I kept leaving my journal somewhere else.

Steps is a journal that texts you first, in iMessage. I built it because the notebook never came with me. It has survived four kids' worth of mornings since.

I'm Tiago — a father of four in Porto. I've spent ten years building things people use every day. Codeplace, a programming school, taught over 100,000 students; the rest is at notacompany.com.

I built it for myself first

For years my journal was a paper notebook, and whenever I left it behind, the writing stopped. Steps texts me on the mornings I pick, asks a question or two when I reply, and files whatever I text that day under that day. The phone is always with me. The notebook never was.

Why it matters this much to me

I've suffered from generalized anxiety and depression. Writing down what I was thankful for was groundbreaking for me — not a cure, never a substitute for professional help, but the habit that most changed my days. I think the world needs it. That's why the first 30 days are free, and why we write about the people who kept journals rather than quoting studies at you.

Every template goes past me first

A template is a set of prompts based on how a real person kept their journal — Marcus Aurelius, Benjamin Franklin, Oprah Winfrey. I read every one before it goes up, and each page says which sentences are the person's own and which are ours.

Human first

That's what the .org in the name means to me. Steps is a program, not a person. It asks you a question, saves what you write, counts how many days you wrote, and shows you what you wrote when you ask. It never analyzes you or gives advice. What your journal means is for you to decide, never for software. Your inner life is nobody's business, and I will never feed it to an ad network.

Why it costs anything at all

The first 30 days are free, and we don't ask for a credit card. After that it's $5 a month, and you switch it on yourself — nothing charges on its own. The $5 pays my server and AI bills. That's the whole business model: no ads, no selling your data, just the bill. If you stop paying, every word you wrote stays yours to read and download.