Live now. The assistant answers on WhatsApp.
An AI house assistant that lives in WhatsApp
Homerun is an AI housemate you message on WhatsApp. It splits the rent, chases the bills, runs the chore roster and remembers bin night, with no app to download and no account to create before you start.
Last updated
At a glance
- What it is
- An AI assistant for Australian sharehouses that answers on WhatsApp.
- Status
- Live. Homerun is in private beta and adding houses one at a time.
- Where to find it
- WhatsApp, on +61 468 046 300.
- Who it is for
- Australian sharehouses, share flats and group houses, usually two to six housemates.
- What it costs
- Free during private beta. AU$0.
- Where it works
- Australia.
- What you need to start
- WhatsApp and a phone number. There is no app to download and no account to create before your first message.
- What is not in the chat
- Rent, bond, lease details and bank connections live in the Homerun app rather than in the chat.
House admin is not hard, it is relentless
Nobody in a sharehouse is defeated by arithmetic. Splitting a power bill four ways takes ten seconds. The work is everything after that: asking, waiting, asking again, and eventually deciding forty dollars is not worth the awkwardness.
That job lands on one person, and it lands on the same person every time. They did not volunteer for it. They noticed first, and noticing is what makes it yours.
How it works
Message the assistant
Open WhatsApp and text Homerun on +61 468 046 300. There is nothing to install first and no account to create before it will answer.
Tell it about the house
Who lives there, what the rent is, when the bills land. You type it in plain words and the assistant asks for anything it still needs.
Let it do the chasing
Homerun posts the reminders, keeps the tally of who has paid and rotates the chore roster from then on, so nobody in the house has to be the one who asks.
What the assistant handles
Splits the rent
Homerun works out what each housemate owes on the rent and posts it in the chat before the due date, so the split is a shared fact rather than one person's mental arithmetic.
Chases the bills
Homerun keeps track of who has paid a bill and nudges whoever has not, which is the part that actually takes three weeks.
Runs the chore roster
Homerun rotates the jobs so the same housemate is not permanently on bins, and reminds whoever is up that week.
Remembers bin night
Homerun posts which bin goes out and when, every week, so nobody has to hold the council calendar in their head.
Keeps the shared shopping list
Housemates add to the list by message and Homerun keeps the record, so the cost gets settled later instead of argued about.
Answers who owes what
Ask Homerun who owes what and it comes back with a running tally the whole house can see.
Running the house by message, and running it by memory
| The job | Without an assistant | With Homerun on WhatsApp |
|---|---|---|
| Working out the rent split | One housemate does the maths and posts it, every month | The assistant posts each share before the rent is due |
| Getting a bill paid | The person who paid it asks the house three times | The assistant nudges whoever has not paid |
| Keeping the chore roster alive | A whiteboard that stops being accurate in week two | Jobs rotate automatically, with a reminder to whoever is up |
| Knowing who owes what | Scrolling the chat and comparing bank apps | A running tally anyone in the house can ask for |
| Getting started | Talk four people into installing an app | One message on WhatsApp, nothing to download |
Where the detail lives
Ask it anything about the house
Rent and payment details
Screens from the Homerun app. Names and figures are examples.
From houses that used to do it by hand
Better than the app we tried before, mostly because there was no app. I sent one message and it started working.
Jords M.Sharehouse of 4, Bondi It used to be me chasing four people every month. Now it is the assistant doing it, and honestly the house likes me more.
Ellie R.Sharehouse of 5, Newtown We ran the house off a pinned message for two years. This is the same idea, except it actually keeps up.
Sam K.Sharehouse of 3, Northcote
Common questions
How do I start using Homerun?
Message the Homerun assistant on WhatsApp on +61 468 046 300. There is no app to download and no account to create before you start.
Do I need to download an app?
No. The assistant answers in WhatsApp. There is a Homerun app as well, and rent, bond, lease details and bank connections live there rather than in the chat.
What can I ask the assistant?
Anything about running the house: what the rent split is, who has paid a bill, whose turn the chores are, what is on the shopping list and when the bins go out.
How much does Homerun cost?
Homerun is free during private beta, at AU$0. There is no charge for the assistant, and WhatsApp messages to it are ordinary messages on your own plan.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Homerun answers on WhatsApp, which runs on both. Houses that are all on iPhone can add Homerun to an iMessage group chat instead.
Do all my housemates have to message it?
No. Any housemate can ask the assistant a question, and the reminders it posts go to the whole house rather than to one person.
What does the assistant not do in the chat?
Rent, bond, lease details and bank connections live in the Homerun app rather than in the chat. The chat covers the day to day: splits, bills, chores, bin night and the shopping list.
Let me run the house.
Message the assistant on WhatsApp and tell it about your place. It takes a couple of minutes and there is nothing to install.
Not on WhatsApp? Leave your email and we'll come to you.