Reinventing the wheel of community exchange networks

By matslats, 25 November, 2013

List of Free-to-use community exchange software.
This is a list of networks, almost all are running on custom built software. I'm not accusing every one here of being unnecessary, only pointing out large overlaps and common gaps. The data is not super accurate either.

url	scope	resources	open source	API?	accounting	mobile app	comment
Makerfox	Global	3rd Sector	yes	no	n/a	yes	Circular barter system
OpenLETS	Local	private	no	no	any	yes
Kindista	Global	Volunteer	no	no	hours	yes	timebanking without time banks
Pendo	Global/local	3rd Sector	no	no	yes	yes
Easyswap	Global	Pro bono	no	no	hours	yes
Tradecoin	Global	Pro bono	yes	yes	yes	yes	Commercial
IgoBono	Global	private investment	no	no	yes	yes
Impossible.com	Global	Pro bono	no	no	maybe	yes	celebrity clout
Peerby	Holland	3rd Sector	no	no	no	yes
NextDoor	USA	Venture cap	no	no	no	yes	Big Brother
Zumbara	Turkey	Volunteer	no	no	hours	yes	software choices constrained by volunteer availability
neighborgoods	USA	Pro bono	no	no	no	no
The ShareHood	Melbourne, Australia	Volunteer	no	no	no	no	Trialled currency and stopped
Karmagora	Global	Philanthropic	no	no	hours	yes
TimeRepublik	Global	Philanthropic	no	no	hours	yes
Omnui	Global	Pro bono	no	no	hours	no
Reconomy Global Timebank	Global	Volunteer	yes	yes	hours	no
Time/Bank	Multiple	Volunteer	yes	no	hours	no	Artists' portal
Economy of hours	Hackney, London	3rd Sector	no	no	yes
hOurworld	Time banks	Social enterprise	no	no	hours	yes
OurGoods	USA	Volunteer	no	no	no	no
Hamlets	Multiple	Volunteer	yes	yes	yes	soon!	made by matslats myself
Community Weaver II	Multiple	3rd sector	In principle	no	hours	no
producia	Richmond, VA, USA	3rd Sector	yes	no	yes	yes	Dead
CES	Multiple	Volunteer	no	no	yes	soon!
Integral CES	Spain	Volunteer	yes	no	yes	no	Spanish emulation of CES
ShareTribe	Multiple	Volunteer	yes	yes	no	yes
Swap Ace	English	Advertising	no	no	no	no
Swap Treasures	USA	Venture Cap	no	no	no	no
Uexchange	English	Venture Cap	no	no	no	no
Listia	USA	Venture Cap	no	no	yes	yes
Slivers of time	Uk	3rd sector	yes	hours	no	yes	Timebank for professionals
Blue Dot	UK	3rd Sector	no	no	yes	no
Streetbank	English	3rd sector	no	no	no	yes
Wehelpen	Holland	3rd sector	no	no	yes	no
communitats	Multiple	Pro bono	no	no	yes	no	Dead
B2B en trade	France	Pro bono	no	no	yes
Barterquest	New York	Venture Cap	no	no	yes
Dropis	Italy	Pro bono	no	no	yes	no
Bank of Happiness	Global	Volunteer	no	no	no	no
Seedstock	Vancouver	Volunteer	yes	no	yes	yes	Based on Open Money accounting
Jack of all Trades		Volunteer	yes	no	yes	no	Pre-release
Life Currency	Multiple	Volunteer	yes	no	yes	no
Accorderie	Multiple	3rd Sector	no	no	yes	no
TradeNow	Greece	Private	no	no	yes	no
Gradido	Germany	Volunteer	no	no	no	no
Tibba	UK	Crowdfunding	no	no	yes	no
Kuiddle	USA	-	no	no	yes	yes
Ying	USA	-	no	no	yes	yes
Simbi		VC	no	no	yes	yes
Neeboz	Melbourne, AU	Private	yes	no	yes	no
Pollen	Global	Private	no	no	yes	yes
Semilla Social	Madrid	Private	yes	no	yes	yes
Hourvillage	Singapore						t.b.a
Indigo	France	Donations	No	No	Hours	no

See how many of these are funded by the public but are not open source

Each of these is a separate marketplace - to what extent should marketplaces compete, and to what extent cooperate?

Would the sharing economy grow faster or slower if all these projects were interoperable?

How many of these projects are even aware of each other?

Why would you make a marketplace without an API so that other applications can access it?

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Comments3

Just heard about Karmagora.

Just heard about Karmagora. Seems like it has been around a while but not much in the way of recent news. Still, might be worth adding http://karmagora.org/ to this list.. just a thought.

Humans are driven by the

Humans are driven by the world models they carry in their heads. Each of us has one and they are all flawed, thus suffering exists. A manifestation of this imperfection is multitude of approaches solving the "same" problem. One day, somebody out there will come up with the right approach (possibly having studied some/all of the existing ones) and a new paradigm will replace the current economic landscape. So me thinks their existence is healthy. :-)

Hi Matthew, I'd like to tell

Hi Matthew, I'd like to tell you about TimesFree - we're mostly focussed on single-service co-ops (eg. hosting for babysitting co-ops), on a mobile-first platform that I think solves a couple of problems. First, the game theory/microeconomics problem of the Capitol Hill Babysitting Co-op: I worked on the matching logic using an agent-based simulation and have really reduced market friction a lot with a fairly simple algorithm. Second, user engagement: being a mobile first platform lets us do a lot of things to keep people active in their co-op. Plus, TimesFree is fully integrated with social networks - you can post requests, invitations to join a group, etc. on Facebook or Twitter from the app!
Thanks for maintaining such a useful list :)