diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 82679337..d2968094 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ jobs:
           command: |
             set -ex
             export PATH="$GOBIN:$PATH"
-            make metalinter
+            make lint
       - run:
           name: check_dep
           command: |
diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ed2f6ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+run:
+  deadline: 1m
+
+linters:
+  enable-all: true
+  disable:
+    - gocyclo
+    - golint
+    - maligned
+    - errcheck
+    - staticcheck
+    - dupl
+    - ineffassign
+    - interfacer
+    - unconvert
+    - goconst
+    - unparam
+    - nakedret
+    - lll
+    - gochecknoglobals
+    - govet
+    - gocritic
+    - gosec
+    - gochecknoinits
+    - scopelint
+    - stylecheck
+    - deadcode
+    - prealloc
+    - unused
+    - gosimple
+
+# linters-settings:
+#   govet:
+#     check-shadowing: true
+#   golint:
+#     min-confidence: 0
+#   gocyclo:
+#     min-complexity: 10
+#   maligned:
+#     suggest-new: true
+#   dupl:
+#     threshold: 100
+#   goconst:
+#     min-len: 2
+#     min-occurrences: 2
+#   depguard:
+#     list-type: blacklist
+#     packages:
+#       # logging is allowed only by logutils.Log, logrus
+#       # is allowed to use only in logutils package
+#       - github.com/sirupsen/logrus
+#   misspell:
+#     locale: US
+#   lll:
+#     line-length: 140
+#   goimports:
+#     local-prefixes: github.com/golangci/golangci-lint
+#   gocritic:
+#     enabled-tags:
+#       - performance
+#       - style
+#       - experimental
+#     disabled-checks:
+#       - wrapperFunc
+#       - commentFormatting # https://github.com/go-critic/go-critic/issues/755
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8c0928d0..ac9700d6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 GOTOOLS = \
 	github.com/mitchellh/gox \
 	github.com/golang/dep/cmd/dep \
-	github.com/alecthomas/gometalinter \
+	github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint \
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf/protoc-gen-gogo \
 	github.com/square/certstrap
 GOBIN?=${GOPATH}/bin
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ INCLUDE = -I=. -I=${GOPATH}/src -I=${GOPATH}/src/github.com/gogo/protobuf/protob
 BUILD_TAGS?='tendermint'
 BUILD_FLAGS = -ldflags "-X github.com/tendermint/tendermint/version.GitCommit=`git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD`"
 
-LINT_FLAGS = --exclude '.*\.pb\.go' --exclude 'vendor/*' --vendor --deadline=600s
-
 all: check build test install
 
 check: check_tools get_vendor_deps
@@ -82,10 +80,6 @@ get_tools:
 	@echo "--> Installing tools"
 	./scripts/get_tools.sh
 
-get_dev_tools:
-	@echo "--> Downloading linters (this may take awhile)"
-	$(GOPATH)/src/github.com/alecthomas/gometalinter/scripts/install.sh -b $(GOBIN)
-
 update_tools:
 	@echo "--> Updating tools"
 	./scripts/get_tools.sh
@@ -246,38 +240,9 @@ cleanup_after_test_with_deadlock:
 fmt:
 	@go fmt ./...
 
-metalinter:
+lint:
 	@echo "--> Running linter"
-	@gometalinter $(LINT_FLAGS) --disable-all  \
-		--enable=vet \
-		--enable=vetshadow \
-		--enable=deadcode \
-		--enable=varcheck \
-		--enable=structcheck \
-	 	--enable=misspell \
-		--enable=safesql \
-		--enable=gosec \
-		--enable=goimports \
-		--enable=gofmt \
-		./...
-		#--enable=gotype \
-		#--enable=gotypex \
-		#--enable=gocyclo \
-		#--enable=golint \
-		#--enable=maligned \
-		#--enable=errcheck \
-		#--enable=staticcheck \
-		#--enable=dupl \
-		#--enable=ineffassign \
-		#--enable=interfacer \
-		#--enable=unconvert \
-		#--enable=goconst \
-		#--enable=unparam \
-		#--enable=nakedret \
-
-metalinter_all:
-	@echo "--> Running linter (all)"
-	gometalinter $(LINT_FLAGS) --enable-all --disable=lll ./...
+	@golangci-lint run
 
 DESTINATION = ./index.html.md
 
@@ -343,4 +308,4 @@ build-slate:
 # To avoid unintended conflicts with file names, always add to .PHONY
 # unless there is a reason not to.
 # https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Phony-Targets.html
-.PHONY: check build build_race build_abci dist install install_abci check_dep check_tools get_tools get_dev_tools update_tools get_vendor_deps draw_deps get_protoc protoc_abci protoc_libs gen_certs clean_certs grpc_dbserver test_cover test_apps test_persistence test_p2p test test_race test_integrations test_release test100 vagrant_test fmt rpc-docs build-linux localnet-start localnet-stop build-docker build-docker-localnode sentry-start sentry-config sentry-stop build-slate protoc_grpc protoc_all build_c install_c test_with_deadlock cleanup_after_test_with_deadlock metalinter metalinter_all
+.PHONY: check build build_race build_abci dist install install_abci check_dep check_tools get_tools update_tools get_vendor_deps draw_deps get_protoc protoc_abci protoc_libs gen_certs clean_certs grpc_dbserver test_cover test_apps test_persistence test_p2p test test_race test_integrations test_release test100 vagrant_test fmt rpc-docs build-linux localnet-start localnet-stop build-docker build-docker-localnode sentry-start sentry-config sentry-stop build-slate protoc_grpc protoc_all build_c install_c test_with_deadlock cleanup_after_test_with_deadlock lint
diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index f058d78e..320f3b1c 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -53,6 +53,6 @@ Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
 
     # get all deps and tools, ready to install/test
     su - vagrant  -c 'source /home/vagrant/.bash_profile'
-    su - vagrant -c 'cd /home/vagrant/go/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint && make get_tools && make get_dev_tools && make get_vendor_deps'
+    su - vagrant -c 'cd /home/vagrant/go/src/github.com/tendermint/tendermint && make get_tools && make get_vendor_deps'
   SHELL
 end
diff --git a/libs/test.sh b/libs/test.sh
index ecf17fc4..64898b0d 100755
--- a/libs/test.sh
+++ b/libs/test.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -e
 
 # run the linter
-# make metalinter_test
+# make lint
 
 # setup certs
 make gen_certs
diff --git a/scripts/get_tools.sh b/scripts/get_tools.sh
index 87e30a3d..dd956691 100755
--- a/scripts/get_tools.sh
+++ b/scripts/get_tools.sh
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@ set -e
 # specific git hash.
 #
 # repos it installs:
-#   github.com/mitchellh/gox
 #   github.com/golang/dep/cmd/dep
-#   gopkg.in/alecthomas/gometalinter.v2
 #   github.com/gogo/protobuf/protoc-gen-gogo
 #   github.com/square/certstrap
+#   github.com/mitchellh/gox
+#   github.com/golangci/golangci-lint
+#   github.com/petermattis/goid
+#   github.com/sasha-s/go-deadlock
+#   goimports
 
 ## check if GOPATH is set
 if [ -z ${GOPATH+x} ]; then
@@ -45,14 +48,22 @@ installFromGithub() {
 	echo ""
 }
 
-installFromGithub mitchellh/gox 51ed453898ca5579fea9ad1f08dff6b121d9f2e8
+######################## COMMON TOOLS ########################################
 installFromGithub golang/dep 22125cfaa6ddc71e145b1535d4b7ee9744fefff2 cmd/dep
-## gometalinter v3.0.0
-installFromGithub alecthomas/gometalinter df395bfa67c5d0630d936c0044cf07ff05086655
+
+######################## DEVELOPER TOOLS #####################################
 installFromGithub gogo/protobuf 61dbc136cf5d2f08d68a011382652244990a53a9 protoc-gen-gogo
+
 installFromGithub square/certstrap e27060a3643e814151e65b9807b6b06d169580a7
 
+# used to build tm-monitor & tm-bench binaries
+installFromGithub mitchellh/gox 51ed453898ca5579fea9ad1f08dff6b121d9f2e8
+
+## golangci-lint v1.13.2
+installFromGithub golangci/golangci-lint 7b2421d55194c9dc385eff7720a037aa9244ca3c cmd/golangci-lint
+
 ## make test_with_deadlock
+## XXX: https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3242
 installFromGithub petermattis/goid b0b1615b78e5ee59739545bb38426383b2cda4c9
 installFromGithub sasha-s/go-deadlock d68e2bc52ae3291765881b9056f2c1527f245f1e
 go get golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports