HomeExchange (formerly GuestToGuest)

What HomeExchange (formerly GuestToGuest) does

HomeExchange is a Paris-headquartered, privately held home-exchange marketplace founded in 1992 (originally as GuestToGuest) that operates a direct-to-consumer platform enabling members to swap homes or apartments for vacation stays. The platform carries 550,000+ listings across 155 countries and serves a combined community of more than 110,000 members, augmented by acquired communities from Love Home Swap (UK, 2023) and My Weekend For You (France, 2023), among other historical roll-ups. Its core product is a self-serve web platform (homeexchange.com) where individual travelers and homeowners match on reciprocal stays, with protections against cancellations, misrepresentation, and property damage, and a reported 99.7% exchange success rate.

The company monetizes almost exclusively through a $235 annual membership that grants unlimited swaps and free hosting rights, supplemented by ancillary fees and protections; My Weekend For You members currently host for free, and pricing models are uniform and self-serve. Distribution is community-led (word-of-mouth, member referrals) and event-driven (e.g., FIFA World Cup host-city campaigns), with no third-party resellers or enterprise channel. Underlying technology is described as a home-swap platform with no disclosed AI, integrations, or proprietary features beyond listing, matching, and trust/protection services.

HomeExchange has executed a sustained consolidation strategy: from 2014 through 2023 it acquired at least seven home-exchange brands (Itamos, Trampolinn, HomeforHome, HomeExchange brand, echangedemaison.com, Love Home Swap, My Weekend For You) and rebranded from GuestToGuest to HomeExchange in 2017. The company has raised disclosed equity of approximately $41.4 million across five rounds between 2013 and 2017, led by MAIF Avenir with Alyan Group and WILCO participation. Leadership is anchored by President Emmanuel Arnaud. The company is not publicly listed, has no disclosed parent, and operates as an independent privately held platform.

Name

HomeExchange (formerly GuestToGuest)

Legal name

HomeExchange

Website

https://homeexchange.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

HomeExchange (Paris, est. 1992) is a global direct-to-consumer home-swap marketplace that lets individual travelers and homeowners exchange vacation stays via a $235 annual membership across 550,000+ listings in 155 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Peer-to-Peer Home Exchange Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Whole-Home Rentals (Houses, Villas, Cabins) (THAGANAA)

Keywords

• Home exchange platform
• Vacation home swapping
• Peer-to-peer lodging
• Hospitality exchange network
• Travel membership service

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Annual Membership Fee: HomeExchange generates revenue through an annual membership fee model. Members pay $235 per year for unlimited home swaps. The platform allows members to host travelers for free, with the membership fee being the primary revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

HomeExchange operates an online home-swapping platform where members pay a $235 annual fee to exchange homes for vacation stays. The platform offers over 550,000 listings across 155 countries, providing affordable lodging alternatives to traditional hotels with protections against cancellations, misrepresentation, or property damage.

Product overview

HomeExchange operates as a unified home swapping platform with the core HomeExchange product supplemented by acquired brands My Weekend For You and Love Home Swap. The platform enables home exchanges for vacation travel through an annual membership model ($235/year), offering over 550,000 listings across 155 countries with exchange protection services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HomeExchange The primary home swapping platform enabling members to exchange homes for vacation stays. Members pay a $235 annual membership fee for unlimited swaps across over 550,000 listings in 155 countries, with protections against cancellations, misrepresentation, or property damage.
• Love Home Swap

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• My weekend for youcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 March 2023HomeExchange acquired My weekend for you, a French home-sharing network. The acquisition involves over 1,200 hosts across approximately 30 countries, allowing members to host travelers for free. This acquisition expands HomeExchange's European footprint.
• Love Home SwapcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 2023HomeExchange acquired its UK-based competitor Love Home Swap to expand its community and market presence. The acquisition brings together two communities with over 110,000 members across more than 130 countries, enhancing responsible travel options.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Couchsurfing: Community-based hospitality platform connecting travelers with hosts offering free accommodation. Competes for similar budget and authentic-experience traveler needs, though offers shared-space stays versus HomeExchange's whole homes.
• BeWelcome: Non-profit hospitality exchange network offering free home-stay and couch-surfing. Adjacent competitor targeting the budget-traveler and community-driven segments HomeExchange serves.
• Switchome: Smaller European home-exchange platform focused on city-based reciprocal stays. Partial overlap with HomeExchange but at a much smaller geographic scale.

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb: Global short-term rental marketplace offering 5M+ listings with one-way stays. Competes for the same budget-conscious traveler use case but offers more flexibility than reciprocal home swapping.
• VRBO: Vacation rental platform owned by Expedia Group specializing in whole-home rentals. Targets similar family-traveler segment as HomeExchange but with cash transactions rather than swaps.

Direct peers

• HomeLink International: One of the oldest home-exchange cooperatives, operating globally since the 1950s. Directly competes with HomeExchange on reciprocal whole-home swaps and annual membership model.
• 9flats: European short-term rental marketplace acquired by HomeExchange competitor Wimdu's peers, offering P2P home rentals similar in positioning to HomeExchange though with cash transactions.
• Love Home Swap: UK-based home-swap platform acquired by HomeExchange in 2023. Now operated as a subsidiary but remains a directly comparable brand and historical competitor.
• Triptanium (echangedemaison.com): French home-exchange brand acquired by HomeExchange in 2018. Historical competitor now absorbed into the HomeExchange parent, representative of the consolidation pattern.
• Intervac Home Exchange: European-based home-swap cooperative focused on family exchanges across 60+ countries. Closest direct competitor to HomeExchange's reciprocal whole-home model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/homeexchangecom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HomeExchange (formerly GuestToGuest)