# 👋 Who develops OpenMates?
Hello!
Marco here (aka glowingkitty). Designer, software architect, maker. And the creator of OpenMates.
We all have our share of frustrations with technology — apps that disrespect your privacy, subscriptions that nickel-and-dime you, AI tools locked behind walled gardens. OpenMates is my answer to that.
## The philosophy
OpenMates is built on a simple belief: powerful AI tools should be accessible to everyone, private by design, and open to the community. No dark patterns, no data harvesting, no lock-in.
## Open source
OpenMates is fully open source. The code is on GitHub — you can read it, contribute to it, or run your own instance. Transparency is not optional.
## Built with love
Every feature in OpenMates is designed with care. If something bothers you, there's a good chance it bothers me too — and I'm working on fixing it.