Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Browse the questions we're most often asked in Support and in our Facebook group.


About People Like Us

Home exchange is a vacation accommodation solution where people swap their homes with other travellers without money changing hands. It allows families to stay in their exchange partner's home while the other party stays in theirs. Home exchange can be reciprocal (simultaneous or non-simultaneous) or non-reciprocal.

People Like Us is a site for you to exchange your home with other members for travel. When we travel, you and I stay in each other's homes rather than booking a hotel. We can travel at the same time or at different times and we also have a system of Globes which can be used if you want to stay at my home but I can't commit to coming to yours. It's easy, safe, economical, and you'll make friends for life.

Home exchange involves a free swap of homes between two parties, whereas renting a vacation home involves paying a rental fee. Home exchange offers a cost-effective and immersive way to experience different destinations.

The exchange itself is free, but to access all the benefits of home exchange, a yearly membership fee applies when joining People Like Us. https://peoplelikeus.world/premium

People Like Us is free to join and list your home. Members must subscribe to exchange. https://peoplelikeus.world/premium

People Like Us has a private Facebook group called People Like Us Home Exchange: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peoplelikeus.world. We use it to help our members communicate, get to know each other, advertise their homes and look for exchanges. The group is private so you can talk freely and your discussion cannot be seen outside the group.

No, it's not absolutely necessary, but you'll be missing out on one of the best parts of People Like Us. People Like Us is all about community, about sharing, talking to each other, communication. The PLU platform is used for direct messaging, enquiries and discussion of exchanges, but community discussion happens in our Facebook group. It's where the personality of our community really shines. All important communication is emailed via our Blog, and votes take place in both Facebook and on the platform.

We do! People Like Us has endorsed TrustPilot to collect independent reviews. These are from real members who have used the People Like Us platform. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/peoplelikeus.world

Home exchange at People Like Us is based on trust and reciprocity. Secure messaging, Identity, and phone verification, as well as open communication and clear expectations with potential partners, ensure safe exchanges.

No, our website is developed for mobile devices. It is the same web application on mobile and larger devices.

Yes, if both sides of the arrangement are members of People Like Us and both members have homes that are available for exchange. House-sitting is like a non-reciprocal exchange but with additional responsibilities for minding the house. Both the sitter and the host need to be Premium members and communicate via the site, just like for any other exchange. House sitting is not a formal arrangement with a People Like Us exchange. The host must be clear about the responsibilities required to mind the house, and the guest needs to agree to and accept those responsibilities for the full term of the exchange. People Like Us does not offer house-sitting where the sitter does not have a home available for exchange.

Yes, if both sides of the arrangement are members of People Like Us and both members have homes available for exchange. Pet-sitting is like a non-reciprocal exchange but with additional responsibilities for minding a pet. Both the sitter and the host need to be Premium members and communicate via the site, just like for any other exchange. Pet sitting is not a formal arrangement with a People Like Us exchange. The host must be clear about the responsibilities required to mind the pet, and the guest needs to agree to and accept those responsibilities for the full term of the exchange. People Like Us does not offer pet-sitting where the sitter does not have a home available for exchange.

My wife and I live in Sydney with our son and we love travel. In 2017, we were having a chat about what future life might look like after school. We want to travel overseas for three to six months at a time. We want to improve our language skills. The conversation inevitably got to how we'd afford that and we talked about home swapping to keep the costs down. We had an idea to set up our own community. We know a lot of people overseas and we thought it would be fun to run our own network. And so, the idea of People Like Us was born. The original idea was to have private communities but it turned out not as popular as our public community so that's what we focus on now. The site was launched on the 1st of April 2018 and, in a very short space of time, has grown into the world's friendliest community of home swappers. We're people who want to share, who love home exchange, who want to see what it's like to actually live in a destination. We're a mix of people who have loads of experience and complete newbies but we’re engaged and actively looking for our next swap even if that's two years away.