Unlock is a protocol that developers, creators, and platforms can use to create onchain memberships and subscriptions. Unlock’s goal is to ease implementation and increase conversion from “users” to “members,” creating a much healthier monetization environment for the web.

In short, Unlock is an open-source, collectively owned, community-governed, peer-to-peer system that creates time-based (potentially recurring) memberships.

There are a number of interdependent components of Unlock. These are:

Unlock Labs: The core team that created and currently maintains Unlock Protocol.
Unlock Protocol: A suite of upgradable smart contracts that create memberships as NFTs.
The Unlock Ecosystem: A community of creators, distributors, and consumers who share ownership of Unlock Protocol through their contributions using the protocol.
Unlock DAO: A decentralized organization of token holders who govern and control Unlock Protocol.
Unlock Protocol Foundation: A Cayman Islands Foundation whose purpose is to act in service of the Unlock ecosystem and DAO.
Unlock Tools: Front-end convenience applications built by Unlock Labs to further sustainable innovation on Unlock Protocol.
Unlock Labs created Unlock Protocol to provide an open, shared infrastructure for memberships that removes friction, increases conversion, enables scale, reduces costs, and evolves the web from a business model built on attention toward one based on membership.