diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5222a0d5e..0d5a6c8f6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 # Nimble packages
 /vendor/.nimble
 
+# Developer vendor repos (cloned on-demand via `make vendors`)
+/vendor/zerokit/
+/vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract/
+
 # Generated Files
 *.generated.nim
 
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index ac07235b8..000000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "vendor/zerokit"]
-	path = vendor/zerokit
-	url = https://github.com/vacp2p/zerokit.git
-	ignore = dirty
-	branch = v0.5.1
-[submodule "vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract"]
-	path = vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract
-	url = https://github.com/logos-messaging/waku-rlnv2-contract.git
-	ignore = untracked
-	branch = master
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 73e660251..f5e02ecf4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ waku.nims:
 	ln -s waku.nimble $@
 
 update: | waku.nims
-	git submodule update --init --recursive
 	nimble setup && nimble sync
 	$(MAKE) build-nph
 
@@ -222,12 +221,20 @@ librln: | $(LIBRLN_FILE)
 	$(eval NIM_PARAMS += --passL:$(LIBRLN_FILE) --passL:-lm)
 
 clean-librln:
-	cargo clean --manifest-path vendor/zerokit/rln/Cargo.toml
+	@if [ -f "vendor/zerokit/rln/Cargo.toml" ]; then \
+		cargo clean --manifest-path vendor/zerokit/rln/Cargo.toml; \
+	fi
 	rm -f $(LIBRLN_FILE)
 
 # Extend clean target
 clean: | clean-librln
 
+# Clone vendor repos for development (builds from source automatically when present)
+vendors:
+	@mkdir -p vendor
+	@[ -d "vendor/zerokit/.git" ] || git clone --branch v0.5.1 https://github.com/vacp2p/zerokit.git vendor/zerokit
+	@[ -d "vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract/.git" ] || git clone https://github.com/logos-messaging/waku-rlnv2-contract.git vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract
+
 #################
 ## Waku Common ##
 #################
diff --git a/scripts/build_rln.sh b/scripts/build_rln.sh
index 1a8b63177..e21212d7e 100755
--- a/scripts/build_rln.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_rln.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-# This script is used to build the rln library for the current platform, or download it from the
-# release page if it is available.
+# This script is used to build the rln library for the current platform.
+# - If vendor/zerokit exists: builds from source
+# - Otherwise: downloads prebuilt binary from GitHub releases
 
 set -e
 
-# first argument is the build directory
 build_dir=$1
 rln_version=$2
 output_filename=$3
@@ -14,14 +14,31 @@ output_filename=$3
 [[ -z "${rln_version}" ]]     && { echo "No rln version specified";     exit 1; }
 [[ -z "${output_filename}" ]] && { echo "No output filename specified"; exit 1; }
 
-# Get the host triplet
+# Build from source if vendor exists
+if [[ -d "${build_dir}/rln" ]]; then
+    echo "Building RLN from source (${build_dir})..."
+
+    detected_OS=$(uname -s)
+    if [[ "$detected_OS" == MINGW* || "$detected_OS" == MSYS* ]]; then
+        submodule_version=$(cargo metadata --format-version=1 --no-deps --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml" | sed -n 's/.*"name":"rln","version":"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
+    else
+        submodule_version=$(cargo metadata --format-version=1 --no-deps --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml" | jq -r '.packages[] | select(.name == "rln") | .version')
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "v${submodule_version}" != "${rln_version}" ]]; then
+        echo "Warning: Source version (v${submodule_version}) does not match expected (${rln_version})"
+    fi
+
+    cargo build --release -p rln --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml"
+    cp "${build_dir}/target/release/librln.a" "${output_filename}"
+    echo "Built ${output_filename} from source"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Download prebuilt binary
 host_triplet=$(rustc --version --verbose | awk '/host:/{print $2}')
+tarball="${host_triplet}-stateless-rln.tar.gz"
 
-tarball="${host_triplet}"
-tarball+="-stateless"
-tarball+="-rln.tar.gz"
-
-# Download the prebuilt rln library if it is available
 if curl --silent --fail-with-body -L \
   "https://github.com/vacp2p/zerokit/releases/download/$rln_version/$tarball" \
   -o "${tarball}";
@@ -32,23 +49,6 @@ then
     rm -rf "${tarball}" release
 else
     echo "Failed to download ${tarball}"
-    # Build rln instead
-    # first, check if submodule version = version in Makefile
-    cargo metadata --format-version=1 --no-deps --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml"
-
-    detected_OS=$(uname -s)
-    if [[ "$detected_OS" == MINGW* || "$detected_OS" == MSYS* ]]; then
-        submodule_version=$(cargo metadata --format-version=1 --no-deps --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml" | sed -n 's/.*"name":"rln","version":"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
-    else
-        submodule_version=$(cargo metadata --format-version=1 --no-deps --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml" | jq -r '.packages[] | select(.name == "rln") | .version')
-    fi
-
-    if [[ "v${submodule_version}" != "${rln_version}" ]]; then
-        echo "Submodule version (v${submodule_version}) does not match version in Makefile (${rln_version})"
-        echo "Please update the submodule to ${rln_version}"
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    # if submodule version = version in Makefile, build rln
-    cargo build --release -p rln --manifest-path "${build_dir}/rln/Cargo.toml" 
-    cp "${build_dir}/target/release/librln.a" "${output_filename}"
+    echo "Run 'make vendors' to clone zerokit and build from source"
+    exit 1
 fi
diff --git a/vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract b/vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract
deleted file mode 160000
index 8a338f354..000000000
--- a/vendor/waku-rlnv2-contract
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 8a338f354481e8a3f3d64a72e38fad4c62e32dcd
diff --git a/vendor/zerokit b/vendor/zerokit
deleted file mode 160000
index 70c79fbc9..000000000
--- a/vendor/zerokit
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 70c79fbc989d4f87d9352b2f4bddcb60ebe55b19