Only 96 responses came in for the 2025 OpenSim Grid Survey, which kind of makes sense — our site hasn’t been all that active in a while — but the results might be interesting, and show that there is still activity and people still care about OpenSim grids.
And, as usual, two write-in grids got the highest overall scores from their residents — Littlefield and Utopia Skye got the highest rankings overall.
Of course, given the small number of responses, these results are not statistically significant. What they do show is that residents who heard about this survey care about their grids. So consider the following for entertainment purposes only!
The most surprising thing to me was that Wolf Territories did as well as it did. It’s the most popular grid in OpenSim right now, and grids with a lot of users often tend to have a harder time providing support for all their residents. Also, with more people come more interpersonal problems and grudges, which are often reflected in these surveys!
Where do OpenSimmers live and visit?
Between them, the respondents had visited more than 50 different grids and named 27 different grids as their primary homes.
Kitely was the grid that was home to the most survey respondents, followed by Littlefield and Utopia Skye.
It doesn’t mean that the other grids don’t have a lot of residents — just that they might not have heard about the survey. We’ll try to do better next year publicizing it!
(I would have done more, but my daughter got married this weekend. I thought I could both promote the survey and cry about my little girl growing up, but it turned out — I couldn’t.)
We also asked our readers about the grids that they had visited, other than their own home grid.
This is actually the most interesting and the most statistically important chart in this report. In this question, people whose primary residence was one grid listed the other grids they’d been on. On average, our respondents had been to five grids each — or, at least, could recall the names of five grids off the top of their heads.
OSgrid, OpenSim’s largest and oldest grid, was the most visited — 77 percent of our readers had been to that grid, which is in line with previous years’ surveys and with the fact that it’s a high-traffic grid, according to its monthly stats reporting.
The next most visited was Wolf Territories with 52 percent, followed by Alternate Universe at 45 percent, DigiWorldz at 41 percent, and Kitely at 32 percent.
The numbers add up to more than 100 percent because most people have visited more than one grid.
The numbers also show that the traffic numbers these grids report are in line with reality. Grids that report high monthly active user numbers but don’t show up on this list — well, you’d have to wonder why. I’m not going to point fingers right now, but I might point fingers next year, when I run this survey again.
One exception is Kitely. This grid typically scores low for community because it’s better known for its technical infrastructure and content marketplace than grid-wide events. Many people use Kitely’s services to run private, school, or company grids, for example. But the Kitely Market delivers content to most of the other grids in OpenSim, and is the first and last place to go if you want to purchase clothing, buildings, accessories, and other items. As a result, everyone knows the Kitely name but might not necessarily visit it on a regular basis.
Most residents said they were very happy with their grids — 92 percent would “absolutely” recommend them to others. Just 3 percent said “maybe” and only 1 percent said they would not recommend. These scores are consistent with those from previous years, showing that OpenSim users are still happy with the platform.
Technology, support, community, and content
I did not ask people to compare different grids and tell me which one is better. After all, nobody out there has visited all the grids and tried them all out. Instead, what I do every year is ask people what they think about the grid that they spend the most time on.
Typically, people rate their home grid highly. And that makes sense — after all, that’s the grid where they decided to spend their time. That’s why most grids score as 4 and 5, in every category. If people don’t like a grid, they leave and go live somewhere else.
As grids get larger, however, they also get more people who are generally discontented. In addition, larger grids may have problems maintaining their technology or support. As a result, smaller grids often do very well in these annual surveys.
You’ll notice that the difference between grids is often a fraction of a percent, so please do not take these results as pure gospel. Plus, with the relatively small number of users we have in OpenSim, the margin of error is high — one highly dissatisfied resident can skew the results quite a bit.
Again, please keep in mind that the scores for these questions are not statistically significant because of the low number of responses for each individual grid!
Technology
This year, when our readers were asked how they would grade their grid’s technology. Utopia Skye and Littlefield scored the highest, followed by OSgrid.
Support
Littlefield and Utopia Skye received the highest scores for support, followed by Kitely.
As in previous years, OSgrid had the lowest scores, most likely because it is a very popular and large grid, but is entirely volunteer-run, without a paid staff to handle resident issues.
Community
For community, Littlefield and Utopia Skye again received the highest scores, followed by Wolf Territories.
Content
In content, Littlefield and Wolf Territories received the highest scores, followed by Utopia Skye.
For the latest list of all grids on the OpenSim platform — or some fork of it — check out our Active Grids List.
If you would like to see a full list of results — minus any identifiable information — please email me at [email protected].
Additional comments from the respondents
The following are representative comments about the grids. There were more than 130 comments in all, much higher than last year, some of them quite lengthy, and if anyone wants to see them, or use them on their websites, just email me. Again, I won’t include any personally identifiable information.
In addition to leaving out some of the repetitive comments, I’ve also skipped those that had negative personal attacks or that seemed libelous. And, of course, I also edited out any personally identifying information. The comments have also been very lightly edited for spelling and grammar.
AviWorlds
AviWorlds has been around for many years since the ownership changed. We have not had any downtime. We are, in fact, using object storage for really fast deliveries of items and assets. Come check us out. We even offer free land.
Canadian Grid
Canadian Grid may suck now, but it’s brand new, so it can get better soon.
Craft World
Craft World is the friendly world. Here lives a lively community that cares about human values and is committed to educational and cultural events, without neglecting social events.
GBG World
GBG is simply the best grid, friendly team, and friendly residents, the grid owners have 13 years plus a grid in OpenSim. I have seen other grids but for me GBG is my home!
Kitely
I’ve been on Kitely since 9/14/2014. This is home for me. When I have an issue, I can contact [owner and CEO] Ilan [Tochner] and usually within a short period of time I get a response. And please keep in mind I’m in Phoenix, Arizona, with Ilan across the globe, and no matter the time, he gets back to me and others. I’ve made several friends here that we have been able to add events to Kitely with Ilan’s support. He listens to his customers and does everything he can to assist us all. The biggest reason I love Kitely is that it’s the most stable of all in OpenSim. Even with the Firestorm upgrades, we are smooth sailing. I also have a script that will only work on Kitely. When I’ve tried using it on other grids, it doesn’t work. I’m thankful to Kitely, as I also do management trainings, and all my participants have had a great experience in Kitely as well.
Kitely has long been my favorite place in OpenSim. It’s reliable, affordable, and beautifully maintained, making it ideal for both creative projects and large-scale events. Whether hosting an exhibit, building a world, or attending an event, Kitely consistently delivers a smooth, welcoming experience that keeps me inspired to create.
I have a 4×4 on Kitely for $39.95 a month. That’s equal to 16 sims in size. I couldn’t afford that much land area on other grids. Also, when OSgrid lost all their inventory (as my OSgrid avatar did), Kitely did not. The only inconvenience is having to wait a minute for your world to come up as they shut down if no one is on them. But this keeps the price lower, so worth the wait.
I like that Kitely has a very attentive grid owner who’s always available if you have questions. The grid itself is stable and reliable, too. They don’t experiment by implementing updates that could be buggy. The owners test and retest to ensure everything works perfectly before making upgrades available to everyone. There’s also been an increase in Kitely-hosted events at the Kitely Events Center region, including fireside chats, game nights, Shakespeare, and monthly DJ’d events. These are in addition to the activities hosted by users, such as sailing, building, script lessons, and parties. Kitely has always been my home grid, and I don’t see that changing.
I like having my private world in Kitely, where the customer service is fast and excellent, the Market is convenient (even if people don’t always provide full descriptions of their products), Ilan Tochner, the owner, is friendly and accessible. If I weren’t disabled with chronic pain and very limited as to the number of hours I can be sitting up looking at a computer screen, I’d be here a lot more and would have seen this survey sooner, but my physical condition is degenerating. The best sim to visit is still Coopersville, even though it’s smaller under new ownership, but the new owner is great!
Kitely is a stable, long-running, affordable, and reliable grid managed by responsive owners with excellent management and technical skills who are careful and wise when upgrading to newer versions of OpenSim, making sure that it all works before introducing new elements. I’ve been with Kitely since 2011 — I have occasionally had land in other grids, but Kitely really is top for keeping your content secure and accessible and enabling you to manage your own OARs.
Kitely has consistent superior grid performance and support, while embracing new technologies (e.g. PBR). Questions are promptly answered. Worlds work first time, every time. Perhaps best of all, Kitely is a drama-free business, largely because Ilan doesn’t feed trolls and because Kitely attracts users with long-term interests.
My homegrid since 2023. Stable, kind and nice!
I love the Kitely Market because you can get your purchases in other Hypergrids!
Kitely launched its grid in 2011 and, like Wolf Territories, is one of the most stable and highly supportive OpenSim platforms – if not the most reliable! The Kitely Marketplace is a great place to shop for OpenSim items. The Kitely community is welcome, inviting, and willing to help and support anyone who needs help building, scripting etc. The residents are some of the most talented and gifted artists in the metaverse. Ilan Tochner (CEO and co-owner) hosts regular community meetings to keep people current about what is happening on Kitely, including updates about technological issues. He is always there to help and support anyone having problems.
Kitely is affordable and a fantastic place to live and visit.
The Virtual Education Journal has headquarters on both Kitely and Wolf Territories because of all the OpenSim worlds we have visited, they both have great communities, a reliable grid, helpful and supportive technology support, and are welcoming to new residents. At VEJ, we want to recognize, visit, and support all OpenSim grids and help to promote and share not only the great work being done by the residents but also the support of those who own and manage the grids. I sincerely hope that this is not a competition survey, but a way to highlight and share the wonderful accomplishments by all of the OpenSim grids, and a way to encourage more people to begin to hop from grid to grid and explore ALL of the metaverse.
I have had absolutely no issues in many years use, it’s only got better and better.
Littlefield
Being a Second Lifer for 20 years and an OpenSim user for more than 16 years, I’m an inveterate explorer of all OpenSim grids, visiting new ones on a daily basis. However, I find Ruritania, in Littlefield, my favourite, and some regions of DarkHearts and OSgrid my second favourites.
Less competition, more coöperation between grids and sims is required. Right now, the entire hypergrid feels empty because of too much space for way too few residents. I often hear complaints about empty sims, yet every single day, new ones pop up…
Littlefield treats it as a home and users as family.
The people on this grid are the friendliest, nicest people in OpenSim. They always have an admin available online to help in any way they can. Love this grid!
Gotham City and Mexico Lindo are number one on Littlefield Grid.
This grid is my home grid, and I am glad that this is my forever home. I wouldn’t change it for any other grid. Best service, best grid managers, and one finally for my lifestyle, I love it! The grid owners are friendly and willing to help. That is a big plus for me.
Mobius
Mobius Grid is fun and full of great places to explore and be creative in! Sims are large, low cost, low-lag, and regularly updated with fun content!
Trianon World
Trianon World has a wonderful owner, and the ballroom is a great place for a dance.
Great staff and support, Essenual looks after you and has plenty of content.
Utopia Skye
Utopia Skye Grid is a solid grid with technical competence and integrity at its core. In a field largely dominated by irresponsible and lazy thinking, it’s a breath of fresh air.
I like this grid because it’s focused on content creation and anti-copy-bottling and has a unique engine that works very well! As a creator, it feels safe. The community’s really cool, and I like that everything’s working like animesh and PBR [physically based rendering] and voice.
I have been a long-time member of Second Life, but never felt at home outside in the lands of OpenSim until I chose Utopia Sky Grid.
I’ve been in USG for about four or so years now and have finally found myself a true home there. I couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone wanting to venture into the world of OpenSim!
Utopia Skye is one of the best-kept secrets. The best grid around, bar none. I ranked them so high as there is no petty jealousy or backstabbing here. All people are welcome no matter what.
I split my time on multiple grids. Two I do not see on the list are Utopia Skye Grid and Twiztid Timez Grid. They’re all equally 4s and 5s across the board. I would absolutely recommend people to these grids. Also, I do not see Kitely listed. They’re great too. The communities on all of these grids are awesome; hence me splitting time on all of them.
In USG I finally found the home I’ve been searching for. The owners and community are amazing. And they’ve attracted some talented creators. I just love it there!
In Utopia Skye Grid, everyone feels like family.
Yes, I’m one of the owners of this grid, but I rate 5 out of 5 for all things because our content is original, creative, and not botted. Our service is unmatched (I’ve even answered tickets at 4 am), and our community is fiercely loyal, even if we are relatively small. We’ve been in existence for longer than most of the grids that make it to the list each time this survey goes out (despite being rated #1, 2, or 3 on previous years’ lists), but we never make it to the list since we aren’t huge in landmass. (We don’t bloat our numbers to make this list). We are small but mighty. And we are passionate. We also run on a better version of OpenSim code (now on our own engine, Tranquility) and I know of the many errors in the OpenSim code that our code doesn’t ignore but fixes. Security is better, and performance is faster, and it’s being run on a number of other grids. So, I don’t need to visit other grids to feel part of a community, or to find creative items; I (and our residents) have all of that here on our own grid.
Wolf Territories
As the editor of Virtual Education Journal, I spend time at both Kitely and Wolf Territories because we have headquarters at each. Both Kitely and Wolf Territories have a lot to offer residents and visitors. VEJ is also interested in visiting and promoting other OpenSims.
ZetaWorlds
I am uncertain why you did not include Zetaworlds because they probably have the best technical support, aside from Walter Balazic’s Littlefield. However, I am a resident of a number of grids, specialising in networking, terraforming, building and roleplay. I think it is a shame that OpenSim grids often bar residents of other grids, for no real reason.
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