Frequently asked questions

About BeWelcome (general)

What is BeWelcome?

BeWelcome is the world’s largest free hospitality community. This means that travellers are offered hospitality by other members. This hospitality can range from being hosted in the homes of other members, or being shown around the local sights, to meeting up for a coffee. BeWelcome also supports online exchanges and local activities.

Every member of BeWelcome has a profile. Members can search for other members at their travel destination, check out their profiles and send them a message or accommodation request.

BeWelcome is a volunteer-based, non-profit and open source project. This means using the site is free – we are not trying to make profit out of people’s hospitality – and we are committed to transparency and democracy: about our decisions, our budget, and our privacy rules.

If this sounds good to you, just sign up.

How do I join BeWelcome?

You can join BeWelcome by signing up at https://www.bewelcome.org/signup. We ask you for a username, your real name, your e-mail address, your date of birth, gender and your approximate location.

Only your username and your location will automatically become part of your public profile. You can decide what other information you want to show in your personal settings (you can find advice on filling out your profile here.)

 After you have signed up, we will send you a confirmation e-mail. Once you click on the link in that mail, you can use BeWelcome.

Is joining BeWelcome free?

Yes, joining and using BeWelcome is free of charge.

BeWelcome is non-profit and completely run by volunteers. We hope that you will contribute to the community through hosting, meeting other members or helping to run the site.

Although the website is run by volunteers, we do have some costs (such as servers, domains, administrative fees, etc.) which we hope to cover through donations. We will never sell data or show advertisements to cover the costs. You can find out more about how BeWelcome is financed here.