Holochain
Holochain provides an open-source peer-to-peer application framework combining cryptography, distributed databases, and consensus-free validation. It serves independent developers and small teams building serverless distributed apps for collaboration, energy coordination, governance, and economic use cases.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersGibraltar, Gibraltar
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Holochain does
Holochain provides an open-source, peer-to-peer application framework that combines cryptography, distributed databases, and consensus-free validation to enable serverless distributed apps. Its core technology is built in Rust with WebAssembly backend compilation (via Wasmer) and uses an agent-centric architecture in which each user maintains a cryptographically signed source chain on their own device; data is gossiped across peers via a relaxed, agent-centric distributed hash table (rrDHT, protected by U.S. Patent 10,951,697), with peers validating data against application-defined rules rather than reaching global consensus. Application logic lives in DNAs (Distributed Network Applications) composed of zomes, with capability-based and membrane-proof security gating access between bridged DNAs.
The core product is the Holochain framework itself, delivered as free open-source under the Cryptographic Autonomy License. Surrounding developer tooling includes the Holochain Launcher, DevHub package repository, Holochain Playground, Tryorama/Sweettest testing, SDKs in JavaScript and Rust, the hc CLI, and a Wind Tunnel performance/scale testing engine. The Holochain Foundation, a non-profit domiciled in Gibraltar, is the steward of the project and wholly owns two operating subsidiaries: Holo Ltd., which operates a P2P hosting network (HoloPorts) and HoloFuel token economy originally funded via a 2018 ICO, and Unyt, Inc., launched in 2025 to commercialize a mutual-credit accounting engine. Direct monetization is minimal; the primary disclosed cash inflow is a paid Developer Training program at $1,100 per 4-day interactive cohort (with scholarships and a $100 refundable deposit), supplemented by token-based hosting rewards routed through Holo Ltd.
Customers and users are predominantly independent developers and small teams building P2P applications — listed adopters include Neighbourhoods (groupware), IOEN (energy coordination), hREA (economic coordination via Valueflows), Syn (real-time collaboration), Fractal Tribute (collaborative NFT game), Moss/The Weave (group spaces), and How (governance). Holochain goes to market via a community-led, product-led motion: open-source distribution through GitHub and the developer portal, Discord (1,000+ developers), X (136K+ followers), YouTube, blog/developer newsletter, global in-person events and hackathons across 14+ cities, and bottom-of-funnel paid training. Primary use-case segments span general developer tooling, enterprises and organizations, IoT/edge computing, privacy-focused applications, local/offline-first apps, and social impact/sustainability projects.
Holochain firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Holochain
- Legal name
- Holochain Foundation
- Website
- https://holochain.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Holochain provides an open-source peer-to-peer application framework combining cryptography, distributed databases, and consensus-free validation. It serves independent developers and small teams building serverless distributed apps for collaboration, energy coordination, governance, and economic use cases.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Holochain industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Distributed Application Framework / Peer-to-Peer Computing Platform
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing) (FSAPAAAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Interoperability & Cross-Chain Infrastructure (Bridges, Messaging, Atomic Swaps) (FSAGAMAI), Interoperability & Integration Middleware (ERP/core banking connectors, messaging, APIs, cross-chain to permissioned) (FSAPAIAL)
Keywords
Where Holochain is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Gibraltar
- HQ country
- Gibraltar
Offices1 record
Markets served
Holochain business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Open Source Framework (No Direct Revenue): Holochain is an open-source project maintained by the Holochain Foundation. The foundation's revenue comes from wholly-owned subsidiaries.
- Holo Ltd. Hosting Services: Holo Ltd. (wholly owned by Holochain Foundation) generates revenue through the Holo hosting network - a P2P distributed platform for hosting Holochain applications. Hosts earn HOT cryptocurrency for providing hosting services.
- Unyt, Inc. (2025 Launch): Wholly-owned subsidiary launched in 2025 to develop mutual-credit accounting engine and deliver decentralized infrastructure solutions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Developer Training Full Cost |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Developer Training Deposit |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Scholarships |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels12 records
Holochain product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Holochain provides an open-source, end-to-end peer-to-peer application framework that enables developers to build distributed applications (hApps) without servers or blockchain consensus. The framework combines cryptography, distributed databases, and agent-centric validation where each user owns their data via source chains, and peers validate data against application rules via a relaxed distributed hash table (rrDHT). Related paid offerings include the Holo P2P hosting network (via subsidiary Holo Ltd.), developer training programs, and the Unyt mutual-credit accounting engine (via subsidiary Unyt, Inc.).
Product overview
Holochain is an open-source peer-to-peer application framework that provides distributed app infrastructure without traditional blockchain consensus. The core product is the Holochain framework itself, which enables serverless applications where compute and data live at the edges. The ecosystem includes developer tools (Holochain Launcher, DevHub, Holochain Playground, Tryorama, hc CLI, hc-scaffold), SDKs in JavaScript and Rust, and specialized libraries like Syn for real-time collaboration and hREA for economic coordination. Applications built on Holochain include We (groupware), Unyt (mutual-credit accounting), and the Moss/The Weave platform for group collaboration. The platform is designed for use cases spanning social impact, energy grids, currency design, and local economies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Holochain Framework End-to-end open-source peer-to-peer application framework that enables developers to build distributed applications (hApps) with cryptography, distributed databases, and consensus-free validation, rather than blockchain-based or server-based architectures. Targets application developers and enterprises building collaborative, communication, social, energy, currency, and coordination apps.
- Holo Hosting Network P2P distributed cloud-hosting platform operated by Holo Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Holochain Foundation). Thousands of hosts run HoloPort micro-servers to host Holochain applications and earn HOT cryptocurrency. Enables browser-based access to Holochain apps without requiring users to run a local node.
- Unyt Mutual-Credit Accounting Engine Mutual-credit accounting engine and decentralized infrastructure application developed by Unyt, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Holochain Foundation. Designed for decentralized accounting infrastructure use cases.
- Holochain Developer Training Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Dramatically reduced energy consumption compared to blockchain due to consensus-free architecture
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Holochain
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Holochain technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature12 records
Holochain partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.
- Unyt, Inc.coreWholly-owned subsidiary launched by Holochain Foundation in 2025 to further development of a mutual-credit accounting engine and deliver on broader demand for decentralized infrastructure use-cases.
- Holo Ltd.coreHolo Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Holochain Foundation. It issued an ICO in 2018 to fund building critical components of the Holochain network supporting HoloPorts, HoloFuel, and Holo hosting applications. Holo is responsible for regulatory compliance while Holochain remains a distinct open-source project.
- Linux FoundationmoderateHolochain participated as a sponsor in Open Source Summit Europe, part of the Linux Foundation's event umbrella covering open-source technologies and communities.
- Rain ProtocolmoderateIntegration for NFT minting through Holochain apps using Rain Protocol, enabling binding of EVM keys to Holochain agent keys and on-chain NFT minting.
- WalletConnectmoderateWalletConnect protocol integrated for binding crypto wallets to Holochain agent keys, enabling seamless interaction between EVM wallets and Holochain applications.
- WasmermoderateWebAssembly VM built on Wasmer for compiling hApp back-end bytecode to native machine code, with additional support for interpreted VM for mobile platforms.
- iorhmoderateIroh networking framework used as basis for Kitsune2 transport, written for better network reliability in Holochain's networking component.
- Zebras Unite / DazzleConmoderateHolochain team members Art Brock and Mary Camacho participated in DazzleCon 2023 hosted by Zebras Unite for building the new economy together.
- Crypto Commons Association (CCA)moderateHolochain sponsors and participates in CCA events including Collaborative Finance Retreat and ReFi Barcelona, focusing on regenerative finance and commons-based systems.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Holochain competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Protocol Labs (IPFS): Protocol Labs builds IPFS, a peer-to-peer distributed file system, and Filecoin, a decentralized storage network. Both projects share Holochain's agent-centric, serverless architecture philosophy and compete for the same Web3 developer mindshare in decentralized infrastructure.
- Polkadot (Parity Technologies): Polkadot and its Substrate framework enable developers to build custom blockchains (parachains) with configurable consensus. Like Holochain, it targets developers who want flexibility beyond monolithic L1s, offering customizable app-chain architectures.
- Cosmos (Interchain Foundation): Cosmos SDK enables developers to build application-specific blockchains (app-chains) with Tendermint consensus. Both Holochain and Cosmos target developers building custom distributed applications with configurable governance and consensus rules.
- Ceramic Network: Ceramic provides a decentralized data network for Web3 applications, using IPFS and distributed hashing for user-owned data streams. It shares Holochain's agent-centric data ownership model and competes for the same developer segment building decentralized social and identity applications.
- Arweave: Arweave provides permanent, decentralized data storage using a novel blockchain-like architecture (blockweave). It competes with Holochain's data storage layer for Web3 applications requiring censorship-resistant, persistent data.
- Filecoin: Filecoin, built by Protocol Labs, provides decentralized storage with an incentive layer via FIL token. It competes with Holochain's distributed data model for applications requiring decentralized, incentivized storage infrastructure.
Broad incumbents
- Ethereum Foundation: Ethereum is the dominant smart contract platform with the largest Web3 developer ecosystem. While architecturally different (global consensus vs. agent-centric), Ethereum competes directly with Holochain for decentralized application developers, with vastly greater tooling, capital, and ecosystem maturity.
- Solana Foundation: Solana is a high-performance L1 blockchain optimized for speed and low fees, competing on similar value propositions to Holochain (cheap, fast transactions) but with global consensus and a substantially larger developer ecosystem and institutional backing.
Emerging players
- Radicle: Radicle is a P2P code collaboration network built on Git, similar in spirit to Holochain's open-source, decentralized architecture. While focused on code collaboration specifically, it demonstrates the same agent-centric, Git-inspired design philosophy.
- The Graph: The Graph is a decentralized indexing and querying protocol for blockchain data. While more specialized (indexing), it shares Holochain's vision of decentralized Web3 infrastructure serving developers building distributed applications.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Holochain social profiles
Digital presenceHolochain financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Holochain leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Holochain subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Holochain funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Holochain M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Holochain
What does Holochain do?
Holochain provides an open-source, end-to-end peer-to-peer application framework that enables developers to build distributed applications (hApps) without servers or blockchain consensus. The framework combines cryptography, distributed databases, and agent-centric validation where each user owns their data via source chains, and peers validate data against application rules via a relaxed distributed hash table (rrDHT). Related paid offerings include the Holo P2P hosting network (via subsidiary Holo Ltd.), developer training programs, and the Unyt mutual-credit accounting engine (via subsidiary Unyt, Inc.).
Is Holochain a public or private company?
Holochain is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Holochain founded?
Holochain was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Holochain based?
Holochain is headquartered in Gibraltar, Gibraltar.
How does Holochain make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Open Source Framework (No Direct Revenue) is the primary driver. The others are holo Ltd. Hosting Services and unyt, Inc. (2025 Launch).
Who are Holochain's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Protocol Labs (IPFS), Polkadot (Parity Technologies), Cosmos (Interchain Foundation), Ceramic Network, Arweave and Filecoin. Broad incumbents are Ethereum Foundation and Solana Foundation. Emerging players are Radicle and The Graph.
Does Holochain have an API?
Yes. Holochain provides Conductor APIs for installing, activating, deactivating, and removing hApp components, creating and removing agent key pairs, introspecting hApp components and conductor state, and calling zome functions. The Core HDK features include simpler model definitions, reading and writing data, signals and RPCs, validation, countersigning prototype, crypto functions, and lifecycle hooks. Developer tools include hc command-line tool for bundling and starting hApps, scaffolding via hc-scaffold, and testing frameworks like Tryorama (JavaScript) and Sweettest (Rust). Developer documentation is at developer.holochain.org.
What industry is Holochain in?
Holochain's product category is Distributed Application Framework / Peer-to-Peer Computing Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPAAAH, Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing), with a secondary code of FSAGAMAI, Interoperability & Cross-Chain Infrastructure (Bridges, Messaging, Atomic Swaps). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7371.