Open Coworking

What Open Coworking does

Open Coworking is a nonprofit community organization that maintains public resources for the global coworking movement. The movement originated in 2005 when software developer Brad Neuberg created the first coworking space in San Francisco, deliberately encouraging others to share and remix the concept rather than retaining ownership. The formal entity, Open Coworking, was later organized to steward coworking.com alongside a portfolio of community-owned resources: the Coworking Wiki (a community knowledge base for space operators and members), the Coworking Forum (an online discussion platform with thousands of members), and the Coworking Visa program (which allows members of participating spaces to visit other spaces worldwide for up to three days at no charge). Additional assets include the Nadine Project, an open-source software initiative for managing coworking spaces.

The organization's core "technology" is essentially a portfolio of web-based community platforms rather than proprietary software, and the company description in the source data explicitly states "Not applicable - Open Coworking is a community advocacy organization rather than a technology product company." It operates with 1-10 employees and is volunteer-supported across six continents, with hundreds of participating spaces worldwide serving as de facto distribution nodes.

The business model is non-commercial: no membership fees are charged for directory listings or visa participation, and there are no disclosed funding rounds, investors, paying customers, or revenue streams in the source data. Customer segments are independent professionals and freelancers seeking community, coworking space operators seeking peer networking and directory visibility, and remote workers/digital nomads seeking trusted workspaces globally. The organization competes for attention rather than revenue, positioning itself as the original, decentralized steward of the coworking movement anchored in five codified values: Community, Openness, Collaboration, Sustainability, and Accessibility.

Name

Open Coworking

Legal name

Open Coworking

Website

https://coworking.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Open Coworking is a nonprofit organization that maintains coworking.com, the Coworking Wiki, the Coworking Forum, and the Coworking Visa program as public resources for the global coworking movement. It serves independent professionals, coworking space operators, and remote workers across six continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Coworking Community Resources

akta.pro primary industry

Coworking Cafes / Work Cafes (THAFADAJ)

Keywords

• Coworking community resources
• Coworking visa program
• Coworking space directory
• Collaborative workspace network
• Coworking knowledge base

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Open Coworking is a nonprofit community organization that maintains the public resources of the global coworking movement. Its core offerings are free digital resources — coworking.com (movement hub and space directory), Coworking Wiki (community knowledge base), Coworking Forum (online discussion space), Coworking Visa (program allowing members to visit other participating spaces for free for up to three days), and the Nadine Project (open-source coworking management software).

Product overview

Open Coworking is a decentralized movement that maintains a portfolio of community resources rather than a unified software product. The core offerings consist of the Coworking.com website (the main information hub), the Coworking Wiki (a community knowledge base), the Coworking Forum (online discussion platform), and the Coworking Visa program (enabling cross-space member access). Additionally, the Nadine Project provides open-source software for coworking space management. These resources work together to support the global coworking movement and connect independent professionals who work better together than alone.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Coworking Visa: A program that allows members of participating coworking spaces to visit other spaces worldwide for up to three days, free of charge.
• Global Coworking Forum
• Coworking Wiki

Products and services

• Coworking.com Website Main website for the coworking movement, providing information about coworking, resources, and connections to the global coworking community. Serves as the central information hub for independent professionals, space owners, and movement participants worldwide.
• Coworking Wiki A free, community-owned and operated wiki resource for everyone involved or interested in the world of coworking. Offers resources for coworkers, space owners, and those seeking to form their own coworking space, including directories, studies, academic research, tools, and conference listings.
• Coworking Forum (Global Coworking Forum) Online discussion forum positioned as the #1 place in the world to discuss topics and share ideas related to coworking, with thousands of members globally. Hosted at forum.coworking.org.
• Coworking Visa Program that lets members of participating coworking spaces visit other spaces in the network for up to three days, free of charge to both the member and the host space, enabling global mobility for coworkers across hundreds of participating spaces worldwide.
• Nadine Project Open Coworking Software - an open-source project for managing coworking spaces, distributed as part of the Open Coworking resources.

Quantifiable outcome

• The coworking movement has grown from one space in San Francisco in 2005 to hundreds of participating spaces worldwide

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Industrious: Premium flexible-office and coworking provider serving enterprise and SMB tenants. Comparable as a major branded coworking operator that competes for the same end-user (independent professional / remote worker) Open Coworking's directory serves.
• IWG (Regus / Spaces): World's largest flexible-workspace operator running Regus, Spaces, HQ, and Signature brands. Directly comparable to Open Coworking's space-curation role but commercial and globally scaled; serves the same end-coworker demographic.
• WeWork (The We Company): Global commercial coworking and flexible-office operator. Operates at the opposite end of the spectrum from Open Coworking's open, decentralized movement — a branded, venture-backed incumbent that has commercialized the coworking concept Open Coworking originally seeded.

Emerging players

• Deskpass: On-demand coworking access platform offering flexible passes to hundreds of spaces globally. Directly comparable to the Coworking Visa program in spirit (cross-space access) but with a paid subscription model.
• GCUC (Global Coworking Unconference Community): Community and conference organizer for coworking space operators. Comparable to Open Coworking's community-building role for space owners, with a more commercial events and media focus.
• Allwork.Space: Media outlet and education hub covering the flexible-workspace and coworking industry. Comparable to Open Coworking's wiki content library and Forum as a knowledge and news resource for the coworking ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Coworker.com: Commercial global coworking directory and marketplace with millions of users. The most direct competitor to Open Coworking's free coworking.com directory, but operates on a paid / SaaS model rather than as a community-driven nonprofit.
• Workfrom: Online directory and community for finding workspaces, cafés, and coworking spaces. Comparable as a discovery/community platform targeting remote workers and freelancers — the same primary persona Open Coworking serves.

Regional players

• European Coworking Assembly: Regional federation of coworking spaces across Europe. Analogous to Open Coworking's role as a global umbrella but at a regional level, serving as a community/networking body for space operators.

Others

• Nadine Project (Open Coworking Software): Open-source coworking space management software hosted under Open Coworking's own initiatives. Mentioned as an adjacent in-house project but represents the enabling software layer for the movement's space operators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/coworkingwiki
• Facebookfacebook.com/CoworkingWikiProject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-coworking

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Open Coworking