List of volunteer computing projects


This is a comprehensive list of volunteer computing projects, which are a type of distributed computing where volunteers donate computing time to specific causes. The donated computing power comes from idle CPUs and GPUs in personal computers, video game consoles, and Android devices.
Each project seeks to utilize the computing power of many internet connected devices to solve problems and perform tedious, repetitive research in a very cost effective manner.

Active projects

ProjectLaunchedSponsorCategoryResearch focusBOINC basedProcessing unitsPerformance in TeraFLOPS
Albert@Home2011-12-23University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Max Planck InstituteAstrophysicsTesting project for Einstein@Home
Amicable Numbers2017-01-05IndependentMathematicsResearch project to find new amicable pairs
2013-12-22Archive TeamDigital preservationA virtual archiving appliance that will download sites and upload them to the Archive Team archive.
Asteroids@home2012-06-18Charles University in Prague, Czech RepublicAstrophysicsTo significantly enlarge our knowledge of the physical properties of asteroids
BOID2018-06-20BOID DAC, decentralized communityResearchThe Social Supercomputer for data-driven medical and scientific research involving blockchain technology212
climateprediction.net2003-12-09Oxford UniversityClimate changeAnalyse ways to improve climate prediction models
Collatz Conjecture2009-01-06IndependentMathematicsStudy the Collatz conjecture, an unsolved conjecture in mathematics
DENIS@Home2015-04-08Universidad San Jorge. Zaragoza, SpainMedicine and BiologySimulation of the electrical activity of the cardiac cells
Distributed.net1997-01-28IndependentCryptography, MathematicsCrack the RC5-72 cipher
Einstein@Home2005-02-19University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Max Planck InstituteAstrophysicsSearch for pulsars using radio signals and gravitational wave data
Electric Sheep1999-09-30Visual artsMake computer art with fractal flames
Fishnet2016-03-07IndependentChessProvides server analysis for games played on lichess.org using the Stockfish chess engine
Fishtest2013-02-13IndependentSoftware testing, chessValidates patches to the Stockfish chess engine by playing thousands of chess games at fast time controls between different versions of the engine228
Folding@home2000-10-01Washington University in St. LouisMolecular biologyUnderstand protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases, with a minor emphasis in protein structure prediction. Computing power also harnessed the power of PlayStation 3s44197 29838
Gaia@home2019-08-21Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz UniversityAstronomyProvide additional computing power to scientists studying the Gaia (spacecraft) data releases
Gerasim@Home2007-02-10Southwest State University, RussiaMathematicsResearch in discrete mathematics and logic control systems765
Golem Network2016IndependentSoftwareDeveloping a permissionless distributed computing marketplace
GPUGRID2007-12-05Barcelona Biomedical Research ParkMolecular biologyPerform full-atom molecular simulations of proteins on Nvidia GPUs for biomedical research
Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search 1996-01-earlyIndependentMathematicsSearches for Mersenne primes of world record size
iThena.Measurements2019-09-25Cyber-Complex FoundationComputer scienceGenerally computer networks
iThena.Computational2021-10-31Cyber-Complex FoundationComputer scienceGenerally computer networks
Leela Chess Zero2018-03-04Software testing, chessTrains chess neural networks with deep reinforcement learning. Experiments with training parameters and net architectures19
LHC@home2004-01-09CERNPhysicsHelping physicists compare theory with experiment, in the search for new fundamental particles and answers to questions about the Universe
MilkyWay@home2007-07-07Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteAstronomyCreate a highly accurate three-dimensional model of the Milky Way galaxy using data collected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Moo! Wrapper2011-02-05IndependentCryptographyCombines BOINC with distributed.net to try to break the RC5 cipher
nanoHUB@Home2015-01-30Purdue UniversityNanoscienceResearch in nanoscience and nanotechnology
NFS@Home2009-09-05California [State University, Fullerton]Integer factorizationPerforms parts of the number field sieve in the factorization of large integers
NumberFields@Home2011-08-12Arizona State University's School of MathematicsNumber theorySearch for number fields with special properties to assist with the formulation of mathematical conjectures
ODLK2017-04-06IndependentMathematics
ODLK12017-10-22IndependentMathematics
PrimeGrid2005-06-12IndependentMathematicsSearch for world record sized prime numbers, search for particular types of primes, such as 321 primes, Cullen-Woodall primes, Proth prime, and prime Sierpinski numbers. Subprojects also include Seventeen or Bust, and the Riesel problem.
Radioactive@home2011-10-21PolandPhysicsReal-time radiation monitoring, detected by gamma sensors connected to volunteer computers
RakeSearch2017-09-14Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of SciencesMathematicsSearch of diagonal Latin squares
RALPH@home2006-02-15University of WashingtonSoftware testingTest project for Rosetta@home
Ramanujan machine2021-10-14IndependentMathematicsConjecturing new mathematical formulas
RNA World2009-05-21Independent research group in Marburg, GermanyMolecular biologyUses bioinformatics software to study RNA structure
Rosetta@home2005-10-06University of WashingtonMolecular biologyProtein structure prediction for disease research
SheepIt RenderfarmArtRendering of 3D Animations
SiDock@home2020-12-19Russian Academy of SciencesMolecular biologyCitizen science project for independent decentralized drug design by distributed computing
SRBase2013-01-02IndependentMathematicsTrying to solve Sierpinski / Riesel Bases up to 1030, the project is Conjecture 'R Us
TN-Grid2014-05-01Research Area of Trento of the National Research Council of Italy, University of TrentoGeneticsGene@home is a scientific project belonging to the infrastructure TrentoGrid. It aims to expand networks of genes.
Twin Prime Search2006-04-13MathematicsSearches for large twin primes
Universe@Home2015-02-19Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of SciencesAstronomyComputational astrophysics, computer simulation of stars, galaxies, and the Universe
WEP-M+2 Project2006-05-12London, England, United KingdomMathematicsFactorization of Mersenne+2 numbers
World Community Grid2004-11-16Krembil Research InstituteHumanitarian research on disease, natural disasters, and hungerDisease research, various worldwide humanitarian problems. Subprojects include GO Fight Against Malaria, Drug Search for Leishmaniasis, Computing for Clean Water, Clean Energy Project, Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together, Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy, Help Fight Childhood Cancer. Smash Childhood Cancer, Help Conquer Cancer, Help Defeat Cancer, Mapping Cancer Markers, Human Proteome Folding Project, FightAIDS@Home, Uncovering Genome Mysteries, Let's outsmart Ebola together, Help Stop TB, OpenZika.
WUProp@Home2010-03-27IndependentStatisticsCollect various statistics about other BOINC projects
YAFU2011-09-01Software testing, MathematicsTest BOINC server software, integer factorization
2007-07-19IndependentMathematics, physics, and evolutionElliptic curve factorization, Riesel/Sierpinski siever, M queens puzzle