Great idea, but hidden fees
I love the concept of Kindred, and my hosting experience has been great but the pricing as a guest is disappointing.
Kindred advertises itself as home swapping where you pay the cleaning fee. What isn’t clear is that Kindred also charges its own service fee PER NIGHT, and that money goes to the platform—not to the host. Charging this fee nightly instead of once per stay makes the savings surprisingly small. Compared to similar Airbnb’s where I’m going on my next trip, kindred only ends up being $20-30 less per night.
Though Kindred may make sense for very expensive cities, for smaller towns the nightly fee undermines the value of the home swapping platform. I’d rather pay more and have my money go to the host than have Kindred keep all the profit for themselves while advertising that they’re a credit based home swapping platform.
Kindred advertises itself as home swapping where you pay the cleaning fee. What isn’t clear is that Kindred also charges its own service fee PER NIGHT, and that money goes to the platform—not to the host. Charging this fee nightly instead of once per stay makes the savings surprisingly small. Compared to similar Airbnb’s where I’m going on my next trip, kindred only ends up being $20-30 less per night.
Though Kindred may make sense for very expensive cities, for smaller towns the nightly fee undermines the value of the home swapping platform. I’d rather pay more and have my money go to the host than have Kindred keep all the profit for themselves while advertising that they’re a credit based home swapping platform.
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No longer recommend after hosting 70 nights. Don’t host here
This platform was once great. Great guests and community. I hosted 70 nights over 2 years, was asked to be in their PR story, but I don’t recommend it anymore.
If you want to use the platform as a guest, it can be pretty good. But if you are a host, I would think twice before giving this platform your home.
Their operational diligence and approach to safety and care has become comically low. Consistent pattern of failures across four areas:
Privacy violations
• Dec 2024: A cleaner opened a privacy-stickered cabinet, reportedly while searching for a plunger. The sticker exists precisely so that cleaners message me instead of entering.
• Jan 2026: Privacy tapes were torn in two separate rooms — the bathroom and the living room. Not sure why whom.
• May/Jun 2026: Privacy tape torn in 2 places. Cleaner opened my main closet, which had a privacy sticker on it, and used bedding there instead of the designated linens clearly labeled in the linen closet and in the instructions.
Access and security
• May/Jun 2026: Emergency access codes I shared with concierge team for a one-time situation were copied into the permanent access instructions for my home — without my knowledge — across multiple guest stays. I flagged this on Jun 1 and it was brushed off. On Jun 5, the next cleaning team tried to use the dead codes, couldn’t get in, and called me frantically while I had to manage the fallout remotely.
• When I raised this with support on Jun 1, I was told adding backup codes to permanent instructions was standard practice. That concerns me more than the individual incident.
• This is part of a broader pattern of access problems being pushed onto me rather than handled internally. In Nov 2024 and again in Jun 2026, I was called internationally while traveling because a cleaner couldn’t use the entry app. Both times, your concierge team contacted me without first verifying the credentials themselves. Both times, when they finally tried it themselves, it worked immediately. The entry app has never had an issue. The cleaner simply couldn’t use it correctly.
Careless handling and damage
• Dec 2024/Jan 2025: Perishable food left to grow mold in my fridge, damp towels left on chairs, items moved and not returned, vacuum left under the TV stand.
• Dec 2025/Jan 2026: Pillows damaged and found torn, an unfamiliar pillow left behind, wine glasses left sticky and stored incorrectly. A guest explicitly reported the home was not clean on arrival and that the headboard was loose — your concierge was notified mid-stay and nothing was rectified at checkout.
• Jun 2026: several items missing. Was told to hold 7 days before they can open a case. Then told me I need to report before the 7 day deadline. Completely unclear. So much hassle for prob 35 bucks of household items.
Feedback and investigation handling
• Dec 2024: Rather than using the manufacturing date on the moldy food to identify which guest’s stay it was from, your team emailed all guests across four back-to-back stays — unnecessarily implicating innocent guests and damaging guest relationships.
When I’ve raised these issues, the responses have been slow, fragmented, and focused on process over accountability. When issues were resolved at all, compensation came in the form of platform credits — which is meaningless when the host lost trust in the service entirely.
If you want to use the platform as a guest, it can be pretty good. But if you are a host, I would think twice before giving this platform your home.
Their operational diligence and approach to safety and care has become comically low. Consistent pattern of failures across four areas:
Privacy violations
• Dec 2024: A cleaner opened a privacy-stickered cabinet, reportedly while searching for a plunger. The sticker exists precisely so that cleaners message me instead of entering.
• Jan 2026: Privacy tapes were torn in two separate rooms — the bathroom and the living room. Not sure why whom.
• May/Jun 2026: Privacy tape torn in 2 places. Cleaner opened my main closet, which had a privacy sticker on it, and used bedding there instead of the designated linens clearly labeled in the linen closet and in the instructions.
Access and security
• May/Jun 2026: Emergency access codes I shared with concierge team for a one-time situation were copied into the permanent access instructions for my home — without my knowledge — across multiple guest stays. I flagged this on Jun 1 and it was brushed off. On Jun 5, the next cleaning team tried to use the dead codes, couldn’t get in, and called me frantically while I had to manage the fallout remotely.
• When I raised this with support on Jun 1, I was told adding backup codes to permanent instructions was standard practice. That concerns me more than the individual incident.
• This is part of a broader pattern of access problems being pushed onto me rather than handled internally. In Nov 2024 and again in Jun 2026, I was called internationally while traveling because a cleaner couldn’t use the entry app. Both times, your concierge team contacted me without first verifying the credentials themselves. Both times, when they finally tried it themselves, it worked immediately. The entry app has never had an issue. The cleaner simply couldn’t use it correctly.
Careless handling and damage
• Dec 2024/Jan 2025: Perishable food left to grow mold in my fridge, damp towels left on chairs, items moved and not returned, vacuum left under the TV stand.
• Dec 2025/Jan 2026: Pillows damaged and found torn, an unfamiliar pillow left behind, wine glasses left sticky and stored incorrectly. A guest explicitly reported the home was not clean on arrival and that the headboard was loose — your concierge was notified mid-stay and nothing was rectified at checkout.
• Jun 2026: several items missing. Was told to hold 7 days before they can open a case. Then told me I need to report before the 7 day deadline. Completely unclear. So much hassle for prob 35 bucks of household items.
Feedback and investigation handling
• Dec 2024: Rather than using the manufacturing date on the moldy food to identify which guest’s stay it was from, your team emailed all guests across four back-to-back stays — unnecessarily implicating innocent guests and damaging guest relationships.
When I’ve raised these issues, the responses have been slow, fragmented, and focused on process over accountability. When issues were resolved at all, compensation came in the form of platform credits — which is meaningless when the host lost trust in the service entirely.
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Love the app but wish it was more accessible
I had nothing but amazing things to say about the app until I realized you could only stay as many nights as you rent. I understand the entire concept is about giving and getting, and also sharing your space with the community. However, my property has been listed for a long time with no requests to book. As eager, as I am to continue using the app, traveling, and building community, I’m limited because there are either to many people swapping homes in my area that mine is not getting traction, or because my apartment is simply not as desirable as others. It’s unfortunate that I am limited by that as I am getting no booking requests.
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Unreliable app that lets hosts cancel whenever they want
Got my stay in Amsterdam canceled a week before going there because my host apparently did not check if they could invite people to stay at their home with their landlord… their home is still listed on the app. Second cancelation for the same trip.
Guest Couple had sex on my bed and kindred won’t replace
$30006-months old bedframe broken and it won’t be reimbursed by kindred glass coverage
kindred made up a bogus reason not to replace because they wont accept a couple can’t break a bed during sex. Useless policy
kindred made up a bogus reason not to replace because they wont accept a couple can’t break a bed during sex. Useless policy
