Common Ground

What Common Ground does

Common Ground is a decentralized community management platform that operates as Common Ground DAO—a non-territorial, decentralized autonomous organization registered in Zug, Switzerland and founded in 2021. The company positions its product as a free, open-source alternative to Discord, serving web3 projects, DAOs, open-source developers, and community builders who require decentralized infrastructure with community-owned governance rather than dependence on centralized platforms. Its primary customer segments are Web3 Projects & DAOs (primary) and open-source developers and community creators (secondary).

The platform's core product is a unified community super app that combines chats, video calls and live streams, blogging, gaming and applications, tokens, and role-based permissions. Technically, it is differentiated by deep integration with 16+ blockchain networks (Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Solana, Avalanche, Optimism, zkSync, LUKSO, and others) for wallet-based identity and tokenized membership, on-chain governance via Snapshot, a full-scale application model with SDK (cg-base-plugin) enabling developers to publish and monetize apps within communities, and full self-hosting capability from its GitHub repository. The codebase, including games and apps, is entirely open source.

Common Ground's business model is freemium and open-source with no disclosed paid subscription tier; the core platform is free to use, self-hosting is available at no cost, and monetization mechanics center on the $CG governance token, which rewards open-source contributors and mediates DAO governance decisions. Distribution is fully self-serve (app.cg, GitHub) with no traditional sales motion, supplemented by ecosystem partnerships (Consensys, LUKSO LSP Grants) and event presence (Devcon 2024). The company has raised $1.3M in disclosed seed funding from Outlier Ventures (August 2022), operates with 1-10 employees, and reports 64K+ active users across 5.9K+ communities.

Name

Common Ground

Legal name

Common Ground DAO

Website

https://commonground.cg

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Common Ground operates a free, open-source community management platform that serves web3 projects, DAOs, and developers as a decentralized Discord alternative, featuring multi-chain wallet integration, tokenized membership, on-chain governance, and self-hosting across 16+ blockchain networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Community Management Software

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Coordination & Contributor Management (tasks, bounties, roles) (FSAPAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Governance Frameworks & DAO Tooling (modules, templates, standards) (FSAPAHAC), Game Server Hosting & Community Infrastructure (private servers, matchmaking communities) (MPAFAIAF), Creator Economy & Monetization Tools for UGC (tips, subs, rev share, payouts) (MPAFAIAI)

Keywords

• Decentralized community platform
• Open source community management
• DAO governance tools
• Tokenized membership platform
• Web3 community software

Headquarters

HQ city

Zug

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Platform Token ($CG): The governance token mediates ownership and rewards contributors. Contributors can earn $CG tokens through pull requests and open-source contributions.
2. Community-Paid Features: As an open-source platform with tokenized membership, communities may monetize apps, games, or premium features within the platform ecosystem.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Common Ground is a decentralized community management platform that functions as a free, open-source alternative to Discord. It enables users to create, manage, and join decentralized communities featuring tokenized membership, wallet-based identity, multi-chain support across 16+ blockchain networks, and on-chain governance via Snapshot. The platform combines chats, video calls, live streams, blogging, gaming, apps, tokens, and role-based permissions in a single web3-native super app, with self-hosting and full source code available.

Product overview

Common Ground is a unified web3 community management platform positioned as a free, open-source alternative to Discord. The platform integrates a community super app with features including chats, video calls, live streams, blogging, gaming, tokens, and role-based permissions. The core Common Ground Platform supports tokenized membership and decentralized ownership across 16+ blockchain networks. The ecosystem includes a Developer SDK for building integrations on the user account and community model, a Games & Apps publishing system for monetizing content within communities, and Governance Tools powered by Snapshot for on-chain voting and proposals. The platform reports 64K+ users across 5.9K+ communities, with statistics including 1M+ group messages, 501K+ DMs, and 5K+ live streams.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Common Ground App: A community super app for web3 featuring chats, video calls, live streams, blogging, gaming, tokens, and private/public spaces.

Products and services

• Common Ground Platform A unified web3 community management platform that enables users to create, manage, and join decentralized communities without prior blockchain knowledge. Features include tokenized membership, decentralized ownership, transparent decision-making tools, chats, video calls, live streams, blogging, gaming, and apps across 16+ blockchain networks.
• Common Ground SDK (cg-base-plugin) A software development kit that allows developers to create deep integrations between external apps and the Common Ground platform, building on the user account and community model. Documentation available at the GitHub repository.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 5,900 communities and 64,000 users actively using the platform
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration18 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ConsensyscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2024Featured in Consensys publication as part of Web3 for All initiative. Common Ground was highlighted as a platform enabling users to create, manage, and join decentralized communities without prior blockchain knowledge, aligning with Consensys' mission to promote web3 adoption.
• LUKSO Standard Profiling (LSP) GrantsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 July 2024Common Ground received LSP Grants to build the Future: Social Composability and Onchain Organizations. The grant supports development of interoperable social primitives for the LUKSO ecosystem.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Guild.xyz: Token-gated community platform providing role-based access and verifiable credentials for web3 communities. Directly comparable as it targets the same primary use case of tokenized community membership that Common Ground addresses.
• Collab.Land: Token-gated access bot for Discord and Telegram communities. Closely comparable as it also bridges wallet-based identity with mainstream community chat platforms and serves DAOs and web3 projects.
• Discourse: Open-source community forum platform. Comparable as a self-hostable, open-source community infrastructure alternative to centralized platforms, though without native web3/token integration.
• Farcaster: Decentralized social protocol with user-owned identity and feeds. Comparable as a web3-native social/community platform with onchain identity, though focused on social feeds rather than group chat infrastructure.
• Charmverse: DAO workspace and coordination platform offering proposals, bounties, and contributor management. Directly comparable to Common Ground's governance and contributor coordination capabilities for DAO communities.
• Element: Decentralized chat client built on the Matrix protocol. Comparable as an open-source, decentralized alternative to Discord/Telegram with self-hosting capabilities, though without native token-gating.
• Townhall: Web3 community platform providing group chat, social feeds, and member directories for blockchain communities. Directly comparable as it serves similar DAO and web3 community use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Lens Protocol: Decentralized social graph protocol with profile-as-NFT architecture. Comparable as a broader web3 social infrastructure layer that complements Common Ground's community tooling rather than directly competing in chat.
• Tally: Onchain DAO governance platform for proposals and voting. Comparable as a governance tool provider, though specializing in voting/governance rather than community chat infrastructure.
• Snapshot: Off-chain governance voting platform widely used by DAOs. Comparable as a governance infrastructure that Common Ground explicitly integrates with; adjacent rather than directly competitive as Snapshot focuses on voting rather than chat.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CommonGround_cg
• GitHubgithub.com/Common-Ground-DAO

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Common Ground