A Gumtree clone for the people in your town.
A Gumtree clone is a free local ads site where neighbours sell things, rent out rooms, offer services and post notices, and Yclas lets you start one for your town or region today. Posting stays free; sellers pay small amounts to stand out.
Free for 15 days · No credit card · Plans from $19 a month
Gumtree started as a noticeboard for newcomers.
Gumtree began in London in 2000 as a place for people arriving in the city to find a room, a job and some furniture, and later spread to other UK cities, Australia and South Africa. A website like Gumtree still works for the same reasons.
A Gumtree clone sized for one town.
Start with the four sections people use most in a town: for sale, to rent, services and community. Give each a handful of categories and add more only when a category fills its page. Rooms and flatshares deserve their own fields from day one: rent per week or month, bills included, available from, and the area.
| Part | Launch with it | Add it later |
|---|---|---|
| For sale | Furniture, bikes, baby things, garden, free stuff | Cars with the Vehicles pack |
| To rent | Rooms, flatshares, parking | Whole homes with the Property pack |
| Services | Cleaners, gardeners, tutors, removals | Quote requests to several providers |
| Community | Lost and found, events, garage sales | Paid notices, a forum |
| Extras | Bump to top | Urgent, Highlight, Featured, Spotlight |
Notices bring people in on the days they are not buying.
A local ads site lives on habit. Garage sales on Saturday, a lost cat on Tuesday, a quiz night on Thursday: these posts earn little but give people a reason to look every day, and the ads get seen on the way. Keep notices free, or charge a small fee for announcements like births and anniversaries, as a newspaper would.
The weekly digest emails a round-up of new listings to members who agreed to it, with your coming events if you list them.
Shown on Harlow Bay Herald, our newspaper classifieds demo.
Urgent, Featured and bump to top, priced for private sellers.
Sellers are offered an upgrade right after they post and again in My listings. Sell an Urgent label, a coloured Highlight, featured days, a move back to the top, or bundle them into up to three boost packages.
- Home page Spotlight: a few paid places at the top of your home page.
- Refunded automatically if a listing never goes live.
- Five days after posting, sellers get their view count and a link to boost.
A listing page that answers the usual questions.
Photos, price, area, condition and the seller, with a button to message them on the site. Questions answered in public stay on the listing, so the next buyer does not have to ask whether it is still there or if it fits in a car.
- Make an offer: the seller accepts, declines or counters.
- Ratings between buyers and sellers after a deal.
Buyers hear about the right room or bike first.
In a town, the good things go in an hour. Buyers save a search, such as a double room under a set rent or a child's bike, and get an email or a push notification the moment a match is posted, or once a day if they prefer.
More on messaging and alerts →
What Gumtree is known for, on a Yclas site.
Mapped feature by feature, with what you will not get.
| Gumtree is known for | On Yclas |
|---|---|
| Free ads for everyone | Free posting by default; you choose any paid categories. |
| Rooms and flatshares | Categories with your own fields: rent, bills included, available from. |
| Urgent, Featured and bump up | Urgent, Highlight, Featured, bring to top and boost packages. |
| Community notices | Notice categories, events in the weekly digest, and a forum. |
| Messages and replies by email | Messages on your site with email and push copies. |
| Business accounts | Seller plans for shops and agents, on Professional. |
| Sites for several countries | Not included as one network: each country would be its own site. |
| A big national audience | Not included. You build yours town by town. |
Gumtree is a trademark of its owner. Yclas is not affiliated with Gumtree. This table uses public information; your site gets its own name, look and listings, not a copy of Gumtree.
How a local ads site earns.
Lots of small payments from private sellers, plus a few local businesses who pay every month.
Prices are examples: you set your own, in your currency. Yclas takes no commission on what you earn. All the ways to make money →
A launch plan for one town.
- Name your townTell the wizard your town and what people post. Categories and example listings are written for you.
- Add room fieldsRent, bills, available from and area on the room categories.
- Fill the boardPost notices for this week's events, and paste posts from local groups as listings.
- Be seen locallyPrint the QR poster for the shop windows and send the group message.
- Sell extrasSwitch on Urgent and bump to top once each category has a full page.
Is it legal to build a Gumtree clone?
Yes, a free local ads site is a legal business. You may not use the Gumtree name or logo, copy its pages or listings, or present your site as connected to Gumtree.
What does a website like Gumtree cost on Yclas?
Starter is $19 a month for up to 5,000 listings, and Professional is $99 with seller plans and more listings. Prices on your site can be in pounds, euros or any currency. 15-day free trial, no card.
Can people post rooms to rent?
Yes. Add a rooms category with your own fields, and switch on maps so renters can see the area. For whole homes from agents, the Property pack adds key facts and map search.
Can I sell Urgent and Featured upgrades?
Yes. Urgent and Highlight labels, featured days, bring to top, Spotlight places and boost packages are all in the Make money page, each with its own price.
Can I charge for notices?
Yes. Set a posting price on a notices category, or keep it free and charge only for announcements.
How do I stop fake rental ads?
Hold new listings for approval in the rooms category, keep contact on the site with messaging, and watch reports. With AI checks on, the chat also warns when someone asks for a wire transfer or gift cards.
Can it cover a few towns?
Yes. Add each town as a location with its own page and search, and let buyers save searches for their own town.
Related pages.
The parts of Yclas this leans on.
A free ads site your town will check every day.
Name your town and the wizard writes your categories and example listings. Free for 15 days, no credit card.
Start my local ads site
Photo credits
The screenshots show demo sites with made-up sellers. Their photos come from Wikimedia Commons, some cropped or with signs and plates blurred; these ones are under Creative Commons licences: