Mable vs Careseekers: fees and models compared
Last updated 20 August 2026
Mable fees verified from its published pricing, August 2026. Careseekers’ client-side fees come from a June 2023 NDIS Commission comparison document - confirm current rates with Careseekers. Budget figures current as at 1 July 2026.
The short version
- These are the two best-known support-worker marketplaces - and neither is a registered Support at Home provider. To spend Support at Home funds on either, your registered provider has to agree to pay the platform.
- On both, workers set their own rates; neither publishes a rate card. Mable’s minimum worker rate is $42/hr.
- Fee transparency differs: Mable publishes its fees on its own site (client platform fee 7.95% added to the agreed rate). Careseekers’ client fee - 5% added to the hourly rate - is verified only from a June 2023 NDIS Commission comparison document, not its own site.
- One funding quirk: CHSP funding cannot be used on Careseekers.
Side by side
| Mable | Careseekers | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Platform / marketplace - not a registered Support at Home provider itself; used via approved providers or self-management arrangements | Platform / marketplace - not a registered Support at Home provider itself |
| Ownership | Private (Mable Technologies) | Private |
| Care management fee | Not published / not applicable - Mable is a platform; care management sits with your registered provider (for example HomeMade, Mable’s subsidiary) | Not published / not applicable - a platform; Support at Home funding is usable only “if your approved aged care provider agrees” to pay Careseekers directly |
| Other admin / platform fees | Client platform fee 7.95% of the agreed rate (added on top); Support Engagement Fee 10% of the agreed rate (deducted from the worker’s side). Mable states “all prices include Mable fees” | Per the NDIS Commission’s platform-fee comparison (June 2023): participant fee 5% added to the hourly rate; worker fee 9% deducted from the hourly rate. Careseekers does not publish these on an accessible page of its own - confirm current fees directly |
| Personal care, weekday | Not published - workers set their own rates (minimum worker rate $42/hr, aligned to the Fair Work minimum) | Not published - workers set their own rates; no published rate card |
| Cleaning, weekday | Not published - workers set their own rates | Not published - workers set their own rates |
| Coverage | Australia-wide platform (worker availability varies by area) | Australia-wide platform (worker availability varies by area) |
| Distinctive features | Choose-your-own-carer is the core proposition; free to join, “pay only when you get support”; rates agreed directly with independent workers | Accepts NDIS self-, plan- and agency-managed funding, Support at Home (via an approved provider) and private clients; CHSP funding cannot be used |
“Not published” means the figure does not appear on the platform’s published pages as at August 2026. Careseekers’ fee percentages are drawn from a secondary source (see the callout below), not from careseekers.com.au.
Careseekers’ client-side fees on this page come from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s table of platform provider fee comparisons, published in June 2023 - not from Careseekers’ own website, which we could not verify directly in August 2026. Three-year-old figures from a third-party document may no longer be current. Ask Careseekers to confirm its current participant and worker fees in writing before you budget around them.
What the fee structures mean in practice
Take Classification 5, with a quarterly budget of $10,182.38 in 2026-27. Whichever platform you use, your registered provider still manages the budget: the government’s 10% care management allocation - $1,018.24 - comes off first, leaving $9,164.14 for services, and your provider’s own service fees or loadings may apply on top. The platform fee then sits on top of each worker’s agreed rate.
Mable
- Classification 5 · $10,182.38/qtr
- 10% care management = $1,018.24, leaving $9,164.14 (before any provider fees)
- Platform fee
- 7.95% added to the agreed rate - every $100 of worker charges costs $107.95
- What reaches workers
- ≈ $8,489/qtr of agreed worker charges fit in the pool, at rates you negotiate (minimum $42/hr)
Careseekers
- Classification 5 · $10,182.38/qtr
- 10% care management = $1,018.24, leaving $9,164.14 (before any provider fees)
- Platform fee
- 5% added to the agreed rate per the 2023 NDIS Commission document - every $100 of worker charges costs $105
- What reaches workers
- ≈ $8,728/qtr of agreed worker charges would fit - if the 2023 fee still applies. Confirm before relying on it
On these numbers Careseekers’ client fee looks lower - but the comparison is only as good as a June 2023 document, and both platforms also take a fee from the worker’s side (Mable 10%, Careseekers 9% per the same document), which can shape the rates workers ask for. In practice, the bigger cost lever on either platform is the rate you agree with each worker, not the few percentage points between platform fees. And remember the fees your registered provider charges to administer the arrangement come on top - ask them exactly how a platform booking flows through your monthly statement, and see what you’ll pay for how your means-tested contribution applies.
Mable’s fees were verified from its published pricing in August 2026; Careseekers’ client-side fees are from the NDIS Commission’s June 2023 comparison document. Platform fees and worker rates change often. Confirm current fees with each platform - and with your registered provider - in writing before agreeing to services.
Which suits you?
Choose Mable if…
- You want the platform’s current fees published on its own site, so you can check them yourself at any time.
- Your registered provider already works with Mable - HomeMade, Mable’s subsidiary, is built around it.
- The choose-your-own-carer model, with rates agreed directly and a $42/hr floor, is what you’re after.
Choose Careseekers if…
- Your registered provider already has an arrangement with Careseekers and will pay it directly on your behalf.
- Your household juggles other funding types it accepts - NDIS (self-, plan- or agency-managed) or private payment - alongside Support at Home.
- You’ve confirmed its current fees in writing and they stack up for your situation.
Neither is the “winner” - both connect you with independent workers who set their own rates. The deciding factors are which platform your registered provider will work with, and the rates of the actual workers available near you.
Not sure a marketplace is right for you?
Tell us your classification, postcode and whether you want to choose your own workers, and we can help you compare these platforms - and the registered providers that work with them - for your situation.
Common questions
Can I spend my Support at Home budget on Mable or Careseekers?
Only through your registered provider. Neither platform is a registered Support at Home provider, so your provider must agree to the arrangement and pay the platform - common with self-managed providers. Ask before you sign a service agreement if using a marketplace matters to you. One extra rule: CHSP funding cannot be used on Careseekers.
Who takes care of care management if I use a platform?
Your registered provider. The government’s 10% care management allocation applies to every registered provider regardless of where you find workers - see the care management fee, explained and our care management fees comparison for how providers’ rates differ.
Why are the Careseekers fees from a 2023 document?
Because we could not verify current fees on Careseekers’ own site in August 2026. The most reliable figures available are in the NDIS Commission’s platform-fee comparison table from June 2023 - participant fee 5% added, worker fee 9% deducted. Treat them as a starting point only, and ask Careseekers for its current fee schedule in writing.
What’s the connection between Mable and HomeMade?
HomeMade is a subsidiary of Mable Technologies and is a registered provider - so it can manage your Support at Home budget while you find workers on Mable. We compare it with other providers in Trilogy Care vs HomeMade and HomeMade vs Five Good Friends.
Sources
- Mable - pricing, mable.com.au/pricing/, accessed August 2026.
- Mable - Support at Home price guide, mable.com.au/discover/support-at-home/support-at-home-price-guide/, accessed August 2026.
- Careseekers Help Centre - “What funding can be used”, helpcentre.careseekers.com.au, accessed August 2026.
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission - Information Supplement B: Table of Platform Provider Fee Comparisons (June 2023), ndiscommission.gov.au. Secondary source for Careseekers’ fee percentages.