What Is Kindred? A Home-Swapping Network That Is Creating Waves

International

oi-Prakash KL

We live in a dynamic and evolving world where change is only constant. Every day, a new product hits the market and the existing biggies will disappear into the pages of history in a blink of an eye.

In such a world, a new website called Kindred is creating waves. It is a home-swapping network which can be a game changer in the travel industry by allowing people to stay at cheaper costs. More importantly, at a fraction of the cost of an Airbnb.

What is Kindred?
The swapping network leverages the strength of the community, offering members a unique way to travel without the burden of costly vacation rentals or renting out their own homes. By prioritizing sharing over monetization, Kindred ensures homes remain on the market and housing prices remain unaffected.

One big advantage of being part of the network is that you can stay in someone’s home while also opening up your own space for others to stay an equal number of nights. The major highlight of this website is that there is no direct financial exchange between the host and guest. Instead, you will pay a service fee and a cleaning fee that varies based on the home you book.

The primary cost involved is the willingness to share your own space and allow others to experience it firsthand.

So, how different is this network from Airbnb?

“Kindred is a members-only home swapping network, which is entirely different from a vacation rental platform. Firstly, unlike rentals, there’s no financial exchange between guest and host on Kindred. We’ve built an economy based on generosity, where members give a night to earn a night, and the homes on the platform are real residences instead of investment properties.

Secondly, Kindred is based on trust. We connect members who have something in common (like mutual friends or a shared network), and facilitate an introduction over a video chat before confirming a stay,” company co-founder and president Tasneem Amina told Forbes.

This system works more or less like a barter system.

According to the official website, the network has over 3000+ homes in over 50 cities.

“We designed Kindred for real people sharing their real homes with each other, not property managers or vacation rentals. There are already plenty of ‘pay to get’ options for travel,” said Palefsky, who serves as the company’s CEO. “Every guest is also a host, so everyone has skin in the game. This creates an environment of mutual trust and accountability.”

How It Works?

• List your home on the platform.
• For each night a guest stays at your home, you earn a stay at someone else’s home.
• Alternatively, you can arrange a direct swap with another member.
• Kindred takes care of coordinating cleaning services before and after each guest’s stay, with the cost covered by the guest themselves.
• In Kindred, the payment system is simple: you directly pay up to $25 per night to the platform, in addition to the applicable cleaning fees.
• The unique aspect of Kindred is that there’s no monetary transaction between the guest and the host. It operates as a cashless marketplace, facilitating a direct and equivalent exchange of value between its members.
• Often hailed as the prodigal child of the sharing economy, Kindred embodies the true spirit of sharing and community engagement.