Everything you need to know about the best work exchange website and why it’s better than Workaway.
Workaway didn’t exactly float my boat. After a handful of experiences I decided it’s not worth it anymore and I felt like budget travel simply wasn’t for me. However, I found another way to volunteer abroad while saving over 80% of my travel cost AND have high-quality experiences!
Keep reading to find out how!
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What is work exchange?
Work exchange is basically volunteering. You exchange 5 hours of work, 5 days a week, for free meals and accommodation.
This is a great way of travel, as you get to experience the local culture, make many like-minded friends, learn new skills, and so on!
I have done many work exchanges now, using 2 different platforms, and simply found that one gave me much better experiences, including:
- Better work environment
- Friendlier hosts and volunteers
- Better safety regulations
- Saving more money
- Having more unique experiences
All in all, the difference was clear to me, so I switched.
I switched to Worldpackers
Many people know about work exchange and most have heard about Workaway. But Workaway is not the only platform out there. In the last couple of years, Worldpackers has been growing rapidly and now has a community of 131.000 travelers (in September 2024)!
Now, 131.000 travelers, that’s crazy. Worldpackers must be pretty good then, right?
I learned about Worldpackers after I’ve had 1 (out of 2) bad experience with Workaway. But I already had my Workaway membership and figured: Let’s get a Worldpackers membership as well and compare.
The membership costs are the same price, $49 a year, however, I know another travel blogger, who gave me a coupon code for Worldpackers, making it only $39 for a full year. Now that already left a big impression on me.
Psst, I’m that travel blogger now. Grab my coupon code ‘’NOVAONTHEROAD’’ or get your subscription through this link for $10 off!
How Worldpackers has changed work exchange for me
So I got my Worldpackers membership, optimized my account, and started applying. And then I got annoyed. I had applied to over 10 positions and nobody answered at first. So I followed up and finally got a response.
But to be fair, I went to Tenerife in February. Tenerife is quite popular especially in winter, for young budget travelers. So positions filled up quickly and just in time, I found my perfect position: Working in this lively hostel.
Update: My second and third time applying for positions, I got accepted much quicker. It really depends on the location and season!
And I figured out a big difference…
The difference that makes or breaks your trip
On Workaway there are more hosts than (active) volunteers and on Worldpackers there are more volunteers than hosts.
And while this might make getting accepted a bit more difficult, it’s actually a great thing, and here’s why:
On both websites, most (if not all) hosts NEED volunteers. Which is why on Workaway hosts will accept anyone who applies, because of the scarcity of volunteers. While on Worldpackers, hosts often receive more than one applications, so they can choose who they think fits the team best.
So here’s a bit about me: I’m Lisa and I don’t connect easily with others. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a true extravert, social animal. However, if I don’t feel a friendship, it’s likely not going to happen because I don’t like forcing or faking feelings. But once I connect with people, the connection is very deep and real.
Can you relate to this?
If you can, it might not be a surprise that I’ve had trouble making friends using Workaway, because often, hosts just let any volunteer come. I’ve volunteered with people who didn’t speak English, who were very old (and a tad closeminded), and so on.
While on Worldpackers, I got selected out of several other applicants, because they thought I would be a great fit. And guess what… I was! There were so many people at the hostel I volunteered at that I connected with! I had never had a friend group this big with just people I connected with.
This was a big reason for me to stop using Workaway.
More reasons why Worldpackers is better
The reason mentioned above was already one that made the decision between Workaway and Worldpackers easy for me. But there are so many more things that are better about Worldpackers.
Check out this instagram reel: What volunteering in Hawaii looks like
Transparent review system
Something that is very important to me is the transparent review system that Worldpackers uses. It works like this:
Both the host and the volunteer can leave a review for each other. After your experience you get 14 days to leave a review. Only after both parties have written their review, they are published. You can’t see what the host wrote about you before writing your review and vice versa.
This makes the reviews honest and transparent, so you can choose the right host for you, based on the reviews.
Important: You can also chat with people who’ve had the experience. You can ask them questions about what the host and the experience are like, and so on. I highly recommend doing this, so you’ll know exactly what to expect!
Cheaper
As I’ve mentioned, Workaway and Worldpackers are basically the same price. However, I can offer you a promo code, giving you $10 off your membership!
So Worldpackers is $39 for a full year of free travel. That’s a great bargain! Make sure to use my promo code ‘’NOVAONTHEROAD’’ at checkout or get your membership through this link!
UPDATE August 2024: Worldpackers now has a new guarantee: Receive responses from hosts or get your money back. This means that if you don’t get any responses after 30 days, you can get your money refunded!
Check out this instagram reel: How much I spent in a day volunteering in Sri Lanka
Safety
Worldpackers is often considered to be safer than Workaway. There are better safety measures in place, like:
- Verified hosts only
- Highly responsive support team before, during, and after your exchange.
- Available refunds for emergency accommodation
- Formal agreements (that are completely take care of by Worldpackers)
Read about all the safety measures here!
Unique high-quality experiences
The experiences you can find on Worldpackers are often more unique and high quality than on Workaway (not always though). Still, this guarantees you’ll have a great, unique experience anywhere in the world.
And with knowing that the host carefully picks out volunteers who they think fit best with both the experience and the team, you’ll surely make great connections and enjoy your time!
Are you going to leave Workaway behind and start your journey with Worldpackers?
The don’t forget to use my promo code ‘’NOVAONTHEROAD’’ to get $10 off!
I’m looking forward to meeting you on the platform, and who knows, maybe we’ll meet someday on a Worldpackers experience 😉
Final thoughts
Let’s make the world a better place by volunteering abroad, and staying true to ourselves and others. Have you ever done work exchanges? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy volunteering!
Related posts
- Workaway vs Worldpackers: An Honest Review After Traveling with Both Organizations
- Is Worldpackers Worth It? An Honest Review and Everything You Should Know Before Signing Up!
- Is Worldpackers Free? All your questions answered + PROMO CODE
