Letterboxd
Letterboxd is a consumer social film-discovery platform serving 26-28 million registered members who log, rate, review, and list films, monetized through Pro/Patron subscriptions, advertising, brand partnerships, and a multi-country transactional Video Store.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Letterboxd does
Letterboxd Limited is a privately-held social film discovery and tracking platform founded in 2011 by Karl von Randow and Matthew Buchanan in Auckland, New Zealand. The core product is a free, ad-supported consumer platform — available on web, iOS, iPad, Android, and Apple TV — that allows members to log films watched with dates, rate them on a five-star scale (with halves), write and share reviews, maintain film diaries, compile themed lists, follow other members, and track watching activity. The platform integrates with TMDB for film metadata and JustWatch for streaming availability filtering. Underlying technology is a standard consumer social/web stack with a freemium monetization overlay and a recent transactional layer.
The business model combines multiple revenue streams: a Pro subscription at $19/year, a Patron subscription at $49/year, advertising shown to free-tier users, brand partnerships and sponsored content (e.g., a 2025 Mentos featured list), and a transactional video-on-demand rental service called the Letterboxd Video Store launched December 10, 2025, in 23 countries with curated indie films, restorations, and unreleased titles priced $3.99 to $19.99 per rental. The platform reaches 26-28 million registered members as of early 2026, up from approximately 1.7 million in 2020 and under 2 million at the time of Tiny Ltd.'s 60% acquisition in 2023 for an approximately $50-60 million USD valuation. Letterboxd has expanded its commercial relationships across entertainment media (The Ankler), theatrical exhibition (Black Bear 'Four Favorites'), and CPG (Mentos), and was recognized in 2026 by both Fast Company (Most Innovative Companies in Social Media) and TIME (Most Influential Media Companies). The company is majority-owned (60%) by Canadian holding company Tiny Ltd., with co-founder Matthew Buchanan retaining veto rights over any potential buyer; as of April 2026, parent Tiny is reported to be exploring a sale to potential buyers including Versant and Ankler Media.
Letterboxd firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Letterboxd
- Legal name
- Letterboxd Limited
- Website
- https://letterboxd.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Letterboxd is a consumer social film-discovery platform serving 26-28 million registered members who log, rate, review, and list films, monetized through Pro/Patron subscriptions, advertising, brand partnerships, and a multi-country transactional Video Store.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Letterboxd is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Auckland
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Letterboxd business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Pro Subscription: Premium subscription tier at $19/year offering ad-free experience, personalized stats pages, streaming service filtering, and social features
- Patron Subscription: Premium tier at $49/year including all Pro features plus custom poster/backdrop selection and profile customization
- Video Store Rentals: Transactional VOD rentals ranging from $3.99 to $19.99 per film, offering curated indie titles and restorations
- Advertising: Revenue from ads shown to free tier users
- Partnerships: Revenue from brand partnerships and sponsorships (e.g., Mentos partnership for featured content)
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier with unlimited core features |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro tier at $19/year |
| Subscription | Annual | Patron tier at $49/year |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Video Store per-rental pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
Letterboxd product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Letterboxd is a social film discovery and tracking platform that lets users log films watched, rate them on a five-star scale (with halves), write and share reviews, compile themed film lists, maintain watchlists, and follow other members to see their activity. It also operates a transactional video-on-demand rental service, Letterboxd Video Store, offering curated indie films, festival standouts, restorations, and unreleased titles for per-film rental across web, mobile, and TV apps.
Product overview
Letterboxd is a social film discovery platform offering a core website and mobile apps (iOS, Android, Apple TV) for logging, rating, and reviewing films. The platform is organized around a free core tier with two premium subscription upgrades: Pro ($19/year) providing ad-free experience, enhanced statistics, and streaming service filtering; and Patron ($49/year) adding premium customization features. In December 2025, Letterboxd expanded into transactional video-on-demand with the Video Store, a curated rental service for indie films and restorations. The ecosystem also includes The Letterboxd Show podcast and the Letterboxd Journal online magazine. The platform serves approximately 26-28 million users and leverages TMDB for film data and JustWatch for streaming availability filtering.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Letterboxd Video Store: A transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) rental service launched December 2025, offering curated indie films, festival titles, restorations, and unreleased gems for rental across multiple devices.
- Letterboxd Pro
- Letterboxd Patron
Products and services
- Letterboxd Core Platform Social film discovery and tracking platform for individual film enthusiasts that enables logging films watched, maintaining watchlists, writing and sharing reviews, rating films on a five-star scale (with halves), compiling themed lists, and following friends and other members to see their activity.
- Letterboxd Video Store Transactional video-on-demand rental service for consumers that streams curated indie films, festival standouts, restorations, and unreleased gems directly on the platform for limited-time rental. Available across web, iOS, tvOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, and AirPlay, with no subscription or late fees.
- Letterboxd Mobile Apps (iOS, Android, Apple TV) Native mobile and TV applications for individual consumers that deliver the full Letterboxd film exploration, diary, rating, reviewing, and social experience on iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and Apple TV.
Quantifiable outcome
- 3.7+ billion films watched logged on platform
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Letterboxd
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Letterboxd technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
Letterboxd partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Black BearminorPartnership to introduce 'Four Favorites' film format to theaters nationwide
- MentosminorBrand partnership for '1990s Films with the Most Fans on Letterboxd' featured content
- The AnklerminorPartnership involving joint events, ad sales collaboration, and newsletter distribution between Letterboxd and The Ankler entertainment newsletter
- TMDB (The Movie Database)coreFilm data sourced from TMDB for Letterboxd's comprehensive film database
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Letterboxd competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mubi: Curated film streaming subscription service with a strong community/journal component, targeting cinephiles with indie, classic, and festival films. Closely comparable to Letterboxd in audience (film enthusiasts) and the intersection of community + curated film content.
- Trakt: Service for tracking movies and TV shows watched across streaming platforms, with social features and stats. Comparable to Letterboxd's diary/tracking core, with broader TV coverage but weaker social/community engagement.
- Criticker: Film and TV rating social network using a compatibility-matching algorithm to connect users with similar tastes. Comparable to Letterboxd in the social-rating-and-recommendation niche for film enthusiasts.
Broad incumbents
- IMDb: The dominant internet movie database with ratings, reviews, lists, and watchlists, owned by Amazon. Directly comparable to Letterboxd's core film-tracking and rating functionality, though IMDb serves a mass-market rather than cinephile audience.
- Goodreads: Social cataloging platform for books with reviews, ratings, lists, and reading tracking. Closely comparable to Letterboxd as a category analogue in adjacent media (books vs. film) with very similar product mechanics and social dynamics.
Emerging players
- Reelgood: Streaming aggregator that lets users track what they watch and find content across Netflix, Prime, etc. Comparable to Letterboxd's JustWatch-powered streaming filtering on Pro tier, but without the social/film-diary community.
- Plex: Media-server platform with watchlist, tracking, and social discovery features for movies and TV. Comparable in personal media tracking and discovery, but with a self-hosted/tech-enthusiast orientation rather than cinephile community.
- The Criterion Channel: Curated streaming service focused on classic, indie, and art-house films with rich editorial programming. Comparable to Letterboxd Video Store's indie/restoration curation, though without Letterboxd's community/social layer.
Others
- The Movie Database (TMDB): Crowd-sourced film metadata database that Letterboxd itself relies on for film data. Comparable as a foundational film-information platform, but TMDB is infrastructure/data rather than a social consumer product.
- JustWatch: Streaming availability search engine integrated with Letterboxd Pro. Comparable in streaming-discovery functionality and audience overlap with Letterboxd users, but JustWatch is a search utility without the social diary component.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Letterboxd social profiles
Digital presenceLetterboxd financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Letterboxd leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Letterboxd funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Letterboxd M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Letterboxd
What does Letterboxd do?
Letterboxd is a social film discovery and tracking platform that lets users log films watched, rate them on a five-star scale (with halves), write and share reviews, compile themed film lists, maintain watchlists, and follow other members to see their activity. It also operates a transactional video-on-demand rental service, Letterboxd Video Store, offering curated indie films, festival standouts, restorations, and unreleased titles for per-film rental across web, mobile, and TV apps.
Is Letterboxd a public or private company?
Letterboxd is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Letterboxd founded?
Letterboxd was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Letterboxd based?
Letterboxd is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Letterboxd make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Pro Subscription is the primary driver. The others are patron Subscription, video Store Rentals, advertising and partnerships.
Who are Letterboxd's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mubi, Trakt and Criticker. Broad incumbents are IMDb and Goodreads. Emerging players are Reelgood, Plex and The Criterion Channel. Others are The Movie Database (TMDB) and JustWatch.
Does Letterboxd have an API?
Yes. Letterboxd exposes a public API. Developer documentation is at letterboxd.com/api-beta.