Marco Polo is a private video messaging app from Joya Communications for people who want face-to-face conversation without scheduling a live call.^1 You send a video, and the people who matter to you watch and answer on their own schedule.^1 It is not a public social feed: the company says there are no ads or likes, and that it will never sell any information about you.^1
You can talk one-on-one or in groups, seeing facial expressions and hearing tone of voice in a turn-based conversation.^3 Sharecast is a free one-to-many Polo where only the owner sees who joined and the private replies.^4 Closed captions are free; a subscription-based Plus tier adds speed control, HD recording, and AI transcripts and summaries, with pricing on its support page.^5^7 The company processes captions and transcripts internally, may use a third party for summaries, and says none of that data trains its AI models.^5 Churches and small groups use it for asynchronous ministry and connection, and some people use it to check in on fellow members of communities of faith.^9 The app itself does not teach doctrine.
Co-founders Vlada and Michal Bortnik founded Joya Communications in 2012, after starting their family and wanting relatives who lived 5,000 miles away to be part of their children's lives.^3 Coordinating live video calls across time zones felt like a barrier and a chore, and their research into happiness pointed them to meaningful connection.^11 In a published interview, Vlada said: "We wanted to speak about the need for healthy technology in a world feeling increasingly isolated due to its dependence on 'likes' for social comparison."^12
One user puts the appeal this way:
"Marco Polo provides the convenience of texting and connection of FaceTime." - Sara^1
Writing for Church Anew, Ellie Roscher describes a Marco Polo group of women who accompanied one another through grief, births, and job changes, and calls that asynchronous small group a form of ministry and spiritual practice.^10
Notable:
- Marco Polo Circles is a 4-week friendship program that hand-matches women into small groups based on shared life stages, interests, and values; a real person reads every survey response, and the groups connect by video message on their own schedule.^3
- The core app is free on iPhone, iPad, and Android, with optional Plus, Plus Family, and Unlimited Storage subscriptions.^7^15
