While you are travelling around the world, it is natural to want to give something back. However, volunteer programs often have a hefty price tag. In some cases, paying to volunteer is justified as the organisations need funds to continue their valuable work. But for backpackers and budget travellers, paying thousands of dollars to volunteer is out of the question. So how can you volunteer abroad for free? By using the best-kept secret in travel: work exchanges!
Why Volunteer Abroad
There are many reasons why you might want to volunteer abroad. Volunteering in general is an opportunity to give something back to the community. You’ll be helping people who need an extra pair of hands and you can make a real difference in people’s lives.
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Volunteering abroad means you get to do all that and see the world at the same time! Volunteering in another country gives you the chance to spend time in another culture, learn more about the world and about yourself. You will meet new friends, enjoy unique experiences and learn new skills.
As well as creating incredible memories for yourself that you will treasure for years to come, you can also get some work experience for your CV or resume, and become more confident in yourself as you take on new challenges.
Paid Volunteer Placements
As I said earlier, some volunteer organisations offer paid volunteer placements, and as long as you choose a reputable organisation your money will go where it is actually needed. However, there are plenty of unscrupulous companies who will just take your money and actually exploit the people and communities you are hoping to help.
Projects involving volunteering with children in orphanages, building houses without any prior experience, and usually anything technical or skilled where they don’t ask for experience is a red flag to me. Well-meaning but misguided volunteers can cause more harm than good, so please do a lot of research before you pay to volunteer abroad.
It may be better to donate your money to organisations on the ground that can use the funds most effectively, instead of paying to volunteer somewhere.
READ MORE: How to Travel for Free by Volunteering with Worldpackers
Can You Volunteer Abroad for Free?
The vast majority of volunteer placements abroad do charge some sort of fee. That may vary from a small admin charge to several thousands of dollars, which covers the cost of your accommodation, food, training and potentially a nice profit for the company that organises your placement.
However, if you have the right skills and experience then you can volunteer abroad for free with organisations such as the Peace Corps (for Americans) or the United Nations for example, but really this is for qualified professionals who don’t require any training.
If you don’t have any specific qualifications and you want to use volunteering abroad as a way to travel and see the world while giving something back, there is another option for you: work exchanges.
Using Work Exchanges to Volunteer Abroad for Free
Work exchanges are completely different to traditional volunteer abroad programs. While there are some work exchange placements available with charities or non-profit organisations, the vast majority are with regular businesses or families who need an extra pair of hands to help them.
Get a $10 Discount on Worldpackers Membership
Save $10 on a year's membership with Worldpackers with the discount code TALESOFABACKPACKER
PLUS register with Worldpackers in April and get an exclusive free first-trip guide, created by travel experts to make planning your first volunteer adventure simple, safe, and stress-free!
What is a Work Exchange?
As the name suggests, work exchanges are where you volunteer your time and skills for a few hours of work, in exchange for free accommodation and other benefits. The best part? It is completely free! As you are working part-time for the host, you don’t have to pay any costs.
READ MORE: Are Work Exchange Programs for You?
Can You Get Paid to Volunteer Abroad?
With work exchanges, you don’t earn usually money for your work as the accommodation (and sometimes food) is your payment. Sometimes you can find paid work exchange placements which might be for full-time work, but in most cases, no money changes hands at all.
What’s The Catch?
It’s only a small catch, but the easiest way to free work exchange placements is to sign up for a work exchange website. The best work exchange sites charge a membership fee, but most are less than $50 per year. Compare that with several hundred, or even thousands, of dollars for other volunteer programs and it’s a bargain!
Save $10 on a year's membership with Worldpackers with the discount code TALESOFABACKPACKER PLUS register with Worldpackers in April and get an exclusive free first-trip guide, created by travel experts to make planning your first volunteer adventure simple, safe, and stress-free! Get a $10 Discount on Worldpackers Membership
Work exchange websites provide a platform where hosts explain what help they need, and potential volunteers apply for the positions available. All good work exchange websites include details of the accommodation is offered, what other benefits are included (like meals, language lessons etc), and most importantly, reviews from previous volunteers.
While there is some debate about whether work exchange programs take paid work away from local people, to me, if you are helping local people or a local business while you are working then you are still benefitting the community as a whole.
You do need to be aware of this though and make responsible decisions regarding which placements you choose. For example, all of the work exchanges I have done have employed a mixture of local people full time and used part-time volunteers to help out, not just used volunteers to replace paid workers.
Where Can You Volunteer Abroad for Free?
All over the world! Work exchange websites have placements listed from almost every country around the world. However, you need to make sure you have the correct visa to allow you to travel and volunteer in the country you choose. Some countries require a special work visa even if you are just volunteering, so check the requirements before you confirm any placement.
If you need to arrange any visas, Embassy Pages has a list of all the embassies and consulates for countries around the world. Alternatively, you can use an agency like iVisa, which arrange everything for you for an extra fee.
What Kind of Volunteer Work Will You Do?
As I mentioned earlier, the work involved in work exchanges can be quite different to traditional volunteering, although work exchange websites do also have placements available with NGOs and non-profits.
Volunteer work can vary hugely depending on the people who are looking for volunteers. However, the most common kind of work you are likely to do is in hostels or on farms but there are volunteer positions available for childcare with private families, web design work for businesses, social media management for tour companies, and many more.
Some volunteer placements will give you great work experience you can put on your CV or resumé, and some can kick-start your nomad lifestyle by teaching you the skills you need to become a digital nomad. I have had various volunteering experiences abroad, including volunteering in hostels in Mexico, for a tour company in Peru and I also helped to build a website for a hostel in Belize.
Some other examples of work exchange volunteer placements abroad include these which are all available on Worldpackers – click here to get a $10 discount PLUS 3 months extra free on your Worldpackers membership!:
- Volunteering in Maui Hawaii at a Yoga Retreat >>>LEARN MORE
- Volunteering in Portugal at a Surf Guest House >>>LEARN MORE
- Volunteering in Thailand on an Organic Farm >>>LEARN MORE
- Volunteering in Costa Rica as a Hostel Receptionist >>>LEARN MORE
- Volunteering in England caring for Horses >>>LEARN MORE
Where to Find Free Volunteer Placements
Work exchange sites are the easiest way to volunteer abroad for free, as you can browse all of the available placements for your chosen destination, or all over the world if you haven’t yet decided where to go!
Work Exchange Websites
These are the best work exchange websites I recommend:
Worldpackers
Worldpackers is my favourite work exchange website, as the site is easy to use and navigate and they have excellent customer service.
There is a wide range of volunteer opportunities available with hostels, campsites, NGOs, social projects, farms, ecovillages, restaurants, and small businesses, families, again – you name it, they’ve got it.
The site is free to browse then to contact hosts and apply for placements you need to pay the membership fee and become a verified member.
Worldpackers offer 24/7 support to volunteers and hosts, and there is a phone number and email address on the website to get in touch, as well as through their app. They also offer their “Worldpackers Insurance” which covers the cost of a hostel for 3 nights if you need to leave your placement due to problems with the host.
I’ve teamed up with Worldpackers to offer all Tales of a Backpacker readers a $10 discount, which means you only need to pay $39 USD for a full year’s verified membership, so what are you waiting for?! Read more about travelling the world for free, or get your Worldpackers promo code here!
Save $10 on a year's membership with Worldpackers with the discount code TALESOFABACKPACKER PLUS register with Worldpackers in April and get an exclusive free first-trip guide, created by travel experts to make planning your first volunteer adventure simple, safe, and stress-free! Get a $10 Discount on Worldpackers Membership
If you’d like more information about howWorldpackers works, read my full Worldpackers review or check out this video:
Workaway
Workaway is the largest and best-known work exchange site. They have more than 50,000 placements all over the world with hosts who advertise volunteer exchange positions in hostels, on farms, in private homes that members can search and apply for.
Workaway membership fees are a little more expensive than Worldpackers. As of 1st January 2025, the fee to join Workaway costs from $59 USD per year for a solo membership, or $69 USD for a couple/joint membership so you can apply for work exchange placements together. If you use this link to sign up you’ll also get three months extra free on your membership.
The downside of Workaway is that sometimes it is hard to get a response from potential hosts, as Workaway is so large the popular hosts probably get bombarded with messages from volunteers. Workaway have introduced a host response guarantee to help mitigate that, which means that you can apply to get your money back if you don’t hear back from any hosts after sending at least 10 personalised requests in your first month of membership.
Worldpackers and Workaway are the best work exchange websites, and as Worldpackers offer better support if things go wrong my personal preference is for Worldpackers. However, if you can’t decide between Workaway vs Worldpackers, the best thing to do is check out the placements on both websites for the area you want so you can decide which has more suitable options for you. Check out my full Workaway review here.
Other Work Exchange Websites
WWOOF
WWOOF or World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms works in a similar way to Worldpackers and Workaway, but solely for placements on organic farms. If you are interested in learning more about permaculture and farming then WWOOF is for you!
The farms are offer excellent opportunities to experience rural areas of your chosen countries, but by their nature tend to be more isolated from city centres and offer more basic accommodations than you expect to find in hostels where tourists are.
Helpx
Help Exchange, or HelpX for short was originally set up in 2001, and while the website has had a recent revamp it isn’t as easy to use as Workaway and Worldpackers.
You can browse and search for listings without having to register, but to contact hosts and to read the full reviews of placements you have to upgrade to the premier membership, which is only €20 for two years’ membership.
Free Work Exchange Websites
While I admit that the above options aren’t 100% free, they are the best way to volunteer abroad for free. For me, it is worth paying a small amount to register for membership so I can get some support should things go wrong, in particular with the extra help from Worldpackers.
However, if you really do want something for nothing then there are some free work exchange websites that allow you to contact potential hosts without paying any membership fees. Both Hippohelp and Volunteers Base are completely free to join, for hosts and volunteers and emphasise social and cultural exchanges as the key to their work exchange programmes.
They could be a good way to ‘test’ out volunteering before you sign up and pay for sites like Workaway and Worldpackers, but there are more risks involved as there is no screening process for hosts, and if something goes wrong there isn’t a 24/7 support team to help you. If you’re looking to volunteer abroad for the first time, I would recommend choosing an option with more support.
Have you used work exchanges to volunteer abroad for free? Let me know how you got on and if you have any tips I’ve missed!
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Hi my name is Louella from Philippines I love to volunteer I’m already 34 yes old now and I do have 4 kids , I. Hope I can be a volunteer because I really like to feel adventure and to gain knowledge about other culture .thank you and GOD BLESS