# Bubble - Find Childcare Now — user reviews > 97 indexed App Store user reviews of Bubble by Tribo Technologies Ltd, rated 4.20/5 from 106 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bubble-find-childcare-now/id1089980698/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bubble-find-childcare-now/id1089980698.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 82 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 18 ## What do users think of Bubble? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface - ⭐ High quality and vetted sitters - 🔒 Safety features and DBS checks - 💰 Convenient payment system - 🎯 Quick booking process - 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Reliable childcare solution for families - 📱 Simple app design for browsing sitters - ⭐ Excellent customer support (when responsive) **Cons** - 💸 High fees for both parents and sitters (25% commission) - 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing - 📵 Account creation and login issues - ⚠️ Unreliable sitters with frequent cancellations - 🔐 Privacy concerns - home address exposed publicly - 💳 Hidden and unexpected charges - 📧 Poor customer service responsiveness - 🚫 Unfair treatment of sitters vs parents - 📱 Glitchy payment processing - 🔔 Aggressive and unavoidable marketing notifications - 📋 Overly complex booking forms - ❌ Sitters cannot view their own reviews - 🔄 Duplicate bookings and unclear payment status - 🚫 Auto-renewal subscription issues - ⏱️ Slow app performance and loading **Commonly reported bugs** - SMS verification code not received or not working - App crashes on startup or during signup - Login loop - stuck between email and app verification - App freezes when searching for sitters - Payment processing shows unclear status - Duplicate bookings appearing for same date/time - Unexpected charges added without warning (e.g., bank holiday fees) - App crashes when trying to enter zipcode - Apple Pay not recognized in app wallet - Sitter messages not received for days or unreadable without booking - App incompatible with certain iPhone models (12 Pro, 14 Pro) - Booking wheel of death/loading issues - Profile photo requirement creates appearance-based discrimination - Sits disappearing from booking history - Continuous re-login requirements **Most requested features** - Ability for sitters to view their own reviews - Differentiated rates for different sit types (school runs, overnight, outings) - Time limits for parents to accept sitter applications - Notification system for address changes before sits - Work-from-home parent indicator on job listings - Food provision indicator on job listings - Filter by sit time and duration - Ability to see previous applicants when sitter cancels - Penalty system for parent cancellations - Immediate payment processing instead of delayed - Customizable push notifications (separate marketing from alerts) - Ability to cancel subscriptions through app - Clear upfront display of all fees before booking - Better in-app messaging reliability - Travel time compensation for sitters ## Newest reviews (10 of 97) ### 3/5 — Great, Still Room for Improvement *2026-06-30, version 6.0.0* We have been using this app solidly for the last year and half. When I say solidly, I mean we have bookings every week day save for bank holidays. The premise is amazing, you do pay for it without a doubt, but we have continued with this app over another agency. That said, the user functionality is somewhat frustrating and it does not make it easy to view the bookings. When you have the level of bookings that we have, clear visibility is a massive benefit and time saver, which we desperately need with the child responsibility that we have. Plus side, it is easy to book and specify what you need and the payment process is easy with Apple Pay a good element. Down side, looking back at your bookings afterwards when trying to reconcile finances is an absolute pain in the proverbial. There is no option to export them to excel and how they are shown is not user friendly and time consuming. This app has to be developed further to make it better for the consumers, it is already falling behind in terms of what is offered. ### 3/5 — Glitchy App *2025-09-22* We’ve found some great sitters here which is the the plus side. However the app is deeply frustrating. It’s not user friendly at all. You can’t easily at a glance see all your booked sits or add them to your calendar. Booking or paying seems to lead to click wheel of death as it tries to figure out whether to execute the command. On several occasions it’s been unclear if my payment has gone through. Or if my sit has been booked. I’ve been left disappointed when booked sits simply disappeared. Or sometimes it’s showing duplicate bookings for same date and time. On a couple occasions it’ll keep prompting me to pay though my bank shows the money has been taken. On one occasion - it added £10 per hour to sitters fee without any warning or notice then after the fact said it was a Bank Holiday. Having to dispute things is not what any new parent wants or even has time to be doing and customer service are a little slippery before admitting fault. Tried to hire a full time nanny with the service and they ghosted. There’s a lot that’s good about Bubble but many processes and the app need to be significantly improved. Given this is a premium service one would expect a better designed and more functional app. ### 1/5 — Nannies who care more about £$€¥ than your children *2025-01-30* This app used to be my go-to for one off nannying for our child but recently the std of sitters and customer service has taken a deep dive. A nanny was caught taking pictures and videos of our child without our permission but yet she remains active on the app. The monthly bubble plus subscription is also a con and doesn’t offer you the same premium features as the 3m and 6m plans. None of which are mentioned on signing up. I’ve raised a ticket and had to speak to four different CS representatives over 24hrs for the same issue as they play musical chairs. They have no idea how to run their services and make up rules as they go. I had a nanny cancel within 25hrs of a sitting which I was supposedly covered for but because I reposted the sitting and didn’t accept the only nanny who applied for the sit (who subsequently didn’t even read the sitting notes), I was told I wasn’t entitled to a full refund. Bubble is an absolute shambles. Most the nannies on here are only after your money and won’t care for your child properly at all. Be warned. ### 1/5 — Don’t pay for their in cancellable Bubble+ subscription *2025-01-22* Initially I found this app quite useful but then the standards began to fall quite soon after having multiple sitters. They can have all the certifications and training they want but it doesn’t translate to a good sitting exp. Sadly most are just after the paycheck and don’t actually care about your child. I had a sitter cancel at short notice last weekend. I thought I was covered by paying extra for their bubble+ service but that’s just a gimmick and more of a retainer for them. They make the rules on if they want to pay out or not which is utter nonsense. I was also a beta tester for their new app and made several recommendations but I guess screwing over long standing users of their app takes priority. You can’t cancel your subscription to Bubble+ either without emailing in. Another tactic to keep you locked in. I’ve spoken to four different people about a single issue I had. It’s as if they play musical chairs in their customer service team. I used to be an advocate for this app but after their recent antics, I would highly recommend you to look elsewhere. ### 1/5 — Scam-my *2025-01-12* Encourages you to pay a small feel for unlimited babysitting AND THEN NEVER EMAILS YOU AGAIN SO YOU DONT REALISE YOURE BEING CHARGED. ### 1/5 — Ridiculous *2025-01-01, version 3.2.12* Absolutely terrible. The bubble platform takes most of your earnings as a platform fee. I babysat on New Year’s Eve and hardly got anything from this because of the platform fee. So disappointed as the family and children were lovely and we had such a lovely time. ### 5/5 — So convenient and fast *2024-09-23, version 3.2.12* Love using Bubble to book sitters, reminders and easy payment after the sit so helpful. ### 5/5 — Always delivers *2024-09-23, version 3.2.12* I’ve been using bubble for years and it has never let me down. 👌 ### 1/5 — Scam *2024-09-22, version 3.2.12* Beware of Bubble plus subscription which costs a fortune, renews automatically and is not handled through Apple. It cannot be cancelled through the app. ### 1/5 — Nothing is working. *2024-09-17, version 3.2.12* Tried to book a babysitting and nothing is working. Spoke to the support and they told me to restart the app and create new booking. Again nothing is working. Very disappointing but it is what it is. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Don’t bother - terrible app *2026-07-09, version 6.0.0* The app doesn’t let you call sitters unless you confirm a job with them. How is a parent meant to confirm someone they have never spoken to. Just a way for the app to increase their “reported bookings” (you can cancel the booking if you don’t like the sitter after speaking to them). What a waste of time for parents and a waste of my £39.99. Definitely deleting after my subscription is done. ### 1/5 — £5 fee for every booking is too much *2026-03-27, version 4.2.3* Now I just do a small booking to get their numbers and book outside the app, if it was more reasonable I wouldn’t ### 1/5 — Parents Judged Before the Job *2026-02-22, version 4.2.2* I recently tried the Bubble babysitting app but decided to delete it. One of the main issues for me was that parents are required to upload a profile photo before sitters can respond. I understand basic safety measures, but this felt unnecessary and uncomfortable. It creates a situation where sitters can potentially judge parents based on appearance rather than the actual childcare requirements and suitability. The way it works is that parents post their requirements, and then sitters review both the job details and your profile (including your photo) before deciding whether to respond. That dynamic didn’t sit right with me. I also found the subscription fees and overall costs quite high for both parents and sitters. Interestingly, as soon as I deleted the app, I was offered site credit to stay — which didn’t leave a great impression. Overall, I wasn’t impressed and didn’t feel comfortable using the platform. ### 1/5 — Annoying UX *2026-01-11, version 4.2.0* Every step feels like I’m filling a government form. Want to book a nanny? First, you need to plan your schedule for the next 8 weeks and declare it on the form. Want to book a dog walker? Please enter every detail about your dog on the form. It’s super annoying. You’re supposed to bring people together, not harvest data. Also just found out Bubble was broadcasting my home adress openly to everyone including people i haven’t contacted or booked. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2025-08-17, version 4.1.13* I keep getting a text code but it won’t let me create an account ### 1/5 — App doesn’t work *2025-07-31, version 4.1.13* Been trying to set up an account. I keep getting the code as a text message, then the app will log me out and say I need to sign in as a parent. Well I’m trying to create a parent account but clearly there is no way to create an account at the moment. ### 1/5 — Bubble take an insanely high percentage from sitters *2025-05-27, version 4.1.7* I’ve been a nanny for over five years, working both independently and with reputable agencies, so I know the industry well. Bubble, unfortunately, is one of the worst platforms I’ve encountered. Not only does it unfairly push down sitters hourly rates in order to stay competitive, but it also takes a staggering 25% commission from whatever I earn. This is completely unreasonable, especially considering the lack of support and the overall experience on the app. For parents, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. In fact, Facebook groups often offer a much better experience, as sitters can receive a fair wage without the platform exploiting them. If you're a nanny, don’t waste your time with Bubble ### 1/5 — Not usable for me *2025-05-26, version 4.1.7* I just get stuck in a loop and can't search for nannies. Not usable. ### 1/5 — App doesn’t work *2025-04-02* App doesn’t allow parent to enter zipcode to find sitters in the area ### 1/5 — Ripping off sitters - discrimination by favouring parents, AVOID unless you’re severely desperate *2025-03-16* I have done 10 sits and had to pay them £30-40 worth of fees in a month! Compare this to what parents pay - just £10 /month to book as many sitters as they like. Which other app charges THIS much? And they claim to be the cheapest.. Of course they have to charge fees for their service, but there’s no reason why I would have to pay triple as much of what parents do. No wonder the app is created by parents, it’s favouring parents in every aspect! Very selfish. I contacted them about this suggesting to cap the fees for us sitters to make it fair to both sides, not just affordable for parents, however have received a very rude email from the founder of the app, zero understanding, only defending himself, making provocative statements, and writing things like “you’ll make more money than anywhere else. If there was a better app than us then you’d be using that instead”. I have NEVER earned as LITTLE as on this app. Then he said “we don’t charge sitters any money”! Ah yes? Who has then taken all my well deserved money from me? Charging me a percentage of my salary is not charging me any money? Absolutely horrid customer service, he demonstrated to me they don’t care about their sitters, they only want revenue. It’s such a shame as I believe this app would have amazing potential if they didn’t just think of their own benefit and treated sitters and parents equally. **Developer response:** Dear Kate. You're ignoring one important fact - and that is that parents also have to pay their sitters (in your case, hundreds of pounds in a few weeks lone.) bubble is a platform for parents and babysitters to connect with each other. Sitters select their own rates, and have total control and flexibility over the jobs they do and do not take. We are very proud of helping thousands of sitters meet more families, earn more money and organise their babysitting in a more secure and transparent way. Like any business, we need to charge fees for our service so that we can operate our platform and continuously invest in it. The fees we charge cover insurance, secure payment, customer service and of course generating parent demand for sitters on bubble. We’re glad to see that in a matter of weeks you managed to meet many new clients and secure much work through our platform. Babysitters on bubble on average earn more than they do via any other similar service. Furthermore, because of how bubble has been designed to work for sitters, the most popular sitters on bubble have the highest hourly rates - we are a platform that helps sitters earn more and more money, not less. This is fact our team is extremely proud of. Your accusations with regards to how we treat babysitters could not be further from the truth. We tried on several occasions, and spent much time trying to discuss this issue with you – however were met with aggressive and insulting language from the outset. We’ll have to agree to disagree on this, though will absolutely be taking the feedback on board, as we always do. Since day one, we’ve built bubble with our amazing sitter community at the forefront of our minds, and we shall continue to do that. Best. Team bubble. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Lovely experience *2026-01-26, version 4.2.2* Always have a good time booking sitters with bubble. The apps easy to use and the sitters are always great. ### 5/5 — Getting worse and worse *2025-06-08, version 4.1.7* I am a heavy user of the app, using it nearly daily for our school pick up. The nannies are amazing. ### 5/5 — Alba *2025-04-18, version 4.1.6* I liked it! Thanks 😘 ### 5/5 — Love the new app *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* Great update! ### 5/5 — Lifesaver *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* My partner and I were struggling with childcare for a while after moving away from family. We found an amazing babysitter just down the road from us on Bubble. Great app and great customer service ### 5/5 — Bubble saves the day! *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* I can’t count the number of times that Bubble has been saved the day for inset days, nursery sickness etc! Lucy who comes at the moment is so lovely and the kids love her so much!! ### 5/5 — A lifesaver *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* Bubble helps my family so much. My parents live quite far away so I love booking someone on Bubble when we need an extra pair of hands. Every sitter has been wonderful and I’m always recommending the app to friends! ### 5/5 — Great back-up care app *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* Great app, easy to navigate, fantastic customer support! ### 5/5 — Best app to find help locally *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* Bubble has been a game changer for us for almost 3 years now. We have found childcare and help at home in our local area with the loveliest, kindest people. They are all vetted and have been extremely reliable so far ### 5/5 — Always wonderful *2025-03-28, version 4.1.6* Fantastic sitters, such an easy app to use and the best customer support. Have used Bubble for years and it’s been a life saver. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-06.*