How Much Does Home Swapping Cost?

Home swapping vacations are both extremely affordable and ever-growing in popularity. Not only is a home exchange an affordable way to travel, but the convenience and trust home swapping with Kindred brings allow for stress free stays – from both the host and guest side of things.

In this article, we’re going to dive into how much home swapping really costs. We’re all too aware of the hidden fees that tend to creep up on other rental platforms. Just know that with Kindred, hidden fees will never be the case.

Let’s get into it.

It's affordable

Home swapping on Kindred was created to make traveling easier, safer, and more affordable. Members only pay for a cleaning and service fee per trip.

Here’s an example of how the cost would break down for a seven-night trip on Kindred: 

• The cost to rent: $0/night
• The cleaning fee for the whole stay: $250
• The service fee per night: $35 

Meaning your seven night stay comes out to $460. Compare that to traditional hotel or vacation rentals and you’re saving almost 80% by swapping vs shopping. Prices like these offer our members more flexibility for where and when they want to travel.

Other perks and benefits with a Kindred membership include: 

• $100,000 host protection coverage is included with every stay.
• We understand home stays in general can come with added costs like extra towels, linens, etc. That’s why we offer a complimentary host kit with those items so that you don’t need to use your own linens or lockboxes for guests in your home. 
• We also offer guests a dedicated concierge team member providing 24 hour member support.

The Kindred Passport ($600 a year) is another great option for members looking to travel more than a couple times a year. You’ll enjoy a $0 service fee on an unlimited number of trips for one year, saving upwards of thousands of dollars in travel expenses. 

So how does a home exchange actually work? 

Kindred is a give-to-get network where members are both guests and hosts. Meaning everyone has a stake in the game. Because of the way that our system works, trips do not have to be reciprocal 1-for-1 swaps, meaning they do not have to include two members staying in each others’ homes at the exact same time. Our “give a night to get a night” policy allows members to host others while away and bank those nights to use them at a later date. 

Currently, we have a credit based system that represents “earned nights” that a member can spend to stay in a Kindred home. Members who host others earn credits that they can then use to book a stay at a different member’s home at a later time. Essentially, you must contribute to the community to also benefit from it. 

The current breakdown is 1 credit = 1 night at any home, anywhere in the world. Credits have no assigned monetary value and cannot be purchased or sold. There is actually no way to purchase nights within our system. 

Other ways to earn credits include: 

• Newly accepted members unlock several starting credits upon completing their profile.
• Members can also earn credits by referring friends who are accepted into the community.

How does Kindred make money?

We understand if all of this sounds too good to be true. If credits hold no monetary value, and membership is free, how does Kindred make money? 

Kindred’s margin comes from member service fees and Passport purchases. We use these funds to cover the costs of our service, including Host Protection, customer service, identity verification, host kit, and more. What’s left after that is taken as a margin and reinvested into the company.

We don't make a profit margin on cleaning fees. We also don't make money from the sale of data—we'll never sell any of your personal data to advertisers or third parties.