Home > Blog > Aussie House Sitters Pricing and Review
Quick Facts
| Sitter | Homeowner | |
|---|---|---|
| Full price | $89/year | $49 lifetime |
| With HSG15 discount | ~$76/year | ~$42 lifetime |
| Booking fee | None | None |
| Auto-renewal | No — manual renewal only | N/A — lifetime |
| Background checks | Voluntary — not platform-mandated ($5 one time extra fee for a ID check) | No mandatory checks |
| Listings | 1,000+ at any given time | — |
| Best for | Australian house sitters | Australian homeowners planning multiple trips |
| Platform age | 20+ years, Australian-owned | — |
The first house sit I ever did was through Aussie House Sitters. My mother applied on her profile, the homeowner was happy, I signed up to the platform and did the sit. A $3.4 million apartment 500 metres from the Sydney Harbour Bridge over the Christmas period, looking after a toy poodle. That was almost eleven years ago.
The platform was simple then. It is more polished now, but the core approach has not changed: connect homeowners with sitters efficiently, quickly, and at a price that makes sense for both sides.
Based on 20 sits across 12 countries and experience with multiple house sitting platforms, this article covers Aussie House Sitters pricing, how it compares to TrustedHouseSitters for Australian sitters, the discount available through our code, and the honest pain points the community has raised. Use our code HSG15 at checkout for 15% off sitter membership via our Aussie House Sitters link.
Aussie House Sitters Pricing 2026
The pricing structure is truly different from anything in the international house sitting space.
Sitter membership: $89 AUD/year
No automatic subscription. No booking fee. No per-sit charges. You pay once, you have access to all listings for 12 months, and when the year is up you choose whether to renew. With our discount code HSG15 the sitter membership comes down to approximately $76 AUD per year. Around $47 USD at current exchange rates.
Homeowner membership: $49 AUD lifetime
One payment, permanent access. A homeowner who joins at $49 and goes on five holidays a year for the next twenty years has paid approximately $2.45 per trip for the platform that organises their house sitting. This is the structural reason why Aussie House Sitters has 1,000+ listings at any given time. Homeowners pay once, stay on the platform indefinitely, and list every time they travel. There is no annual renewal to forget, no subscription to question the value of. The cost is irrelevant by the second trip.
With HSG15 the lifetime homeowner membership drops to approximately $42 AUD.
| Plan | Full price | With HSG15 discount |
|---|---|---|
| Sitter — 12 months | $89 AUD | ~$76 AUD |
| Homeowner — lifetime | $49 AUD | ~$42 AUD |
How It Compares to TrustedHouseSitters for Australian Sits
TrustedHouseSitters starts at $97 USD per year after our 25% discount. Approximately $149 AUD. And charges a $12 USD booking fee per confirmed sit on Basic and Standard plans. For a sitter doing six sits per year in Australia, the real annual THS cost is closer to $220 AUD.
Aussie House Sitters at $76 AUD with our discount and no booking fee is significantly cheaper for someone sitting exclusively in Australia.
The trade-off is listing volume and platform features. THS carries approximately half the Australian listings that Aussie House Sitters does, but THS has a far stronger global presence, a mobile app with push notifications, the 24/7 vet helpline on Standard and Premium, and a more developed verification system.
My recommendation is simple: if you are sitting only in Australia, Aussie House Sitters is the primary platform. If you are planning to house sit internationally. Across Europe, the US, New Zealand, or beyond. Join TrustedHouseSitters for the global listing base and treat Australian sits as one part of a broader travel plan. The two serve different use cases and there is no conflict in using each for what it does best.
For Australia specifically, Mindahome Australia is also worth considering as a second option with strong listing counts at an affordable price point.
The No Booking Fee Advantage
The absence of a booking fee is meaningful. TrustedHouseSitters introduced a $12 per-sit booking fee in 2025 that generated significant community frustration. Aussie House Sitters has never charged a booking fee. The platform is a connection service and keeps its cost model accordingly simple.
The booking fee on THS is evidently funding real platform development. The Search Plus feature covered in our THS Search Plus article, the AI chat assistant, ongoing bug fixes. But it is still an additional cost that makes THS more expensive for regular sitters than the headline price suggests. Aussie House Sitters' flat annual fee with no per-transaction charges is a cleaner model for sitters who do a high volume of sits.
The No Auto-Renewal Model: Positive or Negative?
Aussie House Sitters does not automatically renew sitter memberships. You pay for 12 months and when the year is up, nothing happens unless you actively renew.
This cuts both ways. The positive: you are never unexpectedly charged for a year you did not intend to buy. There are no support tickets to raise about unwanted renewals. For sitters who sit occasionally and might take a year off, it is a truly considerate model.
The negative: if renewal reminder emails go to spam, you could lose access without knowing it until you try to apply for a sit. A sitter who lets their membership lapse mid-sit-search loses continuity at a critical moment. The smarter approach for the platform would be to offer auto-renewal as an opt-in option while keeping manual renewal as the default. Giving sitters the choice. The absence of auto-renewal as an option at all is a gap worth addressing.
The Verification Question
Voluntary — not platform-mandated ($5 one time extra fee for a ID check)
Aussie House Sitters does not require mandatory background checks or ID verification for sitters. This is the most significant limitation of the platform relative to THS, which requires ID verification for all sitters and criminal background checks for US-based members.
When I first thought about this, my instinct was that a video call before the sit is enough to establish basic trust. But thinking it through more carefully, the absence of verification creates a genuine problem in the worst-case scenario: if a sitter damages a property, neglects pets, or worse, the homeowner needs documented identification to file a police report or insurance claim. Without any platform-level ID on file, they are left with a first name, a profile photo, and a username. That is not enough.
Homeowners on Aussie House Sitters who assume verification exists because the sitter has reviews and a complete profile are taking on more risk than they realise. ProductReview.com.au includes accounts of homeowners who felt misled on exactly this point. The platform being 20 years old and Australian-owned creates a sense of established trustworthiness that should not be confused with formal verification.
For sitters, the practical implication is that your own conduct and communication are even more important on a platform without mandatory checks. Your reviews, your video call, and your transparency about your background are the trust signals. Use them well. Our house sitting profile guide covers how to build a profile that compensates for the absence of a formal verification badge.
The Homeowner Lifetime Model: Why It Works
The $49 lifetime homeowner membership is the single most important pricing decision Aussie House Sitters has made in 20 years. It explains the listing density better than anything else.
A homeowner who has paid once has no financial reason to leave the platform. When they plan a holiday, they list. When the trip is over, the listing stays. When they travel again in two years, they list again. The platform accumulates homeowners rather than cycling them out at annual renewal. The result is a listing base that grows over time and does not deflate at the end of each membership cycle the way annual-only models do.
For homeowners specifically, $49 lifetime with our HSG15 discount is approximately $42 AUD. There is truly no more affordable entry into the Australian house sitting market.
The Platform Experience: Simple by Design
Aussie House Sitters is not as polished as TrustedHouseSitters. There is no dedicated mobile app with push notifications. The search is functional rather than feature-rich. The listing and profile pages are clean but simple.
None of that matters much for what the platform is designed to do. It connects Australian homeowners with Australian sitters. The listings are there, the homeowners are engaged because of the lifetime model, and the process from finding a sit to applying works. A sitter who expects THS-level features will find it basic. A sitter who wants affordable access to the Australian house sitting market will find it does exactly what is needed.
The support team is small and Australian-based. When I spoke with someone from Aussie House Sitters support, there was a recognisable warmth to the interaction. He was from Lismore, an area I lived near when I was working in the Byron Bay region. Support being Australian-based is not a significant operational difference, but for Australian sitters it reflects a platform that is truly embedded in the community it serves.
Who Should Use Aussie House Sitters
Use Aussie House Sitters if:
You are based in Australia and sitting primarily within the country
You want the most affordable per-sit cost without booking fees
You are a homeowner who plans to use house sitting repeatedly over many years
You are testing house sitting in Australia before committing to THS
Use TrustedHouseSitters instead if:
You are planning to house sit internationally as well as in Australia
You want a mobile app with push notifications and saved search alerts
You value the 24/7 vet helpline on Standard and Premium plans
You want mandatory sitter verification as a trust signal for homeowners
Use both if:
You are an active Australian sitter who wants maximum listing coverage
Conclusion
Aussie House Sitters is the right primary platform for Australian house sitting. The pricing is the most affordable in the market, the homeowner lifetime model produces strong listing density, and the absence of a booking fee makes the real annual cost meaningfully lower than THS for Australia-only sitters.
The verification gap is the honest limitation. Homeowners should understand that reviews and a complete profile do not substitute for formal ID verification. Sitters should build their profile accordingly.
For 15% off sitter membership, use code HSG15 via our Aussie House Sitters link. If you are planning to sit internationally as well, read our TrustedHouseSitters plans guide to compare the platforms.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Aussie House Sitters cost in 2026?
Sitter membership costs $89 AUD per year, with no booking fee and no automatic renewal. Homeowner membership is $49 AUD for lifetime access. A one-time payment. With our discount code HSG15 sitter membership drops to approximately $76 AUD and homeowner membership to approximately $42 AUD. Use the code via our Aussie House Sitters link.
Is Aussie House Sitters better than TrustedHouseSitters for Australia?
For Australia-only sitters, yes. Aussie House Sitters has more Australian listings, lower fees, and no booking fee. TrustedHouseSitters has better features (app, vet helpline, verification), a global listing base, and is the better choice for sitters planning international travel alongside Australian sits.
Does Aussie House Sitters have a discount code?
Yes. Use HSG15 for 15% off sitter membership. Apply it at checkout via our Aussie House Sitters link. The discount also applies to homeowner lifetime membership.
Does Aussie House Sitters verify sitters?
No. There are no mandatory background checks or ID verification requirements. This is the main limitation compared to TrustedHouseSitters, which requires ID verification for all sitters globally. Homeowners should not assume verification exists based on a sitter's reviews or profile completeness.
