Quick Facts
| Homeowner preference | Couples, almost universally — twice the hands, twice the security |
| Biggest solo advantage | Total autonomy, simpler logistics, fits single-bed apartments |
| Biggest couple advantage | Shared workload, built-in backup for illness or emergencies |
| Solo sitting reality | Works well with enough purpose — difficult if the sit becomes your whole social life |
| Our verdict | Together is better, but solo sitting is a legitimate choice at the right point in life |
The alarm went off at 7am in Cortona. Outside, the Tuscan hills were still dark. Inside, Teddy, an eleven-year-old Labrador with the conviction of a dog half his age, was already nudging whoever was closest with his nose. He needed a walk and he was not negotiating.
Caro and I are both late sleepers. Seven in the morning after a cold night in an Italian farmhouse is not a natural waking hour for either of us. But we had a system: one morning on, one morning off. That day was my turn. I got up, got dressed, took Teddy and Lucca out through the olive trees, and came back to Caro still asleep and the coffee machine already warming up.
If I had been sitting alone, there would have been no system. Every 7am walk would have been mine.
That simple rotation is probably the clearest practical argument for sitting as a couple. But it is far from the only one.
The Bochum Sit That Started Everything
It was not a plan. It was a Google search.
I was coming to visit Caro in Bochum. She had time off work, we had two weeks together, and the hotel quotes were running between €1,500 and €2,000, so I typed "house sitting in Bochum" more out of curiosity than expectation and a listing appeared. Five minutes from Caro's family home.
I signed up to TrustedHouseSitters, built a profile, wrote an application message, and sent it. When the homeowner responded positively, I asked whether it would be alright for my partner to join.
It turned out to be exactly the right question. The homeowner was not confident in English, and Caro, being German, was immediately a reassuring presence. The sit was confirmed. Two weeks, two cats, no hotel bill, and the beginning of everything that followed.
After that sit, we rewrote the profile as a shared account. Caro's ID was verified, her name and photos added, and since then we have most house sits together sits together. 16 sits across 11 countries.
A note on the Bochum approach: Applying solo and then asking the homeowner if a partner could join worked for us in 2023, but we would not recommend it now. In 2026, the THS community considers this a red flag. The homeowner approved one person, not two. A partner not on the profile also has no platform coverage if something goes wrong during the sit. Set up a shared profile from day one. Full transparency, full coverage, and homeowners trust you faster for it.
What Five Months Solo Taught Me
Before Caro, I sat for five months alone in Montanel, France. Working online, exploring the French countryside, and, importantly, keeping myself occupied. Loneliness was never a real factor because I had built a life around the sit rather than waiting for the sit to be my whole life.
That is the key to solo sitting done well. If you have enough going on (work, exploration, a purpose to the time), the solitude is a feature rather than a problem. You eat when you want, sleep when you want, explore at your own pace without coordinating with anyone. For a certain kind of person at a certain point in life, that is exactly what they need.
The practical argument for solo sitting is also real. Some sits only have a single bed. Some city apartments are designed for one person. A solo sitter fits listings where a couple simply cannot. For shorter sits of a week or less, the simplicity of looking after yourself alongside a cat or two is hard to beat.
The honest limitation: solo sitting eventually surfaces whatever you are carrying. A big empty house in a foreign country, after a few weeks, starts to feel different to an adventure. The animals help with this more than most solo sitters expect. But they are not the same as having someone to have dinner with.
Is It Harder for Solo Men to Get Sits?
Yes, and it is worth saying clearly because most articles avoid it.
Solo male sitters face a trust gap that solo women and couples do not. This is not a criticism of homeowners. It is a rational response to the reality that they are inviting a stranger into their home and leaving them alone with their animals and possessions. A solo man with no reviews or background check is a harder sell than a solo woman or a couple, regardless of how good the application message is.
The way to close that gap: get ID verified on THS and consider adding a background check where available. Build your review count by applying to cat sits near home first. Lower stakes for homeowners, easier to get approved as a beginner. Ten solid five-star reviews from cat sits will do more to close the trust gap than any amount of clever application writing.
A well-photographed profile also helps: not just a headshot, but photos of you with animals, outdoors, in domestic settings. Homeowners are reading a profile the way you would size someone up at a social occasion. Give them enough to form a real impression.
Solo female house sitting carries different considerations. Safety is a real factor and the video call is essential: not just to assess the sit, but to assess the homeowner. Any hint of discomfort or inappropriate interest in the pre-sit conversation is a valid reason to walk away regardless of how good the listing looks. Our house sitting safety guide covers this fully.
Solo vs Couple: The Honest Comparison
| Solo | Couple | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning pet routine | Always yours | Alternating — one rests while the other covers | Couple |
| Emergencies | You handle it alone | Built-in backup if one person is unwell | Couple |
| Accommodation fit | Single beds, small apartments accessible | Need adequate space for two | Solo |
| Homeowner trust | Harder to establish from zero | Two verified people, stronger profile | Couple |
| Platform coverage | One person covered | Both people covered on shared profile | Couple |
| Isolation risk | Real after several weeks | Significantly reduced | Couple |
| Flexibility | Maximum | Requires some coordination | Solo |
| Pet care quality | Depends on single person's capacity | Larger animals and multiple pets more manageable | Couple |
| Cost per person | Full platform fee | Platform fee split between two | Couple |
How the Campervan Changes the Equation
Caro and I live in a 1998 VW T4. The van is roughly 5 metres long. When you spend weeks at a time in that space together, a house sit is not a constraint on personal space. It is an expansion of it. Suddenly there are separate rooms, a proper desk each, a table to eat at, and enough distance to have a quiet hour without being on top of each other.
For couples who live together in a small space (a van, a studio, a shared room), house sitting gives you more room, not less. The concern about being "together all the time" in someone else's home is not something we have ever experienced. We are more together in the van. The house sits have consistently been the periods where we have had the most space from each other while still being in the same place.
For couples who live separately and are new to travelling together, this is worth thinking about. A house sit is an extended test of domestic compatibility. You learn quickly whether you have compatible routines, compatible tidiness standards, and compatible ideas about how much alone time each of you needs. That is useful information, and better to discover on a two-week sit than on a three-month one.
Why Homeowners Almost Always Choose Couples
From the homeowner's perspective, a couple is a fundamentally safer choice than a solo sitter for several reasons.
Two people means coverage if one gets sick. A solo sitter who comes down with a serious illness mid-sit has a real problem. They cannot care for the animals properly and cannot leave. A couple handles this without drama.
Two people means two sets of eyes on the property. Security incidents, maintenance issues, and animal health changes are more likely to be noticed and reported promptly.
Two people means better continuity for anxious animals. Some dogs and cats bond intensely to the first person they meet. If that person goes out for the day, having the second sitter present keeps the animal calm.
Two people also communicates investment in the arrangement. A couple who have set up a joint profile, done a joint video call, and made joint plans around the sit have more collective skin in the game than a solo sitter who can walk away with fewer consequences.
The 2026 Duo Sitter Feature
TrustedHouseSitters introduced the Duo Sitter add-on in late 2025. It allows couples to officially add a verified co-sitter to the profile for a small annual fee (around $45 per year). The main benefit beyond standard shared accounts is the ability to apply for sits that overlap by up to 48 hours, useful for managing back-to-back sits at the end of one and the start of another.
For most couples who always sit together, a standard shared account is all you need. Both people are included in the profile, both participate in sits, and the profile presents clearly as a couple. The Duo add-on is specifically designed for couples who plan to sit separately. For example, one partner finishing a sit in London while the other starts the next one in Bristol. If you sit together every time, the $45 Duo upgrade is optional. Only get it if you plan to divide sits between you to bridge gaps. Our age requirements guide has more detail on how the Duo feature works.
The Verdict
If you have a partner who is willing to do this with you, sit together. The shared workload, the morning rotation, the built-in backup for anything that goes wrong, and the stronger homeowner trust all point in the same direction. Almost every homeowner we have come across either explicitly preferred a couple or was noticeably more comfortable once they knew two people would be there.
Solo sitting is not a lesser version of house sitting. It is a different experience that suits different circumstances. If you are single, if you want total independence, if the sits you want are single-occupancy by design, solo is the right choice. Approach it with enough going on to fill your time, build your review history deliberately, and do not treat a sit as a substitute for social life.
But if you are asking whether it is better? Together is better. We have been doing this for three years and the system we built from our very first sit in Bochum (one person rests, one person covers, both of us back to Teddy and Lucca's farmhouse at the end of the walk) is still the best version of this life we have found.
Use our 25% discount on TrustedHouseSitters to set up your shared profile and start applying.
DM us @housesittersguide on Instagram if you have questions about starting out as a couple or solo. We answer everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do homeowners prefer solo sitters or couples?
Couples, almost universally. Two verified people, shared workload, built-in backup for emergencies, and better coverage for anxious animals all make a couple a lower-risk choice from the homeowner's perspective. Solo sitters can absolutely get great sits, but they need to work harder to build the trust level that a couple profile communicates from the start.
Is solo house sitting lonely?
It depends entirely on how you approach it. Solo sitting with a full work schedule, active exploration, and a purpose to the time works well. The animals provide more companionship than most people expect. Solo sitting as a substitute for a social life, especially in a remote location for weeks at a time, can become isolating. Build your life around the sit rather than waiting for the sit to be your life.
Can a couple share one TrustedHouseSitters account?
Yes, and this is the recommended approach. Set up one account with both people clearly included in the profile, both verified, and both named in applications. This is what Caro and I have done since our first sit together. Both people are accountable and the homeowner knows exactly who will be in their home. The THS Duo Sitter add-on (around $45/year) is an optional upgrade that enables overlapping sits and formal dual verification badges.
Is it harder to get sits as a solo male sitter?
Yes, at least initially. A trust gap exists that solo women and couples do not face to the same degree. Close it through ID verification and background checks where available, building a review history quickly with local cat sits, and a well-photographed profile that gives homeowners a real sense of who you are. Ten solid five-star reviews will do more than any amount of clever application writing.
Do you need separate accounts if two people want to sit together?
No. One shared account is the right approach. Both people should be included in the profile, both verified, and both named in all applications. Creating two accounts and having one person join a sit unexpectedly is a red flag in the THS community and leaves the second person without platform coverage if anything goes wrong.
