What hOurworld does

hOurworld is a US-based private nonprofit organization founded in 2006 that operates the Time and Talents software platform, a cloud-based timebanking management system enabling community service exchange networks globally. The platform underpins 326 community timebanks with approximately 27,960 members who have collectively recorded 3,883,808 hours of reciprocal service. Members earn time credits by providing services to others and spend those credits on services from other members, with every hour valued equally regardless of service type — distinguishing time banking from barter. The software suite includes membership management, transaction recording (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one), a 30-report query-by-example reporting toolkit, and mobile applications for iOS and Android; both v1 (legacy) and v2 generations are in active operation.

The business model is freemium at the platform level: hOurworld charges no fees to start or operate a timebank, offers free conversion from the legacy Community Weaver 4 system, and monetizes only through optional membership donations (typically suggested at $25 or 2 hours annually per individual member) and grants pursued at the timebank level rather than by the platform entity. Customer segments span individuals and families, neighborhoods and community groups, businesses and organizations, and city governments, with go-to-market driven almost entirely by community word-of-mouth, partner referrals from aligned ecosystem organizations (SELC, BALLE, Transition Towns USA, Community Ventures, PARC and PSU), and self-serve onboarding through an online directory and signup flow. The organization operates without disclosed venture funding, parent company, or acquisition activity, and relies on a small team supported by community volunteers.

Name

hOurworld

Legal name

hOurworld

Website

https://hourworld.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

hOurworld is a US-based nonprofit that provides the free Time and Talents timebanking software platform to 326 community timebanks globally, enabling roughly 27,960 members to exchange services via equal time credits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Donations: Timebanks may optionally set up membership levels and send donation requests to members on their anniversary dates. A typical individual membership level might request $25 (or two hours in lieu of) and 2 hours per year. The software tracks accounts receivable and allows admins to mark donations as Paid or Forgiven.
2. Community Grants: Timebanks may seek grants and direct financial support from volunteer organizations, city, state, federal governments, and philanthropic organizations. Timebanks identify fundable community needs and orchestrate ways for members to meet those needs.
3. Platform Licensing: hOurworld provides free timebank setup and software access. No fees are charged for starting a new timebank, and conversion from CW4 is also free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

hOurworld operates the Time and Talents software platform, a cloud-based time banking management system that enables community-based exchange networks (timebanks) to record service transactions using time credits. Members earn time credits by providing services to other members and spend them on services they need, with every hour valued equally regardless of service type. The platform is provided free to timebanks and individual members, supporting directory browsing, membership management, hour tracking, and reporting.

Product overview

hOurworld operates as a time banking platform comprising the Time and Talents software (available in v1 and v2 versions), which serves as the core technology enabling an international network of community TimeBanks. Members earn time credits by providing services to others and spend those credits on services they need. Every hour has equal value regardless of the service type provided. The platform supports directory browsing, member management, hour tracking, and exchange recording across 259 timebanks with approximately 27,960 members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Time and Talents: The software platform that supports hOurworld communities, enabling time banking, hour recording, and member coordination.

Products and services

• Time and Talents

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,883,808 hours of service exchanged across the network
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSELC is a partner organization that provides legal resources and education to support practices such as barter, cooperatives, community-supported enterprises, sharing, local currencies, and local investing. SELC creates educational materials including videos on legal topics relevant to the sharing economy and cooperative housing.
• BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBALLE brings together independent business leaders, economic development professionals, government officials, social innovators, and community leaders to build local living economies. They provide local, state, national, and international resources for economic development based on community-centered, green, and fair principles.
• TimeBanks USAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational timebanking organization mentioned alongside hOurworld as an alternative network. Both organizations support timebanking but use different software platforms.
• PARC and PSUminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting timebanking initiatives through research and academic collaboration.
• Transition Towns USAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement supporting community resilience initiatives that partners with hOurworld to promote local economic alternatives.
• Community VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal living economy organization that collaborates with hOurworld on community economic development initiatives.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• TaskRabbit: Large-scale service-exchange marketplace connecting neighbors with taskers for paid local services. Not timebanking, but addresses the same underlying need (peer-to-peer service exchange in communities) via a commercial model, representing a broad incumbent in the adjacent category.
• Nextdoor: Neighborhood-level community platform with hundreds of millions of users globally. Targets the same end-user need (local community connection and mutual support) as hOurworld, but at vastly greater scale and without a structured time-credit exchange layer.

Emerging players

• OLIO: Hyper-local sharing app for surplus food and household items between neighbors. Shares hOurworld's mutual-aid ethos and community-building focus but focuses on goods rather than time-based service exchange.
• Bunz: Community trading platform that emerged as an alternative-economy network combining cashless barter and time-banking mechanics. Operates in the same sharing-economy category as hOurworld with overlapping ideological roots.

Direct peers

• Community Exchange System (CES): Australia-and-New-Zealand-rooted community exchange network offering time-based trading between members. Operates a comparable directory and exchange-recording platform and overlaps with hOurworld in both geography and product model.
• TimeBanks USA: US national timebanking organization explicitly mentioned alongside hOurworld as a parallel network. Both serve community timebanks, share the same ideological roots, but operate on different software stacks, making TimeBanks USA the closest direct competitor in the community time-exchange category.
• TimeRepublik: International time-banking platform where members exchange hours of service for time credits. Closely mirrors hOurworld's hour-for-hour reciprocity model across borders and represents a competing online timebank software approach.
• LETS (Local Exchange Trading System): Global movement of community-level trading systems in which members exchange goods and services using locally issued units of credit. Functionally the conceptual parent of community timebanking and a parallel alternative to hOurworld's hour-credit approach.

Regional players

• Timebanking UK: UK national timebanking organization running its own network of community timebanks. Comparable in mission and model to hOurworld but focused on the UK market where hOurworld also operates some communities.

Others

• Open Collective: Open-source platform enabling communities, collectives, and nonprofits to transparently collect and disburse funds. Not a time-exchange platform, but a comparable enabling infrastructure for grassroots community organizations that often overlap with timebanking communities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLBnC3aOjZzUaeKAlAe3ISDgty_bB7DfVr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/www-hourworld-org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 hOurworld