If you are a pet owner who struggles with the guilt and high cost of traditional boarding, finding a reliable alternative is a game-changer. In this review, we are sharing our honest, firsthand experience using TrustedHousesitters to find a live-in sitter for our dog. Handing over your keys and your furry family member to a stranger can feel daunting, but the promise of free, loving care in your own home is incredibly appealing. From navigating the platform’s verification process to communicating with applicants, here is our breakdown of how the service works, our personal dog-sitting experience, and whether it is truly worth the annual fee.
Regular reader of my blog know how much our family loves travelling and that our dog is almost always right by our side. We’ve crossed over to France with him several times using the ferry and the Eurotunnel, and he joins us on all our UK adventures. However, when we planned a week-long holiday to Spain last year, we decided it would be much more comfortable for him to stay at home. While searching for the best overnight pet care options, we stumbled across Trusted House Sitters website. It directly attracted my attention as I was looking for an option where Skye would stay at home, in the environment he knows.
Read our review of using the ferry or Eurotunnel with a dog here.
What is Trusted House Sitters website?
TrustedHousesitters is an international online platform that connects pet owners with a global community of verified, care-oriented sitters. The website serves as a matchmaking network for travel and pet care, allowing owners to find dedicated individuals who will live in their homes and care for their pets, while giving sitters the opportunity to stay in unique locations worldwide. This is not just for dogs or cats sitting but for any pets you might have even big pets like horses.
Find more information on Trusted House Sitters website
How does Trusted House Sitters work?
The process is built entirely on a system of mutual trust and exchange. As a pet owner, you create a detailed profile showcasing your home, your location, and your dog’s personality and routine. When you plan a trip, you list your specific travel dates to the community board. Interested sitters from around the world can then apply for your listing. From there, you review their profiles, read reviews from previous owners, and chat with candidates to find the perfect match. Once confirmed, the sitter moves into your home for the duration of your holiday, keeping your pet safe and happy in their own environment.
From the sitter’s side, the journey is just as straightforward. Animal lovers looking to travel browse the global directory to find listings that match their destination goals and preferred dates. To apply, sitters must first complete identity verifications and upload references to build trust. When they find a home they like, they apply directly, share their experience, and chat with the owner. Once selected, they get to stay in the home for free in exchange for providing dedicated, loving care to the pets.
How much does Trusted House Sitters membership cost?
TrustedHousesitters operates on a annual subscription model rather than a per-night fee. Both owners and sitters pay a flat yearly membership fee to access the network and message other members. There are three tiers of membership available each offering different levels of perks, such as insurance coverage or video calls with vets. Crucially, once you pay your annual fee, no money ever changes hands between the owner and the sitter, making all individual sits completely free. You also pay for the entire household and not per pet. As at August 2026 prices were between £119 and £249 per year for pet owners, between £99 and £199 for sitters and between £179 and £329 for a combined membership.
Our experience using Trusted House Sitters:
We have used the platform twice now: first for our holiday near Benidorm in 2025, and again this past June for our holiday in Lanzarote. Both times, we actually used the exact same lovely couple to take care of Skye.
I found the website incredibly easy to use from the very start. After a few simple steps to set up our profile, Skye’s profile, and our listing, we just let the website do the rest. Within a couple of days, we received about 10 applications. We decided to have a video call with the first couple, and we could instantly tell they would take amazing care of him, so locking in the dates was effortless.
Read about our holiday in Benidorm and Lanzarote here.
Our sitters arrived the night before we left to get used to the house and bond with Skye, and everything went beautifully. They sent regular updates with photos, and when we returned, Skye was thrilled to see us but completely unbothered by our absence. We kept in touch, and this year we messaged them directly to arrange the sit. We still booked it through the platform to make sure we were covered by their insurance policies.
When the sitters arrived this second time, Skye recognised them immediately and was so happy. Once again, we came home to a happy, and slightly fatter, dog! He definitely got more treats than usual.
Leaving for holiday was stress-free knowing someone was looking after our home and that Skye got to stay in his own familiar environment. For us, this is hands-down the best option. I think the only people who might not like it are those who feel uncomfortable having strangers in their house while they’re away, but that doesn’t bother us at all. Honestly, that’s the only real hurdle I can think of, except perhaps that last-minute or very short requests might be harder to fill.
Our sitters also enjoy this experience as they have travelled around UK for the past 2 years for just the annual membership price and have enjoyed time with the animals without all the stress of owning them. They have been very busy last year and this year with a lot of people like us, asking them to come back and they told us that they are going to keep doing this.
Final Thoughts:
Join the Conversation
Have you used Trusted house sitters or another similar website to take care of your pets? Will you enjoy sitting other people’s pets?
Share your thoughts: Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think by leaving us a comment below!
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Trusted House Sitters sounds like a good scheme and I’m glad you (and Skye) were happy with your sitters. A pity you don’t live near me though, I could have taken care of Skye for you. I started my own little business, Paws & Claws Pet Sitters back in 2003, some pets come to me and some I live in at their own home and go to work from there instead of from here. I haven’t done as much since getting Snowy though as she doesn’t like other dogs! I’m currently looking after my boss’s three cats but he only lives just up the road so I only need to pop up each day.
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Oh that is a shame indeed that we don’t live close. We found it very good for us as like that he stays at home and there is always someone with him in the house.
Do you enjoy pet sitting?
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I love it, and I’ve looked after some lovely cats and dogs over the years, also once had a sulphur crested cockatoo which never shut up and a couple of rats who stayed here for three weeks – they were called Malcolm and Kizzy! 😀
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So do the sitters pay a fee to be on the website, Melodie? And presumably they are pet free to be able to provide the service. It sounds very similar to house swapping and it obviously works well for you (and Skye) xx
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Yes they pay a smaller annual fee to access the website. Some of them might have pets of their own as the website ask the owner if the sitter can bring their own pet. The couple who took care of Skye didn’t.
It is a bit like house swapping for us as the people will come to our house but they come specifically to take care of Skye. For the sitter it is a bit different as nobody goes to their house and when they go to the other house they need to take care of the pets. But overall it is similar.
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Wonderful to hear that you had a good experience using Trusted House Sitters. And it’s great that the timing worked out and you were able to use the same couple to take care of Skye for your most recent holiday in June. We have a cat and often need to plan our longer trips around when family can come look after him, which can be a bit of a hassle sometimes.
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ça m’intéresse beaucoup. Mon Hardy est maintenant trop malade pour que j’envisage des vacances, mais dans quelques années, si j’adopte de nouveau un animal, je tenterai. C’est tellement mieux de laisser son animal dans son environnement. Et je pense que d’ici quelques mois, je m’inscrirais en tant que dog/cat-sitter. Au passage, Skye est adorable ❤
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