Palm Springs is the desert doing glamour \u2014 the world’s densest collection of midcentury modern houses, pools glittering behind breeze-block walls, the aerial tramway rising eight thousand feet from palms to pines, and Joshua Tree’s boulder fields an hour east. Winter is the season and prices show it: hotels run $250-400 a night, and short-let homes list at $300-500.<\/p>\n
If you’ve been looking at Kindred as a way to travel more affordably from Palm Springs, you’ve probably noticed some friction \u2014 the waitlist to get in, and then $250-300 in cleaning and service fees on every single stay \u2014 costs that add up quickly for anything longer than a weekend. For Palm Springs-based members specifically, short-term rental caps and permit limits have squeezed Palm Springs’ visitor supply hard, yet the platforms give local homeowners no matching advantage for holding exactly what travellers can’t book.<\/p>\n
SwapSpace<\/a> takes a different approach \u2014 it treats every home equally, so a condo in central Palm Springs earns the same credits as a walled midcentury estate in the Movie Colony. For Palm Springs members who know their neighbourhood is worth as much as any other, that fairness is the point.<\/p>\n Kindred is a members-only home swapping network founded in 2021 by former Opendoor employees. It has grown rapidly to almost 300,000 members across 150+ cities, backed by $148 million in venture funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and Index Ventures. Kindred operates on a give-to-get credit system where one night hosted equals one credit to travel. There is no annual membership fee, but guests pay a service fee of up to $35 per night plus cleaning fees per trip. Kindred provides professional cleaning before and after each stay, a concierge service for logistics, and $100,000 in host protection coverage. The platform is app-first and requires all members to list their own home before they can browse others.<\/p>\n Kindred works well for some travellers, but it’s not the right fit for everyone \u2014 particularly for people based in Palm Springs or hoping to visit it.<\/p>\n The fees erode the whole point of swapping.<\/strong> Kindred is free to join, but each stay carries cleaning and service fees that typically run $250-300. For a short break, that can approach the cost of simply booking somewhere. For a Palm Springs homeowner, $250-300 in cleaning and service fees per stay mirrors the vacation-rental economics the city has spent years reining in.<\/p>\n Palm Springs inventory is limited.<\/strong> Kindred’s network is concentrated in large US metros with a growing but modest London presence. Kindred’s coverage focuses on big metros, and Palm Springs’ resort profile sits at its edge. Members outside the core cities often wait a long time for stays that fit their dates.<\/p>\n The managed, concierge model isn’t for everyone.<\/strong> Kindred inserts itself into every exchange \u2014 professional cleaning, linen service, standardised handovers. Some people value that, but many swappers in Palm Springs prefer the direct, personal arrangement that home exchange was built on: a conversation between two households that trust each other.<\/p>\nWhat Is Kindred?<\/h2>\n
Why Palm Springs Travellers Are Looking for Kindred Alternatives<\/h2>\n
Kindred vs SwapSpace: How They Compare<\/h2>\n