Is Trusted Housesitters Still Worth It With The NEW £9 Booking Fee?

As of January 2026, Trusted Housesitters has introduced a £9 booking fee that both the sitter and the pet owner have to pay when a sit is confirmed. This is paid per sit confirmation and is on top of the annual membership. With this additional cost in mind, it begs the question… is Trusted Housesitters still worth it? Let’s deep dive!

_{Disclaimer – this post contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission if you follow any of the links. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps support the site. Thanks!}

What is Trusted Housesitters?

Trusted Housesitters is a membership website which connects housesitters with pet parents. I’ve been a member on Trusted Housesitters since 2022 and it is the only reason I was able to spend a year travelling through 12 different countries and only spend £5k. It’s a great way for pet lovers to travel to new places. Plus you get to hang out with some cute pets.

How does it work?

It works in a similar way to dating sites. Both parties create a profile, with photos and a bio. Pet parents then list dates they are seeking sitters for with all the relevant details like location, pet details and responsibilities. Sitters can browse listings and send a message to apply.

What is the new fee for?

This new £9/$12 fee (or local equivalent) has been introduced in January 2026. It is payable by both the sitter and the pet parent on confirmation of a sit. Trusted Housesitters say this new fee is to cover the behind the scenes service provided by the site as well as to encourage commitment from both sides.

However, the fee is only applied to basic and standard sitter plans. This booking fee is waived for premium members. This new fee will come into affect immediately for new customers and upon renewal date for existing customers if they are a basic or standard member.

Is it still worth it?

With this new addition, is Trusted Housesitters still worth it? Yes. I do believe it is still worth it BUT only if you’re a premium member. Eg. only if you pay more up front to avoid paying the booking fee.

Now I’m a premium member and have been since 2022. The primary reason I upgraded from the standard plan to the premium plan was to gain access to the sit cancellation insurance and also to get 2 lounge passes.

In terms of value let’s break it down with some girl maths…

Premium membership is £199 per year. But if you use code TRUSTED15 you’ll get 15% off, reducing this cost to £169.15 upfront. Now two lounge passes can be valued at £48. This is the equivalent to if you were to buy them through priority pass, more without one. But for the sake of this maths let’s assume a minimum value of £48, taking the price down to £121.15. Already lower than the typical standard plan price and without any booking fees.

If lounge passes aren’t your thing and you won’t use them, 15% off the standard plan takes the upfront cost to £109.65. With a booking fee of £9, you’d have to confirm seven or more housesits in the year to justify the £169.15 for the premium plan.

Verdict

In terms of value, I think the premium plan is the winner for the new Trusted Housesitters system and is a good solution to avoid paying the new £9 booking fee. Even with the additional charges, I do still think Trusted Housesitters is a great platform and a great budget travel solution for pet lovers, just look at all the incredible housesits I’ve landed over the years.

What do you think? Would you pay the new £9 booking fee or are you a premium member?