Roavi · New York
Become a Local Friend in New York
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
Roavi · New York
Become a Local Friend in New York
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
No commission · keep 100%
You set your rate
Free to publish
Locals are already sharing these cities with travelers. Yours can be next.
Bangkok, Medellín, Mexico City, São Paulo, Bali, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Santo Domingo, Tokyo, Lisbon, Ho Chi Minh City
Not a tour
This is not about memorizing a tour.
It is about sharing the version of your city that only you know.
Morning
Coffee, markets, your neighborhood.
The stop you make without thinking, the market that isn’t in any guide.
Afternoon
Food, culture, the hidden places.
The alley with no sign. The place you’d only find if someone showed you.
Evening
Music, nightlife, conversation.
By night, you’re not a guide — you’re just a friend showing someone around.
Your rate × your schedule
What locals actually charge.
You set your own rate. Payment happens directly between you and the traveler — Roavi never touches it. Here's what real Local Friends are asking on the platform today.
Your hourly rate
Hours a week
A month, roughly
$1,386
yours to keep · 0% commission
An example, not a promise. You're paid directly by the traveller; Roavi never touches the money.
You already know more than you think.
You know where to eat, where to walk, what to avoid, when to arrive, and where the city feels most alive. That local knowledge is what travelers are looking for.
Share what you love, on your own terms.
Roavi helps people discover and message one another. It does not create a booking or force either person to meet.
- Choose your availability
- Set your own rate
- Decide who you respond to
- Choose where to meet
- Say no to anyone, anytime
- Pause or edit your profile anytime
A few minutes
Four steps. A few minutes.
Set up your profile today. Start hearing from travelers.
- 1
Create your profile
Add your name, photo, city, and a short introduction.
- 2
Add your local interests and availability
Choose the food, culture, nightlife, or experiences you enjoy — and when you’re free.
- 3
Publish your profile in the Roavi directory
Your profile becomes visible to travelers — free, right away.
- 4
Receive and respond to traveler messages
Interested travelers message you directly. You decide who to respond to.
Build more trust with optional identity verification
Verification is completed through Stripe Identity. Once approved, a verified status appears on your profile — addable anytime from your dashboard.
Your profile, directory visibility, and messaging remain free without verification.
Verified identity status
A trust signal on your profile that helps travelers feel confident reaching out.
Profile performance insights
See how your profile views trend over time from your dashboard.
What a New Yorker is actually worth to a visitor
Nobody needs you to find them a hidden gem in New York. Every block of this city has been written about. What visitors do not have is a way to tell which of the fifty famous things is worth four hours of a five-day trip, how far apart two places on the same subway map really are, and what exists past the part of Manhattan they already know from television.
What you can show
- 1
Which famous thing to skip. Times Square in twenty minutes, the Empire State observation deck versus the two newer ones, whether the ferry does the job the harbour cruise charges for. Saying no is most of the value.
- 2
An outer borough on its own terms — Sunset Park, Jackson Heights, Astoria, Arthur Avenue. A visitor will not get there alone and it is where the food is.
- 3
The subway as a native uses it: express versus local, which transfer is a trap, when a bus or a twelve-minute walk beats waiting.
- 4
Whatever you are actually into. Live jazz on a Tuesday, a gallery opening, pickup basketball, a shape-note sing, the good bagel argument. Specific beats comprehensive here.
One thing to check before you charge for this: New York City requires a Sightseeing Guide License from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for anyone who, for a fee, guides or escorts people to points of interest in the city. It involves an exam. Whether a given Roavi meetup is inside that definition depends on what you actually do, so look at the DCWP rules for yourself and decide how you want to describe your offer — do not take this paragraph as legal advice.
Travelers are looking for locals in New York
Be one of the first Local Friends they meet. Build your profile today and get discovered by travelers heading to New York.
Worth reading first
Other cities
Good to know before you begin
A few honest answers, so there are no surprises.
Yes. You choose who you reply to and when you're free. Plenty of people do one weekend afternoon a month. New York gets a very high volume of short trips, so there is usually someone whose dates fit whatever window you have.
It is often the whole reason someone picks you. New York receives visitors from everywhere, and a lot of them would rather spend a day with a New Yorker who speaks their language than with anyone else. Put every language you actually speak on your profile — it is the single most useful line on it in this city.
Yes. Creating and publishing your Local Friend profile is completely free — there’s no cost to appear in the directory or receive messages.
No — and that is the point. A Local Friend is not a tour guide: you spend time with someone as yourself, you do not run a tour. Professional guiding is a licensed profession in a number of countries; spending an afternoon with someone is not. And if you do hold a guiding licence, put it on your profile — travellers look for it.
Yes. You set your own hourly rate, and you can change it anytime from your profile.
No. Roavi doesn’t process payments or take a commission on what you arrange with a traveler.
No. You decide who you respond to, and you can say no to anyone, for any reason.
No. Verification is optional. It’s completed through Stripe Identity and adds a verified status to your profile, but your profile, visibility, and messaging stay free either way.
Travelers message you directly through Roavi once they find your profile in the directory. You choose whether and how to reply.
Yes. You can pause your visibility or delete your profile at any time from your account settings.
Your city is already part of your story. Share it.
Travelers are already looking for someone like you.
No commission. No required schedule. You stay in control.