The 7 Best Housesitting Websites For Finding Housesitting Jobs In 2020

Ever wondered how you could travel the world without having to spend a dime on accommodation, while still being able to enjoy all the comforts, amenities and ample living space of home?


Well, it might surprise you to learn that you can do just that thanks to the little-known but increasingly popular phenomenon of housesitting.


Housesitting is a mutually beneficial trade where you occupy, safeguard and look after a homeowner’s property (including pets) in their absence, in exchange for a free place to stay and (often) the complimentary use of the utilities.


If you’re completely new to the concept of housesitting we’d recommend you first have a read of our Ultimate Guide To Housesitting For Beginners to get a handle on the fundamentals.


Here we cover the ins and outs of housesitting; what exactly is involved, who can become a housesitter, the pros and cons of housesittting for sitters and homeowners, and how to land and complete your first housesitting gig.


This article however is for those who already know the nuts and bolts of housesitting and who want to compare the best housesitting websites for landing assignments or finding a sitter.


If that's you, then you’ve come to the right place.

​Overview: The 7 Best Housesitting Websites For Finding Housesitting Jobs

#1 - Trusted Housesitters

#2 - Nomador

#3 - MindMyHouse

#4 - HouseCarers

#5 - HouseSit Match

#6 - Aussie Housesitters

#7 - Mindahome Australia

​Why Joining a Housesitting Platform is Essential For Aspiring House Sitters

If you already know a thing or two about housesitting, then you'll know that it comes with a host of benefits for sitters and homeowners alike.


Sitters can use it as a means for:

  • Travelling the world without breaking the bank
  • Connecting more deeply with a country
  • Trialling the lifestyle in a locality before committing to buying or renting a home in that locality
  • Paying off debt or saving money for a down payment quicker
  • Avoiding moving in with parents when property rentals are unaffordable
  • Getting a much-needed pet-fix and interacting with exotic animals
  • Experiencing living in extravagant homes that would normally be financially out of reach
  • Making new lifelong friends

Homeowners can use it as a means for:

  • Saving money on pet sitters, boarding kennels, gardeners, housekeepers, caretakers, security guards and other property maintenance staff that demand a wage or salary
  • Sparing their pets the stress of being peeled away from their home and having to adjust to a whole new environment and routine
  • Preventing break-ins, vandalism, fire damage, water damage, storm damage, mold, pests and other problems that afflict vacant properties
  • Stopping their homeowner’s insurance policy from becoming void by not having to leave the property unoccupied for more than 30 (or 60) days.
  • Avoiding the hassle of finding and managing a tenant
  • Staying in the loop by having a housesitter to relay any postal mail, messages taken over the phone, messages from visitors and any important local news.

So housesitting is a fantastic opportunity in principle, whether you're a homeowner planning a vacation or a sitter seeking a home to live in temporarily.


And the great news is that, spread across the entire globe, there are thousands and thousands of people in both camps in need of each other's services on any given day.


But how do all these homeowners in need of a sitter, and all these housesitters in need of a home actually find and connect with each other?


Luckily, there are a number of excellent housesitting platforms that have already solved this problem, providing a central hub where homeowners and housesitters can create profiles, reach out to each other and decide if they want to work together.


But there are significant differences between each of these housesitting websites, with each having its own advantages and shortcomings.


And all the good ones charge their housesitter members an annual membership fee, so unless you're rolling in dough and can afford to join all of them, you're going to have to choose carefully.


Hence the reason we have written this comparison guide – to provide an impartial analysis of the best housesitting websites out there, so that you can make a fully informed decision about which platform(s) to join.

​8 Important Factors To Consider When Comparing Housesitting Websites

The factors we'll be keeping in mind when comparing these housesitting platforms include:

Size

The overall number of active users on a housesitting platform is a very important factor to consider before joining.


The larger the user base of a housesitting platform, the bigger the selection of assignments and the higher the likelihood of finding gigs in the countries where housesitting jobs are rare.


On bigger platforms there is also the potential to be contacted by more homeowners, as long as you have a very attractive profile that beats the competition.  


A large user base also means that homeowners have more housesitters to choose from and have a higher chance of acquiring a sitter if their home is in a less popular location or country.


The downside with a large user base is that the platform loses that tight-knit community vibe and money-making interests usually start to predominate.

Coverage

If you only intend to housesit in Europe, it would make no sense to join a housesitting website that only lists assignments in the U.S.


The international housesitting websites list job positions from all around the world, while the localized platforms are exclusively or chiefly devoted to one particular country or continent.


The international websites are better to join if you plan to housesit your way around the world, but if you only want to housesit in one particular country or continent, the more localized websites will often serve you better for that particular part of the world.


Make a list of the country or countries you want to housesit in, and determine what platform that will offer you the best selection of sits for those countries.

Competitiveness

This is an important factor to consider especially when you’re starting out, as you don’t want to be up against too many heavyweights when trying to land your first housesit.


With that said, you probably don’t have to worry about it as much if you aren’t going to be too choosy about the assignments, or if you’re planning to housesit in offbeat locations.


The most significant ratio determining the level of competition on any housesitting website is that of the number of available housesits to the number of housesitters applying for them.


In general we would expect the least competitive websites for housesitters to be the ones that charge housesitters a fairly high membership fee to apply for positions, while making it free for homeowners to list housesits. 

User interface & platform features

Some housesitting websites boast a professional-looking, user-friendly interface and responsive design, while others leave a lot to be desired in these respects.


A housesitting website doesn’t necessarily have to look and perform like a Ferrari, but if the interface looks like it hasn’t been given a makeover since the 70’s, you might find that to be rather off-putting.


The search filters that a site offers are another important consideration. 


Some sites have advanced search filters for fine-tuning the search results to only display assignments that are a perfect match for your criteria, while others only provide rudimentary filter options. 


The better a website's search filters, the more time you save when searching for assignments, as it means that fewer unsuitable jobs will show up the results, which means fewer ads to read through in order to decide where to apply.


Some platforms also have mobile apps for on-the-go access while others only have desktop sites. 


If you want to apply for housesits or monitor your inbox when on the move as a traveller, a platform that works well with mobile devices is important.


Virtually all housesitting platforms worth their salt allow you to turn on e-mail alerts, which save you from having to constantly monitor the site in order to be quick off the mark with your application when a new assignment is posted.

Safety

Most housesitting platforms have implemented certain measures to make their communities safer, but there is significant variation in the approaches that platforms take.


Some sites go the whole hog in terms of safety, verifying members' e-mails, phone numbers, ID documents, domiciles and even providing an in-house service for police background checks. 


Members on these sites receive special verification badges or are assigned trust scores based on how many hoops they've jumped through, so there is an incentive to comply.


Other sites implement only some of these vetting measures, while some only have rudimentary safety features in place, like two-way review/rating systems and the ability for sitters to upload references.  


The only platform that insures homeowners against malicious & accidental property damage, theft and third party liability is Trusted Housesitters. 


If you're a homeowner and your insurance policy doesn't cover malicious damage to your property (many policies do not) from guests or legal tenants, you might require such protection. 


In general, the more you have to lose by unwittingly hiring a shady character to mind your home, the more sense it makes to join a housesitting site that emphasizes safety and has strong vetting procedures in place.


You can also get a good idea about how safe and trustworthy a housesitting platform is by looking at its independent reviews on websites like Trustpilot or Feefo. 

Customer support

Good customer support is a very important aspect of a housesitting platform, as it is essentially a matchmaking service.


The customer care team should be able to answer all of your queries about housesitting, assist you with using the platform and help you to find the type of housesit or housesitter that you’re looking for.


Other important factors to consider are how many hours a day the support is available and to what extent they are prepared to get involved if you have a dispute with another member.

Extra bells and whistles

Although extra perks aren’t as crucial to consider as some of the other factors listed here, if you’re wavering between two equally attractive housesitting platforms, they may become the deciding factor.


For example, the platform Trusted Housesitters, which we’ve reviewed below, provides a 24-hour vet advice line for all pet-related queries. 


Nomador has "Stopovers", where its members that are between housesits can stay for a night or two with homeowner members that are willing to host them.


Some platforms also have partner offers where they can give you discounts on certain travel services and other housesitting services.

Price

Price?


“Wait a minute,” I hear you say, “isn’t housesitting supposed to save me money? Now I have to pay something?”

 

Well yes, housesitting will save you a ton of money but there is a small initial cost for the convenience of being able to connect with thousands of other homeowners and housesitters that are looking for exactly what you have to offer.

 

Housesitting platforms help both homeowners and housesitters to find each other, thereby saving both parties a lot of time and money spent on marketing, so they usually charge some or all their members a very reasonable annual membership fee.

 

Some sites only charge housesitters and let homeowners post their ads for free, while others collect a membership fee from both parties.


Most sites also allow for dual membership, and in many cases this costs the same as a single housesitter membership or only slightly more.


As a sitter member you’ll be able to view the listed housesits on most websites without a paid membership, but if you want to be able to apply for gigs, then you’ll have to become a paying member.


Housesitting platforms that are entirely free for all their members to use are usually quite new and are trying to build up their user base before introducing fees.

 

The membership fee can vary greatly from platform to platform and is something you need to weigh up against the frequency you intend to use the platform, as well as how effective the platform is at helping you land the kinds of housesitting assignments that you’re looking for.

 

An inexpensive platform is a false economy if you’re struggling to land housesitting gigs on it, while a pricey platform can also be a false economy if you’re not making full use of the opportunities it’s presenting you with.

​The 7 Best Housesitting Platforms For Finding Housesitting Jobs (Fully Reviewed & Compared) 

Bearing in mind all the above factors, we now present to you our top 7 picks for the best housesitting websites for finding housesitting jobs, whether you're a sitter, homeowner or both. 


Five of our top 7 picks are international housesitting platforms, while the remaining two are Australia-specific. 


We've also listed several additional country-specific housesitting sites in our "honourable mentions" section at the end of the article.


Let's get started. 

​#1 - Trusted Housesitters

 

Year established: 2010

No. of active housesits: 2,000 +

Countries: 150+

Membership fee: $119 for everyone (+ $25 for dual membership)

Homeowner's insurance: Yes

I.D checks: Yes

Police checks: Yes

E-mail alerts: Yes


Although not nearly the oldest player in the game, UK startup Trusted Housesitters has become the largest and probably the best-known of all the worldwide housesitting platforms since it was first launched in 2010, and is now often thought of as the industry leader.


On the website’s home page you’ll see lots of gushing member testimonials and the logos of media outlets that have featured the company, including ABC news, Forbes, Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today and the New York Times. 


Over 10,000 independent reviews of the platform can be found on TrustPilot, where over 90% of reviewers have rated it as "excellent". 


In contrast to most other housesitting platforms, which tend to be more community-oriented, Trusted Housesitters is run like a professional business, with a team of around 50 employees providing 24/7 award-winning customer care.


Trusted Housesitters has members from over 150 countries around the globe and claims to have more housesits on their platform than on all other global house sitting websites combined.


In our testing we found that the United Kingdom had far more housesits than any other country (1200+), followed by the United States (700+) and then Oceania (300+).


The top cities for finding housesits are London, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, New York and Auckland.


We noticed that India with its 1.3 billion + inhabitants only had a single housesit listed and dozens of other developing countries had no listings at all.


A brand new version of the Trusted Housesitters website was recently released with lots of new features, including an interactive map with markers indicating the number of housesits that are available in hundreds of locations across the globe.


This is also one of the few mobile-friendly housesitting platforms, with apps available for both Android and iOS.


Trusted Housesitters goes beyond the standard filters that many other platforms are limited to, with more advanced options to filter for “family-friendly places”, “high-speed WiFi homes”, “disabled access” and “use of car included”.


Trusted Housesitters also takes safety very seriously, with members able to achieve three levels of verification – basic (e-mail and phone number), standard (I.D and address) and enhanced (police check).


The first two levels of verification are free, while the police check costs $20, even for a couple (they only check one person). A member's verification level is indicated by the Trust Badge that appears on his/her profile.

 

It is possible to create a profile on Trusted Housesitters and browse the listings for free, but if you want to be able to interact with other members as either a sitter or a house owner you’ll have to pay the $119 annual membership fee.


If you want to be able to play dual roles on the platform, you’ll only have to pay an extra $29 a year.


Trusted Housesitters has the highest membership fee of all the housesitting platforms, but is the value that Trusted Housesitters delivers commensurate with the relatively high fee?


Well, they do have the highest number of active listings of any international housesitting platform out there, so you definitely have greater choice here.


And the fact that homeowners are also paying the high membership fee means that the listings are more likely to be genuine and less likely to be from people “testing the waters”, as often happens on platforms where owners can list for free.


They also offer the Vet Advice Line, a free phone service where all members can have any pet-related queries answered by a team of dedicated veterinary experts.


Homeowners are also protected up to £1,000,0000 in respect of loss from property damage, theft and third-party liability under the platform’s insurance backed guarantee.


The only caveat is that you must have an underlying home insurance policy in order to be able to claim under the guarantee, and there are some other stipulations involved too.


Trusted Housesitters also has a support centre addressing all the frequently asked questions, a Facebook group community and an excellent 24/7 customer care team, which can be contacted via live chat, e-mail, phone, or via the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube).

 

Pros

  • Very large user base with more housesitting assignments than most other platforms combined
  • Professional, user-friendly website with modern, elegant design
  • Advanced filters to pinpoint the perfect match
  • Mobile-friendly with apps for iOS and Android
  • Award-winning 24/7 customer service
  • Insurance-backed guarantee gives homeowners extra peace of mind
  • Vet Advice Line gives both housesitters and homeowners extra peace of mind

 

Cons

  • Relatively high membership fee for both parties
  • Less of a community-oriented platform

Should you join Trusted Housesitters?

Trusted Housesitters is undoubtedly the leading international housesitting platform in the industry today.


It has the largest user base, the best selection of housesits, a beautiful website, advanced filters, homeowner’s insurance, an excellent vetting system, 24/7 customer support and additional perks like its Vet Advice Line.


Even though it is the priciest option out there, it’s still an absolute bargain, as you’d only need to housesit for around 5 days in the entire year to make up the annual membership cost.


But if you only want to dabble in housesitting or if you want to join a platform with more of a community vibe, check out some of the other options below.

Check out Trusted Housesitters

​#2 - Nomador

Year established: 2014

No. of active housesits: 700+

Countries: International, but most housesits are in France

Membership fee: Discovery option is free, Confidence option is $89 a year 

Homeowner's insurance: No

I.D checks: Yes

Police checks: Yes

E-mail alerts: Yes


Nomador is another well-known international housesitting platform that was launched in Sydney, Australia in February 2014, by the founders of ILIDOR, a French housesitting website.


It’s a community-oriented platform with over 130,000 members and 19,000 listings around the globe, although most of the housesits are found in the french speaking European countries like France, Belgium and Switzerland, as you might expect given the site’s French predecessor, ILIDOR.


During our testing there were 706 available housesits in France, 23 in Switzerland, 19 in Belgium, 15 in Germany, 9 in the U.K, 6 in Ireland, 42 in the United States and 3 in Australia.


One important thing to note is that a large proportion of the Nomador listings are written in French, even if you choose the English version of the website as opposed to the French version.  


The Nomador website is not particularly beautiful but is well designed and easy to navigate.


The home page features a few testimonials from its own members and over 200 independent reviews of the platform can be found on Trustpilot, where more than 80% of reviewers have rated the platform as “excellent”.


Nomador also has an instant messaging app for Android and iOS that allows homeowners and sitters to easily stay in touch with each other during an assignment. The app allows for easy messaging, voice calls, video calls and photo sharing of the pets and house.


One thing you have to remember when searching for housesits is to apply the filter “limit search to house-sits that are still available” or it will display housesits that are no longer available too.


Nomador tries to make its platform a safer place by having a special "trust profile" for all of its members.


In a member's trust profile their main competencies are displayed as endorsement badges and they can optionally display any recommendations they’ve received from other members here too.


On the member’s trust profile is also displayed their trust index, which is a score from 0 to 8 that members can improve by validating their e-mail address, getting their I.D and domicile verified, and getting their bank details checked. 


Also, to be able to contact homeowners on Nomador you must have at least one ID document or proof of domicile validated, which is a security feature that no other housesitting platform allegedly has.


Another unique feature of Nomador is Stopovers, which lets travelling members stay for a night or two free of charge with a hosting member, just like Couchsurfing. Homeowners can post stopover listings as well as the usual housesit listings.


Stopovers is a very handy feature for those that are in between housesits, and sitters have a good chance of securing a housesit in the future with their host too.


Regarding customer support, the platform has a decent help centre that should answer most of your burning questions, and you can also get in touch with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, as well as by e-mail.


When it comes to pricing, Nomador offers the following two membership options:


Discovery option (free)


The free discovery membership option is one of the reasons Nomador has rapidly grown to become one of the biggest housesitting platforms in the industry.


Being a free membership however, it does come with some major limitations.


As a housesitter under the discovery plan there are certain housesits that you won't be able to view or apply for (these are only shown to paying members), and you can only make a maximum of 3 applications for the housesits that are available to you.


You’ll also appear lower than paying members in the search results when homeowners are searching for housesitters, although you can at least still be contacted.


If you choose the discovery option as a homeowner you can only publish a single housesit listing and you aren’t able to contact members directly if you’d like them to housesit for you.


Confidence Option (paid)


The confidence option costs $89/€65 per year or $35/€25 per quarter and removes all the limitations that come with the discovery option.


Housesitters can view and apply for all the assignments, can apply for an unlimited number of times and will rank higher in the search results when homeowners are searching for housesitters.


Homeowners on the confidence option can publish as many listings as they like, can contact housesitters directly and can restrict access to their adverts to paying members only.


Pros:

  • Well-designed, community-oriented platform that’s easy to use
  • Mobile-friendly, with its own messaging app for easy communication between members
  • Lots of housesits in France and other French-speaking European countries
  • The only housesitting platform that lets you apply for sits on its free plan (limited to 3 applications)
  • The only housesitting platform to offer Stopovers

  • Puts a lot of emphasis on safety

Cons:

  • Full membership is a little pricey
  • No insurance provided for homeowners
  • Not well-suited to non-French speakers or people that want to housesit outside French speaking countries

Should you join Nomador?

If you’re primarily looking for housesits in French-speaking European countries like France, Switzerland and Belgium, then Nomador is probably your best option.


It's also the only housesitting website that lets you apply for (three) sits as a non-paying member, so it's a good option if you like to be able to take things for a test drive before buying.


Nomador is also ideal if you’re looking for a platform with a strong community and you'd like to be able to surf other members couches too.

Check out Nomador

​# 3 - Mind My House

Year established: 2005

No. of active housesits: 340+

Countries: International but mostly U.S, Canada & Europe

Annual membership fee: $20 for housesitters, free for homeowners

ID checks: No

Police checks: Yes 

Email alerts: Yes

First established in London, UK in February 2005, Mindmyhouse is one of the oldest players in the international housesitting space and is still run as a “mom and pop” style business.


Even though Mindmyhouse is now physically located in New Zealand, the platform is heavily favoured by English-speaking homeowners in the U.K, France, Spain, the United States and Canada.


Although the platform has more homeowners than housesitters, with a total of 8972 homeowners and 5700 sitters at the time of writing*, there were only 344 housesits posted on the site when we visited.


During our testing there were 96 assignments available in the U.S., 56 in the U.K, 27 in Canada, 12 in Australia, 26 in France and 23 in Spain and 10 in Ireland. All the other countries had fewer than 6 housesits and many had none.


The website was re-designed a while back and members seem to really like the simple new layout and find it easy to use.


There’s a dedicated “community” section where you can read member testimonials, housesitting stories, poems, blog excerpts, news updates, vote on surveys, give feedback, meet members of the community and more.


The website also has a very interesting stats page, where you can see how many homeowners and sitters are registered on the site, as well as the percentage that each country contributes to the total number of users.


MindMyHouse doesn’t carry out its own I.D or police checks, but  other members can see from your profile if you’ve uploaded a police check obtained elsewhere. Testimonials and references can also be displayed on sitter profiles to boost credibility.


Their customer service probably won’t blow you away, but they have a good help centre covering all the main topics and FAQs, and you can contact them via e-mail or by posting a letter to a New Zealand address. You can also leave feedback in the community area.


Although it was initially free to use for everyone, the platform quickly grew to around 30,000 members and had to start charging a small $20 annual membership fee to housesitters in order to weed out the “blow-ins” that weren’t truly committed.


The platform is still completely free to use for homeowners however.

 

There’s also a dual membership option for $20 if you want to join as both a homeowner and housesitter.


It’s possible to browse the assignments as an unregistered visitor to the website or while logged in as a homeowner, but you won’t be able to apply for any housesits until you become a paying member.

Pros
  • Well-established platform with over a decade of experience
  • Simple, easy-to-use website with a nice community area
  • Very low membership fee for housesitters
  • Completely free for homeowners 

Cons
  • No insurance provided for homeowners
  • No I.D or criminal background checks through the platform
  • Free membership for homeowners means that some don’t take it as seriously 

Should you join Mindmyhouse?

If you’re looking for the housesitting platform with the most advanced website features, strongest vetting measures or a formidable selection of sitters and homes, then Mindmyhouse is not for you.


But if you’re on a really tight budget or just want to test the waters before investing serious money into this whole thing, Mind My Home might be your best option.


It offers a super low $20 membership fee, has a nice community area and you’ll still have a few hundred sits to choose from.

Check out Mindmyhouse

​#4 - HouseCarers

Year established: 2000

Countries: International, but mostly Europe, Australia, North America & Canada

No. of active housesits: 200 +

Membership fee: $50 for housesitters, $25 for homeowners (optional)

Homeowner insurance: No

Police checks: Yes

ID checks: Yes

E-mail alerts: Yes

 

Launched in Australia all the way back in October 2000, Housecarers was the very first worldwide housesitting membership site.


While it can’t claim to be the biggest player in the industry, it can certainly claim to be the oldest, and it has a great Facebook community too.


Over 10,000 housesitters use HouseCarers and at any given time the platform usually has about 200 active listings.


During our testing we found 47 listings for Australia (52 for Oceania as a whole), 42 for Europe, 88 for North America, 24 for Canada, 2 for Asia and 2 for South America.

 

The HouseCarers website is not the prettiest or the most user-friendly, but it still works well enough for what its designed to do – allow its members to find housesitters/assignments and communicate with each other through the platform.


It’s nice that you can display housesitting assignments as coloured pins on a map, with the pin colour (green, yellow or red) indicating how recently the assignment was posted.


The filters are pretty basic and lack the more advanced filter options that you’d find on the likes of Trusted Housesitters.


Interestingly, Housecarers has no built-in feedback or rating system; members can only see how long another member has been using the platform for.


However, a homeowner can send a member a reference, which can then be uploaded to the member’s private reference library for other homeowners to see. 


Members can upload police checks and when a member has verified their mobile number, passport or driver’s license, a “Verified Badge” will appear on the member’s profile. One verification point is also awarded for verifying each of the above.


Customer support with HouseCarers is pretty average; you can contact them by filling out a form on the website and leaving your e-mail, and they also have a presence on all the major social networks. There’s also a decent FAQ section on the website that addresses dozens of questions.


As regards membership options, Housecarers does offer a limited non-paid guest membership that lets you browse assignments and be messaged by homeowners, but that’s about as far as you’ll get - if a homeowner messages you as a guest member, you can’t even view the full message or respond.


Once you pay the $50 annual membership fee you can apply for housesits, respond to messages, display your contact details and upload photos, references and police clearances.


As a homeowner you used to only have a free membership option but you can now also subscribe to a premium membership for $25 annually, which gets you a verified supporter badge, lets you add your own private reference notes to housesitter profiles and allows you to join the referral rewards program.


The Housecarers referral rewards program allows you to refer yourself in becoming a premium housesitter member, and when you do so you get 6 free months added to your HO premium membership and 6 free months added to your premium HS membership.


You can also refer other people through the program and for each referral that becomes a paying member, you get 6 months added to your paid membership.


In addition, you will earn one referral point for each paid referral, and the more of these points you accrue, the higher you appear in the search results.

Pros

  • Long-established, highly reputed veteran of the housesitting industry
  • Reasonably price
  • Great Facebook community
  • Referral rewards program (earn extra free months)

Cons

  • Website design could be improved

  • No advanced filter options

  • No proper rating or feedback system

  • No insurance provided for homeowners

  • Homeowners can join for free so may be more liable to back out of commitment

Should you join HouseCarers?

It doesn’t boast the prettiest website, the largest user base, the most advanced search filters or even the lowest annual membership fee, but Housecarers has been around the longest and that has to count for something.


If you think old is gold, Housecarers might be right up your alley. Their vetting system is decent, the membership fee isn’t too steep and there’s even the possibility of being able to add free years to your membership thanks to the generous referral rewards program.

Check out HouseCarers

​#5 - HouseSit Match

Year established: 2013

No. of active housesits: 25+

Countries: International but focused on U.K & Europe

Annual membership fee: Standard is £69, Premium is £89

Homeowner insurance: No

ID checks: Yes

Police checks: Yes, through Verifile

Email alerts: Yes


Founder Lamia Walker first launched HousesitMatch in 2013 as a housesitting platform for Australia and the U.K, but it wasn’t long before it was live across Europe, Australasia and the Caribbean too.


The first impression is that of a professional looking website, with the home page displaying glowing testimonials and the logos of major media outlets like BBC Radio, HouseBeautiful, Forbes, PBS, MailOnline, The Telegraph, Sharer Radio, The Guardian and the Huffington Post.


More than 200 independent reviews of the platform can be found on Trustpilot.


Housesits are mostly concentrated in the U.K and Europe, although there aren’t too many of them to choose from.


In our testing we only found 25 active housesits on the platform in total with the breakdown as follows: Spain (12), the U.K (6), Thailand (2), Slovakia (1), Australia (2).


To make up for the shortage of assignments however, the service is very personalized and you really get individual attention in helping you to find a housesitter or housesit that matches your interests, needs and preferences.


This is one of the few housesitting platforms that offers live chat support, a feature that has impressed many of its members.


HousesitMatch puts a lot of emphasis on safety and members are asked to upload two ID documents via the platforms free ID checking system, which is called Hooyu.


Members can further bolster their profiles by completing an online background and police check through Verifile, which costs £33 for UK users (price varies for international members). Once they’ve done so, a checked symbol will appear next to their user profile. 

 

Unfortunately, there is no free membership option on Housesitmatch. You can browse the assignments or housesitter profiles as an unregistered visitor on the site but you won’t be able to apply for anything.


If you want to avail of the full functionality there are two paid membership plans (standard & premium) available to both homeowners and housesitters and the pricing and features are more or less the same for both parties.


Standard membership costs £69 a year and comes with fewer features than the premium option, as well some limitations that premium members don’t face. 


Standard members are limited to a 150-word profile, can only have 2 profile images, can’t post a video link, only receive untailored housesit alerts, and they don’t get hands-on customer support.


Premium members pay £89 a year, which enables them to create an 800-word profile with up to 7 profile images and a video link. They also get free how-to guides, tailored house-sit alerts and hands-on customer support.


Homeowners with a premium membership additionally have the ability to post multiple adverts and they also get free how-to guides that standard homeowner members don’t have access to.


If you want to register as both a homeowner and housesitter you can, but you will need to register twice with two different e-mail addresses. They offered me a 50% off discount code when I enquired if I would have to pay double for a dual-membership.

Pros
  • Very personalized housesit matchmaking service
  • Professional looking, user-friendly website
  • Live chat facility available
  • Police and ID checks both provided through the platform 

Cons
  • Relatively low number of active housesits
  • Premium membership is quite pricey
  • No homeowner insurance 

Should you join HouseSit Match?

HouseSitMatch doesn’t have a huge number of assignments, but they have a quality vetting system and the small user base means that they can give all their members individual attention and support.

 

If you’re looking for a very personalized, one-on-one, housesit matchmaking service HouseSitMatch is going to be the best choice for you. Yes it’s a little pricey, but you also usually get what you pay for.

Check out HouseSitMatch

​#6 - Aussie House Sitters

Year established: 2004

No. of active housesits: 1,200+

Countries: Australia only

Annual membership fee: $84 AUD for housesitters, free for homeowners

Homeowner insurance: No

ID checks: Yes

Police checks: No

E-mail alerts: Yes


Australia has more country-specific housesitting websites than just about any other country, but one site in particular definitely stands out as the leader of the pack.


Established back in 2004, Aussie Housesitters is a multi-award winning, family-run business that has become the largest and most trusted housesitting platform in all of Australia.


Although all the housesits on this platform are located in Australia, housesitters don’t necessarily have to be natives to land assignments, and there are many non-Australians already signed up.


Aussie Housesitters claims to have more Aussie housesits than any other site, as well as more homeowners contacting sitters directly, and the stats for recent months are displayed on the home page as proof of these claims.


In May 2019 for example, the site had 2595 new house sitting job ads and 7,325 housesitters were contacted directly by homeowers.


The website has a modern and professional-looking design, with glowing member testimonials displayed on the home page.


We can also see that they’ve been featured in Lonely Planet, Woman’s Weekly, The Sunday Telegraph, Virgin Australia and several other media outlets.


If you’re interested in how the platform fares in independent reviews, more than 1,300 of them of can be found on Feefo, where the site has received an average customer rating of 4.9/5.


One area where the website really excels are in its search filters, which give you an almost overwhelming number of boxes that you can check in order to refine your search for housesitting assignments.


They've also integrated Google Maps, so you can see all the housesits represented as markers on a map of Australia, and when you click on any of the markers it brings up the preview of the homeowner's ad.


Aussie Housesitters cares about the safety of its members and has partnered with a third-party provider called Trulioo Global Gateway to provide an I.D verification service for its housesitter members, for a one-time non-refundable payment of $5.


Even if you are not an Australian resident you can still use the service by using your Australian visa to verify your identity. Once you are successfully verified you receive an ID badge icon that is displayed on your housesitter profile.


Customer support is decent enough, with lots of homeowner and sitters FAQs, and more detailed help available in each member’s account menu.


There’s also a contact form on the website where you can drop a message with your e-mail address, and they have pages on Facebook and Instagram too.


As regards pricing, the platform is completely free for homeowners but housesitters have to pay $84 AUD annually to use the platform.


As with most other platforms unregistered users can browse assignments and housesitter profiles but if you want to make contact with any members you have to sign up.

Pros
  • Largest and most trusted housesitting platform in Australia
  • Large number of Aussie housesits and high chance of being contacted by homeowners
  • Excellent selection of filters to refine your search
  • Google Maps integration
  • Takes safety seriously
  • Reasonably priced

Cons
  • Limited to Australian housesits
  • No homeowner insurance
  • Free for homeowners means that they can back out of a commitment more easily

Should you join Aussie House Sitters?

If you can see yourself doing most or all of your housesitting in Australia, then joining Aussie Housesitters will be a bit of a no-brainer for most people. 


It’s the most popular Australia-specific housesitting platform, with the largest user base, a well-designed website, great search filters,  a decent vetting system and it’s reasonably priced to boot. 


It might however make less sense to join if you're already signed up to TrustedHousesitters or HouseCarers, which both offer quite a few housesitting opportunities in Australia.


Also, if your budget is really tight, you might also want to consider the below option.

Check out Aussie Housesitters

​#7 - Mindahome Australia

Year established: 2008

No. of active housesits: 800+

Countries: Australia only

Annual membership fee: $59 AUD for sitters, free for homeowners

Homeowner insurance: No

ID checks: No

Police checks: No

E-mail alerts: Yes


Founded in 2008 by long-time housesitting couple Mel and Sue, Mindahome is another very popular, Australia-specific housesitting platform centred around a strong community.


They have hundreds of new housesits appearing each week, and homeowners have access to thousands of housesitters Australia wide. You could expect to find somewhere in the region of 800 available housesits on any given day.


The current website was launched in October 2016. It’s one of the more attractive looking sites in the housesitting space and is user-friendly to boot.


The benefits of housesitting for owners and sitters alike are clearly expounded on the home page, along with member testimonials, latest homes, latest housesits and the logos of all the media outlets where the site has been featured.

 

They’ve appeared in outlets like The Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, Latrobe Valley Express, News Talk 6PR 882, That’s Life! Magazine and The Age daily newspaper.

 

If you’re looking for fancy search filter options you won’t find them here but you do at least have the basic filters that you’d expect any decent housesitting site to have. Ironically enough, you have to select the “advanced search” tab to use these basic filters.


One feature we like is the Google Maps integration, so that all the available housesits appear as markers on a map of Australia. Clicking on any marker brings up a short blurb about the housesit and you can then click “read more” to be taken to the full ad.


Regarding safety, vetting procedures like phone verification, document checks and police checks are not implemented on the platform, but housesitter profiles can at least display reviews left by other members.


In terms of customer support, they have a comprehensive knowledge base, a user manual (accessible once you sign up) and they can also be contacted directly through a form on the website. New members also receive a free e-book entitled “A Pet & Home Owners Guide to House Sitting”.


Membership is completely free for homeowners and costs a reasonable $59 AUD a year for housesitters. If you want to be both you’ll need to register twice using two different e-mail addresses.

Pros

  • User-friendly website with an attractive design
  • Google Maps integration for displaying housesits 
  • Large number of housesits in Australia
  • Free e-book when you sign-up
  • Reasonably priced

Cons
  • No homeowner insurance
  • Free for homeowners means that they are more likely to cancel on sitters
  • Lacks basic verification checks
  • Limited to housesits in Australia

Should you join Mindahome Australia?

Mindahome lags behind Aussie Housesitters in terms of its user base, website features and vetting system, so the main reason to join would be the price. It’s $25 AUD cheaper than AH per year, which could make a difference for some. 

Check out Mindahome

​Other Honourable Mentions

The 7 most prominent housesitting websites that we’ve compared above are all that most people will ever need to use.


However, if there’s a specific country you’re planning to do most of your housesitting in, you might want to check out a few more of the country-specific platforms that we’ve listed below.


Bear in mind however that homeowners can join most housesitting platforms for free, so you'll find that a lot of the listings on country-specific housesitting platforms can also be found on the international ones.


You therefore have to decide whether you think it’s worth the extra membership cost to join any of the country-specific housesitting platforms.


In any case, here are the best of the bunch.


House Sitters Group websites


Aussie Housesitters (reviewed above) is part of a larger group of associated, country-specific housesitting websites known as the “House Sitters Group”. Other sites found in this group include:


House Sitters America - The largest USA-focused housesitting platform with a very similar design to its sister sites. 150+ housesits. Free for homeowners and $30 USD a year for housesitters.


House Sitters UK The largest UK-focused housesitting platform. 500+ housesits. Free for homeowners and £29 per year for housesitters.


House Sitters Canada A Canada-focused housesitting platform in the same group of associated sites. 50+ housesits. Free for homeowners and $59 CAD per year for housesitters.


Kiwi House Sitters Another site from the same group, but this one is exclusively for housesits in New Zealand. 400+ housesits. Free for homeowners and $84 NZD per year for housesitters.


Other housesitting websites


Outside of the House Sitters Group there are several other country-specific housesitting websites worth a gander including:


Mindahome UK  - Created by the same couple (Mel & Sue) as Mindahome Australia and with the same website design, but focuses on housesits in the UK. 150+ housesits. Free for homeowners and just £15 a year for housesitters.


Happy Housesitters Another Australia-specific housesitting site that’s been around since 1999. 90+ housesits. It’s free for homeowners and $65 AUD a year for housesitters. There’s also an 18-month plan for $85 AUD and a 4-month plan for $60.


House Sitting Tasmania- A small website focusing exclusively on the Australian island state of Tasmania. 30+ housesits. Membership is $69 AUD a year whether you’re a homeowner or housesitter. There’s also a 6-month plan for $39 AUD or a 3-month plan for $19 AUD.


House Sit Mexico A small but attractively designed website that focuses on housesits in Mexico. 10+ listings. $79 USD per year for both homeowners and housesitters.

​What about aggregate housesitting websites?

There are currently at least two websites that aggregate housesit listings from several different sources. When you click on any of these listings you'll be directed to the housesitting website where the ad was originally posted.


If you’re signed up to several housesitting platforms these aggregate sites are very advantageous, since they let you monitor all the new housesits available to you in one place.


One of the two aggregate sites we've reviewed below can also send you e-mail or SMS notifications whenever a new assignment is posted on any of the housesitting platforms that they’ve partnered with.  

House Sitting World

House Sitting World aggregates housesits from Nomador, HouseCarers, Happy House Sitters and HouseSitMexico, and will send you e-mail or SMS notifications every time a new sit that matches your “SitWishes” is posted on any of these housesitting platforms.


It has other useful features too, like a Sit Planner, which lets you create profiles of all your upcoming housesits, view them on a calendar, find country-specific travel info for each sit that you save and more.


You can even book flights, find hotels, rent cars and buy travel insurance through the website.


The premium account costs $99 annually (or $9.99 a month). You get rapid e-mail notifications/SMS notifications, 250 MB of storage space for documents and you can save unlimited SitWishes.


The free account only allows for slower 48-hour e-mail notifications (no SMS) and you can only create 3 SitWishes, and get no document storage space.

HouseSitSearch

HouseSitSearch aggregates over 6,000 different housesitting jobs from  HouseCarers, HouseSit Match, Trusted Housesitters, MindMyHouse, Nomador, Mindahome Australia, Happy House Sitters, HouseSitMexico, Mindahome UK and Mindahome USA.


This platform free to use, with no way of creating an account, but is heavily ad-supported.


You can filter the listings by location, dates, responsibilities and housesitting website. When you click on a listing it will take you to the URL where the assignment was originally posted. 

​Conclusion

Joining a reputable housesitting platform is the key to consistently landing housesitting assignments, whether you’re planning only to housesit in your native country or all over the world.


By joining one or more of the housesitting platforms that we’ve reviewed in this article, creating a compelling profile and crafting a good pitch, you should have no trouble at all securing housesitting gigs.


It may take some time to be able to fill your entire annual calendar with assignments (no gaps), but once you reach that point, you will be able to live rent-free year-round in other people’s homes while looking after their pets and seeing the world at the same time.


Becoming a housesitter might mean a radical change of your entire lifestyle, or it might just mean adding a new dimension to your existing lifestyle.  


Either way, by becoming a housesitter, you are embarking on a new and exciting chapter in your life, and even if it doesn’t work out for you in the end, you’ll at least be glad that you gave it a try and discovered what all the fuss was about.

 

Happy housesitting!

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with other travellers.  Have you ever tried housesitting before? Are there any awesome housesitting websites you use that we've missed? Leave us a comment with your thoughts below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. 

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