Review date: April 2014
Swapeo.com
Founded in 2003
Free
Incubator project of Ecole des mines d’Ales
Languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian
5307 listings in 61 countries
Searching: This is the most confusing and bug filled house swap site I have used. I find it hard to believe that they really have 5307 listings, but when I search with no restrictions that is the number returned, and browsing through them, the listings appear legitimate. You have to become a member (for free) to use the search functionality, and even after signing up and logging in, it repeatedly tells you that you must join in order to use the search but does not give users a way to sign in. As a result, nothing more than the full list can be returned. Most listings appear to be in Europe.
Listings: The search returns an overview of listings that is very difficult to read. And individual listings are no better.
This site offers the following variations on house swapping:
- simultaneous or non-simultaneous house swap – this is the traditional model where two parties swap houses for an agreed upon set of dates.
Site Design: As I mentioned above, this is a very confusing and bug filled website.
Additional features: The site has lots of flashing lights and blinking words, but this just makes it hard to use. They have clubs for people to join so that you can find swap partners with people who are similar to you (i.e. students, families with children, etc.).