How FurCred works, answered.
The questions members and would-be members actually ask, with answers we wrote ourselves. Anything we missed? hello@furcred.com — a real person reads it.
The shape of the thing, in plain language.
- What is FurCred, in one sentence?
A members-only pet-sitting exchange where one night of caring for a neighbour's pet earns one credit, and one credit pays for one night of someone else caring for yours.
- How is it different from Rover, Wag or DogVacay?
Those are marketplaces — sitters set a rate, you pay them, the platform takes a cut. FurCred is a community. No money moves between members; credits do. It restores the feeling of asking a friend rather than hiring a stranger, and it weeds out the kind of member who only does this for the cash.
- Why credits and not money?
Because once money enters the room, the relationship changes. Members ask harder questions about value and expect commercial behaviour from the other side. Credits keep it reciprocal — you give what you take. The maths is also simpler: one night of caring = one credit, whatever the pet, wherever the home.
- Which cities have you launched in?
Berlin, London and Dublin are first, and we unlock each one only when enough verified members live there to make matches feel like the next street over. Until your city is live, the waitlist is open — and you can ask us to come next.
- Is this only for dogs?
No — dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, reptiles, the lot. Anything you can look after in a flat for a few nights is fair game. Some pets need a host with experience; that's a filter on the booking, not a barrier to membership.
How members get in, and what we ask of them.
- What does it cost to join?
Nothing. Membership is free. The economics work because the unit of value is your own time, not a subscription.
- How does the invite work?
Cities unlock at a verified-member threshold. Until then, the waitlist is the front door. If a current member refers you, you skip the queue once your city opens. Otherwise it's first-in, first-out, with priority for the people who said something genuine about why FurCred fits where they live.
- Why do you need ID verification?
Because we're handing strangers the keys to each other's homes and pets. Every member confirms email, phone, and government ID through Stripe Identity — the same checks used by Airbnb and most modern banks. We see the verified result; the ID image itself is never stored on our side.
- What about people who'd never want to host?
FurCred politely isn't for them, and we say so up front. New members start with five credits — roughly one short trip — and the only way to earn more is to host. Members who want pet care without ever giving any back are better served by paying for a sitter elsewhere.
- Can I join if I rent, or share a flat?
Yes to both. We do ask that everyone in your household is comfortable with the arrangement before you host. If your tenancy agreement bans pets entirely, you can still travel and use credits — but you won't be able to host until that changes.
The mechanic that makes the whole thing tick.
- How do I earn credits?
By hosting. Each completed night of looking after another member's pet earns you one credit, posted to your ledger the morning after the sit ends.
By starting. New verified members are seeded with five credits so the first trip doesn't need to wait for a hosting opportunity.
By inviting. When someone you referred passes ID verification, both of you get a credit. Two per referral, intentionally — the bonus goes both ways.
- Can I buy more credits?
No. Buying them would turn FurCred into a paid sitting marketplace overnight, and the gentleness of the model would evaporate. The only currency that works here is the time you give back.
- Can my balance go negative?
No. If a booking would take you below zero, the request can't be sent. We surface this clearly before you commit, so there's no quiet drift into overdraft.
- Do hosts earn more for hosting two pets, or a difficult one?
No. One night is one credit, full stop. Members can mark themselves experienced with high-energy dogs, medication routines, or anxious cats, and travellers can filter for that — but we don't have surge pricing. The simplicity is on purpose.
- What happens to my credits if I leave?
They disappear with the account. Credits aren't redeemable for money and can't be transferred. If you delete your account, we anonymise your historic bookings (so the other side still has a complete record) and the ledger goes with you.
The traveller side of the exchange.
- How do I book?
Browse hosts in your city (or your traveller destination — wherever the pet is going), check their availability and hosting style, send a request with your dates and pet details. The host accepts, your credits are reserved against the booking, and you and the host exchange phone numbers automatically. Detailed handover happens in the booking chat.
- How many trips can I have open at once?
Three active requests at a time, so we don't end up with members holding bookings hostage. Once a host accepts or declines, the slot frees up.
- Can I bring another pet, or change the dates?
Dates and the number of pets can be edited up until the host accepts. After acceptance, changes go through the chat and need the host's nod — for most hosts that's fine if you give a day's notice, but a few are stricter.
- Can my pet stay at the host’s home, or do they come to mine?
Either, and every host states their preference on their profile. "At my place" hosts are usually flat-dwellers who enjoy the company. "At yours" hosts tend to be experienced with anxious or older animals who shouldn't travel.
- Can I cancel?
Yes, free up to 48 hours before the sit starts — credits are released, no penalty. Within 48 hours, one credit is forfeit to compensate the host for blocked dates. We waive the penalty for genuine emergencies, reviewed by a person, not a policy bot.
The other half of the exchange.
- How does hosting work, day-to-day?
The traveller drops the pet off (or you collect, depending on your preference) and you do your normal evenings + mornings with one extra little furry person involved. You message the owner with photos, you call them if anything looks off, and the next morning after the last night, your credit lands.
- Can I say no to a request?
Always. Hosting is opt-in for every single booking. You can also block specific dates in advance, set a maximum of pets per stay, and limit yourself to particular species.
- What if I want to host but I work?
Most hosts work. The platform encourages remote workers and flexible-schedule members to flag themselves as such, since travellers often prefer hosts who'll be around during the day. Outside of that, normal working hours with evening + morning company are fine for most healthy adult pets.
- Am I responsible if something happens to the pet?
You're responsible for taking reasonable care — the same standard a friend would be held to. We require every booking to surface the pet's vet contact and any medical notes, and we put both members directly in touch from the moment the booking is accepted. For damage or vet bills, see the next section.
Vets, conflicts, the kind of things we hope are rare.
- What if the pet needs a vet during the sit?
Every accepted booking shows the local emergency vet for the host's neighbourhood — looked up live, with opening hours and a one-tap call link. The pet's regular vet is on the booking too.
There’s an "Notify owner — incident" button on every active booking that pings them by SMS and in-app, with the message you write attached, so you can call a vet and update the owner without juggling apps.
- Who pays the vet bill?
The owner. Hosts are expected to cover trivial things (a tube of toothpaste, an extra walk), but actual veterinary costs go to the pet's owner — that's standard friend-asking-a-friend etiquette and how the platform's wording is set. For peace of mind beyond that, you can add optional booking insurance during the booking flow — a small flat fee that covers vet bills and accidental damage up to a per-booking cap.
- What if a member behaves badly?
Report them. Every profile and every booking has a report link, and a human on our team reads each one within a day. Repeat or serious offenders are removed, and the other side gets a credit refund where it makes sense. We log every action for our own audit trail — required by GDPR, but also useful for keeping the community honest.
- Does FurCred offer insurance?
Yes — opt-in, at the moment of booking. A small flat fee adds pet-liability and accidental-damage cover for the length of the sit, underwritten by our European insurance partner. It's optional because for most short sits between trusted members it's not needed, and we'd rather not pad every booking with a fee you didn't ask for.
- Can I just keep meeting this host outside the platform?
Strongly discouraged, and against the community rules. The reason the platform exists is that it makes the exchange traceable, insurable in future, and safer for both sides. Off-platform exchanges void the trust mechanism we've built, and we'll deactivate members who do it repeatedly.
Built in the EU, GDPR-native, no marketing-data brokerage.
- What do you collect, and why?
Profile data you provide (name, city, neighbourhood, bio, pet details), the verification result from Stripe Identity (not the ID image itself), and operational data — bookings, messages within a booking, ratings. Everything sensitive is encrypted at rest. The full processing register is at /datenschutz.
- Do you sell, share, or rent my data?
No. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone. The processors we use (Supabase for our database, Stripe for verification, Resend for transactional email, Fly.io for hosting) are listed in the privacy notice, and each is bound by GDPR's standard contractual clauses.
- How do I export or delete my data?
Inside the app, Settings → Privacy. Export gives you a JSON dump of everything we hold. Deletion runs immediately and anonymises your past bookings so the other side's history isn't broken. We confirm by email.
- Do you have a cookie banner because you want one, or because the law makes you?
The law makes us, and frankly we agree with the law. The site uses one essential cookie for sessions and nothing else by default — analytics or marketing trackers require your explicit opt-in via the banner.
Still wondering something?
Write to hello@furcred.com. We answer within a working day, almost always within a few hours.