What ADULLACT does

ADULLACT is a French non-profit association (association loi 1901) founded in 2002 and headquartered in Montpellier (5 rue du Plan du Palais). It promotes free/libre open source software for territorial communities, public administrations, and educational establishments, operating on a mutualization principle — "public money should only pay once" — whereby members jointly fund the development and maintenance of shared software assets that no single organisation could sustain alone.

The portfolio covers the operational stack of a French public entity: a secure e-administration portal (e-collectivité), the S²LOW tele-transmission platform (ranked among the top operators in France for electronic dematerialization), the Comptoir du Libre catalogue of public-sector free software, the La Forge collaborative development environment, accessibility tooling (Asqatasun, RGAA compliance), deliberation management (i-delibRE), public-procurement dematerialization (web-marché), simplified administrative procedures (Démarches Simplifiées), public-key infrastructure, and collaboration tools (Nextcloud Collabora, plus emerging sovereign instant-messaging and citizen-participation offerings such as Matrix, DirectMairie, and FORUUM).

Its revenue mechanics combine tiered membership subscriptions (individuals, public establishments, EPCIs), service and support contracts, and European/regional grants such as FEDER funding channelled to specific products. Governance and strategic positioning are anchored by long-standing institutional ties to DINUM (French interministerial digital directorate), ANCT, INRIA / Software Heritage (where ADULLACT is a first technical contributor), and federations such as Déclic, CNLL, AFUL, and APRIL. Matthieu FAURE serves as Délégué Général; the association convenes the national Congress "Territoire Numérique Libre" (10th edition planned for June 2026 in Montpellier).

Name

ADULLACT

Legal name

Association des Développeurs et Utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres

Website

https://adullact.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ADULLACT is a French non-profit association founded in 2002 that mutualizes free/libre open-source software development and deployment for territorial communities, public administrations, and educational establishments across France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector E-Government Software

akta.pro primary industry

Application Outsourcing (AO) (BPAEAMAA)

Keywords

• Open source software
• Public sector IT
• E-government platforms
• Free software advocacy
• Digital administration services

Headquarters

HQ city

Montpellier

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from public administrations, territorial communities, and other organizations. Structured pricing tiers for different member types including individual members, public establishments, and EPCI (public cooperation establishments)
2. European Funding (FEDER): European Regional Development Fund co-financing for specific projects such as e-collectivité and Comptoir du Libre (2015-2017)
3. Services and Support: Various web services provided to member organizations including hosting, technical support, and training

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ADULLACT is a French non-profit association that develops, maintains, and operates a portfolio of free/libre open source software platforms for public administrations and territorial communities. It delivers hosted e-administration services including electronic dematerialization (S²LOW), collaborative office tools, accessibility testing, public procurement dematerialization, and citizen participation applications, and runs the Comptoir du Libre catalog and La Forge development forge to support shared software development among members.

Product overview

ADULLACT is a French non-profit association (founded in 2002) that promotes and maintains free/libre software for public administration. The organization operates a portfolio of online services for territorial collectivities, centered on the e-collectivité platform which provides a secure digital portal for e-administration. The service offering includes S²LOW (tele-transmission platform), PubliS2low (electronic publishing), Nextcloud Collabora (collaborative office suite), Asqatasun (web accessibility testing), Démarches Simplifiées (simplified administrative procedures), web-marché (public procurement dematerialization), i-delibRE (deliberation management), PKI (public key infrastructure), Matrix (instant messaging), DirectMairie, and FORUUM (citizen participation). The Comptoir du Libre serves as a software catalog for decision-makers, while La Forge provides collaborative development infrastructure. The guiding principle is 'public money should only pay once' through resource mutualization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Territoire Numérique Libre: Label program recognizing French territories for their digital libre initiatives
• e-collectivité
• Comptoir du Libre
• S²LOW
• La Forge
• Démarches Simplifiées

Products and services

• S²LOW Plateforme de télétransmission permettant aux collectivités de transmettre leurs actes et documents électroniques aux préfecture (tele-transmission platform for public administrations to submit electronic acts and documents to the prefecture).
• PubliS2low Service de publication électronique pour les collectivités territoriales (electronic publishing service for territorial communities).
• Nextcloud Collabora Service collaboratif de bureautique en ligne basé sur Nextcloud et Collabora Online (collaborative online office suite service based on Nextcloud and Collabora Online).
• Asqatasun Outil libre de test et de contrôle de l'accessibilité des sites web conforme au RGAA (free tool for testing and verifying web accessibility according to the French RGAA standard).
• Démarches Simplifiées Service permettant aux administrations de créer et gérer des démarches administratives en ligne simplifiées pour les citoyens (service enabling administrations to create and manage simplified online administrative procedures for citizens).
• web-marché Plateforme de dématérialisation des marchés publics pour les collectivités (platform for dematerialization of public procurement for territorial communities).
• i-delibRE Service de gestion et de diffusion des délibérations pour les collectivités (service for managing and publishing deliberations of territorial communities).
• PKI Infrastructure à clés publiques pour la gestion des certificats numériques (public key infrastructure for digital certificate management).
• Matrix Service de messagerie instantanée souverain et fédéré pour les collectivités territoriales (sovereign and federated instant messaging service for territorial communities).
• e-collectivité Portail numérique sécurisé de e-administration proposant des services innovants pour les collectivités locales (secure digital e-administration portal offering innovative services for local communities).
• Comptoir du Libre Site web de catalogage et de remontées d'informations sur les logiciels libres métiers à destination des décideurs publics (catalog website and information sharing platform for open source business software aimed at public-sector decision-makers).
• La Forge Plateforme de développement collaboratif pour les logiciels libres publics (collaborative development platform for public free software projects).
• DirectMairie Service de gestion directe pour les mairies et collectivités (direct management service for town halls and territorial communities).
• FORUUM (ex-IDQuart) Application de participation citoyenne pour impliquer les administrés dans les projets territoriaux (citizen participation application to involve residents in territorial projects).

Quantifiable outcome

• Public money only pays once - software developed is shared across all member organizations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• DINUM (Direction Interministérielle du Numérique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADULLACT and DINUM are linked by a formal convention. DINUM is the French government's digital transformation agency, and this partnership is fundamental to ADULLACT's institutional recognition and coordination with national digital policies.
• ANCT (Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe National Agency for Territorial Cohesion helps local communities realize their digital projects. ANCT supports territorial development initiatives in which ADULLACT participates.
• Déclic (Fédération des OPSN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDéclic is the federation of Public Operators of Digital Services (OPSN). ADULLACT and Déclic are long-standing partners working on joint projects. Déclic participates in the Orientation Committee of the Territoire Numérique Libre label.
• France Numérique LibremajorGTM or Marketing PartnerADULLACT closely supports France Numérique Libre, a collective for IT managers of territorial communities around free software. The association provides its infrastructure and hosts tools used by the collective.
• CNLL (Confédération des Acteurs du Libre)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerCNLL participates in the Orientation Committee of the Territoire Numérique Libre label and organizes the Acteurs du Libre competition where ADULLACT is a jury member.
• AFUL (Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerAFUL participates in the Orientation Committee of the Territoire Numérique Libre label.
• APRILminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAPRIL is a prominent French free software advocacy group that participates in the Orientation Committee of the Territoire Numérique Libre label.
• Software HeritagecoreTechnology or IntegrationADULLACT provides technical contribution to the Software Heritage project, initiated by INRIA and directed by Roberto Di CosMO. ADULLACT is the first technical contributor to this initiative that aims to collect, preserve, and share all software source code.
• INRIAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation. Initiated the Software Heritage project with ADULLACT as the first technical contributor.
• Les Acteurs du LibreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerADULLACT actively supports the Acteurs du Libre competition and is a member of the jury, promoting recognition of free software achievements.
• SIIViM (Sommet International de l'Innovation dans les Villes Médianes)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerADULLACT actively supports the 1st International Summit of Innovation in Median Cities, organized by the city and agglomeration of Nevers.
• Open Source ExperiencemajorGTM or Marketing PartnerADULLACT is involved in the Open Source Experience trade show, promoting the Territoire Numérique Libre label that rewards local communities for their free software and ethical digital initiatives.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Linux Foundation Europe: European arm of the Linux Foundation promoting open-source collaboration, including public-sector open-source initiatives. Comparable to ADULLACT in the European open-source-for-public-services mission, but as a much larger global foundation rather than a French mutualization association.
• OVHcloud: French cloud provider with a strong "Cloud de Confiance" positioning for the French and European public sector. Comparable to ADULLACT as it pursues the same sovereign-IT narrative for public-sector clients, but as a large commercial operator across cloud infrastructure, PaaS, and SaaS.
• Eclipse Foundation: Global open-source foundation managing a large portfolio of projects including tools for working groups, governance, and IP management. Comparable to ADULLACT in stewarding open-source communities, but with a vastly larger scope across global enterprise and tooling rather than French e-administration specifically.

Regional players

• NLnet Foundation: Dutch non-profit foundation funding open-source projects and digital rights initiatives. Comparable to ADULLACT in its non-profit support of free software, but operating primarily in the Netherlands and at the broader European level rather than the French public-administration niche.

Direct peers

• France Numérique Libre: Collective of IT managers from French territorial communities promoting free software, hosted on ADULLACT infrastructure. Directly comparable as it represents the same end-user base and shares the same FLOSS-for-territorial-communities mission.
• AFUL (Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres): Francophone association of free-software users founded in 1998. Comparable to ADULLACT as a French/Francophone non-profit promoting free software, participating together on ADULLACT's Territoire Numérique Libre label orientation committee.
• APRIL: Prominent French non-profit advocating for free software and open formats since 1996. Comparable to ADULLACT in promoting open-source adoption, with overlap in participating on the Territoire Numérique Libre Orientation Committee.
• Déclic (Fédération des OPSN): Federation of Public Operators of Digital Services (Opérateurs Publics de Services Numériques) in France. Highly comparable to ADULLACT as it represents public-sector digital service operators and shares the same mutualization and open-source ethos for territorial communities.
• CNLL (Confédération des Acteurs du Libre): French confederation representing free-software companies and associations. Comparable to ADULLACT in its French non-profit structure and advocacy for open-source software, with overlap in joint initiatives like the Acteurs du Libre competition.
• OW2: French open-source consortium fostering middleware and infrastructure software, structured as a non-profit with member organizations. Directly comparable to ADULLACT in promoting collaborative open-source development, though focused on middleware rather than e-administration.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/adullact
• Facebookfacebook.com/adullact
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/adullact

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 ADULLACT