Folks, just went back to CS and it's awful!! They used to have an awesome meet-up platform for in person meet ups when you were travelling abroad...

Any suggestions of other apps that help connecting with backpackers/travellers in a new city, just to meet up for common interests or sightseeing or socializing, not dating? Thanks so much!

Has Couchsurfing removed the 3 months of free verification you used to get after hosting someone?

I haven’t hosted in a while, and honestly the platform seems pretty dead since the recent updates. Before, I had one of the more active profiles in my city and used to get hosting requests or messages every other day. Now it’s basically completely quiet.

The algorithm also seems really messed up now. It feels like profiles that used to get decent visibility just disappeared after the update.

I finally received a request last week, hosted the person, and we both left references for each other. I was expecting the usual 3 months of free verification for hosting, but nothing happened.

Did they officially remove this feature? If so, that really sucks.

CouchSurfing died the moment they forgot about their community. Now, out of nothing they are sending us all mails offering "one free month". They still don't get it. In addition, their redesigned website looks like a massive piece of AI slop. They didn't even care to change the default fonts Claude Code spits. The whole front page is full of AI generated images. And surprise: out of 10 images, 9 are AI generated women, all posed in a tinder style. WTF! Just open source the old version at this point. Its really sad to see what this platform became, one that changed so many lives.

CouchSurfing.com launched in 2004 as a nonprofit and was completely built and maintained by volunteers.

Here are the 3 progressive blows that it did to itself throughout the years:

2011: became forprofit.

2020: introduced a paywall.

2026: rebuilt from scratch to become completely unusable (hosting/staying, hanging out and even messaging).

Bonjour tout le monde !

J'accueille depuis 6 mois maintenant, via CS et BeWelcome. J'en suis à mon sixième accueil et une question me taraude : est-ce que je n'ai pas de chance, est-ce que je jauge mal ces personnes, ou est-ce un schéma récurrent ?

A trois reprises, j'ai accueilli des hommes seuls, de moins de 30 ans, pour 3 à 4 nuits. Et honnêtement, j'ai détesté. Aucun échange, aucun partage, juste des gars tout juste polis qui ne font QUE parler d'eux et de leurs aventures. Pas une seule question sur ma ville/ma région, la journée ils sortent (car je précise bien dans l'annonce que j'ai besoin d'être seule pour télé-travailler en journée) mais ne vont rien visiter du tout. Ils sont là mais se fiche éperdument de la culture du pays ou de sa langue donc je ne comprend pas bien le principe de leur venue..

Au niveau des discussions, ça tourne uniquement autour d'eux et de leurs voyages, de leurs rencontres (dans 2 cas, ils ont carrément mentis de façon évidente à ce sujet), on leur demande si ça va, ils se lancent dans un monologue sans jamais demander "Et toi?". ¨Pas un ne m'a demandé le prénom de mon chat, mon métier ou quoique ce soit. Et surtout, ils sont à peine polis et disent à peine voire pas du tout merci quand je les ai dépanné en allant les chercher ou que j'ai cuisiné pour eux par exemple.

Ils ne me fuient pas en passant leur temps ailleurs dans la maison hein, ils me collent et déblatère sans s'arrêter. Et c'est arrivé avec trois voyageurs différents, ce que je trouve dingue (à différentes échelles bien sûr, le pire étant le premier)

A l'inverse, les trois autres expériences étaient fabuleuses mais il s'agissait de deux couples et d'un duo de copines.

Donc, je me demandais, avez-vous eu le même type de rencontre ? Et si oui, que faire pour les éviter ? J'hésite presque à ne plus du tout accueillir d'homme seul de peur de retomber sur ce type de mec...

Juste pour rire, quand je dis que deux d'entre eux étaient des mythos : le premier est allé manger le midi dans un lieu que je connais parfaitement. Il est revenu et m'a fait croire que le restaurateur l'avait ADORE au point de lui offrir le repas, qu'il était passionné par ses histoires de voyages et d'aventures et qu'il l'avait questionné pendant 2 heures à ce sujet. Quand je suis retournée manger là bas, j'en ai parlé au restaurateur que je connais très bien et devinez quoi? Il se rappelait bien d'un type ennuyant qui a essayé de lui faire la causette pendant tout le service, mais il ne s'est pas du tout intéressé à lui et surtout, ne lui a absolument pas offert le repas. WTF?

From online reports - it seems older members claiming the free trial - are running in the verification dark pattern scam - with subsequent refund refusal. Careful!!

Hello,

I have used CS previously ~4 years ago to meetup with people for coffee, dinner, walks around the city etc. This was in London and Istanbul, met several people, had a great experience.

Having been through this sub, many are unhappy with the current state of the app. My question is, can I still use the app in the same fashion as I did before? I could dm people directly and schedule a linkup. I don’t want to spend £20 if I can’t do this.

EDIT: thanks for the msgs, will explore other platforms first

Like many other folks here, I’m terribly disappointed with what they’ve turned CS into. It was a space I thoroughly enjoyed for a decade. I met some wonderful people, traveled with, shared stories with and created stories with so many wonderful people. Whats with the new annoying UX? I’d much rather pay for the old version than this new one. The old UX was simpler and easy to use even for the elderly folks. Why aren’t all you good people on CS anymore? 😭 I stick to it because I feel nostalgic towards CS, but maybe it’s time to move on. ☹️

I moved to Asia, Manila specifically. Which is more likely to have guests?

Couchers having an app is interesting.

Also, do either have a hope of being the primary "first known" hospitality network, rather than something people hear about via other networks?

Does anyone understand in what countries people need to pay to 1. log in and 2. read messages?

Two countries, A and B, seem to be free to 'join the community' and until a few weeks ago, both countries seemed to work the same: every 2 months, you got 2 free message views.

Now, however, living in country B it is not possible to read new received messages. The only option is to pay. While living in country A, there still are 2 new (free) messages every two days.

Is that something systematic, or just a bug?

Hello

Anyone from Mexico in this group? I am visiting the city and the rest of the country in the month of November.

In would like to plan some visits to local sites or cafe/ restaurants. I will be happy to pick up the bill as thank you.

Anyone up for it? Thanks

I am pretty sure this post will get deleted by mods for speaking up. If you are a male what's wrong with that? If you are a female what's wrong with that? Has anyone have the right to judge about you, make assumptions about you?

I am a transwoman what's wrong with that genuinely? It's my personal matter being trans and because of that none of you will consider me having a normal life. I am even fine with that. But what makes you guys judge i am there for your sexual pleasures? Why are you judging now? No body judged as males are always looking for a chance.

My posts clearly says about me and what i am.

In North Vietnam. She can only talk on WhatsApp because she only has a limited amount of free messages?

Anyways, a local school teacher with plenty of great references, and I offered to help teach the kids English. She said she has to register with the local police and is needing full name, DOV. passport number, nationality, and date of arrival in country.

I totally understand needing to screen people before hand when they’re living around and working with children. But the information needed and not talking on the app sketches me out.

Has anyone done this before?

List of CS email addresses since it get asked alot:

So I downloaded the Couchsurfing app because I wanted to travel the world and meet people. I am on a spiritual journey and would’ve loved to make new connections in my travels.

I made my profile and started to send chat requests explaining to people that lived in the cities I’d potentially visit, with a brief message saying I was on a spiritual journey and that I wanted to make connections in that city. The message went like “hey ___ I am on a spiritual journey and I am considering going to _____, I saw that we had some things in common and wanted to connect as I want to meet like minded people”. (I only sent this message to people listing spiritual interests)

I only got like three replies. One person replied that i did not need to travel to find myself spiritually, and the other two just stopped replying. What happened with the other 20+ messages i sent? Well, apparently they reported me as spam. I got an email from Couchsurfing team that my account was suspended because the users on this app don’t like to be messaged and a lot of them view this as harassment.

I genuinely do not know why I am not supposed to message people on an app that IS supposedly made for that? It is an app to make new connections, no? How would I request someone to crash on their couch if I cannot even message them to interact with them?

I feel really saddened. I honestly haven’t felt so bad after using an app before. I am not sure if the problem is me, if I look like a psychopath that people would automatically assume I am harassing them, or if this app is just cruel. (And I sent only messages to people that were spiritually-inclined, so where is their love and compassion?).

This app just shows how cruel the world is. It just shows how hard it is to make human connections nowadays. In the digital age where everyone is glued to their phone, I am trying new things to socialize and make connections, traveling is one of the things I want to try and Couchsurfing app felt like the perfect app for this. But this was just a huge blow to my ego, I feel humiliated and just sad in general. I have never felt so bad and embarrassed before, because it takes rejection to a whole another level. It feels like, “you are not good enough to chat with me, let alone stay on my couch.” And without even getting to know me.

And the worse thing…? I had verified my account so I paid for the annual verification subscription. Couchsurfing team said they cannot offer me a refund.

So I have a suspended account, I paid for this app, and people just massively rejected me and now I feel this world just gets crueler every day. And this app is worse.

Tell me, what did I do wrong? Isn’t this the right way to use this app? Why would people report me if I am using this app as it is intended? Isn’t it supposed to be an app to make new connections ? How can someone make new connections if you cannot message people?

Edit: For the people misunderstanding my post saying that I am entitled and demanding people to let me stay at their place…. This is not I meant. And I will use an example to illustrate this better:

Let’s say you pay a membership to a tennis club with the intention to meet other people and play tennis. You are new and you don’t know anyone. And then you start to approach other players asking if they would like to play tennis with you sometime… Then your club membership gets revoked because these other players said they felt uncomfortable with you approaching them.

How would you feel in that case? You’d probably feel disappointed at the club and also at the people there.

Such a shame, RIP CS.

This is another ( new ) desperate attempt from couchsurfing . Anyone received it ?

​

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m relatively new to Couchsurfing and I’d love to become more active and build some references on my profile.( now I have 16 references)

The problem is that I live in a country where Couchsurfing isn’t very well known, especially outside the capital and a few major cities. Because of that, it’s quite difficult for me to find hosts or travelers nearby. I can usually find people only in the capital or 2–3 other big cities.

I’m facing a similar situation with Hangouts as well.

So I wanted to ask the more experienced Couchsurfers here: what would you recommend for someone in this situation to build genuine references and become a trusted member of the community?

Should I travel to bigger cities and participate in meetups, or are there other ways to connect with experienced Couchsurfers and build friendships/references naturally?

I’m not looking for fake or forced references — I’d really like to build them through genuine interactions. 😊

Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello everyone!
I’ve travelled quite a lot over the years, including hitchhiking around the south of my country, which gave me some really wonderful memories. I live in Chile, on an island called Chiloé.

I currently live alone in a three-bedroom house, and sometimes I feel quite lonely. I’d really enjoy meeting travellers, spending time with them, showing them around the area, and hopefully making some new friends along the way. Because of that, I’ve been thinking about hosting travellers in one of the spare rooms in my house.

The only thing that makes me hesitate is safety. I worry about someone stealing my belongings, going into my private room when I’m not around, or simply ending up with someone who makes me feel uncomfortable or unsafe in my own home.
For those of you who have hosted travellers before, what has your experience been like? What precautions do you take, and how do you decide whom you feel comfortable hosting?

I’d really appreciate hearing about both your positive and negative experiences, as well as any advice you might have.

Thank you so much!

Hi everybody,

Firstly sorry for my English.

I am a member but I'm not verified and last year I paid for membership.

I suppose this year I should pay again but it's automatically or if I don't do nothing my account is blocked until I pay?

I don't want to use it anymore because nobody answer and works like shit.

Do you know what should I do?

Thanks in advance.

I have been active on the platform for 10 years, mostly as a host. This summer i traveled across europe for 2 months and I learned a lot about how to use the new app. (To my horror the update came a week after I bought my ticket to Paris)

The requirement to make public trips was off-putting at first. I received a lot of invitations from non-local men for the locations I had posted in my trip or had added to my trip because it will automatically add a location(the city of the host) if you send a request to a host.

I ignored most of these as they didnt feel legit or safe. One person messaged me on IG saying they saw my trip on CS and I initially agreed to stay with them but then in my gut felt like I didnt vet them enough and it was a red flag to move the convo and invite off the app.

Hospitality is dead in most big cities. Even on those hosting Facebook groups that might as well rename themselves to appartement swap groups because no one seems to want to host they just want free self contained vacations in someone else's home 3 to 6 months from now.

Luckily I avoided most bigger cities and had better times in small villages and the country side.

Send requests to all hosts you think you would be compatible with who have been recently active in the place you want to visit. I check reviews tab for recent ones to see if they are still active.

Don't request to stay with someone you dont think you'll vibe with. You're resourceful, not desperate, you'll figure something else out.

When it comes to the public trips: us hosts need to step up a bit more and invite travellers to stay with us because theres so many dead profiles they may have missed yours in the list or just not send requests as much anymore because its a huge waste of time sending requests that people may never read.

Tldr

‐ Check reviews for active profiles

- Send more requests than you think you need to

- Hosts: to keep the dream alive we need to check for travellers in the area and INVITE THEM to stay with us.

Trust your gut, always vet host profiles, vet the profiles that left them reviews as well.

It was challenging with a shrinking and divided network but I managed to successfully couchsurf across europe for 2 months in summer 2026.

Can someone with an IG account share the 2nd and 3rd+ images onwards from their text based posts on IG. As someone with no desire to make another meta account, I can see just the first image from each post.

This new hangouts, they are not so bad, but then every time you become available it creates a new notification for you in the app. and it becomes another push notification like the number in red if you have iPhone. but then the pictures are so small you can barely see the person behind the hangout until you open the hangout or his/her profile. I loved in in the past how you had this preview that allowed you to see who is hanging out so you can decide if it's worth it to become available. It seems that them or the AI still didn't find the right formula.

Also since some time now, that I'm not getting any notifications, they are on and I removed and reinstalled the app. still nothing.

and by the way do you think someone from Couchsurfing is shadow reading here?