In April 2026, eight of us (four couples) spent five nights in a four-bedroom mid-century modern house in a Los Angeles canyon, with its own pool and spa. We paid no rent for it. I used Kindred, a members-only home swap network, and the five nights came out of the 5 starting credits every new member gets. The only money we spent on the place was the cleaning fee and the service fee.
This Kindred review covers how that trip actually went, what it cost, what hosting my own apartment in Athens has been like, and who I think Kindred is (and isn’t) for.
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Disclosure: if you join Kindred with my invite code (jor.bis4), Kindred gives me 2 credits. You get the same 5 starting credits either way. I booked and paid for this trip myself, and Kindred didn’t see this review before it went up.
My Kindred Review in Short
- The trip: 5 nights in a four-bedroom mid-century modern house with a pool and spa in a Los Angeles canyon, April 2026, with three other couples, eight of us in total.
- What it cost: €575 in cleaning and service fees for all eight of us, or €115 a night. A house like this near Los Angeles would easily be $700 a night or more on Airbnb.
- Credits used: my 5 starting credits. I hadn’t hosted anyone yet when I booked.
- Hosting: I’ve hosted Kindred members in my apartment in Athens twice since, for 2 nights and 4 nights. Both times the place was left exactly as I’d left it.
- Would I book again: yes, without thinking about it.
How Kindred Works
Kindred is a home swap network where nobody pays rent. You host other members in your home while you’re away, and you stay in other members’ homes when you travel. It all runs on credits:
- Host someone for one night and you earn 1 credit.
- Spend 1 credit and you get 1 night anywhere in the network.
- New members get 5 starting credits once they verify their ID and home and add some hosting dates.
- Guests pay a cleaning fee and a service fee on each trip.
Swaps don’t have to be direct. The people who stayed in my place in Athens weren’t the people whose apartment I stayed in, and that’s normal.
Booking the House
Booking felt a lot like Airbnb: you search a city, filter by dates and size, and send a request to the host. The difference was the tone. It felt friendlier, more like asking someone if you could stay than placing an order, and the hosts seemed genuinely happy to have us.
I only sent one request. The hosts got back to me in about two hours and said yes, so I never needed a backup. There were plenty of other homes in the area if they’d said no.
With four couples, I needed four bedrooms, and this house had exactly that, plus 2.5 bathrooms and room for 8 guests.
The Stay
Check-in couldn’t have been easier. The hosts left the key in a lockbox, and when we checked out we put it back in the same place.
The house was the best part of the trip. It’s a mid-century modern place tucked into a canyon, beautifully designed and honestly top tier. It’s the kind of house I’d expect to cost $700 a night or more on Airbnb.
We used the pool constantly. And the house is set up for groups: there are tons of games, a basketball hoop we played on and an incredible fireplace area. There’s also a barbecue, and we used it basically every day.
The house also has dedicated workspaces, which was amazing, because several of us were working while we stayed there. Having real desks meant nobody was stuck working from the couch.
The hosts were really kind, too. They left us a couple of bottles of wine, which we drank, so we left a couple of different bottles in their place before we went. That’s the kind of thing that makes Kindred feel different from a rental: you’re a guest in someone’s home, and you treat it that way.
Nothing went wrong. Nothing was missing, nothing broke, and the house matched the listing. It’s a really special, cool home, and I’d book it again in a heartbeat.
What It Cost
| Nights | 5 |
| Guests | 8 (four couples) |
| Credits used | 5 (my starting credits) |
| Cleaning fee | €370 |
| Service fee | €205 |
| Total paid | €575 (€115 a night) |
| Split between 8 people | About €72 each, or about €14 per person per night |
| Similar Airbnb, my estimate | $700+ a night, so $3,500+ for 5 nights |
So five nights in a four-bedroom LA house with a pool came to €115 a night for the whole place. Split between eight people, that’s about €14 each per night.
The cleaning fee covers one cleaning before you arrive and one after you leave, and Kindred says 100% of it goes to the cleaners. The service fee is Kindred’s cut and covers trip protection, support and ID verification. Fees vary by home, and bigger homes usually have bigger cleaning fees, but you see the exact amounts before you confirm. If you travel a lot, Kindred also sells a $600-a-year Passport that removes the service fees.
Hosting My Apartment in Athens
The other half of Kindred is letting members stay in your home. I’ve hosted Kindred guests in my one-bedroom apartment in Athens twice: once for 2 nights and once for 4. Both stays went smoothly, and both times the apartment was left in perfect condition. It looked exactly the way I’d left it.
Hosting works well for me because I travel a lot. My apartment would be sitting empty anyway, and now those empty nights turn into free nights somewhere else. Those 6 nights of hosting earned me 6 credits for my next trip.
I’ve also hosted on Airbnb for years, so I’m used to people staying in my place. In all that time I’ve never had a serious problem. There are small things now and then, but nothing I couldn’t sort out in a couple of minutes.
What I Liked
- The homes. The LA house was top-tier mid-century design with a pool, a spa, games, a fireplace area and a barbecue, and it was someone’s real home, not a rental fitted out to look like one.
- The people. Booking felt friendly, the hosts replied within two hours, and they left us wine. It feels like a community more than a marketplace.
- The cost. Five nights in a four-bedroom house with a pool for €115 a night in fees is hard to beat.
What Could Be Better
- It isn’t free. Cleaning and service fees still add up, especially on a big home or a short stay. Go in expecting to pay those.
- You have to be comfortable sharing your home. After your starting credits run out, the main way to earn more is hosting. If you don’t want people in your place, Kindred won’t work long-term.
Who Kindred Is For (and Who It Isn’t)
I’d recommend Kindred to almost anyone who travels and has a home that sits empty while they’re away. It’s especially good if you travel often, because every trip can pay for the next one.
The only people I’d steer away from it are people who don’t want anyone staying in their home. I hear that a lot. But between Kindred and years of Airbnb hosting, my experience has been that guests treat your place well, and every Kindred member has a verified ID. Kindred also covers guest-caused damage up to $100,000 per stay.
Kindred Review FAQ
Is Kindred legit?
Yes. I’ve used it as a guest and as a host, and every stay has gone smoothly. Members verify a government ID, homes are reviewed before they’re listed, and guest-caused damage is covered up to $100,000 per stay.
Is Kindred really free?
There’s no membership fee and no rent, but guests pay a cleaning fee and a service fee on each trip. For my 5-night stay in Los Angeles, those came to €575, or €115 a night.
Can I book a trip before I host?
Yes. That’s exactly what I did. Every new member gets 5 starting credits, and I used all five on this Los Angeles trip before anyone had stayed in my apartment.
Is Kindred like Airbnb?
Booking feels similar: search, request, wait for the host to accept. The difference is that you pay with credits instead of rent, every guest is also a host, and the whole thing feels more personal.
Is there a Kindred referral code?
Yes. My Kindred referral code is jor.bis4. Join through my Kindred referral link and it’s applied automatically. For how the code works, see my Kindred referral code guide.
Final Verdict
My first Kindred trip was five nights in a beautifully designed mid-century house with a pool in a Los Angeles canyon, and it cost us €115 a night in fees for the whole place. Hosting since then has been just as easy. If your home sits empty while you travel and you’re comfortable with guests, Kindred is one of the best travel deals out there. I’ll be booking again.
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