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RentAFriend Review: $10-$50+ per Hour to Be a Friend?

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The title may sound funny, but did you know that you can actually make money being a friend to someone?

And, no, I’m not talking about anything dirty.  Just simple fun with someone who needs a companion.  From going to the movies or even an amusement park, the opportunities are endless.  What better way than to get fun all while having fun.

The company is called RentaFriend, and it allows you to get paid to be a friend to someone.  It’s a website I have mentioned a few times, such as in my ways to make money doing almost nothing and creative ways to pay off your student loans post.  I also mentioned them in my get paid to be a friend post.  Yes, there are more companies than just this one.

RentaFriend Reviews

As one of the oddest ways to make money, it could yield more than $100+ for the day, or about $20~ per hour, but it really depends on what you have to offer and where you live.  I will get into this later.  The website claims you can make up to $50+ per hour, plus free meals, free concert tickets and much more.   Since you’re the boss, you get to set the rates, set your price and best of all, you get to keep all of the money you make.

In this guide, I explore how RentaFriend works and what’s in it for you.  I will also show you how to sign up and start making money.

Whether you want to be a friend to someone and get paid or you want to pay to find a friend, let’s see what RentaFriend is all about!

What is RentaFriend?

RentaFriend offers friends for hire from all around the world for any occasion (legal, of course!).  From social events to just going to a movie, it’s up to you decide what you want to do with your newfound friend for the day/afternoon.

It was founded in 2009 as a way for people to make and “rent” friends in their area.  RentaFriend stresses that it’s strictly a platonic friendship website and is not to be used as a dating and/or escort website.  It is to be used for friendship purposes only.

As I write this, they have more than 620,000 friends available worldwide and has been featured in many prominent publications such as ABC, MSNBC and the Today Show, to name a few.



How to Sign Up

If you’re interested in becoming a friend and getting paid, it’s 100% free to create a profile and wait for messages.  However, if you want to join as someone who wants to find a friend, then this is a premium service.  At the moment, they charge $24.95, but since I’m talking about ways to make money, we don’t have to worry about paying for now.  I’m only going to talk about becoming a friend in this guide.

To sign up, I would recommend using your laptop/desktop as it’s much easier to sign up this way.  To start, look for the “Join Now” button in the upper-right hand corner.

In clicking on this, you will be asked if you want to become a member or become a friend.  Since you want to make some cash, you will want to become a friend.  You can sign up by email, which I recommend, but you can also connect your Facebook or Twitter accounts if you so choose.

Whichever option you choose, you will then be directed to an informative page, where you can learn more about getting started, frequently asked questions as well as what you could be hired for.  It’s filled with a ton of information, so I would recommend you at least glance it over to ensure you know what you’re getting yourself into.   I will cover the basics in this guide, but they will answer more questions that I may not cover here.

Getting Started

To get started, you will first have to fill out an application, which will pop up after you glance over the terms and follow the steps already mentioned.

At first, it will ask you for a nickname, your location as well as ask you for your email address and a password.

Then, it will ask you to fill out more personal details, such as the following:

  • date of birth
  • ethnicity
  • body type
  • height
  • eye color
  • hair
  • gender
  • who you want to be friends with
  • what you’re available for (phone, email, zoo, music, wine tasting, etc)
  • languages you speak
  • your fees (negotiable or $X+ per hour)
  • describe yourself
  • upload at least 1 photo (you can upload up to 10)

I took a screenshot below and you can enlarge it to see what it asks of you…

As the last step, you will need to add your cell number and verify it.  If you don’t verify your phone number, you won’t get approved.

You won’t get approved immediately, but on average, the company states that you will get approved within one hour.  Once live, your profile will go live right away, which means people will be able to see you in the results if it matches their search criteria.

Making Friends

Once your profile is approved, all you can really do is sit back and wait for a notification.

When it comes to getting hired, friends can contact you via text message, phone or through the messaging system.  How they contact you is dependent on your preferences.  Your e-mail will never be shared and only paying members can view the phone number you verified while setting up your account.  You can set up these preferences in your member profile.

Once you receive a message, you will receive a notification letting you know that you have a message in your account.  It’s then up to you to respond to it.  Remember, every message you receive comes from a paid member.  Even though you don’t pay, you can always reply, but you will never be able to initiate a message unless you become a paying member.

The Search Results – How You’re Found

In the search results, people will use their zip code, the gender they are looking to hang out as well as an age range.  The search criteria is basic, but it can narrow down the results somewhat.  As long as you fit the bill, your picture, demographics and a short description will pop up.  It will look something like this:

Sorry, I had to omit the personal details, but it should give you an idea as to what it looks like when a friend searches for you.

Only paid members can contact you, which, according to the website, means they are serious about becoming a friend.  All paid members will be able to interact with you through your contact choice, whether it be text, messages and/or a phone call.  You will be able to write in your description as to how you want to be contacted.

Also, the more active you are, the higher you will show in the results.  So, if you’re serious about being found, at least log into your account every few days to show the website that you’re at least active.

It’s very important that you have a descriptive profile as well as many pictures as possible.  Remember that you’re selling yourself so it’s best to add as much as you can.  Even though you can’t message members, you can still browse profiles.  I would recommend at least looking at other profiles to see what sticks out to you.  You can then take some of their ideas and apply it to your profile.

What Will We Do?

As stressed a million times, RentaFriend is designed for friendships only, no funny business allowed.  Outside of the illegal stuff, you can do anything you would with a friend.  From going to the movies, a park or maybe a basketball game, the ideas are endless.  Since you are your own boss, you get to work out all of the details ahead of time and can agree to anything a potential friend offers you.

According to the website, the provided this graphic in regards to the most popular events often done with friends found through the site:

They stress that if you have something in mind that it is so important to list that in your profile.  That way, if someone is looking to dance, for instance, they know that you would enjoy it.  If you like bird watching, then they know that you will enjoy going on a hike, etc.

In the end, when someone contacts you, you get to make the rules and you never, ever have to discuss something you’re not comfortable with.  Before you even meet in person, you can discuss the times, date, location plans as well as payment.

How Much Money Can I Make?

The cool thing about RentaFriend is that you make as much as you want because you get to set the price.  But, like anything, you have to make sure your rates are as competitive as possible so that someone chooses you.  Just because you’re charging $250 per hour doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.

How much you make depends on so many factors, such as where you live, your gender, your age, how fun you are, how many people come back to you as a returning friend as well as how much you work.  The company states many make $300 to $500 a month only doing it on the weekends, whereas some people can make more than $2,000 a week working full-time.

So, as you can imagine, it’s hard to give you an answer.  To be safe, plan on making anywhere from $50 to $100 per outing, sometimes a pinch more.  Don’t expect to get rich, but the right person, which could be you, could make some great side cash in doing this.  Just don’t quit your day job just yet.



How Do I Get Paid?

RentaFriend charges no fees to friends who are looking to make money, so they don’t have a payment processing system at this time.  Since they only make money in people looking for friends, it’s up to you to collect the money in any way you choose.

Whether you want to collect cash in person or get an advanced deposit on PayPal before you meet, it’s up to you.  Just remember that anyone you talk with already paid a premium membership, so that pretty much means you’re dealing with someone legitimate, at least we hope.

To be safe, it’s always best to meet in a public place and get to know this person before you continue any friendship meetings in the future.  Since most friends may be uncomfortable paying money to you online before they even meet, you may have to wait until you meet in person to collect the cash.

According to what I read, it appeared most were happy with collecting cash in person.

What Others Are Saying

As with all of my reviews, I like to comb the internet to see what other people are saying.  While I didn’t find much, I found some comments, most of which I include below.

The Pros

The customer support seems to be good.

A lot of success stories where people met some great people in their areas, especially in touristy areas overseas.  It seemed like a good way to meet locals who can take you around unknown areas.

Those who were hired had some fun experiences.

The Cons

A lot of people won’t respond and/or they will respond too late.

Some areas may not see any action at all.

You don’t get paid through the site.

You’re meeting strangers.

Final Thoughts

7/10RentaFriend has a lot of potential, but how much you make depends on so many factors as mentioned prior.

Seeing it’s 100% free to join, why not at least create a profile and see if you get any bites?  Just remember to log in every few days so that your search results stay near the top.

Best case, you get a lot of friend requests and you make $100s having fun with someone in town.  Worst case, you wasted a few minutes of your time signing up.

Now, it’s your turn.

Have you ever signed up for this website?  Do you have any questions?  What do you think?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Tom Nathaniel

Hi! My name is Tom Nathaniel, and I created LushDollar to help share my honest thoughts on everything money. You won't find gimmicks here. It's the Internet's most honest money site after all. I graduated from Arizona State University, and I have worked in the finance industry since 2006, consulting with multiple Fortune 5000 companies.

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