01What Steel Magnolias is
Steel Magnolias is a community app for women navigating divorce, on the App Store and Google Play today. It is women-only, for adults 18 and over, in the United States. It began as a community, not a product: about 150 women meeting in group chats, on weekly Zoom calls, and in person, before the app existed.
You join under a name you choose. Other members never see your real name, and there is no real-name requirement anywhere. Most members are here precisely because nobody they know is.
02How the groups work
The community happens mostly in writing, at whatever hour you keep. Gardens is the live community chat, part of full membership, with The Oasis, topic chats, and direct messages. Meadows are live audio rooms. Roots is the community forum, free to read and free to post, where questions about the process get answered by women who have been through it.
Nothing here requires an appointment. A written thread holds what you said at two in the morning and is still holding it when you come back to it. When a Meadow is live, it is a room you drop into, guided by Magnolia Guide, a gentle AI host, not a clinician or a coach. Alongside the community, Receipts is a private documentation tool: dated entries in your own words, yours and not part of the community.
Steel Magnolias is peer support and general information, not therapy and not legal advice. For advice about your situation, see a licensed professional in your state.
03What is free and what it costs
Roots (the community forum) and crisis tools are free. Full membership is $129/year or $14.99/month. The first 500 member spots carry a launch price of $59.99 for the first year, then $129/year, on iPhone; the live counter on the home page shows how many spots remain. On the App Store and Google Play today. No ads, no data sale, ever.
Creating an account is free. Roots and crisis tools never require a subscription, so you can sit with the community before deciding anything.
04Other places women find groups
If Steel Magnolias is not your fit, real options exist and this page will name them. DivorceCare runs structured, faith-based recovery groups online and in person. Meetup lists local and virtual divorce groups that vary by city. Therapist-led groups, found through a therapist or a community mental health center, offer clinical facilitation that peer support does not.
One distinction matters more than any brand. If your situation involves abuse, coercive control, stalking, or fear of your ex-partner, a survivor-focused organization with trained advocates is the right first stop, not a general divorce group. In the United States, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential, 24 hours a day, at 800-799-7233.
Steel Magnolias is peer support and general information, not therapy, not medical advice, not legal advice, and not financial advice. Nothing on this page substitutes for consultation with a licensed professional in your jurisdiction. Laws vary by state and change frequently.