1 skill, 1 fair price
Every skill has a value based on how much training it takes. You don't haggle — the platform does it for you.
Fair by design
How credits work
Different skills need different training. Credits reflect that — so a teacher's hour and an electrician's hour both feel fair. No money changes hands.
The rarer, the more credits
If plumbers are in short supply in your city this week, their hour goes up slightly. Supply and demand, softly.
Credits stay credits
You earn them by giving time. You spend them by receiving time. They never become euros — that's what keeps this a community, not a job board.
Try it yourself
Pick the kind of skill and the trust level. The number is what you'd pay for an hour — or earn when you give an hour.
What kind of skill?
Any verifications?
Credits per hour
150cr / h
30 min = 75 · 1h 30 = 225
Show the math
150 × 1.00 + 0 = 150
base is the tier rate, 1.00 is today's scarcity factor (shown flat for the calculator — live site uses your city's real number), and the cert bonus adds 0 / 10 / 20 for none / verified ID / full license.
Three real stories
Skills you'll find on SwapHours, and what an hour costs.
Plumbing · verified license
174credits / hour
Ana fixes Marco's leak in 50 minutes. 174 credits move between them — fair because the job took years of training to master.
Coding mentorship
207credits / hour
Piero teaches Python to a curious neighbor for an hour. 207 credits land in his balance — specialist skill, no public license.
Babysitting · verified ID
105credits / hour
Maria watches the kids for 2 hours. 210 credits, just enough for her to book an hour of Portuguese lessons next week.
Common questions
Can I turn credits into money?
No. That's the one hard rule. Credits stay inside SwapHours forever — you can only spend them on other people's skills. This is what keeps us a community and not a gig platform.
What if no one offers the skill I want?
The AI matcher looks within your city first. If there's no supply, we suggest remote sessions or nearby cities. If it's still empty, we'll show you the closest alternative — and you can invite a professional to join.
Why is my plumbing worth more than my friend's babysitting?
It's about the training the skill required — not about which is more important. Babysitting takes huge trust (Tier 1), plumbing takes trust AND technical training (Tier 3). Both are welcome, both earn credits, the numbers just reflect the hours each person put into learning.
Do the numbers change?
A little. Scarcity refreshes daily based on supply in your city (±10-20%). Your skill's tier is stable. Getting verified (ID or license) bumps your rate once, permanently.