Village Sitters

Pricing

One honest number.

No booking fees. No per-sit charges. No commission on what you pay your sitter. Membership funds the verification and human moderation that make the network trustworthy.

For families

$20/year per household

  • Unlimited sit posts, all year
  • Instant notifications to every approved sitter
  • Sitter name, year, and phone number the moment she claims
  • 24-hour release protection and cancellation notifications
  • An actively moderated, members-only community
  • Founding-member badge for the first cohort
Join as a family

Pay by card (Stripe) or Venmo — active the same day.

For sitters

Free forever

  • @arbor.edu verification and personal approval
  • Every open sit, notified to you instantly
  • Rates posted up front — typically $15–20/hr
  • Zero commission. You keep 100% of what you earn.
Apply as a sitter

Applications reviewed personally, usually within a day.

Where the money actually goes

Your sitter’s pay never touches us. You set the rate when you post, and you pay her directly after the sit — cash, Venmo, whatever works for you both. That keeps rates fair, payouts instant, and the relationship where it belongs: between your family and your sitter.

The $20 membership covers what a trustworthy network actually costs: university email verification, personal screening of every sitter, the notification and claim system, and a real person moderating the community. That’s the entire business model — we make nothing when you book, so we have no reason to push volume over safety.

Pricing questions

Why isn’t it free?+

Free networks fill with strangers, spam, and no-shows because nobody has anything invested. A small membership keeps the community intentional and funds real human screening — it is the difference between a bulletin board and a trusted network.

Is it per parent or per family?+

Per household. One membership covers your whole family, however many kids and however many sits you post.

How do I pay?+

By card through Stripe’s secure checkout, or by Venmo with same-day manual activation. Your membership is active the moment we confirm it, and you can post immediately.