Go Au Pair: Best for long lasting family – au pair relationships
A designated visa sponsor for au pairs, Go Au Pair is a great choice for families that are looking for lasting long term placements. Part of the reason that they are so successful in matching au pairs and families in the long term is that they have been at it for over 30 years. They also have excellent international representatives that seek out and vet potential candidates ensuring that each family gets the best possible match.
Every Au Pair that works for Go Au Pair has real and checked experience. Go Au Pair also offers specific training for Au Pairs before they enter your home. This includes infant care training, and driving skills. What this means is you can be sure that you are choosing a reliable option when you welcome a live-in child care worker from Go Au Pair.
Another great thing about Go Au Pair so that they offer free registration, which allows you to browse the candidate database. This allows you to see the quality and availability of the candidates they offer, before you have spent a penny!
Au Pair In America: Idea for families looking for extended payment plans
With excellent reviews on Trustpilot, Au Pair In America offers local childcare consultants, as well as a published fee breakdown. This means you get local support with your Au Pair experience. It also means you can see exactly how much bringing an Au Pair into your family will cost before you even begin the process.
Unlike some au pair agencies Au Pair In America does not offer a matching website service. Instead, they interview you and find suitable au pairs to find a match for you. Some families prefer this guided process because it supports them every step of the way, making this important decision for their family.
Expert Au Pair: Best for a wide selection of international Au Pairs
Expert Au Pair is a smaller agency that prides itself on giving families a truly personalized feel. Instead of signing up online and browsing a website for potential matches, Expert Au Pair will deal with the process for you. Something that is particularly useful for parents already so busy that they are looking for outside help.
Expert Au Pair also stands out because of the very wide international pool of candidates that they pull from. Indeed, they recruit au pairs from over 70 counties. This means a good match for any additional needs your family may have, such as teaching your child a second language is much easier to secure.
While specific pricing is not given on their site, it is stated that they offer discounts for extended placements. Does this mean that Expert Au Pair encourages longer term Au Pair and family connections, which can be more positive for the children involved.
Au Pair 4 Me: A good choice for the budget-consciouss family
When you apply to Au Pair 4 Me your application will be reviewed by their specialist compliance coordinators. This allows them to get a good sense of your needs and find a match that will be successful. Again Au Pair 4 Me is not a self service agency, and the matches are done by real people with genuine experience in connecting families and au pairs. Of course their specialist coordinators also vet the Au Pairs on their system so you can be sure of only the highest possible quality and the best experience.
Another benefit of working with Au Pair 4 Me is that they offer all their Au Pairs pre-departure training. This means that they are properly prepared for their role within your family home, and that they have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Something that can make the initial translation phase much less stressful.
AuPairWorld: Good for additional services
Au Pair 4 Me is a self-organised service. This means that families use the platform to find a match, and no agency staff member is involved. The good news is that the website is super easy to use, and you can filter by your specific needs. It’s free, too, and you can search with a free tier account, although they also offer a premium tier subscription through their site with added features. One of these is insurance add-ons that provide additional peace of mind for families.
Au Pair 4 Me offers a large pool of over 30,000 au pairs to choose from. They also offer host training courses, which can help you and your family get ready for the addition of an au pair. Ensuring that the process goes as smoothly as possible.
Since the au pair matches are family-led, the turnaround time for getting an au pair into your home can vary quite a bit. In some cases, it can be as long as months, and in others as short as just a few weeks.
Au Pair International: A good choice if you want a satisfaction guarantee
A smaller Au Pair agency compared to many reviewed here, Au Pair International stands out because of its one-to-one approach. Au Pair International prides themselves on only supplying the most motivated and well-qualified au pairs. In fact, they are so confident that families will be pleased with the au pairs that they offer a satisfaction guarantee on failed placements.
Au Pair Care: Best for infant specialised training
Families looking for in-home childcare for their infants often choose Au Pair care because of the specific training they provide. Indeed, safety for everyone involved in the Au Pair relationship is a priority for Au Pair Care, that is they background check both Au Pairs and family members before the process begins.
Au Pair Care also shines in terms of the wide variety of countries that they recruit staff from. Indeed, they currently source in-home childcare workers from a whopping 40 countries! Au Pair Care also is very transparent about the costs involved in the process. They estimate the total annual cost to be around $21,500 for the family. Although they do require a $50 registration fee and an additional $350 match fee once a family has someone suitable.
Unlike many of the au pair agencies, Au Pair Care does not facilitate self-matches. What this means is that it’s the agency that will find you someone suitable, and you will not be able to self match on their website.
Final thoughts
Whether you need an au pair for the day day, or to go with you on a family vacation, choosing one from a well respcted agency like the ones above is a good idea.
