Bringing local communities together, effortlessly
Convoca was born because finding local events in Portugal was too hard. We built an open platform where anyone can publish and discover gatherings near them.
Our story
Convoca started with a simple frustration: finding local events in Portugal was scattered across Facebook groups, WhatsApp chains, and municipal websites that hadn't been updated in months. We believed communities deserved a single, open platform where anyone could publish and discover what's happening nearby — without needing to sign up, download an app, or navigate corporate event platforms designed for large-scale conferences. So we built one.
How we work
Convoca is built and maintained by one person, with the help of AI development tools. The entire codebase is open source. We use free tiers of modern infrastructure providers to keep costs near zero — roughly €5 per month runs the whole platform. Every euro spent is documented on our transparency page. There are no investors, no sponsors, and no plans to monetise user data.
Our values
Open access
Anyone can publish or discover events -- no account required
Zero friction
Publish an event in seconds, by email or form
Local first
Built for communities in Portugal, with a real location hierarchy
Transparency
Open source, public costs, no hidden agendas
Community
The platform belongs to the people who use it
Who we are
Convoca is maintained by a solo developer based in Portugal who believes local communities deserve better digital infrastructure. The project is a labour of love, built in spare time with the conviction that civic technology should be free, open, and accessible to everyone.