Best visiting care platforms in the UK (scored, November 2026)

Key Takeaways

This is a scored list of the best visiting 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. Live table: home care platforms. Checked 3 November 2026.

Dan in Watford already had the weekly number. Curam's hourly-cost guide, opened 3 November 2026, prices two 45-minute visits a day, morning and evening, at about £300 a week. PrimeCarers puts the typical visit at £19.47, fee already inside the rate. Ten and a half hours at that figure is about £205. Elder's visiting page starts at £30 an hour and names London, Manchester, Blackburn, Bradford, Bolton and Stockport. Watford is not on that list.

The NHS puts help at home from a paid carer at about £15 to £30 an hour, and is plain that you might need a carer for an hour a week or several hours a day. Age UK (updated 18 February 2026) still points families at registered homecare agencies, or at arranging a private carer themselves, and says if savings sit above £23,250 the council will not help with care costs. Age UK's cost page (updated 29 October 2026) puts privately arranged care at home around £25 an hour. The Homecare Association (15 October 2026) puts the average English council homecare fee at £25.37 an hour, against its own minimum price of £34.42 for employed, regulated homecare. Attendance Allowance is still £76.70 a week, or £114.60 if help is needed through both day and night.

What are the best visiting care platforms in the UK?

On this 3 November 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 visiting care platforms

The CQC (updated 2 November 2026) 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. The published-price points still sit on a live-in weekly from-price, because that is what the method measures. Visiting rates, city lists and visit minima sit in the table and the write-ups. 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 3 November 2026.

If you want the difference between visiting hours and a carer who lives in, we already wrote domiciliary care vs live-in care. Hourly market rates sit in how much home care costs per hour. This page is the platforms.

Comparison table

Rank	Platform	Score	Visiting from	Family fee	Reviews
1	Elder	95/100	From £30 an hour; six named cities	One agreed weekly rate	4.8/5 from 905, Trustpilot
2	Match With Care	89/100	Around £20–£25 an hour; three-hour minimum	15% platform fee on the invoice	5.0 on Google, fewer than 100 reviews (12/20 review points)
3	Curam	88/100	From £15; average £20.50, plus 12%	12% on the carer's rate	4.5/5 from 588, Trustpilot
4	Live-in Care Direct	75/100	Not published; industry range £300–£900 a week	One fixed weekly fee	4.9/5 from 111 Google reviews, as stated on their homepage
5	PrimeCarers	72/100	Typically £19.47 an hour, fee included	20% inside visits under six hours	4.1/5 from 43, Trustpilot
6	Country Cousins	55/100	Not published; points London visitors to Patricia White's	Lifetime registration fee (amount not published)	3.8/5 from 108, Trustpilot
7	Gladys	47/100	From £32 an hour	Carer-set rates	No third-party score with 10+ reviews opened
8	Care.com UK	14/100	Average £15.07 an hour (November 2026 listings)	Paid Premium to message carers	3.6/5 from 6,405, Trustpilot UK

Checked 3 November 2026. Elder's Trustpilot figure is the 12 October check; that listing failed verification again today. Curam, PrimeCarers and Country Cousins review pages were last opened 13 October. Care.com UK's Trustpilot listing, last opened 21 October 2026, returned 403 today, so the 3.6/5 from 6,405 stays on that check.

The woman in the downstairs flat still does the 8am kettle and the 6pm curtains. She is not on a platform. I have no score for that.

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, opened 3 November 2026, publishes live-in from £1,195 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. The visiting page prices hourly care from £30, from one hour a week, with profiles inside 24 hours. 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. Insurance cover was not on the pages we opened, so those points are zero. Visiting is listed only for London, Manchester, Blackburn, Bradford, Bolton and Stockport; other locations ask you to call. The introductory-agency page says Elder cannot mandate training for self-employed carers, including medication administration training.

Sources: visiting, 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, one point above Curam. Our FAQ states enhanced DBS, right-to-work, references, an interview, no joining or exit fee, a platform fee on the invoice, carer swaps at no extra matching cost, and replacement cover. The home care platforms table records that fee as 15%. The visiting page and visiting cost guide, both opened 3 November 2026, price the hour around £20 to £25. London restates a 5.0 average. 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. The visiting page says visits start from as little as three hours at a time. Two 45-minute calls on our books become six billed hours. Two weeks' notice, or fees in lieu, is the usual standard for ending an arrangement. Twelve review points against Elder's 18 is most of the six-point gap.

Sources: FAQ, visiting care, visiting cost, 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. 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. The hourly page guides weekday visits from £15, average £20.50. The hourly-cost guide puts weekday daytime at £14 to £26 and two 45-minute visits a day at about £300 a week. The live-in cost guide still starts ongoing live-in at £950 a week. Trustpilot (NZ listing), last opened 13 October 2026, showed 4.5 out of 5 from 588 reviews.

Where it falls short. Self-managed care is not a CQC-regulated personal-care service. A trial shift is charged. Taking a carer off the platform after 90 days attracts a £750 plus VAT recruitment fee, set out in the same FAQ. The hourly page says most carers offer 30-minute visits. The client FAQ still says the minimum shift is one hour. The family total is the carer's rate plus 12%.

Sources: client information, hourly care, hourly costs, live-in costs.

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, opened 3 November 2026, 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 there 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. No hourly visiting from-price is published. The live-in page compares visiting care as a typical £300 to £900 a week industry range, not a Live-in Care Direct rate. The homepage Trustpilot widget showed 4.8 from 41 reviews, which would earn fewer volume-weighted points than the Google figure we used.

Sources: homepage, live-in care, carers.

5. PrimeCarers · 72/100

Why it ranks here. The pricing page, opened 3 November 2026, prints the hourly visit as typically £19.47, range £18 to £25, fee already inside the figure. No deposit, no joining fee, pay after the visit. The standard fee is 20% on visits under six hours and 15% on shifts of six hours or more. They check ID, right to work, an enhanced DBS, and interview online. You choose the carer. Insurance is described, subject to policy terms. Hourly notice is 48 hours.

Where it falls short. The live-in page, updated 6 October 2026, is plain that they do not check qualifications, training or references. References and reviews on a profile are not verified by them. A cancelled visit is payable in full unless hospitalisation, illness, or another reason you and the carer agree. Trustpilot, last opened 13 October 2026, showed 4.1 out of 5 from 43 reviews; the listing failed verification again today. No free trial was stated.

Sources: pricing, live-in care.

6. Country Cousins · 55/100

Why it ranks here. The price comparison, opened 3 November 2026, publishes long-term live-in from £1,155 a week (competitor prices dated May 2026). The cost-of-care article, last updated 10 August 2026, still describes Country Cousins as an introductory live-in agency. Trustpilot, last opened 13 October 2026, showed 3.8 out of 5 from 108 reviews.

Where it falls short. Not CQC-registered as a provider. The cost article quotes a £10 to £30 an hour industry range for domiciliary visiting and sends families to sister agency Patricia White's for hourly care in London. That is not a Country Cousins visiting from-price. A one-off lifetime registration fee is stated elsewhere; the amount was still not published on the pages we opened. Notice, trial, insurance and family online tools were not published.

Sources: price comparison, guide to the cost of care.

7. Gladys · 47/100

Why it ranks here. Gladys is an introductory platform. The homepage still lists local carers across BANES, Bristol, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The client FAQ, opened 3 November 2026, states enhanced DBS, references, interviews, and public liability insurance. Families choose from a handpicked list. Visiting from £32 an hour. Live-in from £200 a day, which we treat as £1,400 a week.

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. Cancel a visit with less than two working days' notice and you are charged for it.

Sources: gladys.care, client FAQ.

8. Care.com UK · 14/100

Why it ranks here. The elderly-care listings page, opened 3 November 2026, puts the average caregiver rate at £15.07 an hour as of November 2026. Families post a job, message, interview and hire. The family FAQ makes a paid Premium membership the gate to reading applications and sending messages.

Where it falls short. The same listings page states Care.com does not introduce or supply carers and does not verify identity or posted information. 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. £15.07 is a caregiver average, not a family from-price. The UK Trustpilot listing, last opened 21 October 2026, showed 3.6 out of 5 from 6,405 reviews. A 3.6 rating at that volume earns 6 of 20 review points. Most of those reviews are about childcare, housekeeping, pets and membership billing.

Sources: elderly care listings, 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).
• Published visiting from-price under £20, fee in: PrimeCarers, typically £19.47. Curam's average is £20.50 before the 12% client fee.
• Short visits (under three hours): Curam's hourly page describes 30-minute visits; its FAQ still says one hour. Elder's visiting page starts from one hour a week, in the six named cities. Match With Care's visiting page starts at three hours.

If you want a CQC-inspected agency instead of an introductory platform, that is a different list: how we rank agencies. Related scored lists: best live-in care platforms in the UK, best overnight care platforms in the UK and how much home care costs per hour.

The visiting page that led this set still does not list Watford. Our own three-hour minimum still turns two short calls into six billed hours. Those two facts move the invoice more than the rank column.

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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 for visiting hours, see who is available. We'll tell you the 15% fee, and the three-hour minimum, before you choose. The live scores sit on home care platforms.