14 Melbourne Co-Working Spaces That'll Make You Thirsty For Freelance (2023)

Looking to spread your wings in the world of freelance, but worried about the cabin fever? Sick of wearing a suit to work every day (or those awful mid-length tight skirts that show your undie line no matter WHAT type of knickers you’re sporting)? We’ve got you covered. Well actually, Melbourne has you covered, with lots of convenient, trendy and super fun co-working spaces around town. Ping pong, fast wifi and a crew of achingly cool creatives—them's the freelance perks.

Here are the coolest coworking spaces in Melbourne.

WorkSmith

In a nutshell, these guys are all about empowering the talent behind our Aussie food and bev industry. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, a restaurant operator, a chef requiring a commercial space, a hospitality-driven technologist (whatever the hell that is) or a food journo, this is defs the coworking space for you. WorkSmith is set up with several rooms, including a bar that can hold 80 standing people, plus a dedicated podcasting room with all equipment provided. Everything but the kitchen sink (although they have one of those too).

Where: 450 Smith Street, Collingwood
For more info, click here.

WeWork

Alright, if you’re looking for somewhere trendy to get your work done, WeWork is probably the hottest name in Melbourne coworking right now. Their new digs on Collins St are seriously cool, with teams of artists, designers and engineers behind all of the custom-built spaces (spanning freaking 11 floors). Each room prioritises natural light, comfort and inspiration, providing a cosy space where you can get your work done happily. These guys have over 210,000 members across the globe, so they must be doing something right.

Where: 114 Williams Street, 401 Collins Street & 152 Elizabeth Street
For more info, click here.

Revolver

Well, who would’ve thought...Revs is actually a respectable place to get some work done (and just work, thank you very much). What was formerly the Revolver Music Arcade is now a cavernous 1000+ square meter workplace with 15 offices, casual lounges, event and meeting spaces. The guys at Revolver specialise in tech start-ups, and they've morphed the best of new-school and old-school office spaces. It’s pretty reasonably priced as well. You can get your hands on a casual membership for 300 bucks a month, or amp it up to a permanent membership for just $500. That ain’t bad.

Where: Revolver, 231 Chapel St, Prahran
For more info, click here.

Gravity Co-Working

This place kind of echoes the vibe of a really cool, newly renovated uni library. It’s pretty open, but there are lots of little rooms you can book if you need privacy for that all-important phoner. Gravity's function and event spaces are available all week long, with staff there to help you set up and run multi-media plugins etc. These guys do it all—from sophisticated dining, unique product launches, professional presos and seminars and chic, cocktail functions. Good one if you're looking for a home in the CBD.

Where: 114 Williams St, CBD
For more info, click here.

Windsor Workshop

Now here’s a place we’d like to sit down with a cup of coffee and bust out billions of articles. The Windsor Workshop is a super artsy, vibrant and open studio. Windsor Workshop isn't the biggest space, but it’s the vibe that really matters, right? With wooden floors, plenty of windows and indoor plants everywhere you turn, you can't really go wrong working here. Current co-workers include sports club entrepreneurs, journalists, illustrators, photographers and fashions designers. Imagine the networking potential...

Where: 1/115 Chapel St, Windsor
For more info, click here.

The Cluster

This one takes the cake for best views. Situated on Queens St and overlooking the Yarra (it’s fancy AF), we could defs set-up shop there. The Cluster provides more than 2500 square meters of good office space, including shared work areas (if you want to chat 24/7) and private offices (if your blood boils when Jenny won’t shut up when you’re trying to work). There are some pretty cool boardrooms and meeting rooms too, with copper chandelier-like lights, reliable fast internet (because we all know how hard that is to get these days) and IT support (for the technologically incapable aka me).

Where: 17/31 Queen Street
For more info, click here.

Creative Cubes

When Creative Cubes opened up in Richmond, they went from 0% to 100% capacity in seven months, so it’s no surprise that they now have two locations, with their second coworking space in Hawthorn. Start with the important stuff: yes they have a table tennis table. They also have private conference rooms, extra fast wifi, full kitchen, fresh fruit, concierge services, access to exclusive events and lots of coffee. Day passes start at $29/day, or there are a range of membership options you can check out.

Where: 534 Church St, Cremorne
For more info, click here.

Framework

If you’re looking for a place that screams good vibes and charm, this is it. Jam-packed with designers, marketing professionals, videographers, copywriters and other creatives, Framework is all about the atmosphere. The artwork is on point too, and there's opportunities to work alongside like-minded and ridiculously talented people. The space was renovated and expanded in 2015 and now features polished wooden floorboards, exposed brick walls and lots of natural light. We likey.

Where: 458 Swanston Street
For more info, click here.

Rotson

Another trendy little workspace, laced with indoor plants and flattering lighting (very Fitzroy). This place has a kitchen, showers and a bike rack for those who are game enough to ride to work in this mad weather. Rotson is chocca-block full of young creative minds and entrepreneurs. And the location is a deadset winner for good lunch (nothing gets the creative juices flowing like cocktails at Naked In The Sky).

Where: Level 2,/105 Victoria Street, Fitzroy
For more info, click here.

YBF Ventures

YBF Ventures —formerly York Butter Factory—was born in 2011 and resides at 520 Bourke Street. A space that has expanded on the former size of York Butter Factory fivefold to 3,100 square metres. YBF Ventures is an innovation hub focused on fintech and web 3.0 as well as housing dozens of startups.

Where: 520 Bourke Street
For more info, click here.

Exchange Workspaces

At Exchange Workspaces, they’ve reimagined the standard, stuffy office environments and instead created urban spaces designed to motivate, inspire and cultivate creativity. You can opt for an open space or a private office, with a couple of different membership options on offer including their resident membership for $160 per week or the flexible membership for $350 per month. And if you’d like to have a little try before you buy, you can always kick things off with their one-day free trial. If you’ve got a team anywhere between 4-18 people, you can check out their private office spaces from $2500.

Where: 285 Lennox Street, Richmond, 14 Ellis Street, South Yarra
For more info, click here.

Spaces

At Spaces, contemporary designer interior meets all things unique and comfortable. Spaces has three options including a coworking membership, a dedicated desk option and if you’re up for it, a dedicated office space. And whether you need a space to work five days a week or 10 days a month, they’ve got all of the desks, sofas and of course, super-fast wifi to help you on your way.

Where: 525 Collins Street, CBD, 580 Church Street, Richmond, South Lobby Level 2, 161 Collins Street, CBD
For more info, click here.

Nest Coworking

Being a part of Nest Coworking, the north’s most bespoke workshop and event venue means you have access to more than just a shared working space. There’s a workshop space, an amphitheatre, as well as a boardroom so you can facilitate all aspects of your business.

Where: 829A High Street, Thornbury
For more info, click here.

Golden Handshake

Golden Handshake boasts some of the biggest and most spacious desks in the hot-desking scene, coming in at 2.3m by 82cm. To score one of these epic desks at Golden Handshake, it’ll cost you $595 per month, plus a one month bond and if you’ve got a team of four or bigger, you’re potentially eligible for a discount. At the moment the Golden Handshake community keeps very good company, including established designers, film-makers, consultants, architects and developers.

Where: Level 7, 388 Bourke Street
For more info, click here.

Found your next co-working space? Why not celebrate with a glass of red and a damn good meal from Cumulus Up.

Image credit: Creative Spaces