Apps and Agencies for Household Help

How apps and formal agencies are trying to organise domestic and home services, what they offer workers and households, and their limits.

Technology is changing how households hire help.

Platforms

Urban Company for cleaning and home services.
Apps for maids, cooks and nannies with verified profiles.
Quick-service apps offering domestic help within minutes, launched in several cities around 2024-25.

For households

Verification and background checks.
Replacements if a worker leaves.
Ratings and reviews.

For workers

Access to more clients.
Sometimes training, insurance and digital payment.
Fixed rates per service.

Concerns

Commissions reduce earnings.
Ratings pressure and penalties.
Workers may lose flexibility or bargaining power.

Formalisation

Platforms can bring some workers into the formal economy with records, payments and benefits, but coverage remains small compared with the huge informal market.

The verified cook

A household books a cook through an app that has checked her ID and references. She earns per visit and receives digital payments, building a record of her income.

Thinking apps have formalised domestic work

They cover a small share of a huge informal market.

Key takeaways

Apps offer verified domestic and home services.
Households gain verification and replacements.
Workers gain clients but pay commissions.
Platforms formalise only a small share of domestic work.