There are three ways in. Pick the one that fits where you are today; your account is the same whichever you choose, and it can belong to more than one community.
The global community is people from everywhere. You need no invite: open global.beanpool.org in a browser and tap Join. On Android, install the app and tap Explore BeanPool worldwide; on iPhone, from its next update. Create an account with 12 secret words (no Google, Apple or Facebook account needed), or sign in once with Google, Apple or Facebook; that sign-in also becomes a way back if you lose your phone. Tell it roughly where you are, to about 10 km, or skip that. Then you can see what people near you offer, post something free or for swap, message people, and ask a community near you to let you in. Beans, trades, the Commons and its Decisions are switched off there: they belong to a local community. The app shows you each of them with an example community, so you know what a local community offers before you join or start one.
Guide: Joining BeanPool, Using BeanPool in a web browser.
On the global community, Find your community on Home lists the communities nearest you. Tap Ask to join, write a few words about yourself, and any member of that community can let you in with one tap, and if no answer comes in 30 days you can ask again. Nothing near you? Tell me when one starts here watches your area. Or start one: every community runs on its own small server, a spare always-on computer or a rented one for a few dollars a month, looked after by someone local. The app's Start a community screen walks you through it, and the steps are on our Start a community page.
Guide: Finding a community near you.
An invite is a link, a QR code or a code starting INV- or BP-. It works once and lasts 30 days. Install the app, tap Join with an invite (in the web app, I'm New Here), paste the link or code, and choose the name people will see, up to 20 characters. If you only have a code, also type the community's name or address; the person who invited you can tell you.
Guide: Joining BeanPool.
Your account is a key kept on your phone, or in the web app in your browser. There is no password. The app shows you 12 words at Safety Backup: write them down and keep them safe, because they are what brings your account back on a new phone. On the phone app, and on the global community, you can add a Google, Apple or Facebook sign-in as a second way back. A locked copy of your key is then kept for it: phone apps that use BeanPool's key vault keep it there, on a small server in Iceland; older versions of the phone app keep it on your community's server; the web app on the global community keeps it on that community's server, which we run. Whoever keeps the copy can open it, and a restore from the vault waits a day unless one of your own devices says it's you. If you want nobody but you to be able to get in, use only your 12 words.
Guide: Your 12 words.
In a local community, post an Offer first: a lift to town, eggs, an hour of gardening. Agree a price in Beans; the Beans are held until the job is done, then go to the seller, and you rate each other. Your credit line opens after your first completed trade; it starts small and grows as you trade with more people. The offers you keep up set how much of it you can use: one offer up to 200 Beans, five up to 2000. Badges (Newcomer, Resident, Steward, Elder) show your history; they unlock nothing.
Guide: A deal, step by step, Your credit line, numbers in The Rules.
Prefer watching a visual tutorial or need help getting started with your node? Connect with the BeanPool community:
Short walkthroughs of joining, your 12 words and a trade.
Watch on YouTube →Join discussions, ask questions, share offers, and connect with other node runners.
Join r/beanpool →