For Brooklyn parents · Without the app
An UrbanSitter alternative — for the night you actually need a sitter.
UrbanSitter does what apps do well: lots of profiles, lots of availability, search filters, message threads. For some Brooklyn parents that's the right product. For the ones who'd rather text a known sitter than scroll a marketplace at 4pm, that's us.
The actual workflow difference
The booking takes 90 seconds, not 20 minutes.
UrbanSitter
- Open app
- Filter by date, time, neighborhood
- Scroll profiles
- Read reviews on 5–8 sitters
- Message 3–4 to check availability
- Wait for replies (some won't)
- Pick one based on who responded fastest
- Confirm via the app
- Pay membership + booking fee
Brooklyn Sitters
- Text or call us with the date
- We confirm same-day with which sitter
- That's the booking
Or use the booking form if you prefer typing to talking.
The cost difference, real numbers
Hourly rate is similar. Total cost isn't.
UrbanSitter sitters in NYC commonly post in the $25–$32/hr range — comparable to ours. The difference is everything around the hourly: monthly membership, per-booking commission, surge pricing on weekend evenings.
See the full per-channel breakdown on the cost page.
When UrbanSitter is the better call
If you book sitters across multiple cities, need 24/7 coverage capacity, or want to A/B test five different sitters before committing — the marketplace UX is the right product. We don't try to replace it.
We're for the Brooklyn family who wants the same person every Saturday for the next year. That's a different ask.