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Is there a widely accepted open source alternative to What3Words?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2026
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Asklemmy
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What is your use case? Certainly wouldn't pay that though. Distance/direction from a clear reference point, link a URL of a map, lat/long. All options I would take above paying a subscription.
The original use case, as far as I know, is helping search and rescue. Words that are easy to communicate verbally, and easy to remember, so you dont have to worry about bad radio or phone signal garbling communication. Even if your phone dies, or you dont have pen/paper, it's easy enough to remember the three words and communicate to search and rescue after you've made it out to a trailhead or whatever.
"Where are you?"
"ThereThey'reTheir"
I would hope they minimize the use of homophones. They do use different forms of words, but the way the words are assigned, you aren't going to have 2 really similar sounding locations in the same area. If you know someone went missing on a hike in Scotland, you'll be able to figure out that the three words correspond to a Scottish location and not somewhere in Kenya.