Samudaia

Samudaia is a virtual office built around a shared map, with video rooms that open as teammates walk into them. It is best for remote or hybrid teams that want informal drop-ins within a shared workspace. Its free early-access plan lowers the barrier to trying that format, but no guest access or large all-hands support narrows its role.

Overview

Rather than organizing contact around meeting links, Samudaia puts colleagues on a 2D office map. Walking an avatar into a room connects camera and microphone to the people already there, making it a better fit for spontaneous team conversations than for meetings that need outside participants. Rooms persist, so teams can return to the same shared space instead of treating every conversation as a new event.

That approach has clear boundaries. Samudaia does not support open-floor conversations or spatial audio, and it is not sized for 200-person all-hands events. Teams looking to recreate the sound and movement of a busy physical office, or to host a large company-wide meeting, should choose another format.

Key features

Map themes and avatars let teams give the office a distinct look, while live presence and status show who is around. Multiple workspaces, roles and permissions help organize groups and manage access. Members can join through an email invitation or a single workspace link; neither option provides access to people outside the workspace.

Rooms combine screen sharing, background blur, a shared whiteboard and per-room chat. These tools make the space useful for working through tasks as well as talking, though they do not remove the need for a separate meeting format when guests or large audiences are involved. Video and audio use WebRTC through LiveKit, and the whiteboard is an Excalidraw canvas.

Samudaia’s privacy policy is written for GDPR compliance. It says the service uses access controls, encryption in transit where applicable and least-necessary access, does not sell personal data, and uses written Article 28 GDPR contracts with selected processors. The policy identifies Clerk as an authentication processor and describes other hosting, communications, storage, analytics and support processors generally. Support comes through a help center, documentation and a contact form.

Pricing

Free: The plan is billed Free during early access, requires no credit card and provides a team-sized workspace. That makes it a straightforward option for small teams evaluating a map-based office without taking on a paid subscription. There is no free trial because the plan itself is free.

Samudaia says paid plans for large organizations are in development; no paid price or plan terms are available. The Free plan’s team-sized scope and lack of outside guests are important constraints for organizations that need broader access or larger events.

Platforms

Samudaia is available on Linux, macOS, Windows and the web. It has no mobile apps, so teams relying on phones or tablets for day-to-day access should look elsewhere.

Who it's for

Samudaia is aimed at fully remote and hybrid teams, small companies and startups, agencies and studios, as well as virtual events and meetups. Its room-based setup is most compelling when the participants belong to one workspace and benefit from seeing who is present. It is a weaker fit for events that depend on outside guests or for organizations needing a 200-person all-hands space.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Walking into a room starts a camera-and-microphone conversation without a meeting link, supporting quick drop-ins.
• Pro: Presence, status, persistent rooms and per-room collaboration tools make the map useful as an ongoing team space rather than just a call launcher.
• Pro: The Free early-access plan requires no credit card, giving small teams a way to use the core workspace without a paid plan.
• Con: Guests from outside the workspace cannot join, ruling it out for many client calls and open meetups.
• Con: No spatial audio or open-floor conversations limits its ability to reproduce informal office interaction.
• Con: It is not sized for 200-person all-hands events and has no mobile apps, narrowing its usefulness for large or mobile-first teams.

Alternatives

WorkAdventure is worth considering for teams that need a freemium virtual office across mobile, desktop, web and self-hosted platforms; its Free plan is limited to 10 users but has unlimited duration.

Hubs is the alternative to consider when open-source customization and self-hosting matter more than Samudaia’s room-based team setup.

Glue may suit teams that want a free tier with stated caps of 10 members, 10 spaces, 30 minutes per session and 2GB of file storage.

Topia is an option for web and mobile virtual events; its Demo plan has a 50-person capacity, with broadcasting and screen sharing each limited to one.

Watch2Gether fits shared media viewing better, with a free Starter plan that supports two people and 720p streaming.

Overte is a fully open-source virtual-world and social VR option for Linux, Windows and self-hosted use.

Tangle may be a better fit for Mac or Windows teams seeking a free server with up to 50 team members and rooms capped at 25.

flat.social is another web-based option if spatial audio matters; its free plan supports up to five people at once with unlimited session length.

For more options, see Virtual Meeting Room Software.

Verdict

Choose Samudaia if your remote or hybrid team wants a persistent shared office where casual conversations start by entering a room, and its free early-access workspace fits your team. Look elsewhere if you need guest participation, mobile apps, spatial or open-floor audio, or an all-hands space for 200 people.