Caring.com Review, Our In-Depth Analysis
If you have a loved one that needs more care, it can be difficult to know who to trust. Caring.com is a referral service that can point you to the best assisted living homes and memory care in your area. Additionally, it can suggest home care and other types of senior living, like independent living and adult day care. In seconds, you can enter your ZIP code and find options. Of course, to know what is really the right place for your loved ones, you’ll need to do some in-person tours and get evaluated. This will ensure you’re choosing the right type of facility.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Quick and easy options: Compared to A Place for Mom (APfM) and Care.com, Caring.com gave me some options without making me go through a long quiz.
- Transparent pricing: I was also pleasantly surprised to get the pricing on the computer, as other websites made me speak to someone over the phone.
- A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau: Caring.com has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 2022 and has an A+ rating.
Cons
- Poor customer ratings: Although the BBB itself gave Caring.com an A+, customers on the BBB gave it only 1.63 out of 5 stars. Customers on Consumer Affairs gave it 1 out of 5 stars, albeit from only four reviews.
- Subpar customer service: After speaking with two people from Caring.com, it was very clear that they were reading from scripts. Plus, their patience seemed to be wearing thin.
How Caring.com Works
The way Caring.com works is quite simple. Users can go to the website and go one of two ways: They can either find care in their area online by typing in their ZIP code or call a number to speak to a human directly. If they go with the former, they can choose which type of facility they’re looking for, what amenities it has, and how much it costs. There are no screening questions, unlike with APfM. That means that this is only an option if you already know what you’re looking for and you just need to know the options in your area. For more help, though, you’d want to call and speak with someone. They would ask screening questions, make recommendations, and connect you with businesses to schedule tours.
One cool feature of Caring.com is its list of “Verified Partners” — companies who have shared their pricing information with the business, meaning customers can easily see pricing on the website. The business also has the “Caring Awards”: the facilities with the highest number of good reviews and responses to one- and two-star reviews. All companies have customer ratings, but Caring.com is the only one I’ve seen to have such distinctions that you can actually filter by.
Types of Care
Caring.com offers many types of care, including:
- Memory care
- Senior apartments
- Adult day care
- Assisted living
- Continuing care retirement communities
- Hospice care
- Independent living
- In-home care
- Nursing homes
- Home health care
Assisted living may be good for someone who needs help with activities of daily living like eating and bathing. But, memory care is better for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Talking to someone from Caring.com can help you figure out which type of facility is best.
My Experience With Caring.com
Out of all the care referral services I’ve used, namely APfM and Care.com, Caring.com gave me options in the shortest amount of time. All I had to do to get a list was go to the website and input my ZIP code. Within seconds, I had a list of options in my area.
From there, I could filter by care type or other factors like:
- Distance: 10 to 50 miles away away
- Room type: Studio to three bedrooms, or respites/short-term living options
- Languages: Spanish, French, German, Cantonese, and a bunch of other options for seniors who may not speak English
- Price: Including providers with ongoing promotions
- Lifestyle: Active, pet-friendly, or recreational
- Staff qualifications: Background checks and trainings in memory care, ethics, wound care, and first aid
- Room amenities: Balcony/patio, cable, and kitchen/kitchenette
- Accessibility: Mobility, wheelchair, transfer assistance, or American Sign Language for deaf seniors
- Personal care: Assistance with bathing, dressing, personal care, and the toilet, plus meal prep
- Dining: Dining room, guest meals, room services, and support for special diets
- Health services: On-site hospice, nurses, pharmacy, medication management, and physical therapy
- Other amenities: Companionship, laundry/line, religious services, entertainment venues, gated facilities, hot tub/spa, on-site parking, and swimming pools
This was definitely the largest amount of filters I’ve seen from a care referral site. Personally, I prefer to do most of my research online, so I loved the fact that I had so many filters along with pricing right on the website.
However, once I saw the pricing information, I got a call from Sean at Caring.com. To be honest, his tone sounded slightly annoyed when I asked him about how long he thought the call would take, as I had a cold and it was difficult to speak. It was clear that he was reading off a script, and he asked the questions without interest. Clearly, his goal was to sign me up for a tour, and he didn’t even pretend to sound caring, in my opinion. While I appreciated the online portion of the search, unfortunately, the call didn’t quite live up to the company’s name. I would start your search on Caring.com and contact the communities directly. It’s a better option than Google, but it was not the most pleasant over-the-phone experience.
What Others Are Saying
While Caring.com only has four reviews on Consumer Affairs and zero reviews on Trustpilot, the reviews it does have are largely negative. All four of the Consumer Affairs reviews are one-star only, and many criticized the same poor customer service that I received. Doris from Long Valley, New Jersey, wrote, “I contacted Caring.com to ask for a few options of independent senior living facilities nearby. The first question was, ‘Is this for yourself?’ Next was, ‘What is your income? How much money do you have?’ I was shocked. I told their representative that I did not have a figure yet as I haven't sold my house, etc. I asked if he could please give me a few options, then I could figure out which place fits into my budget and/or what I am willing to pay. He told me there was only one nearby, I asked for the name, and he wouldn't tell me. He then said he would email it and never did. Absolutely not helpful and utterly unprofessional.”
Caring.com didn’t fare much better with customers on the BBB, who gave it an average of 1.63 stars from 27 reviews. That being said, not all of the reviews were negative. In July 2024, Marco D. wrote, “I was scrambling to find places for my beloved aging family member to live and Caring.com bridged the gap I needed to find them. I worked with *******************************, who had all the information I needed that I couldn't get to because most assisted living facilities do not list their prices or availability on their websites. I am so thankful for ******* setting me up with a good list of options that contacted me right away and made this difficult process so much easier.”
Caring.com vs. APfM
I would recommend APfM over Caring.com for a few reasons. One, it actually helped me figure out what I wanted with an online quiz before just showing me a list of nearby facilities. Two, the representative I spoke to, Joanne, seemed much more kind and genuine than Sean from Caring.com. And three, my starting costs were much lower at APfM: under $2,800 compared to nearly $3,700. However, if you already know what you are looking for and just want a list of options, Caring.com will get you there quicker than APfM.
To learn more, read our full review of A Place for Mom.
Bottom Line
Caring.com certainly has its faults and profits when it refers you to a facility. However, it is free for the customer and can at least show you what your options are. Finding care for a loved one can be a scary, stressful, and sad process, so it’s important to vet the communities themselves with your loved one. In other words, use sites like Caring.com as jumping-off points before you do more in-person research. Your loved one will be evaluated; also, you’ll learn about exact pricing — including fees, plus availability — by actually working with the facilities themselves.
