After the article about the best cafes to work in Porto, its time to introduce you to the top 8 coworking spaces in the city. Whether you are a freelancer looking for a place to work for a couples of days / weeks, or you have a startup that needs a proper place to work and interaction with other companies, here is my list about the top coworking spaces in Porto.
And the best coworking spaces in Porto are:
Typographia Cowork
Campo Mártires da Pátria, 144-A | Contact: (+351) 220 936 589
This coworking space in Porto is just fantastic – besides it’s superb location at a restored house at downtown Porto, it has quite large areas which make it perfect for people who would rather work in a more relaxed and silent atmosphere (such as myself).
Moreover, it has a lounge area with a gorgeous view towards the cathedral of Porto – what else can you ask for? Typography’s website is only in Portuguese, nonetheless you can check its prices here.
Porto i/o
Several locations | Contact: hello@porto.io
Porto i/o is a reference when it comes to coworking spaces in Porto. It all started in 2014, when Nuno and his partner decided to restore a building in downtown Porto using solely the skills of locals architects, builders and carpenters.
Porto i/o creates an amazing environment through the regular events they organise with digital workers, with a community feeling that other coworking spaces in Porto lack. Some digital projects were born from the synergies of its coworkers and there was even a marriage between two people who met there – that is what I call a synergy!
Porto i/o has several locations: Downtown Porto (it is quite small so I don’t really like it), one at Rua de Santa Catarina, another one at the riverside, where you can enjoy amazing views towards Ribeira neighborhood, and one in Matosinhos.
You are all very much welcome with a free tour to their facilities, which are open 24/7 for digital nomads that decide to work from Porto i/o for longer than a week 🙂
You can check this coworking office pricing here.
Temporada
Rua da Torrinha, 151 | info@temporada.pt
I recently discovered Temporada and I fell in love with the space, which is very airy and with plenty of natural light. It also has some skype booths to have a private conversation, a lovely patio outside and a very nice god called Angie. Moreover, it has an excellent cafeteria, serving vegetarian snacks such as the best chickpea muffins I’ve ever tasted and a sourdough toast with peanut butter.
Temporada’s pricing is very different from other coworking spaces in Porto: there is an area reserved for coworking, where people who pay a monthly fee stay (by the way, the prices are very cheap), and there is the cafeteria area, where you can working with a minimum consumption of 2€/hour (in food & drinks).
The purpose of Temporada is to be a second home for independent workers and I can tell you that I have never felt so comfortable working outside my home.
Selina Cowork
Rua José Falcão, 199
If you have ever lived in Porto you probably know the so-called “Arab building” at Rua José Falcão. It was right there that the hotel chain Selina decided to open a coworking space in Porto.
The building is beautiful, with an entire floor dedicated to conferences and workshops, another one to hot desks and dedicated desks, and finally a floor for companies, with private offices that can accommodate up to 28 people.
The only problem with Selina coworking space in Porto is that the prices are really high.
The hot desk costs 15€ / day and the dedicated desk starts at 20€/day and reaches a monthly value of 200€ / month. If you choose one of the loyalty plans – Basic Nomad (one month), True Nomad (three months) or Country Nomad (six months) – which give you access to discounts on Selina group accommodation and other services -, the price varies between 180€ and 220€ / month. I honestly think it is very expensive for Portuguese standards!
OPO’Lab
Rua D. João IV, 643 | Contacts: + 351 91 322 43 95 and info@opolab.com
For all architects and designers out there: OPO’Lab is for you!
This coworking space opened in 2010 with a clear focus on architecture, design and construction workers, and as such it is has a FAB LAB (fabrication laboratory) equipped with a 2D CNC machine, a 3D CNC machine, Lathe / milling, sandblasting machine, compressor / guns, handcraft machines and a video projector. So if you are in the creative industry, keep in mind this unique coworking space in Porto!
You can check the coworking prices here and the prices for using the FAB LAB here.
Note: Pay attention to the schedule of each OPO’Lab’s plan, because they vary according to the price.
CRU – Cowork
Rua do Rosário, 211 | Contact: (+351) 935 600 904 or cru.cowork@gmail.com
CRU is another interesting space for freelancers of creative industry, as it is both a coworking space in Porto and a (very tempting) store. It provides the common facilities of other coworking spaces as well as photography studios and a silkscreen workshop, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that it attracts mostly photographers, hand crafters and illustrators / designers.
CRU is a rather intimate coworking space in Porto but I should warn you about two aspects: the access to the coworking space itself is through the store (so it might be a bit loud once and a while!) and the meeting room is located at the basement, which you can only access through the storage room of CRU’s store.
To compensate such troubles, it has a very nice patio on the back 🙂 You can check the prices of CRU coworking space here.
Facts Coworking
Rua 5 de Outubro, 156 | Contact: (+351) 226 061 260 and info@factscoworking.com
Facts Coworking was one of the first coworkings spaces to open in Porto. It has an excellent location, right next to Casa da Música‘s subway station, which makes it ideal for those of you who would like to stay way from the rush rush of downtown Porto.
This coworking space in Porto has a meeting room, a kitchen that also works as a lounge area and showers, which I find quite useful (specially for those who like to workout during lunch break and the like). Moreover, it has a ping pong table for those moments when you really need a break 😉
Its website is only in Portuguese but you can find its prices here.
As some of you might be interested in coworking spaces outside Porto, I also included one in Gaia:
Officelab
Rua Dr. Ferreira Macedo, 42. Gaia | Contact: +351 223 791008 and info@officelab.pt
Officelab is an excellent choice for those of you looking for a coworking space in Vila Nova de Gaia but with excellent access to downtown Porto, as it is just 5min walking distance from the subway station Câmara de Gaia.
The coworking area itself is quite large and it provides additional spaces such as a fully equipped kitchen, a shared library and a lounge area. A big plus of this coworking office is that it has access 24/7, all days of the week.
They welcome startups at an early stage by providing them with a free pack of consulting services in addition to services such as marketing and management advise at lower rates. It is definitely a coworking space to consider either you are a freelancer or starting a new business in Porto!
Its website in only in Portuguese but nonetheless you can check the prices of their coworking services here.
Important tip about the coworking spaces in Porto
When comparing the prices of each coworking space, check if it already includes the VAT! Most coworking spaces in Porto advertise the prices without VAT, but some already include it and if your strongest decision criterion is the price, the value of the VAT can make the difference.