CommunityForge
CommunityForge is a France-based non-profit association that provides free, open-source Drupal-based software and hosted websites for communities managing Local Exchange Systems (SELs), Time Banks, and complementary currencies, serving 400+ communities worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What CommunityForge does
CommunityForge is a France-based volunteer-run non-profit association that designs, develops, and distributes open-source software for managing Local Exchange Systems (SELs), Time Banks, and complementary currencies. Founded around 2010, the organization has provided exchange platforms to more than 400 communities worldwide, enabling member registration, offers and wants listings, exchange recording and confirmation, currency configuration, and inter-community trading. The core product is the Cforge Drupal distribution, a Drupal CMS profile combined with a mutual helpdesk platform (Hamlets), offered either as a free hosted service on CommunityForge's own servers or as a downloadable distribution from Drupal.org (with 55,924+ downloads recorded by September 2017).
The platform's technical stack is Drupal-based with Cloudflare for DNS and security, reCaptcha for spam protection, and supports multilingual deployments in English, French, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian, and Polish, with documented GDPR compliance. Notable feature modules include Intertrading (cross-community exchange), Solsearch (cross-community offers/wants search), and CSV-based data import/export tools. The system has accumulated approximately 10,000 hours of volunteer development work across roughly 50 contributors.
The business model is entirely donation-funded with no commercial revenue stream: the platform and hosting are free, with only minor paid services (€50/hour for User 1 professional interventions, €20/hour for data import services) supplementing donations that finance servers, security, and operational expenses. Go-to-market is community-led through word-of-mouth within the complementary currency movement, the Route des SEL network, and conferences such as the European Meetings of Complementary Local Currencies. The customer base spans SEL communities across France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and internationally (including Kenya, South Africa, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico), with Grassroots Economics serving as the principal international development partner implementing programs in 6 Kenyan locations and 2 South African locations.
CommunityForge firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CommunityForge
- Legal name
- CommunityForge
- Website
- https://communityforge.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- CommunityForge is a France-based non-profit association that provides free, open-source Drupal-based software and hosted websites for communities managing Local Exchange Systems (SELs), Time Banks, and complementary currencies, serving 400+ communities worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CommunityForge industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Complementary Currency Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Developer & Open-Source Communities (MPACAJAK), Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG)
Keywords
Where CommunityForge is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Geneva
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
CommunityForge business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations: CommunityForge is entirely funded by donations from the communities that use its tools. Donations finance servers, security measures (Cloudflare), and operational expenses necessary for running the platform. There is no commercial revenue model; the organization operates as a non-profit association.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free | Free hosted site on CommunityForge servers |
| Freemium | Free | Local Admin access (free support) |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | User 1 access (paid support) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Data import service |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
CommunityForge product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CommunityForge designs, develops, and distributes free open-source software (the Cforge Drupal distribution) and provides hosted websites that allow communities to manage Local Exchange Systems (SEL), Time Banks, and complementary currencies. The platform includes member management, offers/wants listings, mutual credit currency configuration, exchange tracking, and inter-community trading modules.
Product overview
CommunityForge offers a suite of open-source tools for managing community exchange systems. The core product is the Cforge Drupal distribution, available either as a hosted service on CommunityForge's servers or as downloadable software for self-hosting. The platform includes modules for managing Local Exchange Systems (SELs), Time Banks, and complementary currencies, with features for member management, offers/wants listings, mutual credit currency systems, and exchange tracking. An Intertrading module enables cross-community exchanges, while Solsearch allows searching partner community listings. CommunityForge also provides the Hamlets helpdesk platform for user support and a library of YouTube training videos.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cforge Drupal Distribution Open-source Drupal distribution that powers CommunityForge websites, providing the website platform for managing Local Exchange Systems (SELs), Time Banks, and complementary currencies, including member management, offers/wants listings, and exchange tracking.
- Hosted Website Service CommunityForge-hosted websites where the organization manages servers, security (Cloudflare), Drupal updates, and technical administration. Communities receive Local Admin access to customize their site without needing IT expertise.
- Hamlets Helpdesk Mutual helpdesk platform for CommunityForge users providing community-driven assistance, training resources, FAQs, tutorials, and support ticket submission.
- Mutual Credit Currency System Built-in currency management system for community exchanges using mutual credit principles, supporting configurable currency names, exchange units, balance limits, and reserve accounts.
- Intertrading Module Enables members to conduct exchanges with other SEL communities (InterSEL trading), allowing communities to participate in inter-community trade networks.
- Solsearch Module Allows members to search and browse offers and wants from other partner communities, facilitating cross-community exchanges and visibility.
- YouTube Training Videos Video tutorials covering platform features including content management, member accounts, offers and wants, currency management, and exchanges.
Companies that use CommunityForge
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
CommunityForge technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature5 records
CommunityForge partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Grassroots Economics (formerly Koru-Kenya)coreGrassroots Economics is a non-profit foundation that implements community currency programs in Kenya and South Africa. CommunityForge provides the software platform and methodology, while Grassroots Economics conducts field implementation. Programs have been launched in 6 locations across Kenya and 2 in South Africa, helping 700+ small businesses and 20 schools. The partnership represents CommunityForge's primary international development use case.
- Green World CampaignminorPartnered with Grassroots Economics and CommunityForge to launch the first rural community currency program in Miyani, Kenya in 2017.
- Drupal.org (Dries Buytaert's Drupal project)coreCommunityForge's software is built as a Drupal distribution (Cforge) distributed through Drupal.org. The platform relies on Drupal's open-source CMS framework. Drupal is maintained by a global community of approximately 85,000 programmers (50,000 volunteers). CommunityForge downloads and maintains its own distribution on the platform.
- CloudflarecoreCloudflare provides DNS management and security services for CommunityForge-hosted sites. Nameservers are pointed to mimi.s.cloudflare.com and phil.ns.cloudflare.com. Cloudflare's security system also handles bot protection and IP banning (Error 1006) for hosted sites.
- Route des SELminorThe Route des SEL is a network connecting SEL communities across France and beyond. CommunityForge communities can register with the Route des SEL, which helps with geographic visibility and cross-community networking. A map is maintained showing participating communities.
- SelidaireminorA French national network of SEL communities. Listed as a partner resource on SEL d'Ici et d'Ailleurs site. Helps connect and promote local exchange systems in France.
- Gandi (domain registrar)minorGandi is recommended by CommunityForge as a domain name registrar for communities that want a custom domain. CommunityForge's servers are hosted with Gandi. Gandi has committed to allowing free choice of DNS servers for domain names purchased through them.
- LWS (domain registrar)minorLWS is recommended by CommunityForge as an alternative domain registrar to Gandi for communities wanting custom domains. Like Gandi, LWS allows free choice of DNS servers.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
CommunityForge competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- hOurworld: hOurworld is a time-banking platform that connects individuals and communities to exchange services hour-for-hour. It serves the same time-bank use case as CommunityForge with a more member-facing web experience.
- TimeBanks USA: TimeBanks USA operates a national time-bank network and provides software/huba tools for member time banks. It overlaps with CommunityForge's Time Bank segment on the demand-side platform and member-community model.
- Community Weaver: Community Weaver provides LETS management software for local exchange trading systems in North America. It is a direct peer offering similar functionality for member accounting, offers/wants listings, and exchange tracking.
- Cyclos: Cyclos is an open-source platform for local and complementary currency systems, offering payment, remittance, and community exchange functionality. It is the most direct technical competitor to CommunityForge, serving the same LETS/complementary currency niche with similar open-source licensing.
Others
- Route des SEL: Route des SEL is a French national network connecting SEL communities. It is not a software competitor but a strategic ecosystem partner that drives adoption of CommunityForge platforms within the French SEL movement.
Emerging players
- Grassroots Economics: Grassroots Economics is CommunityForge's strategic partner running community currency programs in Kenya and South Africa. While primarily an implementation NGO, it also develops its own complementary-currency tooling (Sarafu Network), making it both a customer and adjacent platform peer.
- Sarafu Network: Sarafu Network is a Kenyan community-inclusion currency platform serving informal settlements. It overlaps with CommunityForge's Kenya development-aid use case via a digital-token implementation.
Broad incumbents
- CiviCRM: CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management platform used by nonprofits and membership organizations. It serves an overlapping civic/community-organization audience with complementary member-management functionality.
- Drupal Association: Drupal is the open-source CMS on which CommunityForge's Cforge distribution is built. As the parent platform with ~85,000 contributing developers, Drupal is the technology ecosystem and distribution channel through which CommunityForge reaches new users.
Regional players
- Bristol Pound: Bristol Pound is a UK-based local currency initiative with complementary software tooling. While primarily UK-focused and digital-payment oriented, it represents a comparable civic-currency implementation in a different geography.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
CommunityForge social profiles
Digital presenceCommunityForge compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
CommunityForge financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CommunityForge leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
CommunityForge funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CommunityForge 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 CommunityForge
What does CommunityForge do?
CommunityForge designs, develops, and distributes free open-source software (the Cforge Drupal distribution) and provides hosted websites that allow communities to manage Local Exchange Systems (SEL), Time Banks, and complementary currencies. The platform includes member management, offers/wants listings, mutual credit currency configuration, exchange tracking, and inter-community trading modules.
Is CommunityForge a public or private company?
CommunityForge is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was CommunityForge founded?
CommunityForge was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is CommunityForge based?
CommunityForge is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does CommunityForge make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations.
Who are CommunityForge's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are hOurworld, TimeBanks USA, Community Weaver and Cyclos. Route des SEL is listed as an others. Emerging players are Grassroots Economics and Sarafu Network. Broad incumbents are CiviCRM and Drupal Association. Bristol Pound is listed as a regional player.
Does CommunityForge have an API?
No public API is recorded for CommunityForge.
What industry is CommunityForge in?
CommunityForge's product category is Complementary Currency Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMABAM, Open-Source & Developer Communities, with a secondary code of MPACAJAK, Developer & Open-Source Communities. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.