Open Coworking Stack

Assemble a low-cost technology stack without expensive implementation mistakes.

Why this exists

Coworking operators are flooded with SaaS demos, “awesome lists,” and vendor PDFs. Few resources carefully separate OSI open source from source-available, open-core, freemium SaaS, and free trials—or explain what a small space can actually run without a full-time platform team.

Open Coworking Stack is a documentation-first, Git-versioned catalog with:

verified-where-possible metadata (and honest unverified gaps);
coworking workflows, roles, and problems—not generic IT categories alone;
implementation guides and Docker Compose starter packs where licensing permits;
comparison pages and low-cost reference stacks.

Start by your job

Community manager Onboarding, events, shared inboxes, feedback.

Owner / operator Cost control, billing, risk, stack choices.

Technical operator Self-host, SSO, backups, monitoring.

Sales manager Tours, CRM, proposals, follow-up.

Start by the problem

Cut software cost

See tools tagged reduce-software-cost and the near-zero stack.

Self-host for control

Prefer OSS/self-host entries and the privacy-first stack.

Fill rooms & desks

Compare booking tools on the comparisons page.

Ship a pilot this week

Every tool lists a smallest useful experiment—try before you commit.

Critical boundaries

We do not vendor upstream projects. Official repos stay authoritative.
We do not mislabel licenses. Source-visible ≠ open source.
We do not invent pricing or star counts. Missing facts stay unverified.
Software does not replace staff. It may reduce or augment tasks with human oversight.

Next steps

Read How to use this project.
Skim Evaluation criteria and License classes.
Open the interactive directory.
Pick a reference stack and run one experiment.