Airbnb alternatives
No cleaning fee,because nobody leaves.
By Nate Truniger, cofounder · Updated October 2026
Short answer: Adopted Adults is not an Airbnb replacement, and if you want a whole place to yourself or need to book somewhere tonight, you should stop reading and use Airbnb, Vrbo or a hotel. What it is: staying with a member in their home, for free. No nightly rate, no cleaning fee, no service fee, and no list of chores at checkout, because your host is there the whole time and nothing is being turned over between guests. ID verification is required before any stay is booked and costs nothing, and a person reads every listing before it goes live.
You write an adoption, a plan for what you’d actually do with a guest, and you stay with members anywhere else for nothing. The app is free for adopters, and if you can’t host right now there’s an inexpensive Nomad Pass instead. The trade is plain: you give up having the place to yourself, and you get somebody who lives there.
- 98
- countries
- 1,346
- cities
Adopted Adults at a glance
- How it works
- Members host each other in their own homes. You publish an adoption, a plan for what you would do with a guest, and you stay with members elsewhere. Nobody moves out: the host is home while the guest is there.
- Cost
- Staying is always free. Hosting is always free, with no subscription for anyone who opens their home. Members who cannot host can hold a Nomad Pass instead.
- Safety
- Government ID verification is required before any stay is booked, at no cost. Video calls are built into the app. Reviews stay hidden until both sides submit. A person reviews every listing before it goes live.
- Who it suits
- People who want a local host and are willing to host someone back. It is not suitable for anyone who needs a whole place to themselves, or a booking at short notice.
Why does Airbnb cost more than it used to?
Three things happened at once and none of them are reversing. Most listings now belong to people running several units as a business, so the price carries a mortgage, a professional cleaner and a management fee. The fees sit outside the nightly rate you search on, so a listing you compared at one price checks out at another. And hotels got competitive again on the things Airbnb used to win: you can book instantly, you can cancel late, and nobody asks you to strip the beds.
The cleaning fee is the part people actually resent, and it isn’t really about the money. Paying to have a place cleaned and then being handed a list of jobs on the way out is what turned the mood against the whole category. Here there’s no cleaning fee because nothing’s being turned over, and no list because your host is standing right there.
Who should not use this?
Most people searching for an Airbnb alternative, honestly. If you need a whole place to yourself, a kitchen you control, a door that locks on your own family, or a booking you can make at eleven at night for tomorrow, Airbnb is the better choice and so are Vrbo and Booking.com. Hotels are worth re-checking too, since they’re often no more expensive once the fees are in, and for one or two people a private hostel room beats both.
If what you want is somebody else’s home while they’re away, that’s a home swap: HomeExchange charges an annual membership, Kindred charges per trip. Both need you to leave your own place, which is the thing people underestimate.
This is for the smaller group who would rather have a local than a lockbox, and who are willing to open their own door in return.
How it compares
| Adopted Adults | Airbnb | Vrbo & hotels | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What a stay costs | Nothing. Staying is always free | Nightly rate, plus fees | Nightly rate, plus fees |
| Cleaning fee | None. Nothing is turned over | Set by the host, added at checkout | Usually, varies by host |
| Service fee | None | A guest service fee on most bookings | Yes |
| Chores on the way out | None. Tidy up like a friend would | Commonly a checkout list | Commonly a checkout list |
| Do you get the place to yourself? | No. Your host is home. That's the point | Usually yes | Usually yes |
| Can you book it tonight? | No. You agree it with a person first | Yes, instantly | Yes, instantly |
| Is there a local to ask? | Your host, who lives there | A message thread, sometimes | A front desk, sometimes |
| Identity checks | Required before any stay is booked, free | Varies by listing and country | At check-in |
Is there an Airbnb alternative with no fees at all?
Hospitality exchange is the only category where the answer is genuinely yes, because nothing is being rented. Adopted Adults is one of those, and so are Couchers.org, BeWelcome and Trustroots. The difference here is that an adoption is a plan rather than a room: hosts write out what they would do with a guest, so you pick a few days with a person instead of a bed in a city. Everyone contributes, either by hosting or by holding a pass, so nobody on it is there only to take.
Questions people ask
What is the best alternative to Airbnb?
It depends what you are replacing. If you want a whole place to yourself, the honest answers are Vrbo, Booking.com and hotels, which are often no more expensive than Airbnb once the cleaning and service fees are added. If you want somebody else's home while they are away, that is HomeExchange or Kindred. If what you actually want is to stay somewhere for free with a person who lives there, that is hospitality exchange, and Adopted Adults is one of those. We are not a replacement for a whole place to yourself and we will not pretend to be.
Is there an Airbnb alternative with no cleaning fee?
On Adopted Adults there is no cleaning fee, no service fee and no nightly rate, because nothing is being turned over between guests. Your host is living in the home while you are there, so there is no professional clean to pay for and no checkout list of jobs. You tidy up the way you would at a friend's house, which is the whole expectation.
Why does Airbnb feel more expensive than a hotel now?
Three things at once. Most listings are now run as businesses rather than spare rooms, so you are paying a mortgage, a professional cleaner and a management fee. The fees sit outside the nightly rate you search on, so the headline number is not the number you pay. And hotels have become competitive again on instant booking and late cancellation. For one or two people who only need somewhere to sleep, the maths often no longer works, which is why people are looking.
Is Adopted Adults cheaper than Airbnb?
It is free, which is not the same as cheaper, because it is not the same product. You are not renting a space, you are staying with a member who is home and who has written a plan for what you would do together. If a like-for-like comparison with an Airbnb matters to you, then this is not the right tool and a hotel or a hostel private room is a fairer comparison.
Is it safe to stay in someone's home while they are there?
Identity verification is required before any stay is booked and it is free. Video calls are built into the app so you can meet before committing, reviews stay hidden until both sides have written one, and a person reads every listing before it goes live. Being home is itself part of it: nobody is handing keys to someone they have never met.
Do I have to host to use it?
Hosting costs nothing: host a friend of your own and the app is free for adopters. If you cannot host right now, there is an inexpensive Nomad Pass that gets you the same access. Either way everyone contributes something, which is why nobody on it is there only to take.
Airbnb’s structural details here (a guest service fee on most bookings, cleaning fees set by hosts, and the 90-night cap on entire-home short lets in Greater London under the Deregulation Act 2015) come from their own published help pages and were checked in October 2026. Prices move constantly, so check theirs before deciding.
