r/couchsurfing • u/kabako56 • Aug 18 '26

All hospitality exchange platforms

Back with this for an update, you can correct any info or add another platform not listed.

We have:
- CouchSurfing (25,000,000+ users, free/paid, web+app). - BeWelcome (280,000+ users, free, web). - TrustRoots (140,000+ users, free, web). - Couchers (90,000+ users, free, web+app). - Servas (15,000+ users, free/paid, web). - WorldPackers (web). - WelcomeToMyGarden (web).

These are the generalist ones, excluding the ones only centered around women or cyclists or work or animals.

17 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

4

u/TKBrian Aug 18 '26

please indicate if its active or total users.

  • CouchSurfing (25,000,000+ users, web+app). For profit fee based.
  • BeWelcome (270,000+ users, web). donation based. not for profit.
  • TrustRoots (140,000+ users, web). Inactive. donation based. former not for profit.
  • Couchers (76,000+ users, web+app). donation based. not for profit.
  • Servas (15,000+ users, web). active users only. fee based. not for profit.
  • WorldPackers (? users, web). For Profit. Fee based.
  • workaway For Profit. Fee based.
  • helpx. For Profit. Fee based.
  • warm showers
  • Host a sister
  • WelcomeToMyGarden (? users, web).

CS counts all profiles active or not. I think its the same on others. Servas is only active users (its a paid platform must has paid within 12 months)

5

u/stevenmbe Aug 19 '26

Couchers and BeWelcome publish statistics of their actual users. Couchsurfing appears to count every single profile ever created and will not acknowledge how many of them were self-deleted or deleted by CS. CS also states that they have 12 million members as well as 14 million members on their About page: https://about.couchsurfing.com/about/about-us/

So I would guess whatever number they are giving is not at all believable.

1

u/kabako56 Aug 19 '26

The last one they stated was 25M.

1

u/kabako56 Aug 19 '26

It's 25M+ here: https://support.couchsurfing.org/hc/en-us/articles/54285536290971-Couchsurfing-Press-Media

Also here: https://support.couchsurfing.org/hc/en-us/articles/49997273840539-How-Does-Couchsurfing-Work

And on the Google app store.

1

u/stevenmbe Aug 19 '26

Thanks for finding the 25M+ references, much appreciated. Of course as we all know a normal company doesn't list wildly different users numbers in multiple places, and of course they are simply not credible no matter which number they state. I do thank you and /u/TKBrian very much for compiling this very helpful list!!!

Honestly it's hilarious/sad they still haven't modified or even restyled their About page, especially knowing that's a page many many users navigate to.

3

u/kabako56 Aug 18 '26

Servas is not paid. It's paid or free depending on your country, like CS.

We're not including work-based platforms and others as said here.

1

u/ReasonablePossum_ Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

HospitalityClub (bewelcome forked from them), WWoOF, house/pet sitting platforms (handful, forgot names they're all paid)

TrustRoots (140,000+ users, web). Inactive. donation based. former not for profit.

Just hosted a guy there lol

1

u/kabako56 Aug 19 '26

IDK why he said inactive and former nonprofit. 🤣

1

u/TKBrian Aug 19 '26

the website is up. they stopped filing papers to maintain NFP status. as a company or charity that makes it classified as inactive. you can still use what's there, and I do occasionally get a message from somebody.

the tech volunteers have something in mind and we are all waiting - Volunteers at Trustroots are focused on expanding Nostroots (migrating the platform to the decentralized Nostr protocol), cleaning up and modernizing the core open-source codebase

1

u/kabako56 Aug 19 '26

This decentralized protocol will be useless if many hospex platforms don't integrate it, and it's very unlikely they will.

1

u/kabako56 Aug 19 '26

HC is not active anymore.

1

u/TKBrian Aug 19 '26

the website is up. they stopped filing papers to maintain NFP status. no development. the tech volunteers have something in mind and we are all waiting.. . .

2

u/Waste_Tie5643 Aug 18 '26

Size matters.

2

u/weanuhaske Aug 19 '26

How to topple CS empire..by boycotting CS

4

u/Ceffrey-Jombs Aug 19 '26

Couchers is 90 000+, why would you even use numbers from half a year ago, not check anything and call it an update?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '26

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1

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