Everyone becomes both a teacher and a student. SwapShop pairs two strangers anywhere in the world who each know what the other wants to learn, then removes the language barrier with live translated captions so skills move across borders for free.
2. Why people can't resist it
Being needed. Someone across the world wants exactly what you already know. That feels amazing and costs nothing.
Fair trade, no money. 30 minutes for 30 minutes. Time credits make it feel like a game you can't lose.
Passport effect. Each swap adds a country and a skill to your collection, with a streak to protect.
3. How it works for real
Profile parsing. A fast cheap model (Gemini Flash or DeepSeek via OpenRouter) turns "I can teach home cooking, especially dashi and onigiri" into normalized skill tags and levels.
Matching. Skill embeddings find reciprocal pairs (A teaches what B wants and B teaches what A wants), scored with time zone overlap, language pair, level and reputation.
Lesson plans. A frontier LLM (Claude Sonnet or GPT) writes a 30-minute plan for each half using both profiles, with a prep list sent the day before.
Live call. WebRTC video (LiveKit). Streaming speech-to-text (Whisper or Deepgram), translation by a fast LLM, and captions under 800 ms. Optional voice dubbing with a TTS model.
Recap. The transcript becomes a recap card with key phrases, homework and a suggested next swap.
Credits. An internal time bank ledger. No money changes hands between members, ever.
4. Cost per use
A 60-minute swap costs about $0.35 to $0.60 (two-way transcription about $0.25, translation about $0.08, video relay about $0.10, plan and recap $0.03). Free: 4 swaps a month with captions. Plus ($6 a month): unlimited swaps, voice dubbing, recordings and group swaps. Schools and companies pay per seat.
5. Growth loop
Every swap ends with both people sharing a "I taught salsa to Osaka" card. Your learn list is public, so friends who know that skill get invited to teach you for credits. Each new teacher unlocks new matches for everyone.
6. Risks and guardrails
Identity verification (selfie liveness plus phone) before the first call. Under-18s are not allowed.
One-tap report and block during calls. Calls are not recorded unless both opt in. AI flags harassment in captions for review.
No off-platform payments: links and payment requests in chat are blocked and explained.
No medical, legal or financial teaching. Physical skills come with safety notes.
7. MVP build order
Profile with teach and learn tags, plus reciprocal matching on a small seed group.
Scheduling with time zone overlap and calendar invites.