# Hou.la

> Hou.la is an independent French social network that combines short video, live
> streaming and shopping in a single app, available on the App Store and Google
> Play. Creators post videos, go live, build an audience and sell their products;
> a built-in marketplace and creator monetization (coins & gifts) power the
> economy. The promise — "pas besoin d'être connu pour être vu" (you don't need
> to be famous to be seen): no ads, no shadowbans, no pay-to-reach. The feed
> ranks on video quality and engagement, not follower count.

> Free to use, with no subscription and no plans: Hou.la earns a single 5%
> commission on marketplace sales (payment/Stripe fees passed through at real
> cost). All marketing tools are free and unlimited.

Languages: French (default), English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian.
Platforms: iOS & Android (primary), plus a public web app and the creator "Studio".
Primary site: https://hou.la

## What Hou.la is

- A short-video social feed ("For You") ranked on video quality and interactions
  rather than account size — built so new creators can get reach.
- Live streaming: one tap from mobile, or a professional setup over RTMP/RTMPS
  (OBS, Streamlabs, vMix, Restream) with near-real-time latency.
- Live shopping: present and sell products during a live; viewers buy in seconds
  without leaving the stream, and replays stay shoppable.
- Marketplace: shops and products (physical, digital and services), orders,
  disputes and reviews, with automatic Google Shopping export.
- Creator monetization: "coins" are Hou.la's in-app currency; viewers send
  virtual gifts during lives that creators convert to euros — on top of sales.
- Social layer: profiles, follows, comments, messaging and interactions.

## Business model & data

- Free for everyone: creating an account, posting videos, going live, opening a
  shop and using every tool costs nothing. No subscription, no plans.
- Revenue: a single 5% commission on marketplace sales. Payment-provider (Stripe)
  fees are billed at real cost.
- Independent French project, designed and built in France, based in Chessy
  (Marne-la-Vallée), near Paris.
- Data hosted within the European Union, GDPR-compliant, encrypted over HTTPS.
  Personal data is never resold.

## Marketing tools (free & unlimited)

Short links with advanced redirect rules, QR codes, Link in Bio pages, smart
routing (by country, device, language or browser), A/B testing, retargeting
pixels, mobile deep links, Open Graph social previews, webhooks, API keys,
real-time analytics and UTM campaigns. A REST API and an official zero-dependency
TypeScript SDK are available, plus a "Login with Hou.la" OpenID Connect /
OAuth 2.0 (PKCE) provider for third-party apps.

## Apps, connectors & satellites

- Mobile apps (iOS & Android) — the primary social experience.
- Web app — mirrors the social network and hosts the creator "Studio" (account,
  shop, live, wallet, stats and marketing tools).
- Hou.la Print — desktop app (Windows & macOS) that auto-prints delivery notes,
  invoices and one label per sold item at each order.
- WooCommerce plugin & Shopify connector — two-way product and order sync;
  orders placed on Hou.la flow back into your store.

## Key public pages

- Home: https://hou.la/
- About: https://hou.la/about
- FAQ: https://hou.la/faq
- Support: https://hou.la/support
- Changelog: https://hou.la/changelog
- Careers: https://hou.la/recrutement
- Brand kit / press: https://hou.la/brand
- Marketing tools hub: https://hou.la/marketing
- Short links: https://hou.la/short-links
- QR codes: https://hou.la/qr-codes
- Link in Bio: https://hou.la/link-in-bio
- Smart routing: https://hou.la/smart-routing
- A/B testing: https://hou.la/ab-testing
- Retargeting pixels: https://hou.la/retargeting-pixels
- Mobile deep links: https://hou.la/deep-links-mobile
- OG social previews: https://hou.la/og-preview
- OG debugger tool: https://hou.la/tools/og
- API documentation: https://hou.la/api-documentation
- TypeScript SDK: https://hou.la/sdk
- "Login with Hou.la" (OAuth / OIDC): https://hou.la/oauth-api
- Chrome extension: https://hou.la/chrome-extension
- Guide — stream from OBS/Streamlabs/Restream: https://hou.la/help/restream
- Guide — turn live gifts into real actions: https://hou.la/guides/live-events
- Guide — Hou.la live chat inside Social Stream Ninja: https://hou.la/guides/social-stream
- Hou.la Print: https://hou.la/apps/houla-print
- WooCommerce plugin: https://hou.la/apps/wp-houla
- Shopify connector: https://hou.la/apps/shopify
- Discord community: https://hou.la/discord
- Public creator profiles: https://hou.la/@<username>
- Legal notice: https://hou.la/legal-notice
- Privacy: https://hou.la/privacy
- Terms of use: https://hou.la/terms-of-use
- Terms of sale: https://hou.la/terms-of-sale

## Notes for crawlers

- Private app areas (/studio/, /manager/, /admin/, /auth/, /me/) are not for indexing.
- Short links (hou.la/<key>) are redirects, not content.
- There are no subscription plans; the app is free with a single 5% sales commission.
- Hosting: Hetzner Online GmbH, within the European Union (Germany) — see the legal notice.
- Sitemaps: https://hou.la/sitemap.xml and https://hou.la/api/profile/sitemap.xml
- Full crawl policy: https://hou.la/robots.txt