Terms of use
Version 1.0 — in effect since September 12, 2026
About GOT A COUCH?
GOT A COUCH? is an international community-based accommodation platform designed to connect travelers and hosts around the world. The platform may provide different types of accommodation and community services, including the Free Couch (accommodation offered voluntarily by a host without a nightly accommodation charge), the Paid Stay (accommodation offered at a price determined by the host), community connections and travel-related interactions, events and local community activities, messaging between members, reviews and references, and host and traveler profiles, along with other services introduced by GOT A COUCH? GOT A COUCH? provides the technology that facilitates connections between users. Unless expressly stated otherwise, GOT A COUCH? does not own, operate or manage accommodations listed by users and is not itself a host or traveler.
Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use services involving accommodation, hosting or in-person meetings through GOT A COUCH? By creating an account, you confirm that you are legally capable of entering into an agreement, that the information you provide is accurate and truthful, that you will comply with these Terms and applicable laws, and that you are not prohibited from using the platform under applicable law. GOT A COUCH? may restrict or refuse access to the platform when necessary for legal, security or community-safety reasons.
Account Registration
Certain features require a registered GOT A COUCH? account. You must provide accurate, current and complete information when registering and keep your account information up to date. A valid and verified email address may be required. GOT A COUCH? may also offer or require additional verification procedures, including phone verification, identity verification, profile verification, security checks, and other verification mechanisms designed to increase trust within the community. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for activity conducted through your account. You must notify GOT A COUCH? promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without authorization.
One Person, One Authentic Identity
GOT A COUCH? is built around trust between real people. Users must not create fake identities, impersonate another person, misrepresent important personal information, create accounts intended to deceive other members, use another person's identity documents, or create multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, suspensions or bans. GOT A COUCH? may investigate suspicious accounts and request additional verification.
User Profiles
Members are responsible for the information displayed on their profiles. Profile information should accurately represent the member and must not contain fraudulent, misleading, illegal, abusive or discriminatory content. Users must have the necessary rights to upload photographs and other content appearing on their profiles. A verification badge or other trust indicator does not constitute a guarantee by GOT A COUCH? regarding a person's behavior, intentions or reliability.
Free Couch Accommodation
A Free Couch is accommodation voluntarily provided by a host without a nightly accommodation price. Hosts offering free accommodation may not secretly require travelers to pay an accommodation fee outside the platform. Free Couch arrangements are based on community participation, cultural exchange and mutual respect. Travelers and hosts remain responsible for discussing and agreeing on practical arrangements before the stay, including arrival times, house rules, length of stay and other relevant expectations.
Paid Stays
Hosts may offer accommodation through paid listings where this service is available. The host is responsible for providing accurate listing information, setting the accommodation price, describing the accommodation truthfully, maintaining appropriate availability information, disclosing relevant rules and restrictions, and complying with applicable laws, regulations and tax obligations. Before confirming a paid reservation, travelers should be shown the applicable price and charges associated with the booking.
Prices, Fees and Payments
For paid stays, the total amount presented before confirmation may include the accommodation price, host-defined fees where permitted, GOT A COUCH? service fees, applicable taxes, and other clearly disclosed charges. Where payment processing is provided through GOT A COUCH?, payments must be made using the payment methods supported by the platform. GOT A COUCH? may use authorized third-party payment providers to process transactions. Payment information may therefore be processed directly by such payment providers in accordance with their own terms and privacy policies.
Off-Platform Payments
Users must not attempt to circumvent the payment system of GOT A COUCH? for a paid reservation initiated through the platform. This includes requesting or encouraging payment through unauthorized external methods for the purpose of avoiding applicable platform fees or protections. GOT A COUCH? may use automated systems and moderation tools to identify potentially prohibited payment requests. Attempts to circumvent the platform's payment system may result in warnings, restrictions, cancellation of reservations or account suspension.
Reservations
A reservation becomes confirmed when the applicable confirmation process has been successfully completed. Hosts and travelers are responsible for reviewing all relevant information before confirming a stay, including dates, number of guests, accommodation details, house rules, price, fees, cancellation conditions, and other restrictions or requirements. Users should communicate through GOT A COUCH? whenever possible so that relevant communications can be retained in connection with a reservation or dispute.
Cancellations and Refunds
Paid listings may have an applicable cancellation policy, which should be presented to the traveler before the reservation is confirmed. Depending on the listing and service, cancellation policies may include categories such as flexible, moderate, or strict. Refund eligibility depends on the cancellation policy applicable to the reservation, the timing of the cancellation and any exceptional circumstances recognized by GOT A COUCH? Where necessary, GOT A COUCH? may review cancellations involving suspected fraud, safety incidents, serious listing inaccuracies or other exceptional situations.
Reviews and References
GOT A COUCH? may provide systems allowing members to leave reviews or references following eligible interactions. Reviews relating to stays must reflect genuine experiences. Users must not publish fabricated reviews, manipulate ratings, exchange compensation for positive reviews, threaten another user to obtain a favorable review, coordinate fraudulent reviews, or publish unlawful, threatening or defamatory content. GOT A COUCH? may remove content that violates these Terms or applicable policies. However, GOT A COUCH? will not remove a review merely because it expresses a legitimate negative opinion.
Messaging
GOT A COUCH? may provide private messaging and communication tools. Users must use these tools responsibly. The following behavior is prohibited: harassment, threats, hate speech, spam, fraud, scams, sexual harassment, unsolicited commercial solicitation, attempts to obtain unauthorized payments, and distribution of malicious links or software. GOT A COUCH? may use automated security and moderation systems to identify potentially harmful or prohibited activity, subject to applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.
Safety and Community Conduct
Every member is expected to contribute to a respectful and safe community. Users must respect personal boundaries, privacy, local laws, property, house rules, cultural differences, and other members' safety and dignity. Violence, threats, harassment, exploitation, fraud, discrimination and other abusive conduct are prohibited. Serious safety violations may result in immediate account restriction or suspension. Where legally required or necessary to address serious threats to safety, GOT A COUCH? may cooperate with competent authorities in accordance with applicable law.
Prohibited Activities
Users must not use GOT A COUCH? to commit or facilitate fraud, create fake listings, impersonate another person, harass or threaten users, circumvent payment systems, distribute malware, scrape or extract platform data without authorization, access another user's account without permission, manipulate reviews or rankings, exploit platform vulnerabilities, conduct unauthorized automated activity, violate intellectual property rights, use the platform for unlawful purposes, facilitate exploitation or trafficking, or engage in activities that place other members at unreasonable risk. GOT A COUCH? may investigate suspected violations.
Hosts' Responsibilities
Hosts are responsible for ensuring that their accommodation and hosting activities comply with applicable laws and regulations. Depending on their location, this may include requirements concerning short-term rentals, registration, licensing, tourism regulations, taxation, building regulations, safety requirements, insurance, and landlord or tenancy restrictions. GOT A COUCH? does not guarantee that hosting is legally permitted in every jurisdiction. Hosts are responsible for understanding the rules applicable to them.
Travelers' Responsibilities
Travelers are responsible for behaving respectfully and following reasonable house rules communicated by the host. Travelers should carefully review profiles, listings, reviews and available verification information before arranging a stay. Travelers remain responsible for their own travel documents, visas, transportation, insurance and compliance with applicable laws.
Community Events
GOT A COUCH? may allow members or ambassadors to organize community events. Unless an event is explicitly identified as an official GOT A COUCH? event, community events are independently organized by members. Organizers are responsible for complying with applicable laws and maintaining appropriate safety standards.
Ambassadors
GOT A COUCH? may operate an Ambassador Program involving different community roles or levels. Ambassadors may help develop communities, organize activities, welcome members, provide guidance and support community standards. Ambassador status does not automatically create an employment, agency, partnership or legal representative relationship with GOT A COUCH? Ambassador privileges may be modified, suspended or withdrawn when program requirements or community standards are not respected.
Premium Services
GOT A COUCH? may offer optional Premium subscriptions or paid features. Premium services may provide additional benefits, visibility or functionality. The availability, price and benefits of Premium services may vary by country or over time. Essential community features may remain available independently of Premium membership as determined by GOT A COUCH? Any applicable subscription price and renewal conditions will be displayed before purchase.
Intellectual Property
The GOT A COUCH? name, branding, original design, software, interfaces, databases, text, graphics and other original platform materials are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Users may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, sell or commercially exploit protected GOT A COUCH? materials without authorization.
User Content
Users retain ownership of content they create and publish on GOT A COUCH? By publishing content on the platform, users grant GOT A COUCH? a non-exclusive license, to the extent necessary, to host, store, reproduce, display, format and distribute that content for the operation, promotion, security and improvement of the platform. Users must have the legal right to publish any content they upload. GOT A COUCH? may remove content that violates these Terms, applicable law or the rights of others.
Moderation
GOT A COUCH? may investigate reports and potentially harmful activity. Depending on the circumstances, GOT A COUCH? may issue warnings, remove content, restrict features, cancel listings, cancel reservations where appropriate, temporarily or permanently suspend accounts, request additional verification, or take other proportionate measures necessary to protect the platform and its community. Serious safety, fraud or security concerns may justify immediate action.
Reporting Users
Members may report profiles, listings, messages, reviews or behavior that they believe violate GOT A COUCH? rules. Reports should be made in good faith. Knowingly submitting false or malicious reports may itself constitute a violation of these Terms.
Disputes Between Users
If a problem occurs during or after a confirmed stay, users should first attempt to communicate safely and reasonably where appropriate. GOT A COUCH? may provide a dispute-resolution or moderation process, and may review relevant information available through the platform, including reservation records and communications, subject to applicable privacy requirements. GOT A COUCH? does not guarantee that every dispute can be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
Platform Availability
GOT A COUCH? aims to maintain reliable access to its services but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability. The platform may occasionally be unavailable due to maintenance, updates, security incidents, infrastructure failures, third-party service interruptions, or circumstances beyond reasonable control. GOT A COUCH? may modify, discontinue or introduce features as the platform develops.
Third-Party Services
Certain GOT A COUCH? features may depend on third-party providers, including payment, mapping, identity-verification, communication, analytics or infrastructure services. Those services may be subject to separate terms and privacy policies. GOT A COUCH? is not responsible for third-party services beyond the extent required by applicable law.
Limitation of Responsibility
GOT A COUCH? facilitates connections between independent users. While GOT A COUCH? may provide verification, moderation, reputation and safety tools, no online platform can eliminate all risks associated with interactions between individuals. Users are responsible for exercising reasonable judgment when interacting with other members. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where such exclusion or limitation would be prohibited by applicable law.
Account Suspension
GOT A COUCH? may temporarily or permanently restrict an account where reasonably necessary, including in cases involving serious violations of these Terms, fraud, fake identities, safety threats, payment abuse, repeated community violations, unauthorized platform manipulation, or legal or regulatory requirements. Where appropriate and legally permitted, users may be informed of the reason for enforcement action.
Account Termination
Users may close their GOT A COUCH? account through the available account settings or by contacting GOT A COUCH? support. Account closure does not necessarily require immediate deletion of all associated information. Certain information may be retained where required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, accounting or dispute-resolution purposes, subject to applicable data-protection laws.
Privacy
The processing of personal data is governed by the GOT A COUCH? Privacy Policy. Users should review the Privacy Policy to understand how personal information is collected, used, stored and protected. Cookie and similar technology practices are addressed separately through the cookie-management information of GOT A COUCH?
Changes to These Terms
GOT A COUCH? may update these Terms as the platform evolves or when necessary to reflect legal, regulatory, technical or operational changes. When material changes are made, GOT A COUCH? may notify users through the platform, by email or through another appropriate method. Continued use of the platform after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance where permitted by applicable law.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
The governing law and competent jurisdiction applicable to GOT A COUCH? will be specified before the official public launch of the platform and will be consistent with the legal information of the entity operating GOT A COUCH? Nothing in these Terms affects mandatory consumer rights that cannot legally be excluded.
Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Contact
For questions regarding these Terms of Use or the GOT A COUCH? platform, please contact support@gotacouch.com.