abode vs Are.na
Are.na is a thoughtful, member-funded network for connecting ideas: you file blocks into channels by hand, and they gather context from everyone else's channels. abode takes the opposite approach to organising — no filing, AI describes what you save, and search finds it — and it's open source.
the short answer
choose Are.na if you like connecting ideas by hand, in channels shared with a community.
choose abode if you'd rather not file anything, and want AI to describe and find what you save.
side by side
- pricing
abode · hosted: invite-only early access. self-hosted: free
Are.na · free up to 200 blocks. premium: $7/mo or $70/yr
- open source
abode · yes — AGPL-3.0, every line on github
Are.na · no — but it has an open API, SDK and MCP server
- self-hostable
abode · yes — Postgres + Supabase is all it needs
Are.na · no
- how you organise
abode · no folders or filing — search, plus rooms (hand-picked or auto-filled by filters)
Are.na · channels you connect blocks into by hand; a block can live in many
- AI & search
abode · AI titles, descriptions, tags and OCR; full-text + semantic search; similar images
Are.na · no AI features; full-text search of links and articles on premium
- what you can save
abode · links, images, articles, tweets, instagram posts, videos, products, books, notes
Are.na · images, links, text, and uploads of any file type
- sharing
abode · public profile and public rooms, share links for single items
Are.na · open, closed and private channels; following, groups, collaborators and comments
- ads & feeds
abode · no ads, no feed, no algorithm
Are.na · no ads and no algorithmic recommendations
- apps
abode · web (installable); browser extension coming soon
Are.na · web, iOS, android; chrome, firefox and safari extensions
- getting your data out
abode · one-click export of everything — coming soon. self-hosted, the database is yours; API + personal access tokens
Are.na · per channel as PDF, ZIP or HTML; no whole-account export
| feature | abode | Are.na |
|---|---|---|
| pricing | hosted: invite-only early access. self-hosted: free | free up to 200 blocks. premium: $7/mo or $70/yr |
| open source | yes — AGPL-3.0, every line on github | no — but it has an open API, SDK and MCP server |
| self-hostable | yes — Postgres + Supabase is all it needs | no |
| how you organise | no folders or filing — search, plus rooms (hand-picked or auto-filled by filters) | channels you connect blocks into by hand; a block can live in many |
| AI & search | AI titles, descriptions, tags and OCR; full-text + semantic search; similar images | no AI features; full-text search of links and articles on premium |
| what you can save | links, images, articles, tweets, instagram posts, videos, products, books, notes | images, links, text, and uploads of any file type |
| sharing | public profile and public rooms, share links for single items | open, closed and private channels; following, groups, collaborators and comments |
| ads & feeds | no ads, no feed, no algorithm | no ads and no algorithmic recommendations |
| apps | web (installable); browser extension coming soon | web, iOS, android; chrome, firefox and safari extensions |
| getting your data out | one-click export of everything — coming soon. self-hosted, the database is yours; API + personal access tokens | per channel as PDF, ZIP or HTML; no whole-account export |
where Are.na shines
- connective, research-style collecting — the same block in many channels, with context from the whole community
- an unusually transparent, member-funded, ad-free company
- collaborative and open channels for groups, classes and studios
where abode fits better
- you don't want to file every save by hand — abode describes, tags and sorts it for you
- you want to search by what's in an image, or find similar ones
- you want the code open and the option to host it yourself
questions
- does abode use AI on what I save?
- yes, when the instance has an OpenAI key: it writes titles, descriptions and tags, reads the text in images, and powers semantic search. self-hosted without a key, you still get full-text search.
- can I bring my Are.na library to abode?
- not yet — a Are.na importer is next on the roadmap. for now, you save things one by one.
- is abode free?
- self-hosting is free, forever — the code is AGPL-3.0 on github. the hosted version is in invite-only early access: join the waitlist to get in.
- can I run abode myself?
- yes. it needs Postgres and Supabase; everything else, like AI descriptions and image search, lights up when you add its key. the self-hosting docs are still evolving.
- is what I save private?
- yes, unless you choose otherwise: things are private until you put them in a public room or share them, and public pages stay out of search engines unless you opt in.