Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is

Tyler Heilberger, Founder of Go With Rosie

November 27, 20254 min read

Go With Rosie is a free family travel platform that makes money only when you book hotels — no data selling, no paid placements, no advertising. We score venues on real family experience data, not marketing budgets, and we're committed to giving back as we grow. Here's exactly how our business model works and why it matters for your family.

Here's the thing about the travel industry: it's built on a model that doesn't actually work for families.

You've felt it. The "family-friendly" resort that's really just a regular hotel with a kids' menu. The trip planning site that pushes whatever destination pays them the most. The "free" apps that make their real money selling your data to advertisers who will retarget you for months.

We've been on the receiving end of all of it. And when we built Go With Rosie, we decided to do something different.

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Starting the Way We Mean to Continue

From the beginning, we committed to giving back. Before we made a single dollar in revenue, we gave a family a $500 travel credit just for joining us at launch. And we're not stopping — as Go With Rosie grows, so does our giving. We're committing to operate like a nonprofit, putting money back into the community that's helping us build this.

The better we do, the more families travel. That's the whole point.

The Math That Actually Matters

Most travel companies make money one of three ways: they sell your data, they take advertising dollars from whoever pays the most, or they mark up bookings with margins that would make your jaw drop.

We're not doing any of that.

Go With Rosie is free. Not "free with a catch." Not "free until we figure out how to monetize you." Just free.

Here's how we're making that work:

We don't sell your data.

Full stop. Your family's travel preferences, your kids' ages, where you're dreaming of going next—that stays between us. We're not packaging it up and shipping it off to the highest bidder.

We don't advertise to whoever pays us.

When Go With Rosie recommends a hotel or a restaurant or a beach that's actually good for kids, it's because families who've been there say it works. Not because someone wrote us a check.

We make money when you book.

That's it. We earn a commission from travel partners when you book through Go With Rosie—the same way any booking site does. The difference? We're not padding it with inflated margins. We want you to travel more, not pay more.

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Why This Matters for Your Family

When a company's business model depends on selling you things you don't need or collecting data you didn't agree to share, every recommendation comes with an asterisk. You're always wondering: is this actually good, or is someone getting paid?

We wanted to build something where you never have to ask that question.

Whether you're planning a budget road trip or saving up for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, Go With Rosie gives you the same honest recommendations. The same real insights from families who've been there. The same help getting from "that sounds amazing" to "we're actually going."

See it in action — our Orlando family guide and 10 hidden family destinations are examples of the kind of unbiased, family-tested recommendations Go With Rosie delivers.

Because every family deserves a travel companion that's actually on their side.

The Mission We're Not Backing Down From

We're building Go With Rosie so that every family can travel well—not just the ones with unlimited budgets and unlimited time to research. That means keeping it free. That means staying honest about what we recommend and why. That means earning your trust every single trip.

The travel industry has been doing things a certain way for a long time. We think families deserve better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Go With Rosie really free?
Yes — Go With Rosie is completely free to use for trip planning, recommendations, and itinerary building. We make money only when you book hotels through us, earning a standard commission from travel partners. No subscription fees, no premium tiers, no hidden costs.

Does Go With Rosie sell user data?
No. Your family's travel preferences, kids' ages, and trip plans are never sold to third parties. We don't package user data for advertisers. Your information stays between you and Go With Rosie, period.

How does Go With Rosie make money?
We earn commissions from hotel bookings made through our platform — the same model as other booking sites. The difference is we don't inflate margins, accept paid venue placements, or let advertising influence our recommendations. Venues rank by family experience scores, not marketing budgets.

Are Go With Rosie's recommendations biased?
No. Our venue recommendations are based entirely on real family experience data scored across 7 family-friendly dimensions. We don't accept paid placements or sponsored rankings. A venue appears in our recommendations because families who visited had genuinely good experiences with kids — not because they paid us.

How is Go With Rosie different from Expedia or Booking.com?
Large OTAs optimize for volume and generic traveler profiles. Go With Rosie is built specifically for families — our scoring system measures family-specific factors like kids menu quality, noise levels, stroller accessibility, and age-appropriate activities that generic travel platforms don't track. Learn more about how our scoring works.

So that's the deal. No hidden catches. No fine print. Just a tool built by a team that got tired of the way things were—and decided to build something that actually works for families like yours.