About Cinelect
Cinelect is a free app, made by a husband-and-wife team in Canada, to help your group decide what to watch. Add films to a shared watchlist, nominate a few favorites on movie night, rank them, and let a scoring algorithm pick a winner everyone is happy with.
Who's behind it
Just the two of us. Hi, I'm David Gee, a teacher, father, husband, designer, cinephile, and tinkerer in Canada, and Cinelect is something I make with my wife, Lindsay. I design and build it; Lindsay shapes the ideas, critiques every detail, and tells me when to keep pushing. There's no company behind Cinelect, and we read every bug report ourselves. We love creating things that make people happy.
In the buffet of endless content, it's easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis trying to decide what to watch. Once you get a group trying to reach an agreement, it can feel impossible. We built Cinelect to help groups quickly find a film to watch that will make everyone happy.
How it's funded
Cinelect is a passion project, built and run in our spare time. There is no advertising and no ad tracking. Everything you need to run movie night is free for everyone: rooms, suggestions, the shared watchlist, voting, and the winner reveal.
Development and hosting are supported by optional tips and an optional Premium upgrade that adds a few extras, like unlimited rooms and an unlimited watchlist. Neither is ever required to use Cinelect with your group.
Privacy, in short
Cinelect collects only what it needs to run rooms and sync your watchlist: an email address if you create an account, the display name and avatar you choose, and the films, nominations, and rankings you add. You can also use Cinelect without an account. We don't run ad trackers or sell your information. With your permission, Google Analytics shows us how the app is used, and you can turn it off in Settings. See the full Privacy Policy for details.
Movie data
Film details, posters, and ratings come from The Movie Database (TMDB) and OMDb. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Credits
Profile avatars are adapted from the Fun Emoji Set by Davis Uche, via DiceBear — recoloured and limited to a curated selection of faces — licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pick a movie with a group of friends?
Create a room in Cinelect and share the room code. Everyone suggests films and approves each other's suggestions into a shared watchlist. On movie night, each person nominates up to three films and ranks the nominees, and a fair scoring algorithm picks the winner. No more endless scrolling or one person always deciding.
Who makes Cinelect?
Cinelect is made by David Gee and his wife Lindsay, a husband-and-wife team in Canada. David designs and builds it; Lindsay shapes the ideas, critiques every detail, and tells him when to keep pushing. There is no company behind it, and it is funded by optional tips and Premium.
Is Cinelect free?
Yes. Everything you need to run movie night is free: rooms, suggestions, the shared watchlist (up to 40 films a room), voting, and the winner reveal, with no ads. An optional Premium upgrade adds a few extras, like unlimited rooms and an unlimited watchlist for your whole group, and helps cover development.
Does everyone need an account?
No. You can join a room and take part without creating an account. Signing in (Google or email) is optional and adds cross-device sync: your rooms, watchlist, and profile follow you to any phone or computer.
How does the voting work?
Each member nominates up to three films from the shared watchlist, then ranks all the nominees privately. Films earn points based on everyone's rankings, with a tie-breaker the room chooses: "Safe" favors the least divisive film, "Crowd" favors the highest typical ranking. The winner is revealed to everyone at once.
Does Cinelect show where a movie is streaming?
Yes, as a beta feature. Film pages show which subscription and free services carry a film in your country, using data from JustWatch, and each member can mark the services they have so the group can see what is watchable tonight. Listings can run a few days behind the services themselves.
How many people can use one room?
Rooms work for any group size: couples, families, roommates, or a whole friend circle. Everyone joins with a simple room code.
Questions
Got feedback, a bug report, or just want to say hello? Email info@cinelect.com.
See also our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.