HouseSpouse vs Hippo Home: Which to Pick?

Hippo Home is a free maintenance app that builds a plan from your street address, and you don't need a Hippo insurance policy to use it. HouseSpouse costs $59.99 a year after a free trial, and it keeps your receipts, warranties and a record of your work alongside the plan. Pick Hippo Home for a free plan with little setup, or HouseSpouse for the plan and the paper trail in one place.

We make HouseSpouse, so weigh that as you read. HouseSpouse isn't affiliated with Hippo. Every claim about Hippo Home below comes from Hippo's own FAQ, its website or its App Store listing, checked in October 2026.

HouseSpouse vs Hippo Home at a glance

How each app builds your maintenance plan

Hippo Home starts from your address. You enter it, and Hippo looks up your home's details from property data partners. It gives your home a "home health" score based on things like location, age and condition, then builds a to-do list with reminders and how-to guides. If the records get something wrong, you can edit your home's details.

HouseSpouse starts from your answers. You tell it about your home: its type, its age and the systems you have, like the kind of heating, a basement or a septic tank. It then tunes the plan to your ZIP code's climate, so a heating tune-up lands in September up north and November in warm climates.

Each Monday HouseSpouse gives you a short list for the week, and on Friday a nudge for anything still open. You can choose a lighter or fuller plan, skip a task, or mark one "Not for my home."

In practice, Hippo's setup is faster because property records fill in the details. HouseSpouse asks more of you up front, and the plan starts from what you tell it about your house.

What each app keeps for you

Records are the biggest gap between HouseSpouse and Hippo Home. Hippo Home focuses on the plan, reminders and help: Hippo's site says its home maintenance experts can help with repairs and emergencies, though it doesn't publish the terms. The documents it mentions are Hippo insurance policy documents. It doesn't advertise a place for your own receipts, warranties or manuals.

HouseSpouse keeps the paper trail of your home:

• House Notes for receipts, warranties, manuals, paint colors and contractors. Scan a receipt and the store, date and amount fill in.
• Warranty alerts 30 days before coverage ends.
• Ask: questions like "when did I last flush the water heater?" get answers from the details you've saved. You can also send a photo of the thing you can't name.
• Home Sale Report: every finished task, repair and upgrade, ready to share with a buyer. You choose which pages to include and whether to show costs.
• Insurance Inventory Report: your valuables and their estimated values in one PDF.

If you've ever hunted for a receipt during a warranty claim, our guide to organizing warranties, receipts and manuals explains why this record pays off.

How each app makes money

Hippo Home is free, and Hippo's main business is insurance. Hippo Home Care, which makes the app, is an affiliate of Hippo Insurance Services, and Hippo's site says that agency is paid commission by the insurers it places policies with. Inside the app you can get quotes for home, auto, flood and pet insurance where Hippo offers them, and Hippo shows partner offers on home security, energy and home warranties.

HouseSpouse earns only from subscriptions, paid by homeowners or by real estate agents who give it to their clients. There are no ads and no offers from insurers or contractors, and we don't sell your information.

Neither model is wrong. A free app from an insurance company is a fair trade for many homeowners, as long as you know the offers come with it.

Which app should you choose?

Choose Hippo Home if:

• You want a maintenance plan and don't want to pay for an app.
• You'd like quick setup, with your address doing most of the work.
• You use Android, or you're shopping for home insurance anyway.

Choose HouseSpouse if:

• You want one place for the plan and every receipt, warranty and manual.
• You plan to sell someday and want a record of the work to show buyers.
• You'd like to ask questions about your own house and get answers from your own records.
• You'd rather pay for the app than see insurance and partner offers in it.

Still deciding what kind of app you need? Our roundup of the best home maintenance apps covers four more options, including free ones. And if you're in your first year in the house, the new homeowner maintenance checklist shows what any app should help you keep up with.

Try HouseSpouse free for 14 days

Start the yearly plan's 14-day free trial and answer a few questions about your home. You'll get this week's short list right away. Add your water heater's warranty or last furnace receipt on day one, and see how it feels to stop keeping your house in your head. If it's not for you, cancel in your Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before the trial ends.