The article concerns artist-run galleries in Poznań and constitutes a comparative analysis of three selected places of this type. The author of the article indicate similarities and differences between them and point to the positive and negative aspects related to their running. The galleries that have been included in the article are appreciated by artists as well as art theoreticians and critics. Their specific location and interior parameters make them unconventional exhibition spaces and affect non-standard, surprising exhibition solutions. The places described are united by their disagreement with the commercialization and objectification of art and the favoring of site-specific and situation-specific activities. The differences concern legal and status affiliation and the method of financing. Artist-run galleries are an alternative to official institutions, both in terms of program and community independence. They are important centers of environmental and inter-environmental integration and contribute to enriching the city's cultural offer. An additional advantage is the promotion of contemporary art taking into account the site-specific and in situ aspects. ​