Care.com

Is Care.com worth it for caregivers, pet sitters and dog walkers?

Care.com says providers set their own rate, and its terms let it end accounts for any reason or none. Weigh the rate freedom against the account risk before you pay for anything.

What Care.com charges caregivers

Families pay you directly, at a rate you agree with them, so Care.com doesn't take a cut of each job. What caregivers pay for is a membership. Cornell University's HR page, not Care.com's own, describes a basic caregiver membership with profile boosts and priority job alerts as paid extras, and The 19th reported that top tiers cost several times the basic price. Care.com doesn't publish caregiver membership prices on its own pages.

Paid subscriptions auto-renew until you cancel, and a multi-month plan billed monthly keeps billing through the term if you cancel partway. The FTC said tens of thousands of users complained that cancelling didn't work, and some were billed after cancelling.

Background checks need a closer read. Care.com's terms say a separate fee is paid by the member who starts a check, and a paid membership may be required for some options. Its background checks page says an initial criminal check is run on all individual caregivers and lists no fee for it.

How and when Care.com pays you

Care.com says it doesn't oversee pay or quality of services. Pay is negotiated directly between you and the hiring family, so settle how and when you get paid before the first job.

Care.com requirements and how long approval takes

Care.com's dog walking jobs page has open sign-up for providers. Individual caregivers must pass its background check before they can interact with families. The check uses the details you enter, and false information may cause it to miss history. The SSN trace isn't identity confirmation and isn't run through the Social Security Administration. Continuous monitoring is optional and needs an ongoing subscription from both family and caregiver. Employees of listed businesses may not be checked.

The check doesn't vouch for the jobs you see. Care.com doesn't vet profiles or job posts, and "verified" means a user finished Care.com's process, not that the information is accurate.

How much you can make on Care.com

Every figure below is a posted rate, a Care.com marketing range or a client price. None is a measured average of what caregivers take home. Hourly rates also leave out unpaid travel and waiting.

Care.com says its rate information is based on what families say they are willing to pay. The FTC alleged Care.com did not track earnings for jobs found on its platform. No independent measurement of caregiver earnings or job availability on Care.com is published, and the dog walking listing ranges are what posters entered, not what caregivers were paid. Use the hourly earnings guide to net out unpaid time.

Can Care.com deactivate your account?

The terms let Care.com end accounts at its sole discretion, with or without notice, and it has no obligation to tell a terminated user the reason. The terms prohibit trying to register again after termination. They don't describe an appeal process.

If a background check triggers removal, Care.com says it will notify you, give the reporting agency's contact details and report access. You must dispute errors with the agency, not Care.com. It also reserves the right to terminate over check results that were later dismissed.

Household members count too. Care Providers must not have household members with certain arrests, charges or convictions, and Care.com may terminate if that isn't met. Its community guidelines say members who break the rules are suspended or removed.

Is Care.com legit?

IAC announced on Mar 2, 2026 that it would sell Care.com to a Pacific Avenue Capital Partners affiliate for about $320 million, all cash. Care.com says it doesn't employ caregivers and that users must do their own diligence.

In the FTC case, filed in the Western District of Texas, the FTC alleged Care.com advertised millions of jobs inflated by listings with little chance of hire since at least 2019. It also alleged unlawful tactics to block cancellations. Care.com disputed the claims and settled for $8.5 million without admitting them. It requires earnings claims to be true and backed by evidence, job counts limited to posts from users who can actually hire, and upfront disclosure of how site communication works.

In July 2020, Care.com agreed to pay $1 million to settle a consumer-protection suit by the San Francisco and Marin County district attorneys. The suit alleged it misrepresented background checks and auto-renewed subscriptions.

Scams that use Care.com's name

Fake-family offers are the pattern Care.com describes. See how to spot side-hustle scams for the general checklist.

Taxes on Care.com income

Care.com's article says independent caregivers take on taxes and insurance themselves, while agency employees have taxes withheld.

Care.com vs other caregiver and pet care marketplaces

If you want a different mix of pets, seniors or general tasks, compare Rover and Wag for pets, Papa for senior companionship and Taskrabbit for general tasks. See also dog walking and senior companionship.