Trade time with your neighbors.
Help someone for an hour, get an Hour. Spend it when you need a hand. Everyone's time counts the same. Now forming in Conroe and Montgomery County, TX.
Join the waitlistHow it works
Give an hour
Mow a lawn, fix a fence, help with errands. When both of you confirm the job, you get 1 Hour for every hour of help.
Spend an Hour
Use your Hours to get help from any member, for any listed service. One hour of help costs 1 Hour.
Everyone's time is equal
An hour of yard work, tutoring or car care is the same 1 Hour. No haggling, no price tags.
Balances and limits
- Everyone starts at 0 Hours.
- You can receive help before you give it. New members can go down to −5 Hours in their first 30 days, then down to −10 Hours.
- Balances top out at +40 Hours, so keep Hours moving and spend what you've earned.
- Most jobs log up to 8 Hours; a member can log up to 20 Hours a week.
What you can trade at launch
1. Home services & odd-job help
Moving and loading, cleaning, small handyman jobs.
2. Yard & land clearing
Mowing, brush clearing, hauling, garden work.
Coming soon
Vehicle maintenance Coming soon
Basic upkeep, rides to the shop.
Skilled trades Coming soon
Carpentry, welding, other unlicensed trade work.
Personal services Coming soon
Tutoring, pet care, errands, tech help.
No licensed or permitted work. Electrical, plumbing, roofing, HVAC, gas and any other work that needs a state or local license or a permit can't be traded on BarterBound.
Ground rules
Hours are a record of time, not money. Hours have no cash value. They can't be bought, sold, cashed out or transferred to anyone, and they don't grow over time. The only way to get Hours is to help a member, and the only way to use them is to get help from one.
Tax note
Trading services may be taxable income to you, especially if the work relates to your business. We don't give tax advice, so check with a tax professional. If we're ever required to file a tax form about your trades, we'll tell you first and ask for your taxpayer ID. This page is not legal or tax advice.
Materials: at cost, settled between members
Hours count time only, never materials. When a job needs materials, the trade says who supplies them: the member getting help, or the helper, who is reimbursed at cost with the receipt. At cost only, with no markup. Materials are settled directly between the two members, outside BarterBound; BarterBound never holds or moves money. For materials over 100 dollars, we suggest the member getting help buys them directly.
Members arrange their own jobs
Members agree on the details of each job between themselves. BarterBound connects neighbors and keeps the record. It doesn't guarantee any service. Members accept a safety and liability agreement when they join.
How we verify members
- Vouching: new members are vouched for by someone who's already a member.
- Meet in person: we confirm who you are at a local onboarding meetup. We look at your ID but never keep a copy.
- One account per person, tied to your phone and email.
- Both sides confirm every job before Hours move, and either side can raise a concern within 7 days.
- Unusual patterns, like the same two people trading back and forth with no other activity, are paused for a human review.
Join the waitlist
Tell us what you could offer and what you need, and we'll reach out when your area opens.
We only use these details to contact you about BarterBound, and we never sell them. Ask us any time to delete them.
Sign-ups open soon. The waitlist goes live with the app in the next few days.
Want a heads-up now? Email barterproject@zohomail.com with your ZIP code and what you could offer or need.