shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Sittercity?

Find Local Child Care, Senior Care, & Pet Care - sittercity.com

Depends. Buy if you need a large sitter pool fast and accept paywalled messaging and shallow screening. Skip if you want hand-vetted caregivers or hate subscription traps.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources including Reddit, Trustpilot, TechCrunch, NBC Chicago, and official Sittercity pages.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Basic

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
PremiumPaid (price not listed in sources)

Best for

  • Parents seeking occasional babysitters
  • Families wanting caregiver background-check options
  • Households also needing pet or senior care
  • Sitters building a side-gig client base

Not for

  • Anyone wanting guaranteed-vetted caregivers — screening here is shallow
  • People unwilling to pay just to message candidates
  • Nannies who want agency-grade placement without recruiter spam
  • Guess: rural users with thin local sitter pools

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Background check badges are not guarantees; screening gaps are documented

medium

Freemium bait: browsing is free, messaging sitters usually needs premium

medium

Billing runs on Recurly recurring subscriptions — expect auto-renewal

medium

Agencies post listings, so expect solicitations mixed with real sitters

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Large caregiver pool: sitters, nannies, pet and senior care in one place
  • Background check badges and screening tools offered on profiles
  • Free basic membership lets families browse before paying
  • Two decades old, well-funded, now a Bright Horizons company
  • Dedicated trust-and-safety center and incident reporting

Cons

  • 2012 NBC probe found approved sitters with arrest records
  • Agency recruiter spam annoys nannies and families on the platform
  • Advertised free, but contacting sitters pushes paid membership
  • Users rank it alongside; many dislike both
  • Dedicated PissedConsumer page catalogs customer-service complaints

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/27/2026 - 12 sources - Offers background checks and safety centers, but a 2012 NBC investigation found approved caregivers with arrest records.

official x4review x6news x2
  • Caregiver sites approved sitters with arrest records, NBC Chicago's Unit 5 investigation found caregiver platforms, including those running background checks, approved sitters despite arrest records.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Advertised free, but messaging sitters pushes paid membership
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Positioned as efficient; Reddit reports mixed experiences
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Profiles, background checks, app, multi-care categories
  • Support quality: 2/5. PissedConsumer page catalogs service complaints
  • Security posture: 2/5. Screening gaps documented by NBC investigation
  • 61 Trustpilot reviews customer service reviews
  • Yes Free tier basic membership; premium is paid
  • $22.6M Funding 2011 round, TechCrunch
  • 157 Employee reviews on Indeed

Pricing

Basic

Free

  • Create a family profile
  • Browse sitter listings

Premium

Paid (price not listed in sources)

  • Contact and message sitters
  • Access to background-check tools

Security

Offers background checks and safety centers, but a 2012 NBC investigation found approved caregivers with arrest records.

  • Caregiver sites approved sitters with arrest recordsNBC Chicago's Unit 5 investigation found caregiver platforms, including those running background checks, approved sitters despite arrest records.²

What users say

Reddit parents and nannies find Sittercity usable but often rank it equal to or below Care.com and UrbanSitter, with recurring complaints about fees, scam listings, and agency spam.

“I dislike both of them”
Reddit, r/Nanny
“It drives me INSANE!”
Reddit, r/Nanny

Alternatives

Compare Sittercity with each alternative.

  • Local nanny agencies

    Pre-vetted candidates for full-time nanny placements

Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources including Reddit, Trustpilot, TechCrunch, NBC Chicago, and official Sittercity pages.

Big sitter pool, paywalled contact, weak vetting — fine for date-night sitters, not peace of mind.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources including Reddit, Trustpilot, TechCrunch, NBC Chicago, and official Sittercity pages.

Sources

  1. Sittercity homepagesittercity.com
    official
  2. Caregiver Sites Found Approving Sitters With Arrest Records (NBC Chicago)nbcchicago.com
    news
  3. Care.com vs Sittercity (Reddit r/Nanny)reddit.com
    review
  4. Opinions on Agencies posting on Sittercity (Reddit r/Nanny)reddit.com
    review
  5. Is Sittercity free? Fees for families and sitters (Bobby app)bobby.app
    review
  6. Sittercity Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  7. Sittercity Raises $22.6 Million (TechCrunch)techcrunch.com
    news
  8. Sittercity on LinkedIn (Bright Horizons company)linkedin.com
    official
  9. Sittercity premium membership options (support)support.sittercity.com
    official
  10. Sittercity Recurly case studyrecurly.com
    official
  11. Sittercity customer service complaints (PissedConsumer)sittercity.pissedconsumer.com
    review
  12. Working at Sittercity (Indeed employee reviews)indeed.com
    review

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