"Pay someone to be your friend" is typed by people who already know the answer is yes and want to know if it is pathetic. It is not. Here is what you can do, what it costs, what you actually get, and when it helps.
Can you, and is it legal?#
Yes and yes. Platforms list people who will spend a few hours with you for an hourly rate they set: RentAFriend in the US since 2009 (you pay a membership to message), Roavi (messaging is free; you pay only the friend). It is platonic company, in public, and paying someone for their time is as legal as hiring a tutor, a guide or a personal trainer. The platforms remove anyone who treats it as dating or more.
What it is called#
Platonic companionship. Renting or hiring a friend. A Local Friend, on Roavi. In Japan, a rental friend. Can you rent a friend? has the longer version.
What it costs#
The friend's rate, typically $15 to $50 an hour; three hours of coffee and a walk is $45 to $150 plus their coffee. RentAFriend adds a membership of about $24.95 a month; Roavi does not. The full arithmetic.
What you get#
- Real company, for the hours you booked, from a real person who chose to be there.
- Local knowledge, if they live where you are: the places, the neighbourhoods, the rooms where people like you actually go.
- A plan this week, which for someone new in a city or in a bad month is the whole point.
- Practice: a language, a social muscle, going out again.
What you do not get#
A guaranteed friend. Sometimes it becomes one; often it stays what it is. The honest platforms say so, and anyone promising you a best friend by the hour is selling something else.
Does it help?#
For the specific things above, yes, and the people who get the most out of it treat it as a shortcut, not a substitute: they ask the Local Friend where people like them go, and then they go back on their own. For months of low mood or hopelessness it is not the answer; a therapist or a free helpline is (rent a friend to talk draws the line honestly).
How to do it without getting burned#
Browse before you pay anything; check when a profile was last active; prefer platforms with reviews and free messaging; meet in public; agree hours and rate in writing; keep your own transport. Is rent a friend safe? has the full list.
On Roavi you browse and message Local Friends free; the only money that changes hands is the friend's own hourly rate (most list $15 to $50), paid to them directly, with no commission. Every profile is reviewed by a person before it goes live and carries three real photos, reviews from previous meetups and an optional identity-verified badge. Meetups are platonic and in public. The honest caveat: Roavi is strongest in Latin America and Asia, with a growing but still thin US list (New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Nashville and a few others).
Browse local guides free, message free, pay only the friend's own rate.
Meet local guidesEvery city where you can do this today, with the live number of Local Friends in each: rent a friend, by the hour. In the United States the list is also by state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pay someone to be your friend?
Yes. Platforms such as RentAFriend and Roavi list people who spend a few hours with you for an hourly rate they set, platonic and in public. You are paying for their time and company, not for a friendship in the old sense, and the honest ones say so.Is it legal to pay someone to hang out with you?
Yes, everywhere, as long as it is platonic company; it is as legal as hiring a tutor or a guide. The platforms are explicit that it is not dating or escorting.Does paying for a friend actually help?
It helps with specific things: a new city, a hard week, an event you did not want to attend alone, practising a language, finding where people like you go. It does not replace friends and the good platforms do not pretend it does; it often puts you in the rooms where real ones happen.