For prospective assistants
Become the Porchlight for your neighborhood.
A Fractional Family Assistant is a trusted local advocate — like a real estate agent for life at home. You help families curate and manage the professionals and services they depend on, with a real, human touch. We're building our network now.
Why Porchlight
Real work, real ownership.
A real operating system
Every service follows the Porchlight Method — a clear standard so you always know what “done well” looks like.
Build work you own
Completed reusable work becomes yours to keep. Redeploy it for full pay while it's fresh, and refresh it free to keep it current.
Work from anywhere
Serve families anywhere in the USA — the research, the calls, and the follow-up all happen remotely.
What you earn
An honest hourly wage that grows with you.
You're paid a real hourly wage, not a per-task gamble — set on each job's estimated hours and paid per delivered job. The estimate is locked when you accept, so if you finish faster, no problem: the pay doesn't shrink. Your rate rises as you build a track record: 100 hours at a 4★+ rating to step up a tier.
Starting tier
After 100 hrs at 4★+
Full-time · standard max
Bring your own clients
Onboard a family yourself and earn a 15% premium on their work — and their hours are never capped, no matter your tier.
Fractional Family Assistants are independent (1099) contractors, paid on the estimated hours of each job with automated earnings tracking (payouts & your 1099 run securely through Stripe). Advancement depends on hours delivered at a 4★+ rating — and if you ever slip below 4★, you get a 60-day improvement plan to bounce back, not an instant demotion.
Estimate your earnings
≈ $0/week · $0/year
Assumes billable hours; real weeks include some non-billable time (intake, admin, travel).
Qualifications
What it takes to be a Fractional Family Assistant.
Requirements
- Pass a background check
- Excellent written and oral English, verified by an English-language exam
- Pass an interview
- Three reference letters
- A domestic U.S. address — no PO boxes — with proof of residency
- Take the No-Sponsor Pledge — no commissions or kickbacks from providers, ever
Stand out
Not required, but they strengthen your profile and can earn you better client matches — add them to your assistant profile:
- Additional languages
- Degrees & certifications
- Relevant professional experience
Getting started
How you become a Fractional Family Assistant.
Apply
Tell us about your background, your community, and how you like to work.
Get certified
We screen, background-check, and train you on the Porchlight Method.
Serve families
Get matched with households in your market and start building your library of work.
Fractional Family Assistant questions, answered.
Are Fractional Family Assistants employees or contractors?
Contractors. Like Uber and Lyft drivers, every Fractional Family Assistant is an independent 1099 contractor — you set your availability and work your own market, and we handle automated earnings tracking. (You're responsible for your own taxes.)
What does it cost to get started?
There's a one-time application fee and an enrollment fee that cover screening, your background check, and training/certification on the Porchlight Method.
What's the screening process?
An application with professional references and a background check, then training and certification before you're matched with families.
Where do assistants work?
Anywhere in the USA — Porchlight work is fully remote: research, phone calls, and follow-up, coordinated through your workbench.
How am I paid?
An hourly wage, set on each job's estimated hours — so you know what a job pays before you take it, and you keep the upside when you work efficiently. As a 1099 contractor you get automated accounting and a running earnings summary. Your rate rises as you advance tiers.
Do I earn more for clients I bring in?
Yes. When you onboard your own client, you earn a 15% premium on your wage for their work — and their hours are never capped — for as long as they're your client.