Short answer: yes — Only Livein is legit. Onlylivein.com is a real, operating service that collects live-in caregiver job listings from across the US and sends them to paying members. It is run by a registered California company, it charges through Stripe, its prices are published on the site before you sign up, and it never asks caregivers for bank details, gift cards, or upfront “placement fees” — the usual scam tells are absent. The honest catches are different ones: it is a brand-new service (launched in 2026), the listings sit behind a $19.99/year membership so you cannot browse the full feed for free, refunds are not offered, and the highest-paying premium cases are still rare while the feed grows. Legit, yes — but go in knowing exactly what the membership does and does not buy you.
What Is Only Livein?
Only Livein is a job-alerts service built for one narrow niche: live-in caregiving. Instead of a general job board, it collects live-in caregiver openings — agency cases, private-family cases, and higher-paid hourly shifts — into a single member feed, and emails members when new cases land. Listings are gathered from public job boards and employer posts, then sorted into three sections: Agency, Private family, and Hourly ($25/hr and up, 8–12 hour shifts).
It is not a home-care agency. Only Livein does not employ caregivers, does not assign cases, and does not take a cut of your pay. It sells information and discovery: the feed, alerts, and a caregiver directory where families and agencies can find and message you. At our last check in late October 2026, the feed held 170+ live-in cases across 24 states, with a median advertised rate of about $228/day on standard listings.
How It Works
The feed and alerts. Listings require an account with an active membership — there is no free full feed. Members see the case list, get a daily email digest of new listings, and get an instant email alert when a premium case (below) is confirmed.
Premium unlocks. The standard feed is included with membership. Confirmed premium cases — verified openings paying $400/day or more — are locked. One credit unlocks one case and reveals the full details. Membership includes 2 credits; extra credits come in packs (see prices below). If an unlocked case turns out to already be filled, the credit is restored to your account. Cash refunds, however, are not offered — that policy is stated on the site.
The caregiver directory. Members can publish a public profile so families and agencies can find them. The privacy setup is stricter than most job sites: a public profile shows only your first name and last initial, your city and state, experience, specialties, languages, and availability. Your resume, full surname, phone number, email, and street address are never shown. Contact happens through in-app chat — a family sends a case request, you accept or decline, and only then does the chat open.
Employer posts. Families and agencies can post a case. A standard post is free but is reviewed by a person before it goes live — posts are also screened for phone numbers, emails, and payment-app handles, which is the standard scam pattern on caregiver boards. A premium post costs $149.99, is featured for 30 days, and is emailed to all active members.
What It Costs
- Membership: $19.99/year — required to view listings; includes 2 unlock credits.
- Credit packs: $4.99 for 1 credit, $19.99 for 5, $34.99 for 10 (1 credit = 1 premium case unlock).
- Posting a case (employers): free for a standard reviewed post; $149.99 for a premium featured post.
- Refunds: none in cash. A filled premium case restores the credit instead.
For scale: roughly 20 members cover the service’s listing-feed costs, so the membership price is the business model — not advertising, and not selling caregiver data.
The Scam Checks: What We Verified
Caregiver job scams are common enough that any paid job-alerts service deserves a hard look. Here is what checks out:
- A real company stands behind it. Only Livein is operated by Grabshop Trading Individuals LLC, a registered California LLC, and the site lists a working contact address: cases@onlylivein.com.
- Payments run through Stripe. Memberships and credits are charged by card through Stripe — not wire transfers, Zelle-to-a-stranger, or gift cards, which are the payment methods job scams insist on.
- Prices are public before signup. The $19.99/year membership, credit pack prices, and the no-refund policy are stated on the site up front, not revealed after you hand over details.
- No credential harvesting. The service never asks for your Social Security number, bank login, or documents “to get you hired” — because it does not hire. Any “employer” who asks for those through any job board is the scam, not the board.
- Anti-scam friction is built in. Free employer posts wait for human review, post text is screened for contact info, the members-only lounge blocks phone numbers and emails (including spelled-out ones), and directory contact starts as a request you can decline or block.
The Catches
It is new and still small. Only Livein launched in 2026. A feed of 170+ cases is useful, but it is not Care.com scale, and coverage is uneven by state.
You pay before you browse. The full feed is members-only. You can see sample listings and the public tracker counts before joining, but not the complete case details. At $19.99/year the bet is small, but it is still a bet.
No cash refunds. The policy is credits back, never money back. Read it before you buy credit packs.
Premium cases are rare so far. The $400+/day unlocks are the headline feature, but confirmed cases at that level appear infrequently while the feed is growing. The standard feed — where the median case pays about $228/day — is what most members will actually use day to day.
It does not get you the job. Only Livein surfaces openings; you still apply, interview, and negotiate like anywhere else. No alerts service can guarantee placement, and this one does not claim to.
Who Should Join — and Who Should Skip
Join if you actively look for live-in cases, you are tired of digging through general job boards for the live-in minority of posts, and $19.99/year is a fair price for having them collected and emailed to you. The directory profile is a genuine plus if you want families to find you without posting your phone number publicly.
Skip if you only want hourly local shifts (live-in is the whole point here), you need a guaranteed placement (use an agency), or you are outside the US — the feed is US cases.
FAQ
Is Only Livein a scam?
No. It is a real subscription service from a registered California LLC, with public pricing, Stripe payments, and a working contact email. Its limits are newness and size, not legitimacy.
How much does Only Livein cost?
$19.99/year for membership, which includes the full standard feed, alerts, and 2 premium unlock credits. Extra credits are $4.99 each, or cheaper in packs of 5 ($19.99) and 10 ($34.99).
Does Only Livein guarantee a job?
No — and be wary of any service that does. It provides job alerts and a directory profile; hiring decisions stay with the families and agencies.
Can families and agencies post a case?
Yes. Standard posts are free and reviewed before going live; a premium post ($149.99) is featured for 30 days and emailed to all active members.
Verdict
Legit. Only Livein is a small, new, honestly-priced tool for a specific job hunt: live-in caregiving. It passes the checks that expose scams — a real company, public prices, normal card payments, no credential harvesting, and visible anti-scam effort on the employer side. Its real weaknesses are a still-growing feed, a paywall before browsing, and a no-cash-refund policy. If you hunt live-in cases regularly, $19.99/year is a reasonable price for the time it saves. If you join mainly for the $400+/day premium cases, temper expectations until the feed is bigger.
Disclosure: Only Livein and Durofy are operated by the same owner. This review sticks to the same checks we apply to every site in our Is It Legit directory — company, pricing, payment method, and safety practices — and lists the service’s drawbacks alongside its features.
Founder & Editor at Durofy
