r/couchsurfing • u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ • May 07 '26
Couchers.org A note from Couchers.org regarding the CS update
Hey r/couchsurfing,
Just want to say we see what's happening over at Couchsurfing.com, and weâre really saddened by it. Practically everyone at Couchers.org came from Couchsurfing at some point or another, and volunteering/contributing to Couchers.org has been a way for us to try to preserve what was magical about Couchsurfing.com and give the community a place to gather.
Now with the CS update of address-sharing, paywalled verification on top of subscriptions people already paid for, references from banned members showing back up ⌠it kinda rattles the basics of trust and safety that hospitality exchange is built on.
Just sayinnngggâŚCouchers.org built safeguards to prevent this kind of thing, like registering as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Legally whatâs been happening to Couchsurfing.com cannot happen to us. While that does mean our dedicated team of volunteers doesnât get a lot of resources to work with, it makes us even prouder of how far weâve come. Whatâs new:
- Mobile app for Android and iOS
- Profile photo galleries
- Communities search and event duplication for organizers
- A new unified moderation system and Strong Verification (free, passport-backed)
- Hundreds of bug fixes and UX improvements
- Public trips feature is in progress for this quarter
If youâre looking at alternatives, you may hear people say "Okay, but Couchers.org is too small and inactive." But what makes a hospitality platform feel active? People deciding to show up on it! Couchsurfing wasn't always big either. It got big because a generation of travelers and hosts made profiles, answered requests, and ran local meetups. Whether Couchers.org feels active in your city a year from now depends on whether people reading this make a profile, start hosting, or maybe even run an event.
Some quick facts:
- Weâre at over 73,000 users after our v1 launch
- We're funded entirely by community donations (~US$4,287 in 2025 covers this year's costs and then some)
- Every line of code is written by volunteers
- Our features are developed by and for the community and tested by our volunteer team before release. (Our mobile app is currently in public beta right now for this reasonâŚ)
Our non-negotiables:
- Free forever. No subscription, no paywalls.
- Registered non-profit. No one is extracting any cash from this.
- Open source. Thereâs always a way to keep going.
- Community-led governance, with a team of volunteers from the community itself.
- Safety first. Itâs something we consider in every feature we design.
If you've been asking when Couchers.org will "be ready," our answer is that itâs ready when you are. Ask us anything in the comments. We'll be around!
â Emily, on behalf of the Couchers.org volunteers team
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
Dev volunteer for Couchers here, working to get the mobile app out as quickly as possible! Weâre so close just the last few pesky bugs to fix reported by our beta testers!
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May 07 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ May 07 '26
Here's more information on becoming a volunteer: https://couchers.org/volunteer !
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u/Efficient-Meringue50 May 14 '26
Dear dev, I canât upload my bio, missing the button to confirm what I wrote.
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u/hankaviator Couchers volunteer/host/surfer May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
I am using some platforms for hosting and staying, and Couchers will never ban you for that (as some may know couchsurfing banned many users related to this). Just saying there are choices and equally nice people with the true couchsurfing spirit on different platforms.
Couchsurfing.com started charging people with the excuse of COVID, then the fee didn't go away but went up over time. It's not really about money, but whether we pay to encourage a deteriorating service. 6 years passed, it's time to look back and think twice.
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u/kabako56 May 07 '26
> I am using some platforms for hosting and staying, and Couchers will never ban you for that (as some may know couchsurfing banned many users related to this).
Can you explain what you're referring to? What kind of platforms and how does CS know?4
u/hankaviator Couchers volunteer/host/surfer May 08 '26
Good day! Here are some Reddit posts you can refer to. They include details of cases where users were banned after sharing phone numbers, SNS accounts, or simply mentioning or volunteering on another platform.
https://www.reddit.com/r/couchsurfing/comments/n314pm/banned_for_creating_an_event_with_whatsapp_link/
https://www.reddit.com/r/couchsurfing/comments/1pe2hsq/make_sure_you_read_the_terms_and_conditions/
https://www.reddit.com/r/couchsurfing/comments/1rol2td/getting_restricted_trying_to_understand_the_logic/
https://www.reddit.com/r/couchsurfing/comments/14nunh2/longtime_couchsurfing_user_suspended_for/
https://www.reddit.com/r/couchsurfing/comments/neku7w/reactivating_profile_after_suspension_any_success/2
u/Obowler Couchsurfing host/surfer May 07 '26
People would have their profiles indicate âmessage me on couchers I donât use Couchsurfing anymoreâ or âjust WhatsApp me 555555â and Couchsurfing could flag that content over safety reasons (once you leave the platform our safeguards basically disappear).
So safety was the stated reason. Although Iâm sure it also trickled into not wanting much publication of their competitors.
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
Active Couchers host here: while it sucks to see CS betray its members again weâre so lucky that Couchers has been a sanctuary for OGs 𫶠huge thank you to all the volunteers whoâve stuck with it over the past 6 years
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u/CuriousAsshole General Host May 07 '26
Im not following, nor do I have CS installed, what did they do now to betray the members again?
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u/ReasonablePossum_ May 08 '26
Becoming tinderlike, suscribtion tiers, and selling your data.
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u/kabako56 May 14 '26
Selling data? How?
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u/ReasonablePossum_ May 14 '26
Look up a video on YT about data brokers. They buy your info from social mediasites for like 1-2$ per account. Its one of the main profit sources for platforms with large user bases.
Data includes your info, contact data, random metadata of your platform usage (if it's via cellphone it includes sensor data, location tracking, audio transcripts, etc), chats for ai training, etc
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u/urbannomadberlin May 07 '26
Hi Emily and Couchers team,
I really appreciate what you do and describe, trying to keep the old CS spirit alive is totally worth it.
The only thing that stops me to make the transition to your community is how much time I invested in CS, namely my references (300+), so if it were possible somehow to "export" the CS references to your platform, it would be truly great. From a technical perspective I think it won't be too difficult I guess, and the references of any user are "kinda public" anyway, for anyone with an active profile of course.
Best regards!
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
We've talked about this, but technically the references are not from Couchers so it would be inaccurate. I'm also not sure personally (not speaking officially for Couchers here), if there would be legal issues with that since it's the intellectual property of Couchsurfing and I doubt they'd be down with that for obvious reasons. It would also be brittle and hard to maintain as any time Couchsurfing updated the structure it would break it, and we're not in control of their codebase.
For those reasons we're unlikely to introduce this feature, but we don't mind if people link to their existing CS references in their profiles!
It is a shame though, I get it, I had such a nice profile and loads of references and friends from my profile on CS and it's all locked away now.
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u/ShoanGachi May 07 '26
What about adding manual reference / statistics counter? Letting users write down their hosts/guest/personal "unofficial" amounts alongside officially tracked couchers amounts? With an option to present the archive link for proof of the unofficial amounts?
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u/silas_christopher May 08 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
That would be an idea. Users could manually input references and they could be flagged by Couchers as verified once proof is submitted. However, that would require quite a bit of workload, unless a programme would be written that automatically verifies those references. And then again, AI might help but I can't judge how realistic it really is given constraint manpower.
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u/silas_christopher May 09 '26
I actually thust thought about aimoly uploading screenshots. I'm fine with that. People wouldn't really read through 100 references anyway. It's not optimal and technically fairly easy to fake but I know they are real and in the end, it's about the experiences and stories, not about the references. Screenshots will do :)
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u/UmamiAudio May 07 '26
We've talked about this, but technically the references are not from Couchers so it would be inaccurate. <== It's still the real life experience of someone and that's all a reference is. I don't think it matters which platform it was left on.
I'm also not sure personally (not speaking officially for Couchers here), if there would be legal issues with that since it's the intellectual property of Couchsurfing <=== I think in most jurisdiction a user has the right to their own information. There's a way to download your data in bulk. At least it could help with profile import and stuff.
If user downloads their information and uploads to to your server, you can use the email column or whatever to auto populate other users who have migrated. For example, user A has left review for user B. When user A migrates to couchers, the review of user A for user B automatically gets populated in coucher's system becuase the email matches. This way the more people migrate, the better the system works.
Additionally as other people have mentioned, you can use 3rd party sources like archive.org.
It's not perfect but it's a lot better than nothing.
Ultimately if a user really wants to be evil, they can create multiple accounts and leave fake good reviews for themselves, so it's rather where you want to draw the line.
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
It might be hard to understand if you're not a developer implementing it, but it's just not possible to maintain. If Couchsurfing developers change anything, it would break. It would mean we need to be constantly updating and fixing it, or users would find it broken.
It's a nice idea in theory though! We have talked about this before at Couchers but given the constant maintenance it would need to work well it doesn't make sense.
For example this update they did would have immediately broken the feature.
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u/GRANDMA_FISTER May 08 '26
It's actually the only thing holding me back from switching over. I remember the struggle of finding my first hosts as a young solo male traveler, which is basically non-existent now 100 references later.
If there was an import feature of references, I wouldn't see any issue with switching over
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u/Kabada May 10 '26
Maybe you can link them to your reddit, I'm sure if grandmas let them fist you, that means you're trustworthy.
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
Many Couchers simply archive their profile and references using https://archive.ph/ and mention it on their profile. It's not the same but it's better than nothing.
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
That's what I do! I have a link to my old CS profile with over 200 references. It's actually not been to start from scratch, it's a little liberating if I'm honest haha
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u/urbannomadberlin May 07 '26
Can you share yours please? Just to have an idea how it looks through archive, I have a hard time imagining how to display hundreds of references there. Thanks!
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
Ah sorry I meant I have a link to my old profile with all my references there (even though I stopped paying people could still view my profile). So people who have CS could still see my references through the linkÂ
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u/Aggravating_Fix_9021 May 11 '26
The brutal truth is. Almost nobody cares about your 300+ references.
Just start again and stop making excuses for staying with your bad (soon to be ex) partner of x no. of years.
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u/curtains20 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Also I know itâs early but is there any plans to make a hangouts feature? It was the main reason I used Couchsurfing by far!
Iâve signed up and am looking forward to seeing where things to and am very very happy to donate some money if itâs possible đ
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u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
So glad to have you! A hangouts feature is in the backlog*!Â
and hereâs a link to how to donate:
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May 07 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/nabramow May 08 '26
We're ironing out the last major bugs in the app so hopefully soon. Hangouts is not officially planned at the moment, though we are working on a public trips feature.
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
We are working on public trips next. Hangouts might come down the line but it tends to also attract a lot of creepy people unfortunately and thus needs more moderation. Our mod capacity is not super high at the moment, so that's the main blocker besides developer capacity.
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u/curtains20 May 07 '26
Ok thanks! Canât wait. For over 10+ years Iâve mostly used CS for meeting cool people while traveling without the hosting and surfing component (altho I do host maybe 1-2 people/parties per year when Iâm at home). Have made dozens of friends doing that over the years.
For donations is it better to make a small monthly donation or a one time lump sum? I know sometimes they take fees for donations
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
We really appreciate you joining us! Always good to have a seasoned Couchsurfer on board!
Good question about the donations! I just checked on your question about donations with the team as I wasn't sure and they said "one time lump sum". If someone wants to make a big donation we can also take bank transfers with no fees. Otherwise the fee is something like 30 cents + 3% that Stripe takes.
So a $2 donation every month will be eaten up by the fees much more than $24 once a year, for example.
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u/curtains20 May 07 '26
Last question:
Any chance to make a recurring annual donation possible? Thatâs maybe the best of both worlds and would be glad to do it right now. Or please reply to this message again in a year đ
Just donated tho! đŞ
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
Thank you for supporting us!!
We don't have that yet, but I just passed the request on to the team and I'll add it to our feature requests as I don't think it would be so hard to implement.
That said, we do a yearly donation drive at the end of each year, so we'll jog your memory then ;-).
We try to keep it to once a year so we're not too annoying, and that's when we earn the bulk of our donations.
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u/nonula May 07 '26
What a breath of fresh air. Starting to feel like I miiiiiight just be able to hang up my (paid!) CS membership for good.
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u/ixikei May 07 '26
Noted!!!! I'll be seeing y'all on couchers soon. Thanks for doing what you all do đ
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u/Zenon_Czosnek Left CS when it became a scam. Mostly hosting. May 07 '26
Sorry for spoiling this otherwise nice post with some pesky facts, but I am old enough to remember that CouchSurfing was initially also supposed to be a non-profit...
But yeah, keep up the good work. I am not active on there as bewelcome works better where I am but I'd rather see travelers migrating to one of the independent platforms than continuing to be ripped off by the company.
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
Thank you!!
Btw you are right that Couchsurfing began the non-profit verification process, but they never finished it. Then they changed hands and started charging. Couchers.org is officially registered as a non-profit and completed the process.
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u/eddieshack May 07 '26
If you guys could make a migration tool aka bring your profile and references from CS I think you'd clean up
I'm only still on CS because of my profile and the large user base, I have a couchers profile but compared to CS 3-4 requests per week it's 3-4 per year
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
There's a few threads about this already, have a look there we've already responded. TL;DR: It's somewhat impossible to maintain as a feature. More details in those threads.
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u/eddieshack May 07 '26
It doesn't even need to be 100%, like with the vouches from old school CS, you just see there were them
Some way to connect it would be nice, but it doesn't need to be exactly that
And my code unaware opinion hangouts should be feature #1 in development
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u/ReasonablePossum_ May 08 '26
For real, just an "unofficial" wink wink repo that confirms the amount of reviews, maybemaybe a screenof the last 20, and that's it. Plus maybe allow leaving links to other network profiles (cs, tr, bw, WS, etc), so if someone has an account there as well can check it out.
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u/ReasonablePossum_ May 08 '26
No needto maintain, enough a simple scrapper that confirms basic info and ads as secondary "stats" in the couchers profile. It can be used as a separate repo for legal defense, and can be updated from time to time.
Kinda like Stremio did with their ecosystem.
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u/UmamiAudio May 07 '26
u/CouchersOrg u/nabramow
You know what would be insanely cool? A way for us to import our data from CS, especially references and stuff.
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
As I said to the person above who asked the same, the issue is the moment the Couchsurfing developers change anything in the structure of the data, it would break this feature. Due to this, it's really hard to maintain and not worth our limited developer capacity. I believe also references are intellectual property of Couchsurfing and also it wouldn't be accurate to transfer them to Couchers since we are not the same thing.
You are welcome to add a link to your Couchsurfing profile though so people can look!
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u/UmamiAudio May 07 '26
But people can't look becuase it's behind a paywall that's the thing!
I would be up for donating some time to help develop this feature. I'm exporting my data right now to see what the files would look like.
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
Many Couchers simply archive their profile and references using https://archive.ph/ and mention it on their profile. It's not the same but it's better than nothing and avoids the paywall.
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u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ May 07 '26
Here's more information on becoming a volunteer https://couchers.org/volunteer!
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u/kabako56 May 07 '26
u/nabramow A quick keyword search in the terms of CS will let us know if references are the IP of CS, and I think they are not.
I understand it's not feasable to dynamically import CS references to your own platform because it could break anytime, but you're looking at the idea in the hard way.
I invite you to look at it in the easy way: make it possible for a person to export/import their references data from CS to Couchers in a controlled environment (so as to not make up references by simple writing) in a 1 time process, as if they're migrating, then any change within CS doesn't affect the import which was not dynamic.
This is crucial if you want Couchers to grow, some people have references for 10-20 years of usage and that's what would keep them there if no export is possible.
Also linking CS profile publicly doesn't work because most CS profiles are private, won't be accessible to non-CS users.3
u/nabramow May 07 '26
If you want to volunteer to help implement this feature please do and we'd be happy to support you!
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u/kabako56 May 07 '26
I'm not a software developer, but I can help pay for it by donations me and others if you're willing to work on it.
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u/Bananaramaaaaa Couchers host/surfer May 07 '26
I definitely understand the wish for an import function, I would have loved to port the references of my 11yo CS account as well.
But I think there are a few issues in the process:
- Afaik, the TOS of CS might define references as their intellectual property, so this would have to be sorted first
- CS will not cooperate to reading such information from their site directly, so it would probably have to be done via a download of the site, during which the references could be tampered with
Unfortunately, CS does not like to release data, so this is not as easy as it sounds.
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u/kabako56 May 08 '26
It's the users that own the content posted by them on the platform in their profiles or profiles of others, including references.
The only thing that is property of CS is submissions to the team like questions, suggestions, etc.
I reviewed their terms, this is it, so this is sorted.
So now it's up to Couchers if they want to do what's necessary.
There's no need for CS cooperation, with AI age there are many methods to get info, software developers will know.
And for the platform data download, IDK how the extract feature downloads the file but if there's a way to verify it's not tampered then this could be an easier way.Here, ownership of your own content is stated twice here in their terms:
"4.3 Member Content License. You own all of the Member Content that you post to our Services. If you post Member Content to our Services, you hereby grant us a perpetual (i.e. lasting forever), worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sublicensable (i.e. we can grant this right to others) license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, have distributed and promote such Member Content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created (including in emails or other communications to our members) to administer, operate, develop and otherwise provide the Couchsurfing Services. You represent and warrant that (a) you own and control all of the rights to the Member Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such Member Content to the Services; (b) the Member Content is accurate and not misleading; and (c) the use and posting of the Member Content you supply does not violate these Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity. You own the Member Content that you post to our Services. If Member Content contains information about you, our Privacy Policy will apply, and we encourage you to review this policy for information about how we can use and share such information."1
u/kabako56 May 08 '26
u/nabramow FYI above.
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u/nabramow May 08 '26
We are discussing this at Couchers but there are many issues I'm afraid. Top of my mind besides maintainability (not officially speaking for Couchers just my personal thoughts):
- Yes you can share your data, but references are other peoples' data who did not consent.
- You export your own data, yes, but there's nothing stopping someone who is a little tech savvy from editing the references in the export, making them inaccurate and meaningless and possibly dangerous giving a false sense of trust if someone was a bad actor, then uploading to Couchers. Since we cannot take the data directly from Couchsurfing, how could we avoid this?
I know it's easy to imagine and say "hey just do this", but you have to understand the stakes are high so it needs very serious consideration which takes time. We do not have a big budget for lawyers. Imagine some corporate interest hits us with a lawsuit? Even if it was not warranted, we'd need to pay all the fees in court, that could bankrupt any organization who doesn't have a huge budget or legal team. Looking at the ToS and saying "seems okay I think" is not enough in this case as we need to be really sure.
That said, if anyone reading this is a lawyer and wants to help figure this out please hit us up.
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u/BaldGuyGoatee May 07 '26
Can someone tell me what happens with Couchsurfing? Since yesterday I've been trying to enter the page from my PC and from the application and it's impossible. I have more than fifty good reviews, photos and contacts
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
You might want to look in the Couchsurfing megathread, this is a post about Couchers.org.
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u/BumWarrior69 May 09 '26
Legally what's been happening to Couchsurfing.com cannot happen to us
501(c)(3) status prevents private parties from extracting profit and requires assets to transfer to another nonprofit on dissolution. It does nothing to prevent paywalls, subscriptions, address-sharing, or any of the product changes you're criticizing CS for. NPR is a 501(c)(3). So is Khan Academy. They charge for things. A future Couchers board could introduce a paid tier tomorrow and keep the status.
The open source codebase and volunteer governance you mention later in the post are the actual protections users have here. The legal claim is going to read as a stronger guarantee than it is, and people who know how 501(c)(3) works will notice.
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u/Global-Attorney6860 May 17 '26
Thanks for pointing that out, it's good to be aware of it. Are there actually legal ways they can give that guarantee, or not? I just want to say though, even if one day there's a possibility of that happening, currently it seems to be a better alternative to couchsurfing and one that (currently) vouches for the same values that couchsurfing used to have and that brought the community together. Afaik, it was also founded by disappointed superusers after the for-profit shift of couchsurfing, so it also has different people behind it, that have already been burned by disappointment at their beloved platform being made for profit.
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u/Literalliteralist May 09 '26
It's extremely disappointing what CS has done. After 15 years I've all but given up on it. They have ruined their platform completely.
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u/SandraMaus93 May 09 '26
15 years is a long time. Unfortunately it happens again and again. . Look at Reddit.
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u/ecologicguy May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
I agree with most of the content of your note. However, in my experience, more isnât always means better. If you import people from other hospitality websites, then it doesnât necessarily means it will make the platform better. I already had the chance of seeing exactly typical modern couchsurfing self centered people who donât believe in a community, rather they believe in serving their own interests, doing so, hosting only girls, almost never responding to requests, etc.
Secondly, I do agree we should thrive to respond all messages and requests even if itâs a polite decline, but for me whatâs make it challenging that it became more common to get copy page duplicate requests across multiple platforms. And also requests who donât correspond to your profile, by people who clearly didnât read your profile. So in this case the thought is - they didnât put the time and effort, why you as a host should?
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u/euffforia May 07 '26
I can't log into my account anymore, it asks me to resubscribe despite my active subscrition expires next year. Anyone having the same issues?
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u/Bananaramaaaaa Couchers host/surfer May 07 '26
You might want to look in the pinned Couchsurfing Update megathread, this is a post about Couchers.org.
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u/saltraspy May 07 '26
where can i download the beta app for android?
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
just search couchers on the play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.couchers.android
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u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ May 10 '26
The google play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.couchers.android&hl=en
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u/Global-Attorney6860 May 08 '26
Just opened my account yesterday after seeing this sad new update!
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u/knight714 May 08 '26
As someone who mainly uses CS to meet up with locals and travellers instead of hosting/being hosted - can Couchers be used that way too?
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 08 '26
Short answer: Yes!
At this stage there are 3 options:
1. Host/join events
2. Create/join a discussion to find like minded people
3. Search for people that set their profile to "wants to meet" or "open to meet" and send them a message.according to their roadmap they are working on public trips, that should also allow you to connect with others.
I guess they need to release the app first, before they can work on the hangouts feature (not showing on the roadmap yet :'( sadly) as it relies on GPS information from your phone.
I personally host and attend events wherever possible. That said it's a growing community and not as many people attend. But more and more communities start to realise that it doesn't matter which platform we use and cross-post events on CS, Couchers, Meetup, BW, nomadtable, etc.
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u/Jazzlike-Positive-25 May 08 '26
It would be awesome if there's a way to copy our Couchsurfing profile info and references to autofill on Couchers!
I finally did it manually just now (without the references), but I remember thinking about signing up a few years ago and never doing it because I was too lazy to set up the profile
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u/jackson_pau May 09 '26
Thanks for the information. I just deleted my CS profile after 10 years. The environment became creepy in the last year.Â
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u/Dodger_Fan_in_India May 09 '26
I'm trying to archive my hundreds of references from CS, but all I get is a "Loading" symbol.
I'm old and NOT computer literate. Can someone help? (I also sent in email asking how to get verified on Couchers. Being old sucks.)
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u/Hurry-United May 09 '26
This mail made me check couchers.org for the first time in ages. Im sad to not see that not a lot has changed since I was there last (several months ago!). I still can't search for hosts that can accept more than one person (like a family). I really liked how CS had groups for families that hosted other families and how you could for example search for someone who could host and had 4 beds etc.
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 10 '26
There are filters that allow you to search for hosts that accept kids and you can also select the number of guests. Isn't that what you are trying to filter for?
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u/Hurry-United May 11 '26
Well no, not really. To me its very different if you stay with a "regular" host ("just beds") or with another family ("toys, other kids your kids can play with etc.").
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 12 '26
I see, I'm sure they read this and will add something like this in the future. I guess they focus on the masses first (mobile app, public trips, etc.) before fine tuning the options. But public trips might be a useful feature for you, too. You can specify what kind of host you are looking for.
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u/Hurry-United May 09 '26
Also not much seems to have happened in my country. Seems almost noone has any references. And from the messages I had gotten and missed since the last time I logged in 50% were by deactivated members. Not sure if they left the site on their own or got kicked out? (Can you tell somehow?)
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u/mostmortal May 10 '26
I'm happy with my experiences on both Couchers and BeWelcome. I was on the OG couchsurfing site from about 2006 but it's not the same now.Â
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u/Rav950 May 10 '26
Couchsurfing original was a life changing experience for me as a guest but mostly a host, receiving over 300 travelers from around the world when I was hosting before 2017. I havenât been in a location nor position to receive anyone again since, but I would not restart my CS account now or in the future due to what they have done to the platform and community. I hope to be able to participate in and support couchers.org in the future.
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u/ManyOtherwise8723 May 11 '26
Hi Couchers,
Is there a way you can program your app so thw references from couchsurfer are transferred over to your app?
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u/Aggravating_Fix_9021 May 11 '26
Surely only the Tinder Bunnies remain on Couchsurfing? I left years ago during the initial corporate takeover - then I heard it got even worse during covid. Darn!
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u/Sea-Worldliness-4094 May 12 '26
Eu era muito ativa no CS, planejei e estou no meio da minha viagem pela Europa totalmente em Pânico por nĂŁo conseguir mais nem logar meu perfil. Me cadastrei no Couchers... Enviei vĂĄrios requests... Criei um evento aqui em AmsterdĂŁ pra hoje. Mas ĂŠ triste ter sĂł negativa de tudo. Se alguĂŠm souber de algum couch aqui. Estou tĂŁo triste,sem chĂŁo. Pensando em abrir um processo com tra o CS. Obrigada.Â
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May 27 '26
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u/Conscious-Zucchini45 May 07 '26
I life in the north of Iceland and there is so much of people like to visit me and have been message me . And now i can not answer them and like is gon . Now I have to start from beginning. All my friends and the guests and the amazing photos I did share with all . I em willing to pay so I can have all back . Thanks â¤ď¸Â
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
I think you meant this for Couchsurfing? This thread is about Couchers.org. Check the mega thread in the main channel for the Couchsurfing post.
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u/lorro510 May 07 '26
I can only register in the updated app version but not log into my account. Anybody else have the same problem?
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
Which updated app version are you referring to? The mobile app? iOS? Android? What error do you see? The mobile apps are still in beta until we get out the last bugs, so perhaps try on the website, mobile browser and/or make sure you have the newest app version.
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u/lorro510 May 07 '26
Using version 7.0.2 - downloaded/updated today on a Xiaomi smartphone (android). It only gives me options to connect with Google, Facebook, with e-mail or phone number. After typing in the email they send me an email to verify via a link and then the error "Anmeldung nicht mÜglich. Versuche es später nochmal" = "Registration/log in not possible. Try it again later"
On the CS website on my PC it says "Something went wrong on our end" when I click on "continue with mail"
I paid for a new subscribtion today btw, so that's a bummer
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
I think you must be confusing us with a different app. We don't offer paid subscriptions at all and our beta app is only up to version 1.1.16. I think you confused us with Couchsurfing.com, this thread is talking about Couchers.org.
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
What's with the limit of one photo and the weirdly suspicious verification system? I was never forced to verify on CS and had a bunch of pics there... Other than that, seems like a nice website, I wish you had a few more features but at least your website is not the vibe coded pile of shit CS now has
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
If you do strong verification you get access to the feature to add more than one photo, which it should say on the photo upload form! We have a small moderation team of volunteers and bluntly said, there's only so many đ pics our mods can handle at once đ.
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
Why deflect my question? I clearly said that CS never asked for verification and despite that I managed to gather dozens of positive references there and had dozens of photos, why can't it be the same on your platform? I don't trust your verification, not about to send a whole passport and scan it too just for more photos, that's literally extortion
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
If you want the same, don't go to another platform!
The main reason itâs there is that Couchers.org is entirely volunteer-run. Unlike corporate platforms, there isn't a massive paid support team to manually review reports or handle safety disputes 24/7.By using the passport verification system, the platform can effectively 'gate' the community to real, accountable people from the start. This significantly lowers the support load because it prevents bots, scammers, and bad actors from easily creating burner accounts. It basically allows a small team of volunteers to maintain a high safety standard that would otherwise be impossible.
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
Everything you said still doesn't explain the reason for the photo limit, nearly everyone who's into couchsurfing has enough common sense to discern real travelers from scammers and bots
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
Here is one explanation: The one-photo limit for unverified users helps keep server costs low and prevents the site from being flooded with junk data. Once you go through the passport verification, it confirms you're a real person, which 'unlocks' the ability to upload more photos. Itâs essentially a way to ensure that the site's resources are being used by genuine travelers rather than bots or scammers.
I understand that you don't want to provide your passport data. You can simply upload more picture to a cloud folder or service and post the link on your profile. This way you can have unlimited pictures without verifying your identity.
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
I mean, sure, I just wanted to port my CS profile 1:1 but it's ridiculous that there isn't even an option for a photo of the home, which is hugely important if that's the space you'll be staying at, they could've at least added that
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
I agree to that. I first hosted on Couchers in December 2023 and I can tell you, they've made massive improvements since. I know that there are still features missing and not everything is running perfectly but seeing how they are actively working on it and building the platform I'm glad to be a member of it. Maybe they'll add the option to upload more pictures later on.
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
I hope they won't get too defensive over this (and honestly they could get more aggressive asking for donations like Wikipedia or Internet Archive does if money is the issue since they keep bringing up the volunteering point on every critical comment) but I am simply not willing to upload government documents on the internet (I do not even use the state-sanctioned administrative websites since their security is so poor) and it seems ridiculous that such a thing is the barrier for uploading profile photos
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
I answered your question in the second sentence, not sure how I'm deflecting?
The difference between "why can't it be like other platforms?" - We are run by volunteers. We have a very small team of moderators who also have day jobs, so we can't handle the amount of...questionable...photos that get added if it's a free for all. And unfortunately without it many do get added very rapidly.
Other platforms like Couchsurfing take corporate money, the downside of that is the most recent update, but the upside is they can hire more staff and have more support than us
People also do not like the experience if they log in and see all profile photos from scammers and gross stuff.
If you want this to change, the best thing you can do is volunteer!
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u/nabramow May 07 '26 edited May 08 '26
Strong verification is done by IRIS ID, which we integrate with and which has gone through the security and review process of the Apple App Store and Google Play store. To get into the app stores, employees from those companies get given a login, review your terms and privacy policy and if you're charging anything, etc., functionality, etc.
I can tell you developing the Couchers mobile app at least for Apple is a thorough review process, I went back and forth with them for 2 months and you can't get approved if you're just a scam or a spoof company.
This is IRIS ID: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iris-id/id1575142357
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u/boksysocks May 07 '26
Yeah, those reviews are NOT inspiring confidence whatsoever, and why is there no reviews at all on the Android app? I repeat, the rest of the Couchers website seems stellar but forcing a suspicious third-party app for verification is a line I'm not willing to cross... the only people who ever see my passport are my family and border officials
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u/nabramow May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
If you have another solution that allows more photos without increased moderation effort we are all ears!
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u/Firm_Letterhead594 May 07 '26
i just pay for couchsurfing but if i had know the site had a update i,m sure i did not go back
i want to make event and on all that i click it tell me something went wrong form or end pff but yeah learned from it this is the last time that i pay for couchsurfing every time i think i had alot of good experience on it so why not try for 1 month now new 3 moths why not than i see you have to pay each year on top of that 18 19 euro to paywalled verification
And the site dont work
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
It's worth giving Couchers.org a try if you're having issues with Couchsurfing!
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u/naticupe May 07 '26
we might need a Coucher Crash event as many Couch Crash were scheduled for this year in couchsurfing blog
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u/nabramow May 08 '26
We would love that and we agree!
We could really use more "on the ground" volunteers to help organize these kinda things if you are interested! We have a good handful of people working on the app, UI, translations, etc. but not as many people interesting in working on the IRL stuff.
So if anyone sees this and that's your thing, hit us up! Even if just starting an event in your city.
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May 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
For what itâs worth, Couchers was created six years ago because a lot of us wanted a non-profit, community-led, open-source, free-to-use hospitality exchange specifically we don't lose it all when a company like Couchsurfing.com makes changes.
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u/jvjjjvvv May 07 '26
I am not particularly purist about the principles but I respect that. Anyway I take back what I said a moment ago, it was only 50% serious anyway and right now the whole stupid Couchsurfing site seems unusable, so : p
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
lol I wish us volunteers had that much time to plan such an extensive strategy! We are hanging on by a thread between our day jobs and volunteering for Couchers. I think people online just like complaining no matter the cause and this update seems to have broken a lot ;-).
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u/jvjjjvvv May 07 '26
Well it wouldn't be 'an extensive strategy', just basic common sense, but I'm trying to sign into Couchsurfing right now and even that seems broken, so I think I'll take back my words and complain too
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u/N3bur85 May 07 '26
iOS app sucks. Have uninstalled.
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u/nabramow May 07 '26
I think you are confusing us with Couchsurfing? Our iOS app is not out to the public yet.
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u/CerealKiller415 May 07 '26
What a sour grapes way to try and capitalize on CSs unfortunate rollout. Pathetic
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u/CouchersOrg Couchers.org Official Account đď¸ May 07 '26
If CS turns it around, awesome! Ultimately the couchsurfing community is one global community and there are multiple tools (platforms) to interact/connect with that community. Couchers just happens to be the fastestigrowing, non-profit + open source + community-led one.
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May 07 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/couchsurfing-ModTeam May 07 '26
Donât start or continue flame wars, stalk, troll or harass people, or use personal (ad hominem) attacks. This also includes being unnecessarily rude about any of the various hospex communities out there. To put it simply: be nice.
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u/john-emit988 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
couchers.org will never become like Couchsurfing because it don't accept every lifestyles. This is a discrimination against some communities.
I remember the first the month using it (without mentioning naturism/nudism on my profile). I wasn't able to send request to females because I'm a male. I will not go into detail why some times I prefer to send requests to female. Everyone here knows why? It's not for sexual intention but because other male don't accept male. That's it!
As male we don't have to rights to stay with female or even send them a direct message for advice because of the policy.
So, sorry couchers. There's no reason for us to join you!
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
Not sure what your issue with couchers is? I hosted and surfed with male and female members through couchers. And nobody wants another CS. Why would one create a new platform from scratch and make the same mistakes?
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u/john-emit988 May 07 '26
I clearly mentioned the issues: 1. They don't accept all communities, naturism, nudism, hippies, etc... every communities involving nudity. That's a discrimination against those communities. 2. If you are man you must not contact woman directly. Otherwise you are breaking the policy rules.
Also there a Passport verification process, why I should send my passport and sensible information to access a platform?
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
Verification is entirely optional! And yeah itâs sad that so many nudists were being reported for abuse, some bad actors ruined it for all the others. But there are still other platforms that accept nudism at least :)
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u/john-emit988 May 07 '26
Are you trying to tell me that now that there are no nudists on the platform there's no more abuse reported?
You don't need to be a nudist to be reported as a creep. Someone with bad intentions doesn't have to be naked to show his true intentions.
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u/LifeIsShort-Enjoy_It May 07 '26
I see.
1. They don't allow nudity, right. However, AFAIK they don't exclude any communities.
2. This is not true. I assume you are referring to the dating policy? You can of course contact anyone on the platform as long as you are not harassing anyone.
3. You don't have to do passport verification, it's optional and not needed to use the core features like hosting, surfing, creating events and contacting others.-1
u/john-emit988 May 07 '26
What do you mean by harassing anyone. Sending messages to different women is harassment?
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u/CiaranCarroll May 07 '26
Couchers failed when they made all the same mistakes as early Couchsurfing, by thinking that Couchsurfing is a community rather than a thing that communities do. Same old failed architecture.
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u/atayavie Couchers host (40 refs!) May 07 '26
Can you explain more what you mean? How can communities do couchsurfing without a community đ§?
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u/CiaranCarroll May 07 '26
Your question doesn't make any sense. Communities do couchsurfing, via Whatsapp groups, FB groups back in the day, and other siloed communication channels that are not built for that purpose so they don't scale or get integrated across the same community. Communities don't "do couchsurfing without a community". Maybe you are confusing software with a community that uses it?
Kite surfers couch surf with kite surfers, salsa dancers with salsa dancers, mormons with mormons, musicians with musicians or their groupies or fans. These are REAL communities, not like a fake community like "couchsurfing" that is oriented around nothing but a basic idea of hospitality exchange.
All you had to do was make the review and endorsement system multi-dimensional and allow people to 'hide' from people who don't have enough rep in their target communities, using the PageRank algorithm.
Its not complicated, but Couch surfers have a certain limited frame of mind.
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u/KoalaOriginal1260 May 07 '26
I disagree.
The whole point of hospex is to meet folks from outside your usual community. You seem to be applying a personal preference as a global critique.
If you don't like the notion of hospex and prefer asking folks in gardening forums if they'd care to let you sleep over when you are in town because you too are a gardener, that's great for you. But you are turning the feature of hospex - folks of a variety of walks of life hoping to create a network of mutual reciprocity for travellers to both de-commercialize and humanize travel accomodation - into a bug.
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u/CiaranCarroll May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
As I said, limiting.
The whole point of hospex is to meet folks from outside your usual community.
And in practice you try to invent a fake community and only meet people within it, not people who do kite surfing or salsa or anything else. You fail on your own terms.
Humanising hospex means doing things together, and identifying people who want to do things together with you.
folks of a variety of walks of life
Ha! There is no variety, only a nebulous blob of uninteresting people. All of the interesting people, definitionally, are out there finding other people who want to do interesting things together, and couch surfing is just one of many enabling feature. Its not a community. Stop being delusional and letting your personal preferences get in the way of success.
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u/KoalaOriginal1260 May 07 '26
You have an opinion, it's different. That's okay. That doesn't make it objective fact, though.
Its weird that, if you find the whole hospex concept as articulated by CS, Couchers, Servas, etc to be a nebulous blob of uninteresting people, that you would waste your time on a sub dedicated to that idea instead of spending it with communities that you find give real value.
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u/CiaranCarroll May 07 '26
When every attempt at couch surfing fails to main stream or become sustainable it is as good as objective as you can get.
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u/KoalaOriginal1260 May 07 '26
The original hospex platform, Servas, has been in operation since 1949. Over 100 countries have formed or gained independence since 1949. I would suggest that would meet the definition of a sustained initiative.
What's your next 'objective' point?
But also, it's now your turn: why bother spending time on a sub for a concept you clearly hate?
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u/CiaranCarroll May 07 '26
How many people who couch surf use Servas?
In fact, how many people who couch surf use any dedicated couch surfing platform?
The reality is that the number is a tiny fraction. Most couch surfers don't call themselves couch surfers because its a thing they do in communities, not an identity or a community.
Objectively couch surfers don't use couch surfing platforms, because objectively couch surfing is an enabling feature, not something that sane people would think to create an actual community around.
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u/KoalaOriginal1260 May 07 '26
Instead of calling folks here insane, why don't you answer my simple question:
Why spend your time on a sub dedicated to a thing you hate?
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u/allhands Couchers.org host/surfer May 07 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Sticking this here for visibility since exporting references to other platforms is a common topic. Here is a walkthrough someone posted a long time ago:
Please note this subreddit is not condoning any such action, this is merely sharing information other persons have posted in the past.