Anyone here tried couchsurfing.com? Is it really free to stay over in that community?
Sadly, once the organization changed years ago, it became some bizarre money making scheme for the owners. They employ a small staff and generally try to keep the lights on, but they've never really responded to user complaints about the changed functionality. The end result is the community ran screaming to Facebook Groups (where they are basically disconnected social groups that only locals know about) which basically gutted the real online community, so now single dudes trying to get laid are the most common hosts, and new surfers don't understand that it's not a free Airbnb. It's still active for hosting/surfing, it's just less useful now.
That wasn't the case with couchsurfing.com when I was involved (back in 2006-2012 or so). We had many hosts who just gave us the keys and weren't even staying at the same place, and others who left us totally on our own in part of their house. A few we've chatted or had a meal together during our stay, but it wasn't about the hospitality and it was totally whether you wanted or not.
It's a system largely based on reputation and feedback. Being unwashed, having a lot of stuff, not ever hosting, or having negative feedback will throw up red flags for hosts.
(Not saying that homeless people are necessarily like my description, but I imagine those would be factors in being rejected).
If it was convenient, if they seemed interesting, respectful, etc.