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. to improve abode we record how it's used, tied to your account, but what you save (text, images, links, tags, searches and your room names) is masked before it leaves your browser.