How Loomio works
Discuss, decide, and keep a clear record.
Move important discussions out of email and chat. Give everyone time to contribute, decide with reasons, and keep a record you can come back to — without another meeting.
See Loomio in action
Bring important decisions out of the noise
Give the context, documents, and conversation one clear home — separate from the fast-moving updates in chat and the tangle of reply-all email.
Start with one real decision. Share the background, attach what people need, and invite the people affected by it. Everyone can see the same question and the same information.
People contribute when they have time to think — across schedules, caring commitments, and time zones. The people who could not make the meeting still have a voice.
- Threaded comments and replies with @mentions
- Rich text editor with file attachments
- Pin important comments to the timeline
- Reply by email — participate from your inbox
- Automatic translation for multilingual groups
Hear every voice, then move forward
People share the reason for their position, so the group can understand support, work through concerns, and make a decision with confidence.
Agree
Support the proposal
Abstain
Present but not voting
Disagree
Concerns but won't block
Block
Fundamental objection
Each vote comes with a reason. You see more than a tally: you understand what people support, what they are worried about, and what could make the proposal better.
Every poll has a deadline. That gives people a fair window to read, ask questions, and improve the proposal before deciding — and gives the group a known moment to move forward. Loomio reminds people who have not responded, so important issues do not quietly fizzle out.
- Vote with reasoning — share why, not just what
- A clear participation window for every poll
- Change your vote as discussion improves the proposal
- Automatic reminders for people who have not responded
- Record the outcome and what happens next
Leave a clear record behind
Every discussion, position, reason, and outcome stays together in a searchable record your group can return to.
New members can understand not just what was decided, but why. Your group keeps its institutional knowledge even when roles and people change.
When someone asks “why did we decide that?”, the context is already there.
- Searchable archive of every discussion and decision
- Recorded outcomes with next steps
- Complete audit trail with timestamps
- Participation reports — see engagement over time
- Export data as CSV, HTML, or JSON
- Review dates for revisiting past decisions
Works with how your group already decides
You do not need to redesign your organization to use Loomio. Bring your existing consensus, consent, majority, or advice process with you.
Advice
Seek advice on a decision you need to make. Collect diverse input, then decide.
Consent
Check for objections to a proposal that is "safe to try". Integrate objections, then move forward.
Consensus
Reach collective agreement with everyone involved. Discuss, amend, and seek broad support.
Majority
Simple majority voting for straightforward choices where a clear vote is all you need.
Create your own templates based on your governance practices, so your processes are encoded, repeatable, and easy for new members to follow.
Use the lightest process that fits
Not every question needs a formal proposal. Choose a simple poll, sense check, meeting-time poll, or rigorous election according to what the group needs.
Proposals
Agree, abstain, disagree, or block — vote with reasoning on any proposal
Sense checks
Test group sentiment informally before a formal decision
Multiple choice
Single or multiple choice to find the most popular option
Score polls
Measure level of support on a sliding scale
Dot voting
Reveal priorities by distributing a limited budget of points
Ranked choice
Find the group's order of preference
Time polls
Find the best meeting time across time zones, then send calendar invites
STV elections
Proportional representation voting for board elections
Advanced voting features
Need a blind vote? Loomio supports anonymous voting and hidden results, so participants vote based on their own judgement — free from social pressure. Perfect for sensitive decisions, board elections, and honest feedback.
- Anonymous and blind voting
- Quorum requirements
- Scheduled opening and closing times
- Hidden results until voting closes
- Required vote reasons
- CSV export for analysis
A dedicated space, not another noisy channel
Keep chat for quick updates and meetings for connection. Loomio holds the important discussions and decisions worth coming back to.
Loomio works alongside the tools your group already knows. It replaces chaotic decision threads, not every way your team communicates.
Send updates and outcomes into chat. Let people reply by email. Participation does not depend on everyone adopting the same daily workflow.
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord
- Matrix and Mattermost
- API for custom integrations
- Reply by email from any email client
- Group email addresses for starting threads
- Catch-up emails so nobody falls behind
Give the right people a place to decide
Mirror your organization with groups for boards, teams, projects, chapters, or members — each with its own privacy and permissions.
A board subgroup for directors, a working group for the project team, a members group for everyone. Each group has its own privacy settings, permissions, and member roles.
Give external participants guest access to specific threads without making them full members. Delegated voters represent members who can't participate directly.
- Nested subgroups for teams, projects, and boards
- Open, closed, or secret privacy settings
- Granular member permissions
- Delegated voters for representative governance
- Guest invitations for external participants
Legally binding decisions — if that's what you need
Reference Loomio in your constitution, bylaws, or founding documents to make decisions formally binding.
With clear audit trails, recorded outcomes, quorum requirements, delegated voters, and timestamped votes, Loomio provides the governance infrastructure for legitimate, defensible decisions.
Anonymous and blind voting ensures secret ballots when your constitution requires them. Every vote is timestamped and exportable for compliance or legal review.
- Complete audit trail of every decision
- Configurable quorum thresholds
- Delegated voters for representative governance
- Timestamped votes and export for compliance
- Anonymous and blind voting for secret ballots
Easy to try. Safe to rely on.
Start with one real decision and let your group experience the value. Loomio is mature open source software, backed by a worker-owned cooperative and thoughtful personal support.
No lock-in
Inspect the open source code, export your data whenever you need it, or run Loomio yourself. Your group stays in control.
One price for the group
Invite the people who need a voice without adding another per-seat penalty. Nonprofit pricing keeps participation affordable.
Real people to help
Ask a question and get a thoughtful response. We help you introduce Loomio, bring your group along, and make the first decision work.
Built in Aotearoa New Zealand and trusted by cooperatives, communities, boards, and distributed organizations around the world.
Ready to make better decisions together?
Join thousands of organizations using Loomio to align, decide, and act — without the endless meetings.