Give workplace democracy a place to work
Assembly is governance software that makes it easy to start, run, and connect democratic organizations.
Break out of bureaucratic hell and run your co-op, collective, or federation like there’s no tomorrow. Because if we don’t democratize the workplace, there isn’t going to be a tomorrow.
Your spreadsheets are splitting at the seams
We already know that democratic workplaces are more resilient, egalitarian, and better for our communities than ordinary top-down organizations. And that’s with being hampered by tools that were not designed for democracy.
A spreadsheet can track members. A chat app can host a dialogue. A doc can hold the bylaws. But who’s checking that a decision follows them? Where do we track how we arrived at those decisions? How do new members get up to speed?
We’re sick of cobbling together docs and spreadsheets called Sick time proposal FINAL v3 (use this one) or squeezing ourselves into another project management tool designed for a different use in a different kind of company.
We’re sick of relying on big tech. An industry that would rather spend its energy extracting our data, pleasing investors, lobbying politicians, inflating valuations, or preparing another acquisition.
Democracy deserves better tools and a better model.
That’s why we’re building Assembly. A governance platform designed for workplace democracy and the solidarity economy.
Forged in co‑op principles
Don’t let anyone tell you that software is neutral. Neutrality means accepting that existing power dynamics are normal and okay. It determines who gets to speak, who can see information, and who gets a final say.
We don’t think there’s anything normal or okay about that. That’s why Assembly isn’t neutral. We want to make workplace democracy easier than the workplace dictatorships that got us into this mess.
The principles come straight from the cooperative movement. They also give us something to answer to when we get it wrong.
1. Voluntary and open membership
Accessible by default. Decolonial language, your pronouns, your preferences, no per-seat price.
2. Democratic member control
Every way of deciding for every kind of proposal, from consent to majority rule. Draft ideas together and turn them into proposals that the team weighs in on.
3. Member economic participation
Every member sees the cash outlook and their equity, not just the treasurer or your bookkeeper. (Money and Equity coming)
4. Autonomy and in(ter)dependence
Your install, your name, your domain, and your data. Share what you want with other co-ops and nothing you don’t.
5. Education, training and information
Proposals teach you your own bylaws. Assembly translates the accounting and legal jargon.
6. Cooperation among cooperatives
Connect to other installs to share information, find partners, and get insights into your network.
7. Concern for community
No big tech, predatory investors, or data extraction to steer us in the wrong direction.
For independent organizations
Your co-op. Your Assembly.
Every Assembly is its own installation, configured around your membership, your roles, the way you make decisions, and even your brand. It runs under your name and on your domain, not ours. We don’t put our logo on your democracy.
Want consensus on policy decisions? Great. Need more functionality? Add another fixture. Want to set the headings in Comic Sans? We applaud you enthusiastically. Just because we’re doing important work doesn’t mean we can’t have fun doing it.
For federations, incubators and associations
Know your network
A federation, incubator, or association runs its own install. With Atlas, staff get a bird’s-eye view of the network. Who’s where, how many members, who’s growing, and whatever else each co-op chooses to share.
Assembly is built so independent installs can speak to each other, on terms each co-op chooses. There is no central server and no platform owner sitting between co-ops. No mothership. Nobody to acquire.
This is the part that turns Assembly from governance software for one co-op into infrastructure for the movement.
Assemble your system
Baseplate is the heart of the system that every organization gets. It’s what you sign into every day. It handles members, settings, updates, and backups, and it’s the foundation for everything else.
Fixtures are bolted on to handle the work you actually do together: governance, equity, compensation, documentation. Same Baseplate, different Fixtures. Every co-op gets exactly what it needs and nothing it doesn’t.
Available now
Next in line
- Money (Q1 2027)
- Documents (TBD)
- Equity (TBD)
- Compensation (TBD)
Governance Fixture
Make a decision. Keep the history.
Democracy is more than counting votes.
Your rules, enforced
Every proposal carries your rules with it. Is this a policy decision or a day-to-day one? How many members need to respond? What roles? Simple majority? Two-thirds? Consent? The proposal says so because it was configured from your bylaws and policies, and it won’t pass until those requirements are met. Nobody has to look it up. New members learn by doing.
Room to disagree
Members need the space and safety to bring fresh ideas, ask for info, question a proposal, and explain an objection. Proposals are drafted together, a position can be more than yes or no, and the discussion lives with the proposal, so an idea can be argued into a decision.
Everything on the record
Proposals that fail, pass, or are withdrawn stay in the Decision log so when new members join they can see what was agreed to and why. When a familiar argument comes around, nobody has to reconstruct the last decision from memory or dig through the minute book.
Governance replaces
Proposals and decisions done in Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Notion, and that dusty binder sitting in the filing cabinet in the corner.
Chat Fixture
Don’t lose the dialogue
The archival qualities of a forum with the responsiveness of a chat app.
Old-school forums are good for storing and referencing knowledge, but slow and difficult to stay in the flow of conversation. Team chat apps like Slack are great for real-time communication, but all that knowledge gets lost in a black hole. We designed Assembly Chat to take the best of both worlds and leave the worst behind.
Fast and conversational when you need it
Conversations look like a forum thread but flow in real time like a chat app. No reaching for that refresh button. Features like auto-saving, formatting, and image uploading make it easy to jump in and out of the flow without missing a beat.
Organized and archived
Spaces to group people and conversations. Search and filters to narrow down the relevant chats. Pins to bookmark the most important information. Conversation settling to keep the channels clear without losing things. Attach chats to proposals and vice versa. Chat has been designed so your important conversations are always easy to find and reference.
Chat replaces
Email, Slack, Discord, and all the post-it notes stuck to your monitor.
I’ve attached “Shared equipment budget” to this conversation.
Will we be able to find this thread from the proposal too?
Yes. This conversation is linked from the proposal as well, so we won’t lose the discussion when we come back to the decision.
Great. Does the budget cover repairs, or just new equipment?
The current draft includes repairs. We put those first, before buying replacements.
Thanks. The cutter’s been down twice this month, so that changes what I’d prioritise.
Can we add the repair estimate to the proposal before we decide?
I’ll get an estimate tomorrow and post it here.
Please do. Then we can update the proposal so everyone has the same numbers.
I’ll hold off placing the order until we’ve made the decision.
Good call. Having this linked means we won’t have to piece the discussion back together later.
Exactly. The decision and the conversation behind it stay connected.
Atlas Fixture
Map the territory
Atlas gives federations, incubators, and associations one view of their network. The organizations in it, where they are, what they do, how many members, and who’s growing. We want it to be easy to see how our sector is growing and give the communities building the solidarity economy the tools to get funding, support their communities, and push workplace democracy forward.
Atlas replaces
Dozens of emails, spreadsheets, documents, and cat herding.
Show us 10 co-ops and we’ll show you 10 different Assembly installs
Every co-op is different, so the tools should be too. Assembly is an installation, set up for your organization, by people who will answer your email, not a one-size-fits-all subscription.
Step 1: Discovery
We meet with your team and go through how your organization works. Its bylaws, the roles, the decisions that keep getting stuck, and what you’re running into now. Then we plan the install and timeline. You bring your bylaws and the one person who knows where everything is.
Step 2: Configure your Assembly
We set up a server, install Baseplate and the fixtures you need, and configure it. We’ll integrate your membership rules, proposal types, your teams, and your theme. Then we connect it to any co-ops you already work with on Assembly.
Step 3: Onboard your team
We invite your members and run the first proposal with you. Stuck afterwards? You write to a person and the person writes back. Want the whole team trained? There’s a package for that.
The people doing the work should have a say in how it’s run.
Assembly is built by Design Machines. A cooperative studio manufacturing democratic machinery for your workplace.
We’ve experienced the magic of a democratic workplace (and have had our hand in building a few). We’ve had the infuriating experience of trying to document decisions, submit reports, and track equity in software that wasn’t designed for us. It gets in the way. It feels like work. It makes democracy harder than it already is.
If we want to make workplace democracy attractive, governance can’t feel like filing taxes. It’s gotta feel fun. Easy, even.
That’s why we build Assembly.
Let’s start your Assembly
Get in touch to get more info, book a walkthrough, and find out if Assembly is right for your team.
Does anyone have the proposal for the shared equipment budget? I want to check what’s in it before we order anything.