A community network is a computer-based system that is intended to help support (usually geographical) communities by supporting, augmenting, and extending already existing social networks, by using networking technologies by, and for, a community.

Free-nets and civic networks indicate roughly the same range of online projects and services, usually focused on bulletin board systems and online information, but sometimes also providing a means of network access directly to the Internet or other networks; whereas community technology centers (CTCs) and telecentres generally indicate a physical facility to compensate for lack of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs).