a WhatsApp thread for every venue just to fill a session. I created the Padel Normandie group to have one single place for the whole region. It worked for a few weeks, then messages got lost in the thread. A chat thread is not built for this: no date, no level, no remaining spot, no memory.
Summer 2025
During my marathon training, on the long runs, I looked for an app to find people running at my pace, at the same times, who love trail like I do. I found nothing. What existed measured my performance. Nobody told me who to run with on Sunday morning.
April 2026
What I could not find, I could build: I have been developing apps for over ten years, it is my job. Romain believed in the project and joined me: he runs the community, and we make the decisions together. He was going through the same thing in five-a-side football: finding a tenth player, chasing people, counting who shows up. The problem is the same everywhere, whatever the sport. Motivation is not what is missing, people to go with are. Buddiz launched in April 2026.
Today
We use Buddiz the way you do: we create sessions, we join them, we get the group moving. When something feels wrong in the app, it usually annoyed us for real the weekend before. That is how we decide what to do next, and so far it suits us.
Above all, bringing people together around sport: a community that plays together, whatever the level, with no comparison and no ranking. Consistency over the clock. Someone running at 7 min/km belongs here as much as someone chasing a 3-hour marathon, and owes nobody an explanation.
What we will not do: performance rankings, public records, a race for data. Others do that very well, it is not our subject.
We get asked often, so here is the simple answer.
The app came out of a need, not a business plan. We fund it ourselves, in our spare time, and we use it as much as you do. As long as it serves us, it is here.
It is the simplest commitment we can make, and it fits on one line: everything you do here stays free.
A project has to stand on its own feet, so one day there will be services for the people who organise. Nothing that touches what you come here for: playing, meeting up, keeping your rhythm together.
We do not sell it. No member list handed over, no contact details passed to a third party. It is hosted in Europe, and you can delete your account at any time: it all goes with it.
To be complete: like any website, we use audience measurement tools, and advertising to make the app known, with your consent and according to your phone settings. That is usage statistics, not reselling your profile.
An app like this one is worth nothing on its own: a session does not fill up if nobody is around. If we talk about it a lot, that is why, and nothing else.
The app is free, and it stays that way. It still has costs every month: servers, maps, notifications, developer accounts. Anyone who wants to can buy us a coffee. It unlocks nothing, and skipping it locks nothing: everyone gets the same app.
Because we built it for ourselves, to solve a problem we had as athletes, and we fund it ourselves. What you use today will stay free.
No. We do not sell any member list and we do not hand your contact details to third parties. Your data is hosted in Europe and you can delete your account at any time. We do use audience measurement and advertising tools to make the app known, with your consent.
Not what you do here: finding partners, creating a session, joining one, joining a club and chatting stay free. One day there will be services for the people who organise, and they will change nothing about your own practice.
Two people, in Normandy, France. Valentin has been developing apps for over ten years: he built Buddiz out of his own problems (padel, running). Romain believed in the project and joined him to run the community and share the decisions. The app launched in April 2026, and we use it ourselves every week.
