Care.com Reviews: An Honest Look for Single Moms
Care.com reviews for single moms who hire sitters or babysit: ratings, membership prices, the FTC case, background check limits and safer options.
Click to zoomA smiling woman plays a stacking block game at a table with a young boy who raises his arms in excitement.
A single mom tends to land on Care.com from one of two directions. She needs a sitter for the late shift, or she needs extra shifts herself and wants to babysit, pet sit or help an older neighbor for cash. Care.com reviews read very differently depending on which side you stand on, and that split is the most useful thing to understand before paying for anything.
This is an independent review. Nobody paid for it, Care.com did not see it before publication, and it carries no affiliate links. It was researched and written by a writer who is not a Care.com member, so there are no first-hand stories or invented testimonials here. Every rating, price and rule in this Care.com review comes from a named source, read on November 3, 2026.
This Care.com review in five lines
- Legit, not risk-free: Care.com is a real, BBB-accredited company that settled FTC charges in 2024 and paid $8.5 million
- Care.com reviews split by side: the caregiver app holds 4.6 stars, while family ratings run from 1.93 on BBB to 4.4 on the App Store
- A family needs a paid plan to contact caregivers, and plans renew until canceled
- The built-in background check is a floor; families cannot read that report
- A single mom on a tight budget can check the state child care subsidy and her local referral agency first, at no cost
Care.com reviews, platform by platform
Star ratings are the first thing most people check in Care.com reviews. The trouble is that each site hears from different people. App stores collect quick taps from active users, while BBB and Trustpilot draw people with a problem to report. Lined up together, the scores tell a fairly consistent story: caregivers rate the jobs app highly, and families are split. Every score below sits on the same 1-to-5 star scale.
The caregiver app holds 4.6 stars on both the App Store (163,938 ratings) and Google Play (16,925). The family app sits at 4.4 on the App Store from 43,232 ratings but only 3.2 on Google Play from 21,715.
Trustpilot shows 3.6 stars from 6,447 Care.com reviews. On BBB, customer reviews average 1.93 from 525 reviews.
The BBB profile also gives Care.com an A+ letter grade and lists it as accredited since October 6, 2025, though the same profile shows 20 years in business. That grade is BBB's own measure, weighted toward complaint handling, not a customer score, so it stays out of the chart. BBB logged 762 complaints in the last three years and 183 in the last 12 months, and billing issues is the largest complaint category it lists.
Common themes in the complaints we read: renewal charges people did not expect, refunds refused, and profiles that drew few replies. A positive Care.com review on the same pages tends to praise one specific sitter or family. Each is a single account, so weigh the patterns, not any one story.
Before trusting any one Care.com review, check three things: its date, whether the writer was a family or a caregiver, and whether the problem was billing, safety or one person. A complaint about canceling from before August 2024 describes the flow the FTC order later targeted. Star ratings and review counts also move daily, so the figures here are a snapshot from November 3, 2026.
There is a second kind of Care.com review: the ratings families leave on caregiver profiles. The family app listing says parents can compare sitters by experience, hourly rate and ratings, and the caregiver app says Care.com monitors profiles and reviews. Treat a glowing Care.com review on a sitter's profile as a lead, not a reference, and still call past families yourself.
What a membership costs before you hire anyone
Billing is the thread that runs through negative Care.com reviews, so the price structure deserves a close look. Joining as a family is free, and so are posting a job and browsing profiles.
The paywall sits at contact. In its 2024 case, the FTC described a system where users must buy an auto-renewing paid subscription to contact job posters or job seekers. Care.com shows plan prices at checkout, and its old pricing page now returns a not-found error, so the clearest public list is the one Apple publishes for its family app.
| Purchase | Price points Apple lists | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Family Membership (family app) | $51.99, $54.99, $103.99, $109.99, $204.99, $209.99 | Apple does not show which term each price covers; confirm the length and total at checkout |
| Background Check Membership (family app) | $24.99 | Sold separately from the family plan |
| Caregiver Membership (caregiver app) | $8.99, $19.99, $44.99, $59.99 | Optional; the Basic caregiver account is free |
| Background Screening Fee (caregiver app) | $14.99, $21.99 | Paid by the caregiver, not the family |
| Safety Screening (caregiver app) | $24.99, $49.99 | Optional add-on |
For a single mother on one paycheck, the charge that stings is often not the first one. Care.com's terms of use say every paid plan renews automatically for the same period until you cancel. Pick a multi-month plan billed monthly and cancel midway, and the monthly bills keep coming until that term ends. Payments are non-refundable, with no credit for unused time. Some BBB complaints describe exactly that: an annual charge the buyer says was not clear at checkout.
The practical move: decide how many weeks of help you need, pick the shortest plan that covers it, and set a phone reminder a few days before renewal. If an employer offers Care.com as a benefit, the terms say the employer pays that subscription, so ask HR before paying out of pocket.
Free account or paid plan: who can do what
Most Care.com reviews from families circle back to one question: what does the free account actually allow? The table pulls the answer from the FTC case, the background check page and the caregiver app listing.
| Task | Free (Basic) | Paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Family: post a job, browse profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Family: message caregivers, see applications | No, per the 2024 FTC complaint | Yes |
| Family: Enhanced or Premium background check | No | Available to buy |
| Family: Continuous Background Check alerts | No | On new renewing plans since June 2, 2025, for up to three hired caregivers |
| Caregiver: profile, required check, apply to jobs | Yes | Yes |
| Caregiver: higher placement in search, priority job alerts | No | Yes |
| Caregiver: screening fees waived | No | Yes, per the app listing |
The FTC complaint added a twist that matters for a mom who wants to earn: a family could see a caregiver's application only if both sides had paid. A free caregiver account can still be found and hired, but the app says paid caregivers are featured more prominently and get job alerts first. No ad and no star rating can tell you how many families near your ZIP code are hiring.
Is Care.com legit? The 2024 FTC case in plain terms
On August 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced a complaint against Care.com and a settlement the same day. It alleged two things. First, that the site drew caregivers in with inflated job counts and pay claims it could not back up. Second, that it made paid memberships hard to cancel, with extra pages, warnings and offers before the exit.
One example from the complaint: a 2021 ad promised "Childcare jobs from $18/hr" while Care.com's own site put average babysitting pay between $13 and $14.25 an hour. The FTC also said Care.com does not track what families actually pay once a sitter is hired, since that deal happens off the site.
Care.com agreed to pay $8.5 million, to back up any earnings claims, to count only jobs from people who can actually hire, and to offer a simple way to cancel. On June 24, 2025, the FTC sent more than $8.1 million in refunds to 194,207 people.
So is Care.com legit? Yes: it is a real marketplace operating under a federal court order. For anyone reading a Care.com review today, the case shows the cancellation complaints were not imagined, and pay figures in any ad deserve a second look. The order now sets rules on how the company advertises earnings and handles cancellations.
What the background check covers, and what it skips
A single mom leaving her kids with someone new usually wants one thing from a Care.com review: how deep the safety check goes. The short answer is narrower than many assume. Every individual caregiver starts with a required criminal check, renewed each year while the account stays active. Per the background checks page, First Advantage runs it, and it covers a Social Security number trace, the national sex offender website, and federal, multi-jurisdictional and county criminal searches.
The catch for a family: you can see that the check was completed, but you cannot read the report. A paid member can buy an Enhanced or Premium check, which comes with a copy of the full report. A Motor Vehicle Records check covers driving history, which matters if the sitter drives your kids to school while you are at work.
Care.com's own fine print lists the limits. Some states bar records older than seven years. Some, including California, Kentucky, New Mexico and New York, bar reporting arrests that did not end in a conviction. The check relies on the name and Social Security number the person supplies, and employees of businesses listed on the site may not be checked at all.
This debate is not new. In early 2019, several news reports said the site did not screen caregivers. On April 1, 2019, Care.com filed a statement with the SEC saying it had searched electronic criminal records since mid-2009, and that it had removed unclaimed child care center listings, 45% of those in its database. Its next quarterly report said it planned expanded criminal checks on caregivers.
Earning money on Care.com as a single mom
Now the other side. Care.com reviews from caregivers tie for the highest ratings in the chart above. For a single mom, babysitting after school, pet sitting on weekends or a few morning hours helping an older adult while the kids are in class can fit around pickup, which is why so many lists of side hustles for single moms start here. Before paying for a caregiver plan, know what the work pays outside any app.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median childcare worker wage at $16.82 an hour in May 2025. The lowest 10% earned under $11.66 and the top 10% over $22.12. About 24% of childcare workers are self-employed and 17% work in private households, the two setups a Care.com sitter usually falls into.
Animal care and service workers had a 2025 median of $17.08 an hour. For home health and personal care aides, the figure was $17.21. Those are national medians across all employers, not Care.com rates, and local pay runs higher or lower. Set a rate from postings in your own area, and treat any app's average with the caution the FTC case suggests.
Before paying anything, add up what the caregiver app itself lists: a background screening fee, optional safety screenings and paid memberships, priced in the table above. A single mom testing the jobs side can start with the free account and skip all of them at first. Families can pay through Care.com's payment tool, which runs on Stripe, and the terms call those payments non-refundable.
Then taxes. A self-employed sitter who nets $400 or more in a year owes 15.3% self-employment tax. When one family pays a household worker $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, that family generally has to withhold Social Security and Medicare tax instead.
Set aside part of every payout from the first job, since nobody withholds tax for a sitter paid by several families. A Care.com reviewer praising easy money rarely mentions that bill. The guide to tax credits for single mothers covers what a working mom can claim back at filing time.
Scams aimed at sitters and parents
Care.com's 2019 quarterly report itself noted a rise in fraud against caregivers on sites like its own. The classic version is the fake check. A "parent" hires a sitter sight unseen, sends a check for more than the agreed pay, and asks for the extra back. The FTC warns that money can show in your account before the bank finds the check is fake, often weeks later, and then you repay it.
A single mom answering sitter ads for extra cash is exactly who the fake-check scam targets, and a parent hiring online faces the mirror risk. The checklist below applies to both sides of a hire.
- Meet in public first.A video call, then a meeting at a park or library, before anyone enters a home.
- Keep messages on the platform.Care.com says its team monitors messages, reviews and job posts for fraud.
- Never send money back.No overpayment refunds, no gift cards, no buying "supplies" with a family's check.
- Buy the detailed check on your top pick.The included check gives a family no report to read.
- Call references yourself.Two past families or employers, reached on numbers you look up. A five-star Care.com review on a profile is no substitute.
- Save the safety line.Care.com lists 737-703-3620, staffed around the clock. In an emergency, call 911.
- Report it.Use the in-app report tool, then file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
How to cancel without a surprise renewal
Cancellation trouble is a recurring thread in Care.com reviews, and the FTC case showed it was real. The order requires a simple cancellation method, and the terms say you can cancel any time from your account settings. Canceling stops the next renewal; it does not refund the current term. A few habits keep a single mom's budget safe from a charge she did not plan for.
- Cancel where you paid. The caregiver app listing says plans bought through Apple are managed in Apple Account settings and must be canceled at least 24 hours before the term ends.
- Screenshot the confirmation screen and keep the email.
- Check your bank statement the day after the old renewal date.
- On a free trial, the terms allow a refund request within 30 days of the first charge, as long as you did not use the plan after the trial.
Other ways to find a sitter, or get help paying one
Before switching sites over a bad Care.com review, know that the rivals use a similar paywall. Sittercity is free for caregivers. Families there buy a Premium plan to contact them, and plans renew until canceled.
UrbanSitter lets families browse and post free, then sells monthly, quarterly and annual plans to message and book. Read the renewal terms on each the same way.
For a single mom with a low income, the bigger savings sit outside the apps. Every state runs child care financial assistance, also called vouchers or subsidies, to help families pay for care while a parent works or studies. Rules differ by state, and the guide to childcare assistance for single mothers walks through applying.
A local child care resource and referral agency can also explain which providers in your state must be licensed. That matters because many babysitters and nannies need no license, and an unlicensed sitter is not monitored for health and safety rules, including criminal background checks.
If earning appeals more than hiring, compare sitting with the other jobs for single moms that fit school hours. For short-term cash before the holidays, see the ideas on how to make extra money for Christmas.
So, is Care.com worth it for a single mom?
Weighing the Care.com reviews, the FTC record and the fine print, the answer depends on your side. Is Care.com worth it for hiring? It can be when you need occasional or ongoing help at home, can pay for one short plan, plan to buy the detailed check on your final pick, and can cancel on time. Skip it if a subsidy-approved provider already fits your schedule. Read the newest Care.com reviews on BBB first for billing surprises.
For earning: the free caregiver account costs nothing to test. Pay for Premium only after real messages from nearby families arrive. Strong Care.com reviews for the caregiver app suggest the jobs side works for many sitters, but star ratings say nothing about income, so track hours and pay from day one.
Questions moms ask before signing up
Is Care.com legit or a scam?
Care.com is a real company with an A+ BBB grade and a user base it puts at over 29 million families, so it is not a scam in itself. It did settle FTC charges in 2024 over inflated job and pay claims and hard cancellations. Fake-check scams do happen on the platform, so verify every family and caregiver yourself.
How much does Care.com cost a family?
Joining, posting a job and browsing are free. Contacting caregivers takes a paid plan. The App Store lists family membership price points from $51.99 to $209.99 without naming the term each one covers, so confirm the length and total at checkout. Plans renew automatically, and billing is the largest category among BBB complaints about Care.com.
Do caregivers have to pay to use Care.com?
No. A caregiver can join on a free Basic account, build a profile and apply to jobs. The caregiver app sells optional Premium memberships, listed between $8.99 and $59.99, plus a background screening fee. Premium mainly buys visibility: higher placement in search, earlier job alerts and waived screening fees, according to the app listing.
Can a parent see a sitter's background check report?
Not the included one. Families see only that the standard check was completed. A paid family member can buy an Enhanced or Premium check, which includes a copy of the full report, and a separate driving record check. Run one on your final choice before the first day, and still call references yourself.
What if Care.com charged me after canceling?
Gather the cancellation screenshot or email and the bank statement, then contact Care.com in writing and ask for the charge to be reversed. The terms call most payments non-refundable, so a clear timeline helps. If that fails, file a complaint with BBB, which logged 183 complaints about Care.com in the last 12 months.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission. FTC takes action against Care.com for deceiving caregivers about wages and availability of jobs on its site, impeding cancellation process (August 26, 2024). ftc.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Federal Trade Commission. FTC sends more than $8.1 million to consumers harmed by Care.com's deceptive claims (June 24, 2025). ftc.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Care.com. Safety Center. care.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Care.com. Background checks. care.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Care.com. Terms of use (last updated October 14, 2025). care.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Apple App Store. Care.com: Hire Caregivers. apps.apple.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Apple App Store. Care.com Caregiver: Find Jobs. apps.apple.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Google Play. Care.com: Hire Caregivers. play.google.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Trustpilot. Care.com reviews. trustpilot.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Better Business Bureau. Care.com business profile. bbb.org (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Better Business Bureau. Care.com customer reviews. bbb.org (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Better Business Bureau. Care.com complaints. bbb.org (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Care.com, Inc. via SEC EDGAR. Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, statement on recent media reports (April 1, 2019). sec.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Care.com, Inc. via SEC EDGAR. Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2019. sec.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Childcare workers. bls.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Animal care and service workers. bls.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Home health and personal care aides. bls.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Internal Revenue Service. Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes). irs.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 756, Employment taxes for household employees. irs.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Federal Trade Commission. How to spot, avoid, and report fake check scams. consumer.ftc.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Sittercity. Free membership for caregivers. support.sittercity.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Sittercity. Premium membership options. support.sittercity.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- UrbanSitter. Membership plan options. support.urbansitter.com (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Childcare.gov. Child care financial assistance options. childcare.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
- Childcare.gov. Informal in-home child care. childcare.gov (retrieved 2026-11-03)
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✻ About the contributor · Folio N°.235
Written by Subha
Writer and researcher covering the topics that matter most to single moms, money, mental health, and the small daily rituals that keep a family running. Every article is research-backed and checked against official sources.
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