Second Life review
A long-running social world combining in-world creation, scripting and a virtual economy.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Founded in 1999, Second Life is an online 3D virtual world where residents use avatars to explore places, meet people and join communities. Its audience includes people who want to create as well as visit: in-world tools support building and editing 3D objects, while scripting adds interactive behavior to objects and experiences. Avatar customization and chat support social participation, and the virtual economy lets residents buy and sell user-created goods or buy and rent land. That combination suits established user-built worlds more than a narrowly focused meeting or visualization tool.
Creation and economy are central to the platform's breadth. Residents can shape spaces and objects, script them, and customize land, while others can explore and participate in communities. This makes Second Life a fit for people interested in persistent, resident-created environments and commerce around virtual goods. It is a less natural choice for buyers seeking a conventional business collaboration product or an open-source platform: it is proprietary, and its core emphasis is the virtual world and its resident economy.
Access starts with a free Basic account. According to the vendor's pricing page, Plus is displayed at $5.50 per month, Premium at $9.99 per month, and Premium Plus at $11.99 per month; each is paid yearly in full, and monthly rates may differ. The available plan descriptions do not establish which specific additional benefits each paid tier provides, so buyers should compare those directly before choosing. Second Life is available on web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android; its mobile app is in beta. Choose it for user-built spaces, social discovery and virtual goods, but consider alternatives if a fully mature mobile experience or a different kind of work platform is essential.
Second Life pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Build 3D objects and spaces with in-world tools, then script interactive behavior.
- Explore user-created places, communities and avatar-based social spaces.
- Buy and sell virtual goods, and buy or rent land to customize.
- Where it doesn't
- Paid memberships are billed yearly in full at the displayed monthly equivalents.
- Mobile app is in beta.
- The product is not open source.
Second Life fact sheet, pricing and score →
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