Join
the Decentralized Identity Foundation
Collaborate with a global community to build open standards and open source technical components for decentralized identity. Companies, research clusters, most non-profits, and government agencies can sign up directly as described below. Please note that all variants of the DIF agreement grants Intellectual Property Rights over all DIF activity to DIF. If you sign our membership agreement, you attest that you control and can waive all intellectual property rights over anything you share in DIF meetings or on DIF repositories.
Open-Source foundations and other member organizations, please get in touch via [email protected] prior to filling out the application.
Choose the Membership that's right for you
ContributorFor startups, small organizations, academics, or non-profit organizations. (Free membership.) If there are any concerns about your ability to sign an intellectual property rights agreement on behalf of your organization, please contact [email protected]. |
AssociateFor organizations and government agencies that wish to support DIF's mission and participate as organizational members. We encourage funded and revenue-generating organizations of any size to join as Associate members. If there are any concerns about your ability to sign an intellectual property rights agreement on behalf of your organization, please contact [email protected]. |
Feedback OnlyPersonal capacity only. Feedback and review comments. ✅ The only rights this grants: submitting feedback / review comments on published specifications. ⚠️Employed or otherwise IP-bound to an org? You are ineligible to give unencumbered Feedback, and should apply as a Contributor or Associate membership instead. ⚠️ If you are a freelancer or sole founder, please use “Contributor” with your LLC/org email instead. |
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DIF is entirely supported by member contributions.
If you are able to support DIF with an Associate Membership, we encourage you to do so.
Membership Comparison
Contributor |
Associate |
Feedback only |
|
|---|---|---|---|
PRICING |
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| Price | Free | Tiered (↗️) | Free |
| Employee Limit | Up to 1000 employees | Any size | No IP claims** |
GOVERNANCE |
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| Eligible to serve on Steering Committee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Eligible to serve as WG Chair | Yes | Yes | No |
CONTRIBUTION |
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| May contribute to specifications (technical requirements, review comments) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| May initiate and support a work item | Yes | Yes | No |
| May make technical contributions to specifications | Yes | Yes | With Approval Only |
VOTING |
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| Participate in WG consensus | Yes | Yes | No |
| Participate in Supermajority WG votes | No | Yes | No |
| Vote in Steering Committee elections | No | Yes | No |
MEETINGS |
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| Attend Working Group meetings. | Yes | Yes | No |
| Attend User Group and Special Interest Group meetings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ACCESS TO SERVICES |
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| Members-only Slack | Yes | Yes | No |
| Contribute to WG mailing lists | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Code contributions on GitHub | Yes | Yes | With Approval Only |
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS |
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| Logo on Website | No | Yes | No |
| Company news in monthly newsletter | Yes | Yes | No |
| Represent DIF at industry events | Yes | Yes | No |
Join DIF as
Contributor |
Associate |
Feedback only |
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You can also view the DIF Charter directly to drill into the formalities.
** You must sign the Intellectual Property clearance on your unencumbered behalf as an individual. If you are under any contractual obligation affecting your Intellectual Property rights (including but not limited to employment, work under contract, or grant agreements pertaining to software or other intellectual property rights), you must submit to DIF legal proof that such obligations are expressly and consentfully waived with respect to your DIF contributions. If you are a freelancer or sole founder, please join at the Contributing Member level.