Swarm

Spec sheet

What it does

Swarm provides decentralized infrastructure for transferring and storing data across a peer-to-peer network.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Integrations

The maker lists fairOS, Fairdrive, and the Fair Data Protocol as ecosystem tooling for databases, personal data storage, and interoperability; it says these projects are under development and their performance is not guaranteed.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Support

The maker directs users to its Discord community and lists [email protected] for questions or complaints.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Maker

The Swarm Foundation is a nonprofit established in 2021 and based in Switzerland.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Data routing

Swarm nodes use Kademlia routing to distribute and retrieve data in 4 KB chunks.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Desktop app

Swarm Desktop is in beta and provides access through a lightweight node, with features to browse, upload, download, and manage data.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Desktop app data collection

The Swarm Desktop beta page says it includes Sentry monitoring and bug reporting software that automatically collects data to help improve the software.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Desktop beta and security

Swarm Desktop is in beta, includes Sentry monitoring that automatically collects data, and comes with no guarantees of stability, efficiency, or security at this stage.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ethswarm.org

Desktop download limit

The default ultra-light desktop node is limited to downloading data within the free threshold allowed by other nodes.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ethswarm.org

Desktop platforms

Swarm Desktop installers are available for Windows, Linux, and OSX.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ethswarm.org

Developer stack

Its developer stack includes Bee, the Bee-js JavaScript library, Swarm-CLI, and a Bee HTTP API.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Developer tools

Bee is the peer-to-peer client for joining the network, and Bee-js is its complementary JavaScript library for building decentralized apps.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Messaging

Postal Service over Swarm (PSS) is described as an end-to-end encrypted messaging protocol running on Swarm’s decentralized P2P network.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Node operators

Full node operators share disk space and may receive BZZ through a blockchain-based incentive system.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Open source

Swarm describes its code as open source and its network as open and permissionless.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Organization

The Swarm Foundation is a nonprofit established in 2021 and based in Switzerland.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Payments and storage

Publishers use BZZ to buy postage stamp batches for writing data and paying for storage; the displayed current storage price is 0 BZZ per 1 GByte for 1 month.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Privacy and messaging

Swarm describes its network as private by design and says its PSS messaging protocol uses end-to-end encryption.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Privacy and resilience

The maker describes Swarm as censorship resistant and private by design, with local replication intended to preserve availability when nodes drop out or data is lost.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Resilience

The site says local replication helps keep data available despite node dropouts or data loss.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Storage model

Uploaded data is split into 4 KB chunks and distributed among nodes using Kademlia routing.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Storage payments

Publishers spend BZZ on postage stamps to write data and prepay rent for long-term storage.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Website publishing

Swarm Desktop can upload websites and share them through preview URLs or link them to an ENS name.Read 5 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Who it serves

Swarm presents its tools as infrastructure for developers building and hosting dApps, NFT metadata, and media files.Read 4 Oct 2026 · ethswarm.org

Plans and prices

Every Swarm plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Decentralized Storage Services#14 of 257.7