Platforms

Online platforms for taking part in civic life: participatory budgets, workplace petitions, crowdfunding for legal cases and structured debate. We look for open-source code or a non-profit owner, and for being open about how they’re paid for.

Our top picks: Decidim, open-source participatory democracy software born in Barcelona in 2016 and maintained by a non-profit association, used by 500+ organisations. And Kialo, a free debate site that maps the pros and cons of a question, with a version for schools; the trade-off is that it doesn’t say how it makes money, and ToS;DR grades it C.

How we choose: we check every platform against the 6 principles in our manifesto (who owns it and how it makes money, what it collects, how it treats people, honesty, openness and staying power). This list was last checked on 13 October 2026.