Couchsurfing Travel App

This has been by far the best App I have downloaded. It has enhanced my life and taught me things about the world and life itself. The people I meet seem to have very little expectations of a host and their travels other than experiencing someone and something new. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is or how it has helped me shift my consciousness to be grateful and just be in the moment. I’ve learned a lot from my guests and am just so thankful for all the experiences I have been lucky to share. I also love that I’ve been able to expose my children to a world and perspective outside of our own. The ONLY downside (and I caution all single women who host or travel) is hosting single men for safety reasons and or just plain overt sexual attempts. Please read reviews of single male guests and make sure they have at least 5. I had a couple of very uncomfortable experiences and now know to only accept men with at least 5 reviews. Other than that this App is amazing and my life is better for it.

We need a better alternative. I was forced to pay $3 every month to be able to use the application but that’s not the main problem. I largely enjoyed using the application because I met many people from all over the world who I have become friends with and had good experiences with. But the administrators of the application have a very poor management style. I once hosted a guy at my house who ended up causing many problems, including stealing my keys. I made sure to complain to the CS team about this, and provided videos. All they did was suspend his account for a week. There were also multiple instances of people using the application to sexually harass people including myself. The application allows anyone to block you for any reason and with no follow-up. That’s not what’s problematic. What’s problematic is that after taking your money, the team suspends your account if “too many people” block you. There are people with multiple accounts who have blocked me because they either wanted to cause trouble at my house or sexually harass me. It’s common for people to abuse the block function. But the CS team refused to investigate these blocks and just suspended my account with no details. I have invested in my account and built up over the years, and it’s sad to see how one can get victimized like that.

I’ve used the app 3 years ago and on my recent travel I decided to download it again. I was updating my profile & was prompted that I would have a higher chance of getting approved if I verified my account. They asked for a credit card to verify my account but did not indicate that a charge was to be made or how entering my cc details would result in a $60 charge! I entered my cc details thinking that it was just to verify that I am who I say I am regarding my name etc. Returning home from my holiday I received an email stating that I have been charged $60!!! I emailed their customer support stating my situation - I was unaware of the charge, amount, & ultimately being mislead. Jenny a customer service agent said they do not refund outside of the 7 day window (mind you I was only 2 days outside of the 7 day window) and asked for them to make an exception and she insisted that a refund cannot be processed. Very upsetting considering that I didn’t end up using the app. Terrible customer service! Absolutely Money hungry! *UPDATE* - stop responding to reviews advising them to contact customer service when you know very well your customer service agents will refuse to help out especially regarding any sort of refund. If you actually read my review you would see that I WANT A REFUND! & if you were genuine with helping me out you would provide a specific email and a claim number to ensure that I indeed get my refund!!

I’ve maintained a profile on Couchsurfing for a long, long time. Over 10 years now. I downloaded the app about 2 years ago and had great success on multiple trips, meeting hosts and offering students a place to stay. Excellent tools. I can’t find my “groups” on the app, though. My only glitch experience was with an essential verification in my profile, and as soon as I emailed the helpdesk, they fixed it. I wish there was a way to hyperlink phone calls to your main contact for accommodations. ( for safety ) but overall this has afforded me the best stays with new friends & introductions to new food. It’s unprecedented! I’ve always wanted to contribute to Couchsurfing, their expenses for me have been mailings, reviewing documents, and storing my profile & messages on their site. Processes that add to my reputability as a Couchsurfer! Totally worth an annual fee of $15! Thank you for giving us a way to give back.

Despite being relatively new to CouchSurfing, I love it & am wholly invested! It is a great experience as a host and as a traveler. The CouchSurfing app is essentially a good one. It works well most of the time. I appreciate how we can personalize information about our homes, add CS pictures to add credence to our profiles, give honest reviews of our guests & respond to feedback we have received. My primary complaint about the app is the size of the font is so small & the color of the font is so faint that it is difficult to see. Also, I wish there was a way to edit/add to a reference I’d written for someone. (I had written it before traveling with a girl I knew from work & learned quite a lot about her while CouchSurfing together. I would have written a more revealing review for others who plan to host/travel with her.) My final complaint is that I will often receive notifications for emails that do not appear in my inbox. I’m not sure whether I am ever able to recover those. Other than those small issues, I find the app very functional & it fully compliments/supports the CS website.

I think Couchsurfers deserve an app better than that. Can’t see groups on the app, neither verify my ID because the app always crashes. Plus in the beginning of the Pandemic, they locked me out of accessing my account for the sole purpose of paying money, imagine. Like there was literally any service that I had to pay for, even though because I like the idea and wanted to help the company, I paid $15 which was supposed to be for verification, but guess, they made it just a contribution and the worse thing is that it says it’s an annual contribution and they may charge me for the coming year too. Ok! Verified my account for $60 which I see that at some point they’ll take it away too with their poor management. They state “not set to expire soon” Lol, ok you can end it anytime I’m sure, I didn’t read the policy but it can also change without any prior consent or agreement. I’m not telling anybody to stay away tho, my message is for the developers and managers to respect their users. Couchsurfers deserve better than that. Good luck

I completely love Couchsurfing and especially the couchsurfing community, but more the time pass and worst the app and the concept become. Before it was no limit to request you can send, while now you have a limit of 10 which I can see a reason behind, but when your limited request get nullified by a not good system behind it kind of pisses me off as Couchsurfing born to help travelers and people that can give it back, I will explain the issue : after I send a request to a person which had availability on the calendar before sending the request ( host can lock days when they can't host) the system came up with a message saying "the couch is not available" which is ok if wouldn't take out my opportunity to send another request as it was already unavailable. I don't know if is a software issue or what, but unlike when it started as no profit, community based program, nowadays it is becoming a not well supported app. Love the idea, love the community, love the people I met through Couchsurfing, I just wish the development could keep up with the awesomeness that Couchsurfing Vison is.

Couchsurfing can be a life changing app. It’s all in how you use it. CS has helped me travel, meet new people, have new experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise had, and open my mind and heart even more to our big, big world. Most recently, I’ve surfed with hosts in Paris, Barcelona, and Lisbon, but I’ve also surfed in Latin America and East Asia too. I have also hosted a few times in the past, but I intend to host a lot more in the near future when I get back from my 2 month backpacking journey in Europe this summer. I want to give back more and be more involved in my local CA community (New Orleans). All positives being stated, I would like to encourage new users to do the following (and trust me, you’ll have much better experiences for it): read more about ethos and ethics of CSing, read your potential hosts’ profiles, personalize your messages and requests whe surfing, go to CS events in cities you’re traveling in or especially in your hometown, if you’re hosting, make clear your house rules (but also be semi-flexible), communicate very clearly with guests your expectations and/or if you can or can’t hang out while they’re visiting your home(town), be fun, be open, be interesting and be interested :-) Thanks for everything CS and I’ll do my part even more when I get back home!

This is such a solid way to travel and form lasting friendships and bonds and travel way farther than you could of by not having to pay for a place to stay. Because of the references left you can tell if a person meets your level of safety to stay with. When traveling with kids I make sure someone I stay with has around 200 references and of course no negative ones! And same with those who come stay with. Have been on so many adventures and had so many great conversations and learned so much from people on the website! Very solid, very safe! I would recommend to use this site to make friends and travel buddies and have local guides where ever you go! I would fee safe with my kids using this website when they are older for their travels!!

I made an account on month ago to provide a reference for a friend who was on the verge of homelessness. Upon visiting the website I was asked to “donate” a certain amount of money to even be able to access the site. This red flag should have dissuaded me from even registering, but I wanted to make sure I could help my friend however I could. I “donated” (paywall) thinking that was all, and promptly finished setting up my account. Fast forward one month later I see another charge from Couchsurfing. I never authorized this transaction, and emailed support asking for a refund and to remove me from any kind of automatic payment system I may unknowingly be on. Instead I get a response stating no refunds will be issued. They ambiguously worded the entire “donation” protocol and never explicitly state that the “donation” will be a recurring fee. I don’t even use the app, I just had to write something for a friend. Congratulations, the measly $2.39 you guys refused to refund after effectively stealing it from me is now a chargeback and a report to the Better Business Bureau and FTC.

I have used this app for 11 months now. I have hosted more than 35 Couchsurfers in this period. Out of nowhere yesterday, I got a notification saying my account is temporarily suspended. I have not shared my number or social media in my profile publicly. I have never used profanity in any interactions. I have only provided my contact number to Couchsurfers whom I was hosting or shared it in comments of the events that I host. After building a profile for this long, I think all my effort might be in vain. I have seen many users with their social media info and links in their bio and somehow that is fine in this very platform. I am government ID and phone number verified but have not paid the fee to use the app. I am not sure if random occasional temporary suspension is a perk to becoming a free user. If any such bias exists, it should be mentioned in the terms of use. Pretty disheartened to have this experience without doing anything wrong. I am sure many others might have had the same experience so just wanted to write a review.

I love Couchsurfing. I love the idea and the community on there. There have been changes on the app/website/technology side and it went from being 100% free to requiring $2/mo now I believe. But it’s still worth it. The app works well and it’s well designed. There are some quirks and issues here and there, like getting a feedback email for a surfer even when you declined a surfing request, but while I hope they can fix those issues, I still the overall app and experience is great. It’s not just about a free accommodations while traveling, but the connections you make and the opportunity to really get to know a place from those who live there. On the flip side, I’m new to hosting, had an amazing experience, and look forward to many more!

I have been on CS for 6 years already and have found it to be the best travel app I have. Support is quick to respond when emailed, they truly care about the community. There are lots of safety measures taken to ensure everyone is safe abroad and while meeting new people. I’ve had very positive experiences with my 25 people I’ve met, been hosted by and hosted myself. I think here’s where you need to use your own judgment of someone if they have zero references, be smart about it— make sure they understand CS well. I personally have met amazing people on this app and even friends that I’ve had for a couple of years now. Lifelong type of friendship. I highly encourage this app, paying to be verified is worth it by the way and also the yearly fee too. It’s a beautiful community.

I don’t understand why some of reviews are less than 5 stars just to communicate feature requests or enhancements. It is all about —value— here. This app is a life changer. There is no better way to meet people and develop a close personal connection quickly, with people you want to meet and stay connected to forever. You don’t have to be an active traveler, host’er or surfer to to do this. Just correspond with people who grab your interest that are close by and invite them for coffee or use the “Hang Out” feature. Totally rewarding. Hosting and surfing are priceless means to expand a limited understanding of cultures around the world. How cool is that??

I am not super pleased with this app. They make you pay for a membership before you can even access anything on the app, but then you go into the app to search for hosts and there are hardly any who are still active. It tells you when each user was last active, and most of them haven’t been active for 6 months or more— a lot of them haven’t been active for 2 years. Most similar apps that you have to pay for (WorldPackers, Au Pair Match, Trusted House Sitters, etc.) at least let you into the site first to see what you’re paying for. It seems like they are intentionally keeping you out of the app until you pay so that they get your money. It was only $14, so not a huge deal, but I’m frustrated and feel duped. I didn’t like the idea of paying before seeing what was actually offered on the app, but it was either that or not get the app at all. Now I kind of wish I had gone with the latter.

This app has been a lifesaver when traveling, helping me connect and make friends with people in this world I otherwise would have never came into contact with. The events page is great and is utilized quite a bit where I live, however some debugging needs to happen. Namely, the event disappears before the event would be over, so you have to make your event end the following day, which can be (and has been) confusing for out-of-towners. Also, currently it’s not possible to add a cover photo to the event. The last bug I notice and need to mention is the search engine for members. If I search for a particular member in a region, they almost never show up. Instead, random members show up in the search. Fix these bugs, and I’d be more than happy to re-rate this app to 5 stars! :-)

I looooove couchsurfing. It's changed my life and I'm so grateful for this app and what the connections it assists in creating. Howevvvveerrr... Technically some things need work. For example, sometimes I get notifications and sometimes I don't, making it difficult to correspond with surfers/hosts. Also, unless I accept/decline a couchsurfing request, I cannot send a message back to a person, even if the request has expired and I didn't have a chance to accept or decline.. I cannot send any messages at all!! Very stressful, as I would wish to reach out to some people I didn't have a chance to respond to in time. I also do not understand the point of paying for "verification," but luckily not being verified has not negatively impacted me yet. Also through the app the age range when looking for hosts is a very weird gap, it would be great to be able to put in ages yourself.

I love Couchsurf! I really like the idea of it and it is a perfect tool for travelers to find a place to stay, and people to hang out with. It's also fun hosting people, helping out where you can, and learning from people all across the world. My one complaint is, please bring back verification via hosting. I really enjoy helping out travelers, but not for $60. I'm not going to pay that much money for people to come stay with me. I think you should be able to earn "verified" status through other ways, such as staying active and actually hosting people. It's makes it difficult for us generous hosters. Please fix this Couchsurf, it's not fair. Thank you,

I like the idea very much, and I’ve hosted some amazing people but the majority of requests now are from people who arrive very late, just want a place to crash and shower and takeoff the next day early morning. They don’t want to interact or spend time with the host. This usually affects hosts who live in a somewhat smaller town that happens to just be in the way of the couchsurfer and they have no option but to stay there. Couchsurf needs to add a feature or disclaimer, or something in the way we rate others asking if that person understands the spirit of couchsurfing or wants to use the app for the sole reason of saving money. Definitely saving money is a big motive but it shouldn’t be the only one, otherwise you feel you’re being taken advantage of rather being thanked.

I have been enjoying this app. It’s been the best so far and really appreciate all that the developers have done. Few minor issues is that a lot of us don’t get notifications. I thought it was just an unimportant bug until it affected me in a recent trip, where I reach out to a lot of people and they don’t see my messages. This also has happened to me a lot recently where people reach out to me and I don’t get any notifications. And it seems to be happening to a lot of the users. I checked my settings to confirm it’s all set to receive notifications. Kindly fix this bug in your next update. Thank you very much once again!

CS used to be an amazing community, but now it is just the shell of a company that has been gutted by greed. If you had an account prior to the recent changes, then you aren’t even allowed to access your own photos and data without paying a ransom, which unless they respond to my email in the next 18 days, is going to result in a violation of GDPR. As much as these corporate frat bros might not like to admit it, they don’t have a copyright on the concept of hospitality. Plenty of other apps do the same thing, and will gladly take all of the previous members of this community who cannot get their data and leave soon enough. Instead of acknowledging that they screwed up, this company has made every attempt to deny and distract, but I for one am leaving, and I hope their soulless money grabbing adventure fails miserably. Try TrustRoots or BeWelcome, or literally anything else, because this app is garbage.

CouchSurfing and its community is what the World needs more of!! I started 10 years ago and it changed my life. Now about the app: The good: The app keeps getting better. Features are really useful. I love that you can read the communication history after joining a Hangout chat. The bad: Bugs with notifications, I get notified sometimes hours after messages are sent. The messaging in Hangouts feature is quite slow, people quickly move to WhatsApp. I wish the feature "people traveling to your city" would also be in the app, and not only on the website.

I had a Couchsurfing subscription for 1 year. Before my account was set to renew, I cancelled it. However, they charged me anyway. The kicker is my account still says I have a free account and says that I shouldn’t have been charged. I was charged and don’t even have access to the service. To make matters worse, I reached out to the company thinking they could provide me with some clarity on why they charged me. They can’t even find the charge in their system. They keep telling me to reach out to PayPal and Apple. The charge was on my CREDIT CARD, not via PayPal or Apple. They don’t even know how their own system works. Extremely disappointed in Couchsurfing and I’ve lost all faith in their company and app. Whatever you do, do NOT give them any credit card information. This company steals money from the people it claims to “help.”

The platform lends itself to being mixed between desktop and mobile usage so it's great that the dual functionality works out. I like to send out my mass requests/write feedback on the desktop and do everything else on the mobile app so it's a very convenient split! There are a couple of features that seem unique to the mobile app which seems like poor cross-platform UX design (i.e. availability calendar) but aside from that, the app works very well and provides access to the most necessary information.

I LOVE couchsurfing. It’s truly the best way to travel if you want to see the world like a local and make friends. Especially perfect for students and budget travelers. I’ve loved getting to know my hosts, see their favorite spots in their cities, and get small glimpses of the ways other people live. The app is great and easy to use, and I love that you can choose or start a “hangout” to find activities or people nearby. My only complaint is it doesn’t give access to “groups” from the app. I would like to be able to access to group pages so I can see what others have posted or info on group pages. Besides that, great app and an amazing resource for travelers.

I am personally a person who dread’s the cliché travel experience and this is where Couchsurfing comes to the rescue! If you want to discover a country’s gems, it’s more satisfying to look from a local’s eye. Not only do you find out about the country’s secrets but you also get to enjoy the lifestyle of any country’s population. The purpose of this app is a win-win for hosts and for surfers if not for the whole global society. The only Remark I have to give is the technical issues I faced while dealing with the app. Other than that I applaud the creators of this app for giving people a way to scope the world without the pain of spending loads of money and seeing the bare minimum.

I’ve used Couchsurfing for years. The app has always left something to be desired (there are unfixed bugs that have been around since 2018). I’ve had “verified” status because I host often. However, there’s been a pandemic for a year so I obviously haven’t hosted since the last week of February 2020. As soon as February 2021 hit, I could not login. Or rather, when I logged in all that I could see & interact with was a screen saying that I needed to pay a monthly or yearly fee. Couldn’t access my messages, my profile, or anything else on the app. If that wasn’t hostile enough, when I then paid their ransomware fee, I was then greeted by ads. Ads. What? Didn’t even know the app had ads because in my 4+ years of using it I’d never seen not a one. Apparently a free verified user can go ad-free, but a *paid* user still sees ads?! And not just little banners at the bottom or top of the screen either. They’re everywhere. So much so that it breaks the UI of the app wherever they appear (which, again, is everywhere). This is a poorly-coded sorry excuse for an app that is excessively user-hostile and hasn’t been updated significantly in years. It isn’t worth your money.

First off, this used to be about community and was a free app. Then they introduced a pay wall of 1.99/month, justifying it by saying ‘Covid was really hard.’ Now they’re charging 2.99/month, and this number will almost certainly go up. Whoever bought the app is now using the community for profit… 2ndly I have had fewer and fewer ‘good’ encounters, which has led to me no longer using the app… about 1 out of every 10 people I meet on here is someone who’s like me, and I’m happy to meet. About 7/10 encounters are men who are using this app for hookups… and then 2/10 people on here are just plain weird and ask you to join their nudist household… this app is not what it used to be, shame to say it, but Couchsurfing died years ago.

The app leaves a lot to be desired. Aside from the navigation being less than intuitive, services like verify you number returns a text over 2 hours later to my phone. I have to verify through the web interface. The ID scanner is completely non functional. But I am also aware that in the spirit of this community most of the development is probably donated. So I would just like to point out the critical verification services that should be looked into to better assist members, and should you need an experience audit or review I would be most willing to donate my time.

I love what the CS community stands for. The app is great too. I have been seeing some issues with the app and the web browser. For the web browser: for some reason I cannot search for other travelers on the web. It’s gives me an error msg and goes to a blank page. But the functionality works fine from the mobile app. And another issue I have seeing is with the phone # verification. I paid to be verified, but the phone verification functionality doesn’t seem to work. I have tried giving my number using different browser/app but don’t seem to receive the sms back.

ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE I’ve been direct drafted $2.99 per month for over a year and they won’t stop, won’t cancel, after being contacted half a dozen times. I’ve provided bank statements and a note from my bank for them to quit. Can’t cancel on the app because it never let me create an account and says I can’t create one without, you guessed it, payment info! The first person I reached replied once then never again. I’ve reached out half a dozen times. Can’t rate functionality, never been able to use it! My only option to stop the monthly charge is to cancel my bank account. So sad, I consistently saw and heard it was great, safe and easy for years up UNTIL they started charging. DO BETTER couchsurfing, the community needs this to work!

I paid $60 for an app I never used to get verified. You still have to pay $1.99 a month to use the app but, I mistakenly thought the $60 would cover an app that used to be free. I emailed about my confusion (since they do not have a phone number) and asked if I could possibly get a refund of the verification fee that is optional so I could use it to pay the mandatory $1.99 monthly fee. I got a generic response back explaining the difference between the two while my refund request went unanswered. I emailed again only to never receive a response. I don’t like that I can give money to a company I can’t even contact via the phone and I can’t get a response on the one form of contact they offer. Just use AirBnb.

I’ve always enjoyed using Couchsurfing, the experiences with others around the world have been phenomenal. Overall, the system for setting up and reviewing couchsurfs is solid and I have nothing to add. I had an issue a few years ago purchasing verification, but it not applying, so I purchased directly from the site in hopes to fix it, which caused a bunch of customer support issues that didn’t get resolved, but years later I purchased it again and had no issues. I would like to say that CS is aiming to lower verification prices, and I hope they don’t lower it too much, it would be a shame to lower the barrier for entry, which can cause logistical from for those less committed to following through with a hosting. I recommend some kind of badging system to encourage people to use the group and event features more. Anything to make the community more tight-knit and active will help grow the community organically.

With Couchsurfing you are never far from a friendly face or someone who will welcome you into their home. The human race becomes your family and the world your playground. The couch surfing app has been really great, I’ve been able to effortlessly connect with people while traveling abroad. Thank you so much for creating such an awesome online space that enables people to connect in the real world. My time here has strengthened my faith in humanity outside of structured belief systems and allowed me to experience the freedom that is global community.

Great app and service with one caveat: there are soooo many dead accounts or people who haven’t logged in in 10+ years, who never respond, etc. If those were cleaned up it would be an amazing app and would get my full 5 stars. As is it takes a lot of effort to sort through inactive users and find the ones who are actually hosting. When I was on my road-trip with limited internet time that was a huge problem. I hope the accounts get cleaned up somehow so that the app becomes more usable. It’s a wonderful service and I’d love for the Couchsurfing community to thrive using it.

I’ve been a longtime user of Couchsurfing. I’ve loved hosting tons of people and surfing as well. I’ve really enjoyed the community and have over 50 references. However...I’ve got to say I’m pretty frustrated with being asked to “donate” again this year. I budged last year during Covid and paid the yearly membership. Now it seems like this is continuing with no warning. Also this organization is not a non-profit. It’s also extremely frustrating that if you block someone, they can still view your profile photo and location. That doesn’t seem very private or safe at all. I will no longer be using this site anymore, which is a huge bummer.

I have been a member of CS since 2008 (way back before the apps were really a thing) and I can't begin to explain what a wonderful idea this online community is or the impact it's had. It has lead to some of the best experiences I've had and those were just hosting travelers not even traveling myself. The app makes it so much easier to keep up with couch requests and to make sure that you can efficiently respond to them all. Now that I have access to the app I will be much more active in the community.

So the whole point of this app is to connect with people right? Also it’s to crash with people all over the world and plan trips and excursions with your hosts. So why am i getting notifications 24hrs AFTER THE FACT!? I had an issue with one host because they were waiting for my response on a hosting opportunity and come to find out I had received her message the day before but only got the notification the following day. Doesn’t even show up in my email in real time. I would highly suggest that you guys check in with your app as often as possible if you plan on traveling or meeting up with someone because you might be missing messages.

They are blaming covid-19 for their bad business decisions since making couch surfing for profit, they now suddenly locked me out of my 10+ year account unless I pay to support them. Couchsurfing are already making money because people like me open my home to travelers for free! What should I them pay for exactly? You didn’t listen to us when we complained about the beautiful community you destroyed. Taking away the community aspect out of the couchsurfing community, no more groups, or city events, you enforced limits of how many messages can be sent, spammed us with ads and exposed the community to people just wanting a free place crash to instead of true travelers.. I will not support this kind of greedy attitude.

This is a wonderful app that has connected me to numerous similarly-minded travelers across the world. Really one of the only things in life that doesn’t seem to revolve around money. It’s just experience—people engaging with one another over their passions for travel and human connection. It allows travelers to see the world through the locals’ eyes. It fosters the formation of global friendships and unforgettable experiences. I have used this app in my home country and abroad and will never consider hotels to be my first housing option again.

When the app was free it was great in terms of use. I never couchsurfed but I met many great people are kind the word using the meet ups and events. Now that you have to pay, it’s not worth it. The app has a TON OF BUGS. It constantly lagged and collapsed. I had problems with viewing messages and not receiving notifications until a day later. The app has so much potential and if I knew the team was working on solving the issues and improving the app, then I would consider paying once I’m able to travel again. I’ve brought these issues up before and at least a few months ago they were still big problems and have been for years.

Haven’t been active on here for years, all of a sudden I get two random emails asking me to resume making contributions - which I’ve never made any to begin with. So I login online and can’t even see my account info, my profile, my reviews, etc. So I download the app thinking most companies invest in their app vs website so it must be better. But no, I am only show a splash screen asking for payment. Alternatively I can also see an option to delete my account. And that is all….How can you ask people to pay for something without previewing it? How can you not show users their content they have already invested in adding? Interesting product choices.

The app had a peak, that peak was in 2019. it was useful especially when it came to meeting people. But now in this post-COVID era, there are other alternatives available. Hotels in certain countries are cheap to the point that having to beg someone to let you stay at their joint for a few days TOPS has become more of an inconvenience. Constant rejections or last minute cancellations, you name it. As far as encounters, apps like meetup and even non-encounter specific apps like HelloTalk might actually be more useful than this app now. It is unfortunately really, the service was much more useful before slapping this $3/month fee that swears is going to solve their problems even though people have probably moved on because of it. I justified the fee once or twice until July 2022 because it made sense. Now in 2023 when tourism is higher than its even better, I see no reason for them to keeps charging people for a once free service when the hassle of the past are still there and as I digress, there are better alternatives now where paying is an option.

When i woke up, i saw an email says if you want to use app, you have to pay montly pr annual payment. I use this platform from 2008 until now and i have really good friends from here. But i am saying goodbye for a while i hope. I understood the hard times but the application is used for travels, meeting and events... When we have to stay at home, why i have to pay something for I don't use. And also this application is mostly use time to time not always. Donations have to be people's choice... So this makes no sense! and i am going to delete until that changes. I hope everything will be ok soon for you too!

I used this app the first time in 2015 to find a friendly place to stay on my first trip down under. I was scared on traveling so far away. In this CS app, I found community and yes, free place to stay. This helped me stay safely, lower cost if my trip and since then, i am paying it forward by hosting others and making new friends all over the world. I even contribute now monthly to support this app and this CS community.

I stopped using Airbnb after learning about this app! There are so many pros I’ve come across with this app: You get to meet some amazing people, you get a place to stay for free (and hotels are one of the biggest expenditures while traveling), & you get a “hangout” option on the app to meet up with locals so they can show you around. I wish I could say I use this a frequently as I would like, but the dozens of times I have (both as a traveler & as a host), it’s been nothing short of a life-saver for my wallet & an opportunity to meet a diverse group of people.

It’s unfortunate the way they are now doing “business “. If they don’t change this donation thing, it will continue to go down. I’m not saying not to ask for donations but manage it better. If someone is going backpacking and will be actively traveling and sending requests then do ask for a mandatory “donation” but if someone is just at home and would normally host people every now and then but now have to pay on top of that? Makes no sense. If I decide to pay now I’m sure that my options to stay at peoples places are way way less than before because of all the people that decided not to pay while at home and not traveling. Do something!!

My yearly renewal $payment just went through literally a week ago and I log on today to respond to a Couchsurfing request and they won’t even let me in to my account unless I immediately pay MORE money. I don’t use the app because it’s glitchy and I couldn’t see messages, so I use the website. This Couchsurfing app is on the way out. They sold out to corporate greed and ignored the members and people wanting to help make them great. If you want to know what happened, there’s this great article on “bootsnall “. Lost Roots: The Failure of For-Profit Couchsurfing. I will most likely be deactivating my account as soon as I am enabled to sign back in. I have been a member for probably six years.

I love the concept of Couchsurfing but the app could have some more options like making it easier to creat groups and trip and comment, pm more easily. Also the message section has some issues with sending texts two times or not deleting the text from the text box after it’s sent. Also, it could be easier viewing the profile pictures and not getting kicked out all the time. But still a great app that would be even more awesome with some added functions.

The only reason I am giving this app 4 instead of 5 stars is because I am trying to upload photos of the rooms I am offering to the guests and it’s either loading FOREVER (but never posting it ) or simply not uploading at all ! I even deleted some of my personal profile pictures , as I thought space was an issue , but that DID NOT help at all !! It would be great for you guys to fix that problem so I can post more photos and let couch surfers see what I have to offer as far as room .