I can only speak about Anarchist Catalonia, first a segment of George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia".
I had dropped more or less by chance into the only community of any size in Western Europe where political consciousness and disbelief in capitalism were more normal than their opposites. Up here in Aragón one was among tens of thousands of people, mainly though not entirely of working-class origin, all living at the same level and mingling on terms of equality. In theory it was perfect equality, and even in practice it was not far from it. There is a sense in which it would be true to say that one was experiencing a foretaste of Socialism, by which I mean that the prevailing mental atmosphere was that of Socialism. Many of the normal motives of civilised life– snobbishness, money-grubbing, fear of the boss, etc.– had simply ceased to exist. The ordinary class-division of society had disappeared to an extent that is almost unthinkable in the money-tainted air of England; there was no one there except the peasants and ourselves, and no one owned anyone else as his master.^1
Most of the economy was run by the workers themselves, with each business being managed by the people who worked there. In many places money was eliminated entirely, being replaced by barter systems and/or vouchers issued by local committees. Communities decided how to manage their own economies, some vouchers were issued based on work hours such that anyone who works X hours is given the same purchasing power as anyone else who works X hours.^2 By 1937 some 3 million people were living in rural collectivized farms, so this was certainly not a small anarchist society.
The following is a section from Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism
In general, the CNT syndicates were turned into popular assemblies of the entire population, often including women and children. The assemblies would elect an administrative committee which would be entirely accountable to the assemblies. Decision making was thus shared between the village or town assemblies and the CNT committees which were concerned with the day to day running. They operated through what might be called a system of 'voluntary authority'; no one was forced to join or remain a member of the collective, but was subject to the authority of the general assembly, and in most cases, to the local committees. Regional federations were set up to coordinate the collectives.
In most areas, 'individualist' peasants were allowed to cultivate their own plots of land if they preferred and in some areas had consumer tickets printed especially for them. The members of the collectives wanted to persuade people to join them by example and not by force, although the powerful influence of public opinion played a role. Most of the collectives moved towards the communist goal of distribution according to need. New methods of cultivation were tried and overall production of agricultural production increased, despite the loss of labour due to the war effort.
In cities, the CNT continued production with remarkable efficiency, considering the difficulties with supplies and in many cases the loss of the entire management structure and many technicians. In some cases, owners remained but were directed by the elected committees. In Catalunya, which had seventy percent of Spain's total industry, entire branches of industry (such as textiles and glass) were reorganized into larger units. A war industry, with its chemical plants to back it up, had to be created. In Barcelona, which was the centre of urbam collectivization, the public services and industries were taken over and run with great success in such a large and complex city. From July until October 1936, virtually all production and distribution were under workers' control.
Women participated on a mass scale in the revolution. In the early part of the war, they fought alongside men as a matter of course, and took part in the communal decision making in the village assemblies. Many wanted to replace legal marriage with 'free unions' based on mutual trust and shared responsibility. The more active feminists formed a libertarian [not American libertarianism] group called Mujeres Libres which worked towards freeing women from their passivity, ignorance and exploitation and sought a cooperative understanding between men and women. By the end of September 1936 they had seven labour sections and brigades. The liberation of women however was only partial: they were often paid a lower rate than men in the collectives; they continued to perform 'women's work'; they saw the struggle primarily in terms of class and not sex. But in a traditionally Catholic and patriarchal society, there were undoubtedly new possibilities for women and they appeared unaccompanied in public for the first time with a new self-assurance.^3
The end of this anarchist society can be greatly attributed to the drastic difference in supplies given to the war efforts of the Nationalists and Republican Spain, and the aggressive Soviet backed communist factions seeking to take control. The Anarchist militias were surprisingly effective fighting units considering they were non-authoritarian military organizations, but they were woefully under supplied. Franco and the Nationalists were directly supported by Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy while Republican Spain was essentially cut off from trade by all western powers. The only groups in Republican Spain that were supplied were the communists, and even their war efforts were supplied in covertly and in small amounts.^2
The Soviet backed communists sought to set up an authoritarian government, which is obviously incompatible with anarchism. There was great disagreement at the time but deals were struck with the communists which compromised anarchist ideals and stifled the anarchist revolution. Essentially this meant that the anarchists were unable to follow through in their revolutionary efforts.^2,3
It's important to note that the primary causes of failure were not from the internal structure or organization of Anarchist Catalonia, but from outside forces seeking to destroy the anarchist revolution. The anarchist experiment in Spain is the largest anarchist society to have ever existed and it thrived for years before being crushed by fascist forces. It is the prime example that anarchism works on a large scale and is critical to any comprehensive understanding of anarchism.
1: Orwell's Homage to Catalonia
The Free Territory in Ukraine was composed of federalized communes that were in the rural parts of Ukraine. This village model is really a long tradition within Russia and Ukraine, and some anarchists are inspired by the simple communal style.
How did it function? Well we have to look at its relation to the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine and their 'general' Mahkno because some would consider them a proxy state.
Because this was in the midst of a large scale civil war there was many wartime situations and atrocities committed on all sides. Mahkno initially tried to compose his army of volunteers but then due to large losses resorted to compulsory mobilisation. It seems the army also elected their generals and commanders and the army itself was split into 3 autonomous parts; further the leaders were for the most part peasants, whereas the Reds had former White commanders.
There are differing accounts to looting on the part of the Army and due to Red, White and Black propaganda I'm hesitant on making any judgement.
In terms of daily life it seems generally that Mahkno left them to their own devices (as in the daily runnings of things); they elected delegates for their commune who would meet with other delegates to come to a decision.
But it was not all great for everyone in the Free Territory; for the most part Mahkno hated workers (considering them lapdogs of the bourgeousie) this led to things Mahkno issuing his own banknotes (with writing on the back saying it was not a crime to forge them) and also allowing all foreign banknotes to be used as currency. This led to massive inflation, which didn't really affect villagers since they bartered most things but would be a problem for workers, further he refused to pay railwaymen and demanded they do not charge military vehicles.
It's difficult to gauge the functionality of the Free Territory, since it only existed during the Civil War and therefore was too short to see if it would fail. Nonetheless the style of communal life had already existed for several hundred years all over Russia; the difference being that the peasants were not controlled by the harsh lords who levied great taxes upon them.
Source: https://libcom.org/files/%5BMichael_Malet%5D_Nestor_Makhno_in_the_Russian_Civil%28Bookos.org%29.pdf
Just as some general reading on the topic, I'd recommend a couple books: Collectives in the Spanish Revolution (https://libcom.org/library/collectives-spanish-revolution-gaston-leval) by Leval. This bloke basically went around to a bunch of places during the revolution and wrote about what was going on. Really interesting stuff. Contrary to what some state-socialists would have preached, I think it shows the peasants actually had a broader, more developed revolution than the industrial workers in the big cities (who were more constrained in what they could do, admittedly). This one quite clearly outlines the specific ways in which many of these collectives ran themselves.
Also, another one to read is Anarchism and the City (http://www.akpress.org/anarchism-and-the-city-revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-barcelona-1898-ndash-1937.html). It's an incredibly interesting history of Barcelona as a city, though not something entirely relevant to your question.
I can't speak on the Free Territory, but of Catalunya most Industry was collectivized into Co-op's whereby people would be given credits instead of Hard cash. Feminists groups set up Schools and shut down Brothels, and Worker's patrols guarded much of the street as the Gendarmerie was disbanded. This all came into place as there was an Agreement between FAI-CNT(Spanish Anarchists) and the Republican Government. While this a great example of Anarchism in Practice, Catalunya suffered from Major shortages due to the war and it is generally accept that by the May Day events in Barcelona Republican authority had been reestablished. To help expand on this I'd personally suggest "Homage to Catalunya" and "The Battle for Spain".