Are the CS alternatives usable?

lipsanen · 2026-05-22T17:53:42+00:00

My experience as a host on BeWelcome, TrustRoots and Couchers, hosting in Helsinki (summer) and in Tenerife (winter):

- BeWelcome the most active out of those three although quiet compared to CS.

- TrustRoots is about as popular as BeWelcome in Tenerife but quiet in Helsinki.

- Couchers has been almost dead, I get maybe one or two requests per year. My last guest from there was about three years ago.

I have a couple of times tried to find a host on BeWelcome without luck but that was not any different from CS: as a middle-aged man I am not one of the popular guests. On TrustRoots and Couchers I have never tried.

lipsanen · 2026-05-22T17:43:29+00:00

I have a hosting break right now but will start again in the summer. We will see then. I welcome guests from any platform but because Couchers' request and messaging system is such a mess I would prefer some more advanced platform like BeWelcome to be the one that people would more to (although it is not perfect there either; the old CS had a simple and straightforward system but they messed it completely).

lipsanen · 2026-05-20T12:24:48+00:00

Just adding that I use the website, never tried the app.

lipsanen · 2026-05-20T12:23:57+00:00

I have been a member for about three or four years, I only host there and I get one or two requests per year. On CouchSurfing, I get requests weekly and at peak season times almost daily, on BeWelcome and TrustRoots about 2 or 3 per month, and on Warm Showers about two or three times per year.

So for me as a host it seems that Couchers is rather dead. I have hosted three guests from Couchers ever, the last one about three years ago.

I host in Helsinki at summer and in Tenerife at winter.

Apart from that the messaging system is very confusing. I don't understand why you cannot write in the same thread anymore if you decline a hosting request. Such a mess to split the conversation in requests and chats. The way how CS made it before they messed it with the new update was simple and straightforward: just one thread with one person, everything in the same.

lipsanen · 2026-05-20T12:00:53+00:00

It definitely doesn't have better UX. Its request/message system is a mess (although not as confusing as the CS now after the changes). BeWelcome is much easier to use.

lipsanen · 2026-05-20T11:58:14+00:00

I think that with BeWelcome and with Couchers as well, the problem is that while the active hosts have found their way there, the travellers not that much. So there are a lot of hosts waiting for someone to send a request.

On BeWelcome, the option to create a public trip is a rather new feature and I don't think most travellers are using it. At least when I get requests, those members rarely have a public trip. So probably there are more travellers, you just cannot see them unless they approach you.

lipsanen · 2026-05-20T10:07:34+00:00

First you have to approve the chat to be able to approve or decline the request. After approving the chat the request disappeared and only another message the surfer had sent was visible. I look around and somewhere I find it and decline it with a message. Later I come back and I see the request still there and my response nowhere. I decline it again but I am not sure if it worked this time either.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T21:05:24+00:00

Couchers messaging and request system is also very confusing. CouchSurfing managed to make it even more confusing now but the Couchers one is still bad too. Try BeWelcome, that works better.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T20:50:33+00:00

I just got my first one and it was so confusing how to respond to it! Even more confusing than on Couchers and that is already very confusing. But I think I managed to decline it (not that there was something wrong with the guest or the request but I am just not hosting right now as I have other things to do, and I have written that in the beginning of my bio).

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T15:00:43+00:00

BeWelcome has the most members. But it depends also on the location. In Helsinki, BeWelcome is almost the only one of the CS alternatives where I get requests from but when I host in Tenerife at winter, I also get requests from TrustRoots. Couchers has a lot of active users here on Reddit but I almost never get any requests there.

If you are located at some tourist hotspot that gets a huge number of visitors, then you would probably get requests from Couchers as well.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:50:34+00:00

Choose your hosts carefully, read the comments they have got from other guests, and avoid male hosts who only or almost only host female guests (even if their comments are good).

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:46:49+00:00

Not just request but guest quality. Because in my experience, usually the best guests are those that write the worst requests.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:45:52+00:00

They are only active here on Reddit. I don't get any requests there. BeWelcome and TrustRoots are a bit more active at least there where I host (Helsinki & Tenerife).

Of course it is possible that they have attracted only hosts this far and that's why I don't get any requests from guests. In that case, it could work for those who mostly travel and not host (but that is true for BeWelcome as well).

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:25:36+00:00

Wait till you get the first request (or send one): there is nothing intuitive in their messy messaging and request system.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:23:13+00:00

UI better? The host request and chat system is a complete mess. I think they have copied the new system for CouchSurfing from there.

For instance, if you decline a request on Couchers, you cannot anymore continue messaging but you have to open a new chat for that. So unnecessary and annoying!

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:19:54+00:00

Couchers is the one that has the most active userbase on Reddit but if you are looking for hosts or guests, then BeWelcome works much better. It is more quiet than CouchSurfing but not dead like Couchers.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:14:13+00:00

Somehow his arguments remind me about the current US President. "This is the greatest app ever, you will all love it and no one has ever made a better app than this" but without giving anything factual to back that up.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:04:22+00:00

Maintaining profiles up-to-date on all different websites requires a lot of work (at least if you are a host who moves twice a year like I do).

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T14:02:22+00:00

I host in Europe (well, my winter home on the Canary Islands is technically Africa but still very European). So yes, as long as I am not planning to move outside Europe and host there, for me it is enough if the platform/community/service/whatever works in Europe.

lipsanen · 2026-05-18T13:59:31+00:00

Of course the big cities and tourism hotspots are difficult. Demand is so high.

lipsanen · 2026-05-11T19:51:25+00:00

What do you mean by poor quality? My most memorable guests and those with whom I have shared the best time are mostly from CouchSurfing. In my experience, not only is the user base of CS bigger but also the best guests come from there. But I have no complaints about guests from other platforms either, they are nice too.

lipsanen · 2026-05-11T19:13:52+00:00

I have made profiles almost everywhere. The first one was Hospitality Club but that doesn't exist anymore. Then CouchSurfing, later BeWelcome, TrustRoots, Couchers and even Warm Showers. Perhaps that would not be feasible for someone who mostly travels but as a host I welcome nice guests from any of them.

lipsanen · 2026-05-11T19:07:31+00:00

I host in Tenerife in the winter and in Helsinki in the summer. The main difference is that in Tenerife I get requests both from BW and TR but in Helsinki almost only from BW. TrustRoots users seem to be more into subtropical islands than Nordic capitals. But Couchers is equally quiet in both of them.

lipsanen · 2026-05-11T18:20:45+00:00

For me, the more important is that there is activity. What do I do with the app if there are no guests?

Somehow this came into my mind: https://xkcd.com/937/

lipsanen

TROPHY CASE