Best live-in care platforms in the UK (scored, October 2026)

Key Takeaways

This is a scored list of the best live-in care platforms in the UK: eight introductory matching services, judged on published vetting, fees, flexibility, family support and third-party reviews. None of them is CQC-registered as a care provider for the service we scored. We run Match With Care and put it in the table on the same rules. Facts we could not find are marked not published and score zero. Method: how we score platforms. Checked 13 October 2026.

The live table on home care platforms uses the same checklist.

Three quotes sat on Tom's kitchen table in Woking. His mum had come home from St Peter's on Thursday. Elder: £1,150 a week, one number. A Curam carer had named £950. PrimeCarers had a planning figure of £1,120 with the fee already inside. He texted his sister that Curam was the cheap one. He had not added the 12%.

The weekly numbers look comparable until you read the fee line.

Age UK (updated 18 February 2026) still points families at registered homecare agencies, or at arranging a private carer themselves. The NHS puts help at home from a paid carer at about £15 to £30 an hour. The platforms below publish weekly live-in starting prices from £950 to £1,400. If savings sit above £23,250, Age UK says the council will not help with care costs.

Consultus and Unique Senior Care mix CQC-registered agencies with introductory platforms and rank themselves. This page scores platforms that work like Elder and Curam.

What are the best live-in care platforms in the UK?

On this 13 October 2026 check we scored Elder, Match With Care, Curam, Live-in Care Direct, PrimeCarers, Country Cousins, Gladys and Care.com UK. Elder leads on published facts, at 95/100. Rank is a score, not a recommendation to switch.

How we scored these live-in care platforms

The CQC registers people who carry on regulated activity. These platforms introduce self-employed carers, so a CQC grade cannot rank them.

Each platform is scored out of 100 from facts on its own pages: vetting 25, price transparency 20, flexibility 15, family support 20, third-party reviews 20. Review points need at least 10 reviews and are weighted by volume up to 100. A perfect 5.0 with fewer than 100 reviews earns 12 of 20. A fact we cannot find is not published, and earns nothing. Ties break on review volume, then name. Full rules: platform ranking methodology. We run Match With Care. Its rank is the score. Pages opened for this round are named under each platform. Checked 13 October 2026.

Comparison table

Rank	Platform	Score	Live-in from	Family fee	Reviews
1	Elder	95/100	£1,150 a week	One agreed weekly rate	4.8/5 from 905, Trustpilot
2	Match With Care	89/100	£1,050 a week	15% platform fee on the invoice	5.0 on Google, fewer than 100 reviews (12/20 review points)
3	Curam	88/100	£950 a week	12% on the carer's rate	4.5/5 from 588, Trustpilot
4	Live-in Care Direct	75/100	£1,200 a week	One fixed weekly fee	4.9/5 from 111 Google reviews, as stated on their homepage
5	PrimeCarers	66/100	£1,050 a week	Platform fee inside the quote	4.1/5 from 43, Trustpilot
6	Country Cousins	55/100	£1,155 a week	£280 lifetime registration fee, then weekly packages	3.8/5 from 108, Trustpilot
7	Gladys	47/100	£1,400 a week (£200 a day)	Carer-set rates	No third-party score with 10+ reviews opened
8	Care.com UK	8/100	Not published	Paid Premium to message carers	2.4/5 from 4,582, Trustpilot UK

Checked 13 October 2026. Elder's Trustpilot figure is the 12 October check; the UK listing was blocked when we retried it.

1. Elder · 95/100

Why it ranks here. Elder's introductory-agency page states enhanced DBS or PVG, right-to-work, and that it aims to verify at least two professional references before introduction, plus a situational assessment. The pricing page publishes live-in from £1,150 a week, a two-week trial, no joining or exit fee, and two weeks' notice. Families choose the carer. Elder says it helps source a replacement. MyElder handles schedules and payments. Support is described as seven days a week. Trustpilot, last opened 12 October 2026, showed 4.8 out of 5 from 905 reviews.

Where it falls short. Elder is not CQC-registered as a provider. Hourly visiting prices and insurance cover were not on the pricing page we opened, so those points are zero.

Sources: elder.org, pricing, introductory agency.

2. Match With Care · 89/100

Why it ranks here. We run Match With Care. On the same checklist we reach 89, second in this set. Our FAQ states enhanced DBS, right-to-work, references, an interview, no joining or exit fee, a 15% platform fee on the invoice, carer swaps at no extra matching cost, and replacement cover. London pricing puts live-in around £1,050 to £1,400 a week. Google shows a 5.0 average with fewer than 100 reviews, which earns 12 of 20 review points.

Where it falls short. We are not CQC-registered as a provider. Our own platform insurance cover is not published on our site yet; carers must hold their own public liability insurance. We sit below Elder mainly on third-party review volume.

Sources: FAQ, London.

3. Curam · 88/100

Why it ranks here. Curam's client FAQ says every carer is interviewed, DBS-checked, right-to-work checked, and must supply two referees. The live-in cost guide starts at £950 a week, with no sign-up fee, no tie-in, and a 12% client fee. Insurance through CFC is described on the FAQ. Care advisers are described as available seven days a week for replacements. Trustpilot (NZ listing), opened 13 October 2026, showed 4.5 out of 5 from 588 reviews.

Remember the £950 on Tom's table? That was Curam's starting guide price. Add the 12% before you treat it as the family total. On a £950 carer rate that is another £114 a week.

Where it falls short. Self-managed care is not a CQC-regulated personal-care service. The same FAQ describes a separate CQC-registered package; we are scoring the marketplace. A trial shift is charged. Taking a carer off the platform after 90 days attracts a £750 plus VAT recruitment fee, as stated in the terms.

Sources: client information, live-in costs, live-in service, terms.

4. Live-in Care Direct · 75/100

Why it ranks here. The carers page states enhanced DBS, right-to-work, professional references checked, and an in-person interview before introduction. The homepage publishes standard live-in from £1,200 a week as one fixed fee, you choose the carer, a named care manager, and replacement help. Google reviews are stated on the homepage as 4.9 out of 5 from 111 reviews.

Where it falls short. Not CQC-registered as a provider. No joining fee, notice period, trial or insurance policy was spelled out on the pages we opened. The same homepage's Trustpilot widget showed 4.8 from 41 reviews, which would earn fewer volume-weighted points than the Google figure we used.

Sources: homepage, introductory status, carers.

5. PrimeCarers · 66/100

Why it ranks here. The live-in page (updated 6 October 2026) is unusually plain about the model. You choose a self-employed carer. They check ID, right to work, an enhanced DBS issued within two years, and interview online. Cost guide from £1,050 a week, fee included. Notice starts at 48 hours, then seven days. Contract and payment tools sit on the platform, with insurance subject to policy terms. They will help seek alternative carers; availability must be confirmed.

Where it falls short. The same page says they do not check qualifications, training or references. Trustpilot, opened 13 October 2026, showed 4.1 out of 5 from 43 reviews. No joining fee and no free trial were stated.

Source: primecarers.co.uk/live-in-care.

6. Country Cousins · 55/100

Why it ranks here. Country Cousins has introduced self-employed live-in carers since 1959. The jobs page requires proof of right to work, DBS or PVG, an interview, and two professional references to be shortlisted. The price comparison publishes long-term live-in from £1,155 a week. The live-in page states a one-off £280 lifetime registration fee. Families have a say in the carer. The introductory-versus-managed page says Country Cousins can help arrange cover. Trustpilot, opened 13 October 2026, showed 3.8 out of 5 from 108 reviews.

Where it falls short. Not CQC-registered; managed, inspected care sits with sister company Trinity Homecare. The pages we opened do not say Country Cousins itself verifies those two references. Notice, trial, insurance and family online tools were not published. The £280 registration fee costs it the "no joining fee" points.

Sources: live-in care, prices, introductory vs managed, carer vetting.

7. Gladys · 47/100

Why it ranks here. Gladys is an introductory platform. The client FAQ states enhanced DBS, references, interviews, and public liability insurance. Families choose from a handpicked list. Live-in is from £200 a day, which we treat as £1,400 a week. Visiting from £32 an hour.

Where it falls short. Right-to-work, joining fees, a trial or free swap, and replacement-cover help were not on the pages we opened. We did not open a third-party review listing with at least 10 reviews, so reputation points are zero. The homepage still lists local carers across BANES, Bristol, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and South Gloucestershire, even though the live-in cost article now says introductions across the country.

Sources: gladys.care, client FAQ, live-in cost 2026.

8. Care.com UK · 8/100

Why it ranks here. The UK homepage is childcare, housekeeping and pets first. Families post a job, message, interview and hire. The family FAQ makes Premium membership the gate to reading applications and sending messages.

Priya in St Albans already had a Care.com login from hiring a cleaner. After her dad's hip replacement she posted an "elderly care" job on the same account. Two profiles said DBS. Neither sent a certificate.

Where it falls short. The hiring guide (updated 1 October 2021) tells you to request DBS and references yourself, and says carers' DBS checks have not always been verified by Care.com. No weekly live-in price. The UK Trustpilot listing, opened 13 October 2026, showed 2.4 out of 5 from 4,582 reviews. A rating under 3 earns no review points, even at that volume.

Sources: care.com/en-gb, family FAQ, hiring guide, Trustpilot UK.

Best-for picks from the same scores

• Most thorough published vetting (25/25): Elder, Curam, Match With Care and Live-in Care Direct.
• Lowest published live-in starting price: Curam, from £950 a week on its cost guide. Add the 12% client fee before you treat that as the family total.
• Most flexible published terms (15/15): Elder and Match With Care, which both publish no fixed term plus a trial or a free carer swap.
• Strongest third-party review points: Live-in Care Direct, on the Google figure stated on its homepage (4.9/5 from 111). Elder has more Trustpilot reviews (905 at 4.8) but fewer review points, because 4.8 is a smaller share of the 3-to-5 scale.

If you want a CQC-inspected agency instead of an introductory platform, that is a different list: how we rank agencies. Related scored lists: Elder alternatives, Curam alternatives and Care.com alternatives for elderly care.

Tom still has to add the 12% himself. The scores are what the pages were willing to put in writing, not a promise about who answers when the planned carer gets flu.

---

We run Match With Care as an introductory care marketplace, not a CQC-registered agency. If you want us to introduce a vetted self-employed carer, see who is available. We will tell you the 15% fee before you choose. The live scores sit on home care platforms.