Welcome to HelpX
HelpX is an online listing of host organic farms, farmstays, hobby farms, lifestyle blocks, homestays, ranches, lodges, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation. HelpX is provided primarily as a cultural exchange for working holiday makers, who would like the opportunity during their travels abroad, to stay with local people and gain practical experience. In the typical arrangement, the helper works an average of 4 hours per day and receives free accommodation and meals for their efforts.
This time range can vary considerably depending on the tasks at hand and the host's preferences. Some hosts may require just 2 hours per day for accommodation only, and ask you to provide and cook your own food.
Others may expect 6 hours per day in return for meals, your own room and sometimes other benefits such as free Internet use, horse riding, kayaking, bikes, local sight-seeing trips, yoga or English lessons, etc. Some will give weekends off, while others might allow you to put in 8 hours one day and later take a full day off. Helpers often live with the host family and are expected to join in and offer a helping hand with day-to-day activities.
Volunteer helpers are required to register for one of two levels of membership, Free or Premier. Helpers must upgrade to Premier membership to take full advantage of all HelpX has to offer. Premier membership costs 20 Euros for 2 years and allows the helper to contact all hosts and read all host reviews. Premier helpers can browse this site and contact hosts directly to see about making arrangements to stay.
Hosts wishing to add a free listing inviting helpers to stay will need to register. Registered hosts may update their details as often as they like and view helper profiles.
We advise both helpers and hosts to ask plenty of questions about each other in order to establish expectations from each party. Helpers should never turn up without prior arrangement.
Helpers can also opt to provide a self description for hosts to view who may then wish to invite the helper to stay with them. We advise helpers to include in their profile any skills or experience they may have, such as gardening, farming, agriculture, permaculture, fruit-picking; trade skills such as building, carpentry, landscaping, sail boat crewing; working with animals or an ability to care for and ride horses. Helpers can also look for travel companions.
HelpX (not helpex), operates worldwide including in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe including France.
Where will you go to next?
Australia
New Zealand
Europe
North America
Central America & Caribbean
South America
Pacific Islands
Asia
Africa
Testimonials
We love being HelpX hosts. The wonderful young travellers we get to host usually go out of their way to help us with all kinds of tasks around house and garden. They teach us about their culture, spoil us with delicious cooked meals and play with our young son. To him becoming close friends with people who not long ago were strangers is now normal. We stay in touch with most of our helpers which means that for our next hiday there will be free accommodation in Paris.
We are growing our family by being hosts and we are enjoying the cultural exchange and making progress on projects we are not able to manage alone. Thank you to all the helpers we have met and yet to meet, a wonderful site helping each other to succeed.
We are new hosts and have just had the best experience with our first Helpx helpers. We selected our helpers from the profiles and invited them to join us. We found this way we could get a good match for our family and needs. We all got along very well and they were fabulous helpers. A very positive experience for everyone. We will now wait until summer before we look for new Helpx helpers.
Helpx has been a wonderful experience for us.Having such great people share our tasks makes it fun not hard! The travellers meet are honest, hard working and interesting and take us back to our days of being on the road. HelpX offers a terrific service we can`t thank you enough.
We have been having HelpX folk for about seven years and will continue to do so until we have to move from here!! All the HelpX that we have had come to us have been keen to work and we always enjoy their company and therefore try to make their stay as enjoyable for them as we can. The system works so well for us and we do valve the workers who do much more than we could achieve on our own.
I have had only great experiences with the HelpX people who have come to stay with. It has been wonderful to share experiences with these workers as they travel around Australia. The site is easy to access and people have reported that the site has been useful for them. I highly recommend the whole experience with other people.
We have had great experiences hosting travelers on our farm. When I was young traveling I was hosted in many countries and those hosts made me feel safe and welcomed. It is a gift to continue this rich tradition of welcoming travelers into your home. We find the help beneficial and more importantly, the guests are fun, full of stories from their experience and a joy to spend time with. I highly recommend it.
As a host, my life has been enriched by the exchange brought about through Helpx. With approximately 30 helpers staying with me since I joined in 2009, much good things have been created here at my Guest House, and in the process have met some lovely young people from all over the world, and made many friends. Some came and visited me again, and I in turn have visited them in their habitat.
We love HelpX! Meeting travellers from all around the world is such fun, and we learn so much from them! Most are lovely enthusiastic folk who really enjoy what the area has to offer, and they fill our home with laughter! Its also great to get projects done so much quicker with their help.
I have found Helpx a great way to meet travellers and share experiences and projects. I wish it were around when I travelled around the globe.
Hi, we have been using Help-X since 2009. Just love the people we have met and are still in contact with most of them!
Thank you for a very rewarding experience. We have loved hosting visitors to Australia from all over the world and congratulate the Helpx organisation for giving us this wonderful opportunity. We would encourage anyone thinking about hosting to do so. Many thanks Helpx.
We love being HelpX hosts. The wonderful young travellers we get to host usually go out of their way to help us with all kinds of tasks around house and garden. They teach us about their culture, spoil us with delicious cooked meals and play with our young son. To him becoming close friends with people who not long ago were strangers is now normal. We stay in touch with most of our helpers which means that for our next hiday there will be free accommodation in Paris.
We are growing our family by being hosts and we are enjoying the cultural exchange and making progress on projects we are not able to manage alone. Thank you to all the helpers we have met and yet to meet, a wonderful site helping each other to succeed.
We are new hosts and have just had the best experience with our first Helpx helpers. We selected our helpers from the profiles and invited them to join us. We found this way we could get a good match for our family and needs. We all got along very well and they were fabulous helpers. A very positive experience for everyone. We will now wait until summer before we look for new Helpx helpers.
Helpx has been a wonderful experience for us.Having such great people share our tasks makes it fun not hard! The travellers meet are honest, hard working and interesting and take us back to our days of being on the road. HelpX offers a terrific service we can`t thank you enough.
We have been having HelpX folk for about seven years and will continue to do so until we have to move from here!! All the HelpX that we have had come to us have been keen to work and we always enjoy their company and therefore try to make their stay as enjoyable for them as we can. The system works so well for us and we do valve the workers who do much more than we could achieve on our own.
I have had only great experiences with the HelpX people who have come to stay with. It has been wonderful to share experiences with these workers as they travel around Australia. The site is easy to access and people have reported that the site has been useful for them. I highly recommend the whole experience with other people.
We have had great experiences hosting travelers on our farm. When I was young traveling I was hosted in many countries and those hosts made me feel safe and welcomed. It is a gift to continue this rich tradition of welcoming travelers into your home. We find the help beneficial and more importantly, the guests are fun, full of stories from their experience and a joy to spend time with. I highly recommend it.
As a host, my life has been enriched by the exchange brought about through Helpx. With approximately 30 helpers staying with me since I joined in 2009, much good things have been created here at my Guest House, and in the process have met some lovely young people from all over the world, and made many friends. Some came and visited me again, and I in turn have visited them in their habitat.
We love HelpX! Meeting travellers from all around the world is such fun, and we learn so much from them! Most are lovely enthusiastic folk who really enjoy what the area has to offer, and they fill our home with laughter! Its also great to get projects done so much quicker with their help.
I have found Helpx a great way to meet travellers and share experiences and projects. I wish it were around when I travelled around the globe.
Hi, we have been using Help-X since 2009. Just love the people we have met and are still in contact with most of them!
Thank you for a very rewarding experience. We have loved hosting visitors to Australia from all over the world and congratulate the Helpx organisation for giving us this wonderful opportunity. We would encourage anyone thinking about hosting to do so. Many thanks Helpx.