Free is free, forever
We don't lock the platform behind a subscription. Listing, browsing, applying, and messaging are free — and the only things we'll ever charge for are optional extras you'll never need to find a sit or a sitter.
TrustedHousesitters alternative
Why pay $200/year to see housesits?
HouseSit is a free alternative to TrustedHousesitters. List your home, browse sits, apply, message and match — without a subscription. Bring your existing profile across in 2 minutes.
TrustedHousesitters is the largest housesitting platform — and the most expensive. Annual plans run roughly $130 to $400 depending on the tier, and the cheaper plans now add a per-sit booking fee on top. For frequent sitters who do five sits a year, the cost-per-use can be reasonable. For everyone else — the one-trip-a-year homeowner, the curious first-timer, the digital nomad who wants to test the model — it's a barrier that prices out the casual majority.
We've been house-sitting across Europe since 2017 — always on the cheapest platform we could find, because TrustedHousesitters' price never made sense for how we travel. Eventually we built the alternative we actually wanted to use. The core platform is free forever — no subscription, no listing fee, no booking fee. The only things we'll ever charge for are optional: a one-time €29 ID verification through Stripe (the same trust check banks use), plus a few convenience features for members who want extra visibility. You never pay to list, browse, apply, or message.
Side by side
Cost to browse listings
HouseSit
Free
TrustedHousesitters
Subscription required — $130-400/yr
Cost to list your home
HouseSit
Free
TrustedHousesitters
Only with the paid subscription
Cost to apply to a sit
HouseSit
Free
TrustedHousesitters
Only with the paid subscription — plus a per-sit booking fee on cheaper plans
Verified ID badge
HouseSit
€29 once, optional — yours for life
TrustedHousesitters
Lasts only while the subscription is active
Free trial
HouseSit
Always free, never expires
TrustedHousesitters
Free trial, then you must subscribe
Annual renewal
HouseSit
No renewal required
TrustedHousesitters
Auto-renews unless you cancel
Comparison reflects publicly available information at the time of writing. TrustedHousesitters is a registered trademark of its owner. We're not affiliated.
Why members like us
Real ID verification
To show the other side you're a real person, you'll be able to add an optional "Verified ID" badge — a one-time €29 check through Stripe Identity (government ID + live selfie). One time, never a renewing subscription.
Modern, calm UX
We built this in 2026 with current tools, not as a 2014 codebase patched for a decade. Discovery is privacy-first (approximate maps, address revealed only after acceptance). Application flow is one screen. Messaging is real-time. The interface stays out of your way.
Bring your existing profile
Don't want to retype everything? Paste your TrustedHousesitters profile or listing — URL or text — and our AI importer fills your HouseSit sitter profile or home listing in minutes. Prefer to start from scratch? That works too — importing is optional. You review and submit.
Switching takes 2 minutes
- 01
Sign up — takes 30 seconds
Email or Google. No credit card. No subscription. You're in.
- 02
Import your profile or listing — or start fresh
Coming from TrustedHousesitters? Paste your profile or listing (URL or text) and the AI importer fills it in automatically — review and save. No account to import from? Skip it and fill in your profile or listing yourself; importing is optional, just a shortcut.
- 03
Browse and start applying — for free
Open discovery, filter by destination and dates, apply to sits that match. Or list your home if you're a homeowner. Anything you ever pay for will be optional — a one-time €29 verified badge, or a visibility boost if you want one — never to find a sit or a sitter.
- 04
(Later) cancel your TrustedHousesitters renewal
When your TrustedHousesitters subscription comes up for renewal, you'll have HouseSit working as your primary platform. Don't renew unless you genuinely want to keep both.
Common questions
Is HouseSit really free? What's the catch?
Yes, and it stays free — the core isn't a free trial that flips to a paywall later. The honest catch is just size: we're smaller than TrustedHousesitters today, so fewer listings and sitters while we grow. Keeping the core free is the whole point, not a tactic we'll switch off; any revenue comes from optional extras like verification, never from charging for the basics.
Will my reviews from TrustedHousesitters carry over?
Not automatically — they live in TrustedHousesitters' database. But you can bring them across with our reputation import: paste your TrustedHousesitters reviews (a link or the text) and they appear on your HouseSit profile, word-for-word with reviewer names removed, and count toward your standing in the sitter directory. You can also link out to your public TrustedHousesitters profile.
How will you make money if everything's free?
The core stays free for everyone — listing, browsing, applying, messaging. Anything we charge for will be optional and never required: a one-time €29 ID verification, plus a few convenience features for members who want more visibility.
What about safety? Don't I get more on TrustedHousesitters?
Owner-initiated messaging keeps sitter spam out, your address is shared only after you accept someone, and reviews accumulate publicly. Optional ID verification — the same Stripe Identity check banks use — is coming too. We don't have 24/7 phone support yet; that comes with scale. And our safety tips page has practical guidance for staying safe on both sides.