We’ve done one housesit through Nomador. You used to get three free contacts. The sit was in Costa Rica, but she was Belgian I think.
I was looking for something specific (Costa Rica) so looked at Nomador, housecarers and mind my house as well as THS. I haven’t joined any others
You have many more french sitters on that site, but the system is fairly différent. You can subscribe for free (then you are limited) or for 3 months only, it’s then very cheap, or for a whole year (less expensive than THS)
You can test and then subscribe
Major CRITIC : all comments (reviews and feedbacks) can be deleted if owners or sitters don’t like them. Where is honesty? If you don’t pay you can’t read backgrounds…
French criminal record can be added by french members (delivered by ministery of justice only to the people who are concerned, or by french administration, nobody else is allowed to ask that, it’s illegal, huge diffetence with US)
French houses are less appealing, sum ups are very short, a few icons mean if you are tidy, animal lover etc.
And there is no way ti call anybody, only mails which are answered late. A problem in case of emergency.
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HouseSitMatch often has listings in France
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Also, many sitters are not aware of housesitsearch dot com – it’s an aggregation site, kind of the Expedia of housesitting, where you can search across multiple sites.
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I love housesitsearch and use it on a regular basis but you need to be aware that the sits can be a day old by the time they get on the site. So sits in popular places can already be taken. And there are some platforms that are not covered by them.
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Thanks for the topic! It’s a great time to consider and look at other house sitting options other than THS!
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I use several sites to increase my chances of getting a sit. A site I’ve often used and have done for some years is Mindahome but there annual fee is a staggering $59pa. Not sure if that’s worth it as I get my most of my sits by repeats or referrals.
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Well that’s hardly staggering and a lot cheaper than THS. Just think how much you save in accommodation costs though!
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I guess I can only compare with the fact I only pay a basic membership as there is no way I can afford the full rate.
Are you in Australia also?
I am a HO and have been a member of Mind My House for as long as I have been a member of TH (can’t remember how long, but more or less since the beginning). I am also a member of Housesitters UK. Every one of our sitters have been from MMH, apart from one from HS UK. As i am a huge communicator I am happy to discuss anything that is not included in a sitter’s profile so the lack of detail does not bother me too much, and I always would want to see some sort of checks from the Sitters anyway. Having said that, I do like the extra checks that TH do on my behalf, and would like to get more applications via here, but that’s the way it is!
I find MMH to be generally quite good, and though I get quite a lot of applications that I have to turn down that is no problem. Better than no applications at all! But I also feel a bit more secure with TH that sitters have had to pay quite a large sum to join - it makes me feel as if they must be serious about what they are doing.
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Interesting topic and am learning quite a bit
When we first signed up as sitters a couple of years ago, we tried 4 platforms; THS, Mindmyhouse, Housecarers and Nomador. I just wanted to get familiar with them and get a feel for the whole system. Sadly, covid then hit and the sits I tried to get, I only got a couple, both through THS.
Eventually I had to pick one as we weren’t going to keep paying for 4 memberships. We wanted international sits and were based in the US (currently now in France for a year). Of the 4 we went with THS bc of the size of the membership, so it was a numbers thing, and the sits I did get were THS so those were my only reviews.
Bc we are in France for a year I rejoined Nomador for 3 months but I cannot stand their site. It’s cluttered and lacking information, photos, details. I’m stunned at how little information HO’s post and sometimes zero photos! Plus you can’t tell if there’s anything new. I did apply for about 5 sits on Nomador (no way to know how many others applied as well) and either heard nothing back or was turned down. (we have no reviews on there so that doesn’t help though I explained I could send all my 5 star reviews from THS)
I wish we could switch to another site now that THS has this new ID check requiring our SS number ONLY for sitters and ONLY for US based members. Very frustrating.
Am not all that interested in sits in the UK (no offense to anyone) and THS has a disproportionate number of sits there (bc that’s where it started, I understand) so we are on the fence of what to do. Just had the most awesome sit in France through THS.
I’m leery of starting over and paying more memberships for nothing. Interested in Europe (other than UK), US, Central and S America - so hard to decide which site is best.
But I think I’ll check some of the others out again.
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Interesting information. Thank you 
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Liz,
is Housesitmatch predominantly a UK site like THS? Am trying to find one that is mostly US and EU continental (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, etc) and then Central and S America combined. UK is fine but I don’t want a site that seems dominated by UK sits.
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HouseSitMatch is small, but good. They mainly have UK, France and Spain, although I have seen North America and some Mediterranean countries in there, though rarely. I am pretty sure you can browse what they have without joining. They often have discounts to join. (I have just had a quick look and it does seem to have a lot of UK at the moment, but there are times when UK sits are in the minority. Hope this helps :-). [Nomador has a lot of France]
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Yes I am Smiley.
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I have been a member of THS for about a year. THS seem to have a very active membership from both Home Owners & Pet Sitters.
However I suspect that there are also quite a number of UK Pet Sit Posts that are not taken up.
Do THS Admin have any stats on the numbers of Sits advertised & the number that go unfilled?
I was interested to hear about the other Pet & House Sitting Sites available, as I do find THS Fees expensive.
Please, please THS do not increase your fees.
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You are a nomad, a “professional” sitter who seeks sits all year round, it’s different for members who travel and sit less often.
How many nomads among ths members ? You found me too curious when i ask this kind of questions…
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A lot more than are in this forum. “Nomads” or travelers with no fixed or permanent home have been around since before cave graffiti.
It’s interesting how a word or a label can sway a person’s perspective.
Many people travel all the time for paid employment and they enjoy it. I was a travel nurse for 19 of my 28 year career.
Many thought that was odd. I loved it.
We, I feel safe to say, enjoy the diversity found in travel.
Home and pet sitting full time for me is very natural and exciting. I love it.
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We have been full-time nomads for 6 years and house sitters for 4 years. We love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.
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