Find Coworking Space: Top 9 Apps to help you out!

One of the first things we want to do in a new, exciting location, is to find coworking space, cafes or libraries to work from. We want that comfy place with good coffee and food, and unbeatably fast WiFi. And we want them asap.

Sometimes this search can be a bit of a drudgery. Not every location has coworking spaces, or maybe you don’t want to pay their rates. But not every cafe has WiFi or mentions it on their website.

So how do you find the digital nomad-friendly places without heading out on that first morning, simply hoping for the best and wandering a city for up to several hours before finding a good spot. We’ve all been there, right? It can be frustrating and time-consuming.

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Of course, in this day and age, there’s an app for everything – including finding your best digital nomad work spots. There are several such apps, actually, and we’ve listed the most popular ones right here for you to find your own favourite.

We’ll be breaking them down from more general, WiFi-finding apps to the more concrete ones showing specific coworking locations.

Apps to find WiFi

Most of the world is covered by WiFi networks these days. You just have to find the ones that are accessible to you. The most obvious app to help you with that is also the very first on our list:

1. Google Maps

Locations: Worldwide

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

They say that Uncle Google knows everything, and that also extends to WiFi networks in your area; for the most part, at least. Just hit “Explore” in your Google Maps app, type “wifi” into the search bar, and you’ll be served with a list of places that have WiFi in your current area.

Going through the list, you’ll find nearby cafes, restaurants, hotels and all kinds of other institutions with WiFi.

And that’s where Google Maps has its limits: those other institutions. They could be the doctor’s office around the corner, or the car repair shop across the road. Where I’m sitting right now, I’m also getting holiday apartments and an O2-shop listed – not exactly places we’re looking for as digital nomads. Google Maps doesn’t allow you to filter these results (yet).

Another caveat is that you receive no information on the quality of the network and that not every possible work spot is actually listed. If the website doesn’t mention WiFi, Google’s algorithms won’t know to include a location in your list.

This is where a few other apps outdo our favourite search uncle.

2. WiFi Map

Locations: Worldwide, crowdsourced

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

WiFi Map is a crowdsourced database of free WiFi networks and their passwords.

It recognized which WiFi network I was using as soon as I opened it, though it didn’t specifically mark the coworking space on the map.

You can either search the map or scroll down to go through the list of nearby WiFi spots, sorted by distance. The app lists all networks people have ever added to the database, including for example home or even some company networks.

According to reviews, passwords can sometimes be out of date. But the list shows you the network speeds as well as when they were last used; you are also able to filter for both criteria. So with a few more clicks, you can easily find out how up-to-date the information about a location is.

All in all, definitely worth a try.

3. WiFi Finder

Locations: Worldwide, crowdsourced

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

WiFi Finder offers the same crowdsourced functions as WiFi Map, plus a few more handy gimmicks. For one, you can download offline-maps of places you are traveling to, making it able to locate WiFi even if you don’t have data or another WiFi network at hand. The map also contains only verified hotspots, the type of venue and its speed.

The quality of the WiFi is shown on the map by handy coloured circles around the locations; green for superb, yellow for good, red for bad, all of it for both up- and download speeds.

When I tried it out, WiFi Finder didn’t find quite as many WiFi networks as WiFi Map did. WiFi Map appears to be a bit more popular, which also means that it has more of a crowd to source it.

4. Avast WiFi Finder

Locations: Worldwide, crowdsourced

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

Avast Wi-Fi Finder shows a list of crowdsourced, in-range and in-walking-distance networks that include anything from cafes over hotels to thermal baths. Clicking on one of them opens either a map or a direct possibility for being navigated there.

This app also features a handy speed test function that allows you to test the speed of the network you’re currently connected to.

Apps to find Cafe’s & Coworking Spaces

The apps mentioned above show WiFi networks of all types, including the ones digital nomads don’t have access to – unless you’re into breaking and entering. So lets narrow this list down to apps that are especially interesting for digital nomads who want to find coworking space as well as cafes.

5. WorkHardAnywhere (WHA)

Locations: Worldwide, crowdsourced

iOS: Yes

Android: No

Membership Fee: None

WHA is probably one of the most popular apps for digital nomads to find coworking space. It is crowd-sourced, like all others so far, but the key feature is that remote working users can rate the locations in regards to WiFi-quality, price for a coffee, as well as the odds of finding a seat and power outlets.

Because it’s used mostly by remote workers who know exactly what they’re looking for and rate accordingly, it’s unlikely you’ll find schools, thermal baths or other unsuitable locations listed on WHA. This makes it a favourite of many WiFi Tribe members.

The only caveat: WHA is currently only available for iOS.

6. Workfrom

Locations: Worldwide, crowdsourced

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

Pro edition: 5 USD/month or 50USD/year

Another Tribe-favorite, Workfrom is great because it gives you a lot of useful information up front. Just click on “Nearby” and you’ll get a handy list sorted by distance before you ever have to weave your way around a map:

• Distance
• WiFi speeds
• Access to power outlets
• Type of available seating

While WorkHardAnywhere usually shows more hits in a specific location, Workfrom is a good alternative for Android users.

Apps to find Coworking Space

Lets narrow our search for a good remote work space down even further and find the apps that look for coworking spaces or offices only. There are more than you may think.

7. Liquidspace

Locations: Worldwide, though greatest concentration in the US, Australia and Canada

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: None

Pricing for work spaces varies

LiquidSpace calls itself the “largest, real-time network for office space”, aiming to simplify the discovery and transaction of office space. That means it’s not just interesting for people looking to rent a place for a day or a month, but also for people who want to rent out their office space.  

LiquidSpace strives to connect and bring together teams and professionals looking for space with venue partners, space providers, real estate professionals and service providers.

With 18,000 available spaces in the US, Australia and Canada, you’ll have team offices, temporary spaces or satellite offices to choose from.

8. Loop Space

Locations: Worldwide

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: 30 USD/month

Loop is basically your all-access pass to more than 180 coworking spaces in 42 countries. A membership gives you free access to any of these spaces for a day of every month. If you want to work from a space for more than a day, you can buy a day pass from the space directly. Prices for day passes vary from location to location.

If you’re frequently in Loop hotspots like Hong Kong, Singapore or Jakarta – where there are five or more Loop Space locations – this membership is definitely worth checking out.

9. Croissant

Locations: Many large cities worldwide

iOS: Yes

Android: Yes

Membership Fee: Starting at 19 EUR or 29 USD a month

Croissant is a monthly coworking membership that gives entrepreneurs, freelancers, remote workers and digital nomads access to hot desks at shared workspaces all over the world.

It’s super easy to use. All you have to do is find an open seat at a space listed on the app, go to that space, and check-in on the app.

The available coworking spaces have the beautiful and comfortable cafe-vibe without the barriers cafes often come with: fighting for a seat, finding a power outlet, connecting to unreliable WiFi, and buying too many cups of coffee and croissants to ease your guilt about staying for hours.

Getting an idea where the fun name comes from? Co-founder Nisha Garigarn said in an interview: “By providing access to dozens of beautiful coworking spaces across your city, we help you focus on building the next big thing — instead of buying that next croissant just to keep your seat.”

If you’re tired of eating too many croissants, too, why not sign up with WiFi Tribe and benefit from the collective community knowledge on remote work spaces worldwide – or just let us create and find those spaces for you while you join one of our chapters. Check out where we’re going next here.