A genuinely free coworking space in Ljubljana does not exist in the strict sense: nobody runs a staffed, open-to-all space with desks, printers and call rooms for nothing. What does exist is a decent set of free or nearly free places to work: the city library network for 18 € a year, university libraries that let outsiders in with an ID, cafés where the rent is a coffee, and hotel lobbies where the rent is a straight face. And for 20 € a day there is a proper coworking desk next to Tivoli Park with a monitor, wired internet, unlimited printing and a room for calls.
This guide is the honest version of that trade-off. It covers what is actually free, what “free” quietly costs you in time and awkwardness, and when it is worth paying for a desk instead. For the broader tour of cafés, libraries and coworking spaces, start with where to work in Ljubljana as a visitor; if you already know you want a desk, here is how a day pass works.
What is actually free (or nearly free) in Ljubljana
Public libraries: 18 € a year and 0.10 € a page
The Ljubljana City Library (Mestna knjižnica Ljubljana, MKL) is the best free-ish workspace in town. Its official price list, valid from 1 January 2026, puts the annual membership at 18 € for adults and 11 € for students aged 18–26 and pensioners over 65; under-18s, the unemployed and a few other groups join free with proof. Printing and copying cost 0.10 € per A4 black-and-white page and 0.20 € in colour (A3: 0.20 € and 0.40 €), and if your own machine dies, a laptop can be borrowed for 20 € a day. The full list is on mklj.si.
The catch is the one you would expect: reading rooms are for reading. Video calls are out, phone calls are out, and the sockets go to whoever arrived first.
University libraries: CTK and NUK
The Central Technical Library (CTK) registers members from every category, including people with no university connection, on presentation of an ID document. The National and University Library (NUK) requires membership to use its reading-room seats, and a one-day membership reportedly exists, so a visiting researcher can get a desk for a day; confirm the current terms and fee on nuk.uni-lj.si before you go. Both fill up in exam periods, when students treat every chair as territory.
Cafés: rent by the cup
Ljubljana’s cafés are laptop-tolerant rather than laptop-designed. A cappuccino costs roughly 2–3 €, which is the going rate for a seat, and the etiquette is to reorder every hour or two. Our field guide to coffee in Ljubljana lists the ones that will not sigh at you; the general rules of working from a café still apply, and the biggest one is that nobody wants to hear your stand-up.
Campus corners and hotel lobbies
The Student Campus on Pivovarniška ulica, where makerSP_CE is based, has a student reading room and a restaurant, but those are aimed at students of the University of Ljubljana, not at visiting consultants. Hotel lobbies work for an hour of email if you are a guest, and sometimes if you are not, provided you buy something and look like you belong. Neither is somewhere to spend a week.
The hidden costs of “free places to work” in Ljubljana
Free places charge in a currency other than euros. Add these up before you decide:
- Socket hunting. Libraries have a few, cafés have fewer, and the person who arrived at 8 a.m. has them all. A dead battery at 2 p.m. is the most common way a free day becomes a short one.
- No calls. Not one of the free options gives you a place to take a video call without whispering, apologising or stepping outside into the rain.
- Closing time. Libraries keep library hours and cafés keep café hours; neither cares about your client in a different time zone.
- No printing where you sit. Cafés and hotel lobbies do not print; libraries do, but at the counter, in library hours.
- No monitor, no lockers. Your laptop screen is your only screen, and your bag goes with you to the loo.
- The second-coffee tax. Two coffees a day at roughly 2–3 € each is 4–6 € a day, so a café is not free either; it is simply billed in small amounts.
- Parking. If you have a car, kerbside parking in the centre costs 1–2 € an hour, which is 8–16 € for a working day and can easily exceed a day pass.
What 20 € buys at makerSP_CE
For 20 €, a day pass at makerSP_CE (Pivovarniška ulica 6, one minute from Tivoli Park) gives you everything on the “hidden costs” list, with the sign flipped:
| Free option (library or café) | makerSP_CE day pass, 20 € | |
|---|---|---|
| Desk and chair | Whatever is free | Equipped desk, ergonomic chair |
| Screen and cables | Your laptop only | External monitor on loan, all cables and adapters |
| Internet | Shared Wi-Fi | Wired ethernet at the desk plus two Wi-Fi networks |
| Printing | 0.10–0.40 € a page, or none | Unlimited colour and black-and-white laser printing |
| Calls | No | 12 m² call room for video calls, unlimited |
| Coffee and snacks | Pay per cup | Kitchen with coffee, soft drinks and snacks, included |
| Parking | City rates | Free private car park 50 m away |
Two things to know before you turn up. First, the space is small, with 18 desks, and it is often full, so call +386 30 393 405 to check that a desk is free that day. Second, the 24/7 keys and codes belong to monthly members; day visitors work within the day, which is still longer than any café lets you sit. A week costs 70 € and a month 135 €, all-in, with no notice period, which is where “cheap coworking Ljubljana” stops being a search term and starts being a monthly budget line you can actually read.
When free is fine, and when it isn’t
Free is fine when: you need two or three hours of reading or writing; your battery and your phone hotspot are healthy; you have no calls; and you are happy to move on when the library closes or the café fills up for lunch. A library is unbeatable for a quiet afternoon with a book-sized task.
Free stops being fine when: you have a call before noon; you need to print or sign anything; you are working a full day, or several days in a row; you are carrying luggage or a second screen; or you arrived by car. At that point the “free” day is costing you in coffee, parking and lost hours, and our breakdown of what a workday in Ljubljana actually costs shows that a 20 € desk is usually the cheapest line on the page. If connectivity is your main worry, our internet, SIM and Wi-Fi guide covers the hotspot fallback.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a truly free coworking space in Ljubljana?
No. There is no staffed coworking space in Ljubljana that offers desks, printing and call rooms for nothing. The closest genuinely free options are public libraries (from 18 € a year at MKL, free for some groups), university libraries such as CTK and cafés where you pay with a coffee. A full coworking day pass at makerSP_CE costs 20 €.
Can tourists and visitors use Ljubljana’s public libraries to work?
Yes. MKL membership costs 18 € a year for adults and gives you access to its reading rooms and printing at 0.10 € per black-and-white A4 page. CTK registers anyone with an ID document. Reading rooms are quiet zones, so plan on silent work only, and expect fewer free seats and sockets during university exam periods.
Do libraries in Ljubljana allow video calls?
No. Reading rooms are silent and calls are not permitted, which is the single biggest reason a free library desk fails a remote worker with meetings. For calls, use a coworking call room: the makerSP_CE day pass includes unlimited use of a 12 m² room built for video calls, with a door that closes.
How much does the cheapest coworking day pass in Ljubljana cost?
At makerSP_CE a day pass costs 20 €, all-in: an equipped desk, a borrowed external monitor, wired internet, unlimited colour printing, a call room, a kitchen with coffee and snacks, and free parking 50 m away. A weekly pass is 70 € and a monthly desk 135 €, with the price fixed for as long as you stay.
Is a 20 € day pass worth it if I only need Wi-Fi?
Probably not, if Wi-Fi is honestly all you need for an hour or two: a café or library will do. It becomes worth it the moment you add a call, a printout, a full day or a car, because each of those costs money or dignity in the free options and is simply included in the pass.
Final thoughts
Ljubljana is generous with free places to work, and for a couple of quiet hours a library card at 18 € a year is one of the best deals in the country. Just count the real costs before you build a working week on it: calls you cannot take, pages you cannot print, sockets you cannot find and parking you cannot avoid.
When the list gets long, the maths gets simple. A desk with a monitor, printer, call room and free parking next to Tivoli Park costs 20 € a day on our price list.
Related reading
- Where to work in ljubljana visitors
- Coffee in ljubljana
- Cost of a workday in ljubljana
- 3D Printing for Beginners: How to Start (Even Without Your Own Printer)
Book your desk at makerSP_CE
makerSP_CE coworking space in Ljubljana, Pivovarniška ulica 6 — right next to Tivoli Park. Day pass 20 €, week 70 €, month 135 €. 24/7 access, free parking 50 m from the door and a call room included.
Web: makerspace.si | E-mail: booking@makerspace.si | Phone: +386 30 393 405
