Review Insights · Google Play
Couchsurfing Travel App
Couchsurfing Inc. · 118,565 ratings · ★ 2.9
2.9
★★★★★
118,565 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 84 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"update"
27 negative reviews mention this · 32% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New update ruined the community. Cropped decentred photos, no calendar option available, location in search results not accurate and many more. In addition they seem to be hoovering around people's private conversations and warning if you e…" - Ana Musafir
2
"people"
16 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New update ruined the community. Cropped decentred photos, no calendar option available, location in search results not accurate and many more. In addition they seem to be hoovering around people's private conversations and warning if you e…" - Ana Musafir
3
"terrible"
13 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I really don't understand this new update, the app is terrible now. I hope the beautiful couchsurfing community will survive this episode." - Hugo Beaumont
4
"version"
12 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Im using CS almost 10 years. I even paid verification because i love the app. But what you did with new version of the app is disgusting. Bring the old one back!!!" - magazin ljubavi
5
"subscription"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New update ruined the community. Cropped decentred photos, no calendar option available, location in search results not accurate and many more. In addition they seem to be hoovering around people's private conversations and warning if you e…" - Ana Musafir
6
"couchsurfing"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Having been a member since the inception of Couchsurfing, I find the changes in site are the most miserable renovations possible. It is impossible as a host to learn of the person who is requesting to stay, it is difficult having to go thro…" - Porzemsky Jerry
7
"years"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Im using CS almost 10 years. I even paid verification because i love the app. But what you did with new version of the app is disgusting. Bring the old one back!!!" - magazin ljubavi
8
"been"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Access to the platform has been completely restricted by a paywall, despite decades of prior engagement, without any advance notification. While I recognize the necessity of additional requirements, a more effectively planned transition wou…" - Edson Batista
📋 All 84 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Im using CS almost 10 years. I even paid verification because i love the app. But what you did with new version of the app is disgusting. Bring the old one back!!!
Access to the platform has been completely restricted by a paywall, despite decades of prior engagement, without any advance notification. While I recognize the necessity of additional requirements, a more effectively planned transition would have been beneficial.
New update ruined the community. Cropped decentred photos, no calendar option available, location in search results not accurate and many more. In addition they seem to be hoovering around people's private conversations and warning if you exchange numbers. Now if you didn't pay subscription CS limits your message views so that you can't reply to people normally and checks that you don't take it out of cs to force you pay. And it's for hosts. Disgusting behavior. Leave somewhere else
Having been a member since the inception of Couchsurfing, I find the changes in site are the most miserable renovations possible. It is impossible as a host to learn of the person who is requesting to stay, it is difficult having to go through the entire [pocess each time I make a request of more than one host in a city. It is an entirely useless renovation.
The latest version user experience sucks. my friend and others uninstalled the app because of this. Really wishing they would change it back. and just now I read their blog of why they did this. honestly it's pathetic that they are justifying their decisions over user feedback. I'm a designer myself. The new version breaks many design laws & principles. and it's not a user centric design at all. it's not a better version, they just added more cognitive load for CS users.
the update made the app unusable
new update is socks! crashes, difficult n slow loading, photos are not shown correctly n many other issues.. I even couldent find how to update my hosting status which was very easy in older version.
Fool of me to subscribe. The platform doesn't show anything before you pay it. Other ones like Workaway and Worldpackers let you see a lot of them, so you realize they are worth it. I assumed Couchsurfing was. Well, no. It's empty, there is not much to see, few people to contact, only in big cities. Also quite lame of Couchsurfing to not refund me, I had cancelled subscription less than 24h after, and they force me into having the service for a year. I would have left 2 stars if they refunded
I really don't understand this new update, the app is terrible now. I hope the beautiful couchsurfing community will survive this episode.
new version really sucks and too complicated
I unsubscribed (member for 20 years) and de-install it. It just doesn't work anymore.
They removed an app that worked perfectly fine. For something that makes no sense. Please roll back.
terrible interface, no push messages, hard to find travellers by schedule... worst!
one of the worst apps I have ever used. Literally cannot use it. Also, a scam. Cannot ene subscription. And their webpage for ending subscriptions is a dead link, does not exist.
I was a big time user of this app, met incredible people while travelling/hosting. everybody knew the app was getting old but this new version finally put it to death. it's probably the worst UI/UX I could ever imagined. switched to nomadtable which it's only for hangouts, but still without outstanding it feels better from a end user perspective.
bring the last version of this app back this new version is an absolute nightmare to all Cs users.
paywall
I used to use the app and it was simple and easy... after the last update and the new interface it's just awful. unfortunately I've to delete the account.
Stole my money for subscription. Don't pay them
forced upgrade too many automated wvents with zero people worst experience, cant use hangout features very bad update without notice
i was able to get 5 star for review but when whey give new update of this app it is very bad working sometimes server also doesn't work lot's of people are gonna delete the account from couchsurfing my opinion is you have to do old version update again thank you 🙏
I used to use and enjoy this app for several years but new update just destroy the whole sense of it. It is just DISASTER and no way I'd pay any $$ to verify myself with this messy and unfriendly application nowadays, it has to be back to the old one ASAP!
As a developer I must say it's an achievement to design the app that is so bad. Starting from overwhelmingly big photos that arent even visible because are out of scale and covered by information. Profiles are completely unreadable with big chunk of text and wall of emoticons for interest. Huge map that doesnt serve anything. Removed filters to search for people with the same interests, specific languages etc. It's the worst upgrade I've ever seen. Hope you learn your lesson and change designer.
Latest update sadly shows the company no longer cares about it's userbase and has reached peak enshittification. Shame, because this was once a cool and thriving community which was a big part of my life
Book example of enshittification of a community anti-capitalism platform to a for profit money extraction aided by AI slop. R.I.P. Moving on to couchers, trustroots and bewelcome.
Couchsurfing was one of the great ideas of the 21st century, the jewel of social networks. It's been ruined by the crazy idea of making profit off the hospitality of others. It should NEVER have started charging users-at least hosts-and they had promised they wouldn’t. The last update is just the nail in the coffin: impossible to know when other users are logging in, to effectively narrow down locations or even to open pages in new tabs, plus all the dating-app features and the bugs.
I cannot access my account after using it for 10 years, with 30 positive references. The support does not answer. Also now, the app has changed. It works with a lot of bugs. Totally frustrated with the app. I do not recommend
frustrating. I just created an account and its been an hour and ive been trying to setup my profile. nothing works. both on the web and mobile app.
Not useful anymore. I really enjoyed using this app as it made it easy to connect with people nearby as well as from around the world. but after the recent updates, it has become much more difficult to meet or connect with people. I have also noticed that many people in my contacts are experiencing the same issue. I continued using the app for another 1-2 months, but experience didn't get better hence uninstalled the app now.
They pretend to charge hosts for a monthly subscription so we can host others in their name? not only is their customer support is a joke but they are also asking you just how okay you are with people that do drugs. As if drugs were legal. I'm erasing all the pictures in my profile they use to promote themselves for free and my account.
la nueva interfaz es horrible, además cobran por todo, la promesa de la suscripción vitalicia era una mentira, otra app que crece en su comunidad con falsas promesas y al final son solo mentiras, cero recomendada, hay mejores alternativas.
it says I have several new messages, but when I tap it says I have zero new messages.
After the latest update, the app has become really bad. Even one star is too generous. Please fix the issues.
trash after upgrade :/
Update: After so many years of using Couchsurfing and loving the concept and finding many good friends and having great experiences, I decided to delete my account. The new update of the app shows the owners of the app are completely in the wrong direction. Awful update. And not only the update, but also the way they ask for payments and design of the site show it is not what I liked it about. I'm definitely looking for a proper substitute with the same concept. Goodbye Couchsurfing!
GO USE FREE ALTERNATIVES LIKE COUCHERS 📣 📣 didn't know about new sub model, wasted my time, subscription goes against the whole point. I wish the worst for this app.
Bad app, It is designed to get money out of you
scam. dead app. unusable. do not buy the subscription. all hosts are leaving since the app is so bad.
The interface is super slow. Messages come and go. Unintuitive, unwieldy 👎🏻
What you've done to the app is absolutely terrible! Older users have already left years ago after it became accessible only with a paid subscription. With this new app, even the younger users leave, it's just a disaster! It looks like some cheap dating app now. It's totally user unfriendly, a complete pain to use! Heavy censorship too. customer service is terrible. Don't pay for it! This is the end. Let's move to Couchers now.
No a good experience, not worth the money.
they destroyed this app with the latest update and payments, I think I'll delete it after many years...
Missing availability setting is terrible - I'm now getting requests even thought I am not able to host, its not shown anywhere. App feels like it was vibecoded. I can imagine there some underlying technical reasons for rewrite, but this is not good. Hopefully you'll listen to community, as CS is first and foremost community space. Without it, its dead.
terrible updat
tiktok vibe. was für eine widerliche App das geworden ist.
Latest update ruined the app. Who's idea was that?
update kills everything.
I love the idea of couchsurfing and have met great people through the app but the latest update is an abomination! The most important filters (hosts with references only, recently active) have completely disappeared, rendering the search function basically unusable, and the reference writing procedure has also become more complicated and confusing. As someone who has an active profile I'm usually able to find hosts but not since the update due to this lack of vital info. Pls bring back the OG!
The last update of the app was a huge disappointment. I hosted four people, and now I'm being asked to pay for a subscription. Previously, hosting someone would automatically extend your subscription, which was a much fairer system. This change feels like a step backward.
you destroyed the best app in the world :*
+ 34 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
46%
Positive (4-5★)
6%
Neutral (3★)
48%
Negative (1-2★)