Self-managed home care providers compared
Last updated 20 August 2026
Provider fees verified from published pricing, accessed August 2026, except where a secondary source is named. Budget figures current as at 1 July 2026.
The short version
- Self-management means you choose and coordinate your workers while a registered provider handles compliance, worker checks and paying invoices from your budget. Hourly rates are usually well below full-service rates - because you’re doing the coordinating.
- The main self-managed brands charge the government’s 10% care management allocation plus their own loading or admin fee - typically another 10% on services.
- Mable and Careseekers are different animals: marketplaces where workers set their own rates, used alongside (not instead of) a registered provider.
- Self-management suits organised households comfortable doing the legwork. It’s a poor fit where clinical needs are complex or there’s no one to share the coordinating.
What self-management means under Support at Home
Every Support at Home participant must have a registered provider - self-management doesn’t change that. What changes is who does the organising. You (often with family) find workers you trust, agree times and rates, and arrange cover when someone’s away. The provider stays legally responsible: it checks workers meet the rules, manages your funds, pays invoices and provides care management within the government’s 10% allocation. Because the provider isn’t rostering staff or supervising a workforce, its overheads are lower - which is why a self-managed personal care hour can cost $72 where a full-service hour costs $130 or more.
The model asks real work of you in return. Our guide to self-managing your budget walks through what’s involved week to week; this page compares who you could do it with.
The providers, side by side
Figures below are from each provider’s published pricing, accessed August 2026, except where marked. “Not published” means exactly that - the provider does not publish the figure.
| Provider | Care management / platform fees | Loadings and admin | Rate model | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trilogy Care | 10% of quarterly budget (government allocation); care management listed at $120/hr within it | 10% service loading, added only when you use a service; optional full coordination adds 20% to service pricing | Published rate card: personal care $72/hr, cleaning $66/hr, RN $132/hr (self-managed); you choose local workers | People who want every rate published up front, and a step-up tier if coordinating gets too much |
| HomeMade | 10% care management allocation plus 10% service loading - described on its pricing page as “HomeMade fees: 20%”. Fully managed option: 10% care management with set rates | 10% service loading on services received through HomeMade (self-managed option) | Hourly rates not published on-page; you agree rates with workers across its network (3,500+ service providers); fully managed rates in a separate list on request | People planning to find workers through the Mable marketplace - HomeMade is Mable’s registered-provider arm |
| Let’s Get Care | 10% of quarterly budget; care management rate $156.10/hr weekdays ($207.90/hr restorative and end-of-life) | Up to 10% administration on third-party provider services; home modifications up to 15% (max $1,500); assistive technology up to 10% (max $500) | No set personal care or cleaning rates - your chosen third-party providers’ rates apply; 48 hours cancellation notice | People who already have workers or agencies in mind and want a low-admin provider behind them. Now part of the Australian Unity-owned myHomecare Group |
| Five Good Friends (self-managed membership) | Self-managed page shows combined care and package management of 15-17% of package (varies by level; older package framing retained as at Aug 2026) | Not published as a separate line on the self-managed page | Self-managed rates “from $89/hr” for personal care and cleaning, helper independence “from $99/hr”, RN $200/hr; Lookout app for scheduling and budget tracking | People who want self-managed pricing with more structure - an app, indicative rates and a full-service tier to move to |
| Mable (platform) | Not applicable - Mable is a marketplace, not a registered provider; care management sits with your registered provider (such as HomeMade, its subsidiary) | Client platform fee 7.95% of the agreed rate, added on top; a 10% support engagement fee is deducted on the worker side | Workers set their own rates (minimum $42/hr, aligned to the Fair Work minimum); you agree the rate directly with each worker | People who want maximum choice of individual workers and are happy to interview, agree rates and build a roster themselves |
| Careseekers (platform) | Not applicable - a marketplace; Support at Home funding usable only if your registered provider agrees to pay Careseekers directly | Secondary source only: an NDIS Commission platform-fee comparison (June 2023) listed a 5% participant fee and 9% worker fee - confirm current fees with Careseekers directly | Workers set their own rates; no published rate card | People comparing marketplaces alongside Mable - after confirming their registered provider will work with it |
The 10% care management allocation is a government-set cap that applies to every registered provider - providers differ in the hourly rate booked against it and in their own loadings. Careseekers’ fee figures come from a June 2023 NDIS Commission document, not its own current pricing, and may be out of date. Ask any provider or platform for its current fees in writing before you sign.
Mable and Careseekers are honest about what they are: platforms where independent workers set their own rates. Neither is a registered Support at Home provider, so care management, compliance and fund-handling still sit with a registered provider - you use a marketplace through that arrangement, not instead of it. Factor both layers of fees into any comparison.
Is self-management right for you?
It tends to work well when a few things are true. Someone in the household - you, a partner, an adult child - is organised, comfortable with phone and email, and has a few hours a month for coordinating. Your needs are reasonably stable, so a settled roster of one or two workers covers most weeks. And you live somewhere with a decent pool of independent workers to choose from.
It tends to be the wrong fit when clinical needs are complex or changing quickly - where you want nurses, allied health and care management working as one team - or when there’s no family support nearby and arranging cover for a sick worker would fall on you at the worst possible moment. There’s no shame in that: the whole point of full-service pricing is that someone else carries the coordination. And nothing is locked in - you can start one way and switch providers at any time, with no exit fees and your unspent funds following you.
Figures on this page were verified against each provider’s published pricing in August 2026 (except Careseekers, as noted). Providers adjust prices often, and the government publishes a quarterly National Summary of Support at Home Prices for benchmarking. Ask for the current full price list in writing before signing a service agreement.
Weighing up self-management?
Tell us your classification, postcode and who’d be doing the organising, and we can help you work out whether self-management fits - and which of these providers services your area.
Common questions
How much more care do I actually get by self-managing?
It depends on the rates underneath, but the gap is real. Trilogy Care’s published self-managed personal care rate is $72/hr against full-service rates of roughly $111-$136.50/hr on the published lists we’ve verified - on a mid-level budget that can mean half as many hours again, or more. See the worked example on Trilogy Care vs Australian Unity for the maths at Classification 5.
Am I the employer of the workers I choose?
Arrangements differ by provider and platform, and it matters - insurance, tax and responsibilities all hang off it. On marketplaces, workers are typically independent contractors; through self-managed providers, workers may be contractors or employed by third-party agencies. Ask the specific provider or platform to explain the arrangement in writing, including who holds insurance and what checks workers must pass, before anyone starts.
Do I still get care management if I self-manage?
Yes. The 10% care management allocation applies to every registered provider, self-managed ones included - it pays for a care partner to review your plan and adjust services as needs change. It’s clinical care, so it costs you nothing personally. What differs is the hourly rate booked against it (from $120/hr at Trilogy to $156.10/hr at Let’s Get Care among the providers above) - see our care management fees comparison.
What if it becomes too much?
You have options short of giving up. Several providers offer a step up - Trilogy’s fully coordinated tier, HomeMade’s fully managed option, Five Good Friends’ full-service membership - without changing provider. Or switch to a full-service provider entirely: no new assessment, your funding and unspent funds follow you, and exit fees are banned under Support at Home. See switching providers.
Sources
- Trilogy Care - published pricing, accessed August 2026: trilogycare.com.au/services-pricing; trilogycare.com.au/uploads/202511_Service_Pricing.pdf; trilogycare.com.au/understanding-fees-under-support-at-home.
- HomeMade - published pricing, accessed August 2026: homemadesupport.com.au/pricing/; homemadesupport.com.au/support-at-home; homemadesupport.com.au/self-managed/.
- Let’s Get Care - published pricing, accessed August 2026: letsgetcare.com.au/support-at-home/pricing/; letsgetcare.com.au/support-at-home/get-started/.
- Five Good Friends - published pricing, accessed August 2026: fivegoodfriends.com.au/aged-care/self-managed-membership; fivegoodfriends.com.au/aged-care/full-service-membership.
- Mable - published pricing, accessed August 2026: mable.com.au/pricing/; mable.com.au (Support at Home price guide).
- Careseekers - funding help page, helpcentre.careseekers.com.au, accessed August 2026; platform fee figures from a secondary source: NDIS Commission, Table of Platform Provider Fee Comparisons (June 2023 figures), ndiscommission.gov.au. Careseekers’ own pricing page was not accessible in August 2026 - confirm current fees directly.
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Support at Home Program Manual (care management cap; quarterly classification budgets, 2026-27).