Habitat

A platform for local communities

About Habitat

Habitat is a free and open-source platform for local communities. Anyone can create an instance for their local area and invite people to talk about all things local, with location at the heart of discussions so members can follow conversations about specific places nearby. It is free of ads, free of data harvesting, community-owned, and decentralized by design.

Habitat website preview

Live preview of gethabitat.org via the WordPress mShots service — it can take a few seconds to generate on a first visit.

Habitat: strengths & things to check

Strengths

Completely free to use — this directory lists no paid plan for it.
Covers community, local, social network, open source — see the focus areas listed in its key facts.
Has 6 close alternatives in the same category on this page, so switching or comparing is easy.

Things to check

Free tools can change their model or shut down — avoid locking critical work into it without an export path.
Current plan prices are not listed here (they change too often to print reliably) — confirm the exact price on the official site.
It is one of 565 tools in the Communication & Collaboration category here — compare it against the alternatives below before you commit.

Derived from this listing's own data (pricing model, focus areas and category) — not a hands-on review score.

Habitat pricing

Pricing model	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Free access	Yes — fully free
Current plan prices	Listed on the official site — prices change, so this directory links out instead of printing a number that may already be stale.
Official site	gethabitat.org

Habitat key facts

Category: Communication & Collaboration
Pricing: Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Focus areas: community, local, social network, open source
Official site: gethabitat.org

Habitat FAQ

How much does Habitat cost?

Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it. Current plans and prices are listed on the official site (gethabitat.org).

What is Habitat used for?

A platform for local communities Its focus areas in the Communication & Collaboration category: community, local, social network, open source.

Where can I try Habitat?

On its official site, gethabitat.org — the Visit Official Site button above goes straight there.

Habitat vs alternatives

	Habitat	Elgg	OSSN	diaspora*
Pricing	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.	Free — listed in this directory as a free tool, with no paid plan required to use it.
Focus areas	community, local, social network, open source	social network, community, self hosted, open source	social network, community, self hosted, open source	social network, decentralized, fediverse, open source
Official site	gethabitat.org	elgg.org	opensource-socialnetwork.org	diasporafoundation.org
Directory status	Listed	Listed	Listed	Listed

Side-by-side from each listing's own directory data. Full alternative cards are below.

About the Communication & Collaboration category

Chat, video meetings, and messaging apps that keep teams connected. The Communication & Collaboration category on Tools Hub currently lists 565 tools. Alongside Habitat, it includes HumHub, OSSN, Remark42, MiroTalk C2C.

FreeCommunication & Collaborationcommunitylocalsocial-networkopen-source

Alternatives to Habitat

Tools in the same Communication & Collaboration category that share focus areas with Habitat — worth comparing before you commit:

Communication & Collaboration

Elgg

Open source social networking engine and framework

Freesocial-networkcommunityself-hostedopen-source

Communication & Collaboration

OSSN

Open source social network software you can self-host

Freesocial-networkcommunityself-hostedopen-source

Communication & Collaboration

diaspora*

Decentralized social network where you own your data.

Freesocial-networkdecentralizedfediverseopen-source

Communication & Collaboration

Discourse

Open-source platform for community discussions.

Freemiumforumscommunityopen-sourcesupport

Communication & Collaboration

Flarum

Delightfully simple forum platform focused on speed and extensibility

Freeforumscommunityopen-source

Communication & Collaboration

Forem

Open-source platform behind DEV and other communities

Freecommunityopen-sourcepublishingdevto

More in Communication & Collaboration

Comparing tools in the Communication & Collaboration category? These related listings are worth a look: HumHub — Open source intranet and community software for organizations; OSSN — Open source social network software you can self-host; Remark42 — Privacy-focused lightweight commenting engine for websites.