By now, if you are a regular HomeExchanger, you know that we value transparency with our community. We thought that you might want to know more about all these new members who recently joined HomeExchange — and with whom you will likely interact: who are they? What are their motivations? How many of them are there? So here’s what we’ve found by analysing some figures for 2024.
70,000 new members in 2024
By the end of 2024, the HomeExchange community counted no less than 208,000 paying members, meaning 208,000 members who had paid for the annual membership.
Among these 208,000 paying members in 2024, 138,000 had renewed their annual membership, while 70,000 had subscribed for the first time. We welcomed 70,000 new members to the community in 2024, which means over 70,000 new listings on the platform, 70,000 new exchange opportunities for the community 
.
The desire to be part of a community and align with its values
Let’s now take a closer look at these 70,000 new members who joined HomeExchange in 2024. What motivated them to subscribe to the annual membership? Let’s break down the numbers:
Among these 70,000 new members in 2024, 42,000 (60% of them) subscribed to the annual membership even before finalising an exchange.
As a reminder, in order to finalise an exchange on the platform, it is mandatory to have subscribed to the annual membership. However, here we see that a majority of new members subscribed without having finalised an exchange. These are new members committing to a community whose model and values clearly resonate with them 
. But that’s not all…
The pleasure… of hosting is clear
Alongside these 42,000 new members who committed without a planned exchange, we also have 28,000 new members (out of the 70,000 newcomers in 2024) who subscribed to the annual membership after completing their first home exchange.
And here is where the numbers may surprise some of you: as you know, when joining the community (creating your listing, verifying your profile, and subscribing to the annual membership), new members receive a certain number of “welcome” GuestPoints. The idea is to allow those who are hesitant to experience a home exchange before they need to offer their home to earn GuestPoints. The numbers have been clear for years: trying home exchange means adopting it.
One might think that most new members would subscribe to the annual membership solely to benefit from the welcome GuestPoints. However, the numbers suggest the opposite, as among the 28,000 new members who subscribed after completing their first exchange, a large majority, 64% (18,000 members), subscribed to finalise an exchange as a host (and not as a guest) or for a reciprocal exchange. In other words, these 18,000 members subscribed in order to host other members at their home for their first exchange or to complete a reciprocal exchange (again, by hosting other members at their home).
70,000 new members embracing the community’s values
A final, perhaps most important figure, emerging from these observations: 100% of the 70,000 members who joined the platform in 2024 did so because they align with HomeExchange’s model and values. They joined, like all HomeExchangers, to travel economically, but also to travel better and to offer hospitality in return.
I hope the new members will recognize themselves in this profile, and that others will know how to properly welcome all these new members into the beautiful HomeExchange community, whether by guiding them through their first steps, meeting them for a coffee, hosting them, or staying at their homes .