Rent to Friends of Friends

Rent your home
to people you
can trust

Rent your actual home to friends of friends.
Control who sees it on our private, trusted platform.

Hudson, NY
Farmhouse with a porch
Hosted by Sarah Chen
2°4.8 5.4
$130 / night
James T.
James T.
Brooklyn, NY · Host & Guest
2°4.8AnnaMaya 5.8 ★4.7 (6)
You
You
1°
Anna
Anna
1°
James
James
You
You
1°
Maya
Maya
1°
James
James
The Problem

Renting your actual home, actually isn't great

Airbnb works for vacation rentals, but not for the home you live in.

Coverage doesn’t mean caring

Airbnb’s coverage gives renters peace of mind to care less about your things.

Putting your stuff away

Every time you rent. Taking it back out every time you return.

Public listings are searchable

Anyone can monitor or see your rental listings.

The Solution

Rent only to
friends of friends

Establish trust by connecting through friends and keeping your listing private.

Trust your guests
Keep your stuff out
Keep your listing private
How It Works

Just like Airbnb,
but with friends of friends

You handle the terms, contract and payment with tools we provide.

How well do you know them?

How long have you known them?

Direct connection score 6.0 Excellent
How it works · Step 1

Vouch for your friends
they vouch for theirs

Invite people you actually know. They invite people they actually know. The graph builds itself into a real trust network.

Daniel Reed
Daniel Reed
2° 6.3 Anna Nathan
You
You
1°
Anna
Anna
1°
Daniel
Daniel
You
You
1°
Nathan
Nathan
1°
Daniel
Daniel
2° Connection · 6.3 Score (Excellent)
How it works · Step 2

Rent to people
connected to you

See exactly how — through whom, 
and how strongly with our trust ratings.

How trust works →
How it works · Step 3

Coordinate here,
pay off platform

We help you manage and customize the whole arrangement here. Payments happen off platform. No coverage yet, but also no fees.

Trustead™ doesn't handle payments or provide incidental coverage or guarantees — for now.
Still want coverage? We make it easy to meet here and book on Airbnb, VRBO, etc. to get their coverage and payment management.
Features

What makes Trustead different?

Trust you can see, privacy you control, and renting that goes both ways.

Trust

Trust, established before
anyone ever rents

Vouching allows us to create a network of trust so you can reach people just outside your circle. We show exactly how they are connected to you or trusted within the network before they ever rent or get a review.

How trust works
James T.
James T.
Brooklyn, NY · Host & Guest
2°3.4AnnaMaya 5.8 ★4.7 (6)
James
James
1°
Anna
Anna
1°
You
You
James
James
1°
Maya
Maya
1°
You
You
2° Connection degreeHow many vouch hops apart you are — 1°, 2°, or 3°
3.4 Connection scoreHow strong and how many connections there are
5.8 Vouch scoreMeasure of total vouches received
Privacy

Complete privacy control

  • Create a custom listing preview — toggle your name, photos, neighborhood etc.
  • Set two circles of visibility — for all listings, or for each one:
    • Preview — who sees the sneak peek
    • Full listing — who sees everything
How privacy works
Trip Request Hudson Valley

A quiet cabin near Hudson Valley

Marisol B. 2°4.6

Two of us, flexible on the exact week. Somewhere walkable to a trailhead.

Sep 12 – Sep 18 2 guests
Host Offer 50% off

Last-minute weekend opening

Tobias Q. 3°3.4

The cottage is open this weekend while we’re at a wedding. Half price.

Montauk, NY This weekend
Requests & Offers

Post a trip request, or a host offer

  • Trip Requests: post destination + dates + budget — hosts search for you and make you offers.
  • Host Offers: last-minute availability, special discounts — deals from your network, right in travel search.
How requests and offers work
Groups & vouching

Your circles, brought online

  • Join with a group you already trust — the alumni list, the ski-house crew, the neighborhood — and arrive already connected.
  • Vouch them all back in one tap. Every vouch starts as a mirror of the one they gave you; fine-tune anyone's individually.
  • The network grows one real relationship at a time — never a stranger, always a friend of a friend.
A real member's Brooklyn living room — the untouched photo she uploaded The same photo exactly as Photo Polish delivered it — brighter, straightened, the skyline clear
Photo Polish

Polish phone photos instantly

  • Brightens and straightens the photos you already have — no photographer, no staging.
  • Nothing is invented — every polished photo is labeled.
  • Anyone can flip it back to the original. Try the toggle.
The dining table of a real Trustead home, looking out into the woods

Become a founding member and get free membership for life.

Just create a listing or post a trip request.

FAQ

Fair questions

Is Trustead free?

Yes, completely free for now during this early testing stage. In the future, we'll likely have a premium membership option to keep the site running.

Get free premium for life by becoming a founding member. Just create a listing or post a trip request during this early stage and you're locked in for life.

Do I need an invite?

No, anyone can apply. An invite just gives you a head start and connects you to your friend's network from day one.

What protects me?

Trustead does not currently offer protection or coverage of any kind. We help you find people you can trust and manage bookings on your own terms.

If you want coverage, we recommend listing your site also on a platform that provides coverage like Airbnb and linking to that from your Trustead profile. You'll pay their fees, but also get their protection.

We hope to offer coverage options through Trustead or with DIY tools in the future.

Who can see my home?

It's completely up to you. We've created tools to control exactly who sees your full listing and your listing preview — with our trust metrics. You can also completely customize what your listing preview shows.

How does payment work?

Directly between you and your guest, for now. Trustead makes the introduction and gives you tools to track it — but we don't hold funds or process payments today.

See the full FAQ →

The Bigger Picture

This is already happening,
Trustead just gives it a platform

People do this now through
email and Facebook Groups

Friends send out "anyone need my place in July?" to group chats, email lists, and trusted Facebook groups.

Trustead just gives them real listings, profiles and the ability to extend their reach.

Friends NYC Housing 12 members Anyone need my place in July? 🏠 Brooklyn, 2BR · $180/night ❤️ 3 👍 2 🙋 1 Yes please! What are the dates? DMing you now 👋 interested! Can my friend stay? She's great Message...

This is what Airbnb started as

Airbnb began as a way to rent your actual home. But it became the most well-known vacation rental platform. Guests now expect a hotel experience, and hosts have to strip their homes down to match.

Trustead is for the people that model left behind.

THE ORIGINAL IDEA WHAT IT BECAME Your actual home Vacation rentals Keep your stuff out Clear out your home Casual, personal Hotel expectations
The flower-lined entry of a real Trustead home — a beach cottage in Laguna

Become a founding member and get free membership for life.

Just create a listing or post a trip request.