Home swap alternatives
The home swap wherenobody moves out.
By Nate Truniger, cofounder · Updated September 2026
Short answer: Adopted Adults is a home swap alternative where you stay home. Your guest is there while you are, so there is no deep clean, no house manual, no key handover and nobody in your place while you are away. Nothing is swapped and there are no points, so you can go anywhere without somebody having to want your city back. Staying is always free, the app is free for hosts, ID verification is required and included, and a person reads every listing before it goes live.
You write an adoption, a plan for what you would actually do with a guest, and you stay with members anywhere else for nothing. Everyone here takes people in, so nobody is only taking.
| Adopted Adults | HomeExchange | Kindred | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Are you home? | Yes. That is the whole point | No, you are away | No, you are away |
| Cost to use | Free for hosts | $235 a year | No membership fee, cleaning and service fees per trip |
| Cleaning first | Tidy up, like a friend is coming | Clean the house room by room | Professional clean before and after, paid by the guest |
| Keys and a house manual | Neither. You are there to answer | Yes | Yes |
| How it is arranged | You ask. No swap, no points | A swap, or GuestPoints | One credit a night, earned by hosting |
| Who can ask to stay | Only members who take people in too | Members | Members, who must host to travel |
| What you get | Somebody's city, shown to you by them | A whole home to yourself | A whole home to yourself |
Is there a home swap where you don't have to leave your house?
That is this. You keep living in your home and somebody stays in it with you, in the spare room or wherever you have space. It sounds like a smaller thing than it is, because almost every stressful part of a home exchange comes from the fact that you are not there.
You are not cleaning the house room by room for a stranger's arrival. You are not writing the document about the boiler and the bins and which key is which. You are not lying in a hotel bed in another country wondering how it is going. You are in the kitchen, and if they cannot find a towel they ask you.
It also removes the matching problem. A swap needs two people to want each other's city on the same dates, which is why the big platforms had to invent points to paper over it. Here you just ask.
Do I have to deep clean before someone comes?
No. You tidy up the way you would if a friend were coming for the weekend, because that is what is happening.
HomeExchange asks members to clean the house room by room before they leave, and says cleaning disagreements are for the two members to work out between themselves. Kindred solved it by sending professional cleaners before and after, which the guest pays for. Both are reasonable answers to a problem we do not have, because nobody is arriving to an empty house and forming an opinion of it alone.
When is a home swap the better choice?
Often. If you want a whole place to yourself, this is the wrong product and you should use one of theirs. Travelling with kids, wanting your own kitchen at seven in the morning, needing a door you can close on everybody: a swap wins all of that outright, and it is not close.
HomeExchange has been doing this since the nineties and has vastly more homes than we do. Kindred takes the logistics off your hands entirely, which is worth real money to some people. If the empty house is the point, go and have the empty house.
We are for the other thing. You get somebody's city the way they actually live in it, and they get the same from you later. That is worth less than a private villa to some people and considerably more to others.
Is it safe to have someone stay while you're there?
Every member verifies a government ID before a stay can be confirmed, at no cost. Video calls are built into the app, so you can talk face to face before anybody packs a bag. A person reads every adoption before it goes live. Reviews stay hidden until both sides submit, so nobody can trade nice ones, and one safety violation means you are out for good.
Being home for it is its own safeguard. You are not handing a key to somebody you have never met and hoping, and you are not finding out what happened when you get back.
Common questions
Is there a home swap where you don't have to leave your house?
Yes. That is what Adopted Adults is. You stay in your home while your guest is there, in the spare room or wherever you have space. Nothing is swapped and nobody moves out, so there is no deep clean, no house manual, no key handover, and nobody in your place while you are not. You visit other members the same way, whenever you want, without them having to want your city at the same time.
What is the best alternative to HomeExchange or Kindred?
It depends what you want. If you want a whole empty house to yourself, HomeExchange and Kindred do that and we do not. If the part you dread is the deep clean, the instructions and handing your home to somebody you have never met, Adopted Adults removes all three, because you are there the whole time. Staying is always free, and the app is free for hosts.
Do I have to deep clean before someone comes?
No. You tidy up the way you would if a friend were coming for the weekend, because that is what is happening. Home exchange platforms ask you to clean the house room by room before you leave, since nobody will be there to explain anything. You are there, so it is just your house with someone in it.
Do I have to swap? What if nobody wants to visit my city?
There is no swap and there are no points. You publish an adoption, a plan for what you would do with a guest, and then you can ask to stay with any member anywhere. Nobody has to want your dates or your city for you to travel. What you do owe is the same welcome back, whenever somebody asks, and you choose who stays with you every time.
Is it safe to have someone stay while you're there?
Every member verifies a government ID before a stay can be confirmed, at no cost. Video calls are built into the app, so you can talk face to face before anyone packs a bag. A person reads every adoption before it goes live. Reviews stay hidden until both sides submit, so nobody can game them, and one safety violation means you are out for good. Being home for it is its own safeguard: you are not handing a key to a stranger and hoping.
If that sounds like your kind of thing, it is free for hosts. Add an adoption of your own and you are not charged to use the app.
Create your accountPrices and policies for HomeExchange and Kindred are taken from their own published help pages as of September 2026 and may have changed since. Check theirs before deciding.
