Uncovering the Best Crowdcrafting Alternatives for Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing
Crowdcrafting, a pioneering free and open-source platform, has revolutionized citizen science by transforming individuals from scientific consumers to producers. Born at a hackathon in Cape Town in 2011, it leverages the PyBossa software to invite volunteers to contribute to scientific projects, analyze data, and solve problems that require human intelligence. While Crowdcrafting excels in its mission, users often seek alternatives that cater to specific project needs, offer different feature sets, or provide varied community experiences. This guide explores some of the top Crowdcrafting alternative options available today.
Top Crowdcrafting Alternatives
Whether you're looking for broader collaboration tools, specialized translation services, or platforms for distributed computing, the following alternatives offer diverse approaches to crowdsourcing and citizen engagement.
Launchpad
Launchpad is a robust collaboration and Bazaar code hosting platform primarily for open-source software projects. It offers free hosting for public projects and features like PPA and real-time collaboration, making it a strong Crowdcrafting alternative for software development and collaborative coding endeavors, especially for those seeking a Python-based web platform.
BOINC
BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) is a well-known open-source software platform for volunteer and desktop grid computing. Available across Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android, BOINC is an excellent Crowdcrafting alternative for projects requiring massive distributed computing power for scientific data analysis, leveraging a community-based, peer-to-peer approach.
Crowdin
Crowdin is a commercial, SaaS-based platform focused on quality translations for apps, websites, and games. With features like built-in and real-time translation, API integration, GitHub integration, and support for multiple languages, it's a powerful Crowdcrafting alternative for projects with significant localization needs, offering both human and machine translation options.
Transifex
Transifex is a commercial web-based platform specializing in affordable and accessible localization technology. It's a strong Crowdcrafting alternative for software, app, and website localization, offering features like crowdsourced translations and online translation tools to companies of all sizes.
Amazon Mechanical Turk
Amazon Mechanical Turk is a commercial online marketplace that provides businesses and developers access to an on-demand, scalable workforce. As a web-based crowdsourcing platform, it serves as a flexible Crowdcrafting alternative for tasks that require human intelligence, allowing workers to contribute remotely.
Foldit
Foldit is an experimental, free video game available on Mac, Windows, and Linux that engages players in protein folding puzzles. It's a unique Crowdcrafting alternative for scientific research, demonstrating how gaming can contribute to complex scientific problems like understanding protein structures.
Distributed Proofreaders
Distributed Proofreaders is a free and open-source web-based platform that facilitates the conversion of Public Domain books into e-books by dividing proofreading tasks into individual pages. It's an excellent Crowdcrafting alternative for text-based crowdsourcing and distributed computing projects, particularly for digital humanities and library initiatives.
Zooniverse
The Zooniverse is the largest and most popular platform for citizen science projects. As a free, web-based Crowdcrafting alternative, it excels in facilitating crowdsourced and distributed computing tasks across a wide array of scientific fields, from astronomy to ecology.
CrowdFlower
CrowdFlower, a commercial web-based platform, offers enterprise crowdsourcing solutions for high-quality, elastic workforce needs. It stands as a viable Crowdcrafting alternative, particularly for businesses seeking image annotations and other data-intensive tasks.
Quantum Moves
Quantum Moves, part of the scienceathome.org initiative, is a free game available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web, focusing on quantum physics dilemmas. It provides a gamified Crowdcrafting alternative, allowing users to contribute to scientific research through engaging gameplay.
Each of these Crowdcrafting alternatives offers unique strengths, from specialized translation services to massive distributed computing capabilities. Evaluating your project's specific requirements, budget, and desired community engagement model will help you choose the best fit for your citizen science or crowdsourcing endeavors.