CouchsurfingReviews of couchsurfing.com

Sad but true, CS decadence is happenng live right now. It's now mostly a site with authoritarian admins where you're censored if you don’t pay or if you say something they don't like.

I was an active member of Couchsurfing (both hosting and traveling) for over 12 years. It used to be wonderful. Over time (after they started to advertise the platform extensively) I started to receive more and more annoying copy-pasted requests so I stopped using it but kept my profile hoping for better times. Now suddenly, WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION Couchsurfing put a paywall. Which means you CAN NOT ACCESS NOR DELETE YOUR PROFILE unless you pay. I understand they need funds for hosting the platform, IT work and everything but THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT. Obviously they don't want people to go, because they want to keep their member numbers high to attract new people to pay. The trust is gone and sadly Couchsurfing will be dead soon.

Couch surfing était à la base une organisation non-lucrative, construite grace à la sueur des bénévoles, et aux donations. Un jour son président à décidé contre l'avis de tous d'en faire une entreprise lucrative, détournant dans le même geste les donnations reçues et le fruit du travail des bénévoles. Aujourd'hui ils imposent un abonnement payant pour utiliser le site... Il existe heureusement des alternatives associatives et désintéressées comme bewelcome.org

Disappointed. Now I cannot read my messages without paying.

I've been a member of couchsurfing for a few years. In May 2020 they locked me out of my profile asking me to pay before using the side. I can't even delete my profil myself. I have to ask them to do it. They don't care if the references are stating wrong things. They won't cancel them. The person writing the reference doesn't have to give proof that what they write is correct. After a few complains to the staff of couchsurfing they might deactivate the profile.

DONT PAY A THING! THE COMMUNITY IS DEAD. I have been a member since 2007, I have met amazing people from all walks of the world, and had the most beautiful adventures. Unfortunately It has changed over time and it became harder and harder to find real people among all the ghost profiles. This auupt charging to belong is just a fraud. Last year I made my profile public and harassed-stalked by a gay Venezuelan(Javier Leon) in Santiago Chile. As an American in Colombia, I looked for the local CS community (Pereira) and again it was all about partying and dating. I really understood how fake the community had become. I knew the pandemic was going to be very serious, and asked for help on finding a place to rent, I didn't ask for a couch, I asked for advice. I did find an answer to my question, but not from the group, but one of the only real active members. Nobody in the group wanted to talk about it. Most of the members just want to practice their English and party. Nobody could hold a decent conversation over 30 seconds; No stories about trips, camping or cultural revelations. Because I just wanted to talk and since I speak fluent Spanish even though I am white, I wasn't really welcome- it is all about letting them practice their English and having them feel good because they can dance salsa, but if you can't contribute there is no middle ground. THE COMMUNITY DIED! SO A WEEK BEFORE THEY HIJACKED "YOUR" COMMUNITY, I WAS EMAILED BY THE AMBASSADOR OF BELGUIM, LIELYANDKIDS, WHO "WELCOMED ME INTO COUCH". IT WAS A COPY PASTE MESSAGE TELLING ME ABOUT HOW MUCH COUCH CHANGED SINCE SHE BECAME A MEMBER. SHE OBVIOUSLY DID NOT READ MY PROFILE, IT WAS VERY WEIRD, I NEVER GOT A MESSAGE LIKE THIS. I SAID YES THE COMMUNITY DID CHANGE SINCE WE JOINED IN 2007. I ASKED HER WHY DID SHE WRITE ME, I AM FROM THE US AND I AM IN SOUTH AMERICA, BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WROTE. IT WAS APART OF THE SCAM

It was very good in the past when it was driven by volunteers. Thing's became bad when they turned it into a for-profit company - and now since Patrick Dugan is CEO they want to squeeze the last pennies out of this dead horse and take the users profile hostage. They release them for a monthly fee. To bad to see couchsurfing LTD dying. But it is for good! See you on trustroots.org and bewelcome.org

I was a member (mostly host) from early 2008 until today The downfall started in 2011 when they became a for-profit company. Gradually things got worse. Two weeks ago a new low was reached when they held profiles hostage for a ransom. Since I made a donation in the past (before they became for-profit) I got another year to decide if I wanted to become a hostage. Unhappy with the way things were going I made clear on my profile that I preferred to use other platforms. The censors of CS weren't too happy with this and I got an email saying that my account was deactivated without warning. If this is the way they treat old members and reliable hosts, this will be over next year.