Golo vs Stick
The Stick gay app and Golo are two Indian apps that both take privacy seriously. Golo is the one that makes it automatic: no profile photo, chat photos that open once, and messages that delete themselves.
Stick lets you manage what you share; Golo removes it
Golo is a chat and dating app for gay and bisexual men in India, for adults only. Others see only a rough distance to you, never your exact location.
Stick is a good Indian app with the right instincts. It is built by a Bengaluru team, links no social accounts, has no public profiles and says it never shares your exact location. It has 10 lakh+ downloads on Google Play and works in English and Hindi.
Where Golo goes further is in what it removes. There is no profile photo to manage, chat photos get one look, and old messages disappear after 30 days without you doing anything. Stick documents privacy controls for your profile, but nothing about photos or messages deleting themselves.
Stick also has live streams and a travel mode, so there is more to do. Golo has none of that on purpose: it is for finding someone near you and talking to him.
Privacy by removal, not by settings
Each of these works from the moment you sign up, except App Lock, which you turn on in Settings.
No photo to keep private
Your profile shows the first letter of your name. There is no picture of you to protect in the first place.
Messages delete themselves after 30 days
Not a setting to find. Every message is deleted after 30 days, for both of you.
Photos in chat get one look
The moment a photo is opened, nobody can open it again, and our servers delete it.
Screenshots come out black
Golo blocks screenshots and screen recording across the whole app.
App Lock with a PIN or fingerprint
Turn it on in Settings and choose how soon it locks: straight away, or after 30 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes.
Adults only, and moderated
Your date of birth is set once and cannot be changed. Display names and bios are checked automatically, and “User may be a minor” is its own report reason. Our Community Guidelines say what is not allowed.
What else Golo does differently
Beyond safety, a few more choices that shape how Golo feels to use.
Nine languages, all the way through
English and eight Indian languages, on every screen: Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. See gay chat in your language.
Quiet by design
No live streams, no feed and no travel mode. Golo shows the men near you, the most recently active first, and leaves the rest to you.
Free, with no paid tier
Every filter and every call is open to everyone. There is nothing to buy.
Side by side
The Golo column describes the app as it ships today. The Stick column only lists what Stick documents publicly.
| Feature | Golo | Stick |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photos | None. Profiles show the first letter of your name | Profiles, with privacy controls over what you share |
| Live streaming | No | Yes |
| Travel mode | No | Yes |
| Photos inside a chat | Every photo opens once, then is deleted from our servers | Yes; no auto-delete documented |
| How long messages are kept | Deleted automatically after 30 days | Not publicly documented |
| Location shown to others | A rough distance, such as ~1.2 km; your exact location is never shown | States that your exact location is never shared |
| Social account linking | None. Indian mobile number and a one-time code | None — it states that it does not link social accounts |
| Voice and video calls | Both, free | Voice and video |
| App lock | PIN or fingerprint, switched on in Settings | Not publicly documented |
| Cost | Free. No ads, no paid tier | Free to download; premium features need a subscription |
| Platforms | Android | Android; App Store listed as coming soon |
| Built in | India | India (Bengaluru) |
| App languages | English and eight Indian languages | English and Hindi |
What Stick is
Stick is built by IndiDino Ventures, a Bengaluru team, and aimed squarely at India. Its own site says it is “not a Western clone” and is built for Indian men and Indian cities.
It leans on live streams as well as browsing men in your city, and it lists filters for age, interests, location range and lifestyle, plus a travel mode for looking at other cities.
Block and report tools, it says, are always available. It is free to download with a paid subscription, works in English and Hindi, and is on Android, with an iPhone version listed as coming soon.
What Stick does well
- Live streams, if you like watching and being part of a room rather than only chatting.
- A travel mode for looking at another city before you get there.
- People already on it: 10 lakh+ downloads on Google Play.
- People, not only software, check every profile, it says, and reports of harassment, blackmail or abuse are flagged first and reviewed in hours, not days.
Which one should you install?
There is no single winner here. There is a version of you that each app is right for.
Choose Golo if…
- You want a profile with no photo on it, ever.
- You want old chats gone without doing anything about it.
- You want every chat photo to open once.
- You want the app in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati or Bengali.
- You do not want any paid tier.
Stick may suit you better if…
- You want live streams and a community to watch.
- You like browsing other cities before you travel.
- You want an app that already has 10 lakh+ downloads.
- English or Hindi is all you need.
Common questions
Is Golo related to Stick?
No. Both are Indian apps for gay men, but they are made by different companies and share nothing.
Does Golo have live streaming or a travel mode?
No. Golo is only for finding someone near you and talking one to one. You can pick any state in Filters, but you cannot set your location somewhere else.
Is Golo on iPhone?
Not yet. Golo is Android for now, the same as Stick.
How do I delete my Golo account?
In the app, go to Settings, then Manage account, then Delete account. Your profile disappears for everyone else straight away.
Be one of the first on Golo
No profile photos. Sign up with your number, set your filters, and start talking.
- Free, no ads
- 18+ only
- 9 languages
Golo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Stick. All product names and trademarks belong to their owners. The Stick column was compiled in October 2026 from that app’s own store listing, website and help pages; “Not publicly documented” means we could not find the answer in those sources, not that the feature is missing. Apps change — please check the current listing before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.