CouchsurfingReviews of couchsurfing.com

New design is horrible. Cancelled my subscription! Everything changed. Even the support became bad. You explain the same thing over and over again. They don't seem to understand anything. :( Too bad. I used CS for 15 years. I changed to Couchers.org.

It’s services like this one that lead people to ask for a ‘zero star’ option. From the moment my money was taken - with no prior notice of increases - two weeks ago, entirely locked out of my account and no response from ‘customer services’ regardless of the route taken to raise a request. Awful service after a decade of commitment.

Couchsurfing’s latest update feels like a soulless, AI-driven redesign that turned a great cultural exchange platform into a dating app lookalike. Searching for people is now a nightmare because vital filters are gone. You can no longer filter by "last online" status or by who is actually "accepting guests," leading to endless wasted requests. You also can't toggle your own hosting status easily anymore, and the new Hangouts chat features are incredibly weird. Couchsurfing needs to stop prioritizing trendy aesthetics and bring back the practical tools its community actually relies on.

Since the update on May 11, 2026, the app has become unusable. I don’t actually think the design is that bad, but key features that were at the heart of this app have simply been removed. My entire profile text, which I painstakingly crafted to create a good, trustworthy profile, has simply vanished. Only the first paragraph remains. You can no longer view photos directly; instead, you have to wait for the truncated slideshow to load on each profile. You can no longer indicate whether you’re currently accepting guests or not. Consequently, you can no longer filter for people who are accepting guests. You also can’t filter by “last online” status, which is extremely important, because otherwise you’ll end up sending tons of requests in vain. Logging in now only works via a registration link sent by email and not via a password. You can’t decline requests with a message. The exact age is no longer visible. Instead, you can now specify your pronouns. Important: I have absolutely no problem with products becoming more expensive or having to pay for verification, but the quality has to be there to match. That is definitely no longer the case. Last but not least, the company seems to have no interest in criticism whatsoever and deletes posts and blocks members who voice criticism. A wonderful community, built up over decades, simply destroyed in a single day...

It became very bad after the new updates, really really bad

If I could give 0 stars, I would. I was charged €60 for account verification without clearly seeing the price beforehand. Couchsurfing calls this a “contribution,” but it is a mandatory payment presented in a misleading way. And when I asked for refund, they didn't want to refund me. I'm deleting the account. Very disappointing and unethical practice.

Let's all find a way to vote for getting the old version back. The new version will be the end of being part of this community for 15 years, all memories collected, photos, ... this new version is a dating app, has so many bugs and get worse. We are ALL SO DISSAPOINTED.

I was a lifetime paid user and I decided to pay only because I found a true community, I have asked nothing in return but apparently the owners got too greedy.. now with new update they decided my lifetime membership not for a lifetime anymore!! this is pure fraud.. I may even making a video about this to make sure everyone know what kind of people who own this website