NOW IN BETA!
Own Your Data. Own Your Infrastructure.
The Big Tech Data Problem
Every day, anti-competitive corporations like Google, Meta, and Amazon harvest and misuse consumer data, enabling digital addiction, harmful advertising, copyright-infringement, and government surveillance that violate privacy and human rights.
Data is their product, and they are intent on collecting as much of it as possible to maximize their profits, not to serve the public interest.
We don't want to participate in that system, so we are creating an alternative: a member-owned, cooperative computing platform that puts data sovereignty and privacy first. We are starting that journey with web hosting.
A Cooperative Approach to Hosting
🔒 True Data Ownership
As a Henhouse member-owner, you literally own your data and the infrastructure that supports it.
🗳️ Democratic Management
Members have voting rights in how the cooperative operates in matters like platform features, privacy policies, and infrastructure choices.
🛠️ Developer-First
Henhouse is great for managing multiple client sites under one team account, with streamlined deployment via curl or the web portal, and simple team management tools.
🌱 Independent, Green Infrastructure
We use VPS providers who run on their own hardware rather than overpriced Big Tech cloud services. We hope to use 100% renewable energy sources to power Henhouse.
💰 Fair Pricing—With Dividends!
One low monthly price. No contracts, hidden fees or pay-up-front "annual" subscriptions. Any surplus the co-op generates goes back to members as yearly dividends.
🤝 Values Alignment
Explicitly committed to the Seven Cooperative Principles.
Simple by Design
HTTPS by Default
Automatic SSL/TLS certificate provisioning and renewal through Let's Encrypt. Use a free site.henhouse.page or your own custom domain.
Designed for Static Websites
Optimized for static sites and SSGs for fast, secure, and reliable delivery of your content.
Easy Deployment
Deploy your site by uploading a ZIP archive through the web portal or curl command. No CI/CD or build tooling required.
Multi-Site Management
Manage dozens or hundreds of client sites through a single API.
Open Source and Built in Public
Henhouse source code is available on Codeberg for users who want to host it themselves. We also share our product development process in the open.
High Reliability
99.9% uptime with rolling backups, 24/7 monitoring, and proactive alerting.
Transparent Pricing
No hidden fees, no annual lock-ins. Co-op members get a 10% discount and share in our success through annual dividend payments.
Website Hosting
Everything you need for fast, reliable, privacy-focused hosting
- Create as many sites as your team needs, pay only one bill per month
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Includes 1 GB storage per site (additional storage $0.15/GB)
- sitename.henhouse.page site location, or use your own domain
- HTTPS included with all sites
- Hosted in Europe on green-energy infrastructure
- Site management dashboard
- Email support
Membership is optional. You can use Henhouse services without becoming a member-owner. Custom domains require you to purchase a domain registration from a commercial registrar.
Co-Op Membership
Become a member-owner of the cooperative
- Voting rights on key decisions
- Annual patronage dividend payments
- Help shape our direction and product roadmap
- Support cooperative values
- Build community ownership
Members are not required to purchase hosting services.
Join the Movement for Data Independence
We are building a cooperative platform for mission-driven organizations. Get in touch or subscribe to our newsletter.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Why is it called Henhouse? | Hens live in coops, and Henhouse is a co-op (cooperative). Get it? 🙃 |
| What makes Henhouse different from other web hosts? | Henhouse is be a member-owned consumer cooperative. We're accountable only to our members and customers. This means we prioritize service, privacy, sustainability, and long-term viability over profit maximization. Any profits we generate are distributed to members as dividends. |
| Will I need to be a member to use Henhouse? | No. However, members receive voting rights, a patronage dividend on all services, and an annual surplus dividend. Membership is a one-time $50 investment in Class A shares. |
| What types of websites will be able to host on Henhouse? | Henhouse will be optimized for static websites. These sites are typically generated using static site generators (SSGs) like Hugo, Zola, Jekyll, Eleventy, and others. If your site compiles to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image files, it will work great on Henhouse. Over time, we expect to support server-side applications, databases, automated deployment, and other nifty things, but those will be decided by customer demand and membership votes. |
| How do I deploy my site? | You upload a ZIP archive of your site's files—either through the Henhouse web portal or curl using your API key. Henhouse extracts the archive, replaces the old files, and your site is live immediately. See the docs for more information. A full API is on our roadmap for a future release. |
| What will happen if I exceed my site storage limits? | We hate surprise overage charges. Our goal is to work with you to find a solution that fits your needs. We'll contact you if you're approaching your limits so you can decide whether to optimize your site or purchase additional capacity. |
| How do cooperative dividends work? | At the end of each fiscal year, if Henhouse generates a profit, a portion will be distributed to members as dividends. The exact percentage will be determined by a member vote. |
| Can I sell my membership share? | Membership shares will be governed according to our bylaws. If you decide to leave the cooperative, you'll be able to request redemption of your share at its current book value. Details will be outlined in our Operating Agreement and Membership Agreement (note that these are draft agreements and not finalized yet). |
| Where is your infrastructure located? | We plan to use independent VPS providers in Europe that align with our values and avoid Big Tech cloud services. We will prioritize providers that use renewable energy, have strong privacy policies, and are located in jurisdictions with strong labor, data use, and privacy laws. |
| How can I get involved before launch? | Join our mailing list to be notified when we launch. You can also contribute to our codebase and make feature requests, or help us launch with a donation. |
| When will Henhouse be ready? | We're currently in limited beta. Want to be a beta tester? We are planning for full service availability in late Q2 2026. |