On-demand butler taps multiple services to take care of every household chore

Alfred is a service that crowdsources local helpers to act as a butler service for laundry, shopping and cleaning tasks.

With busy professionals trying to balance time for work and other lifestyle pursuits, personal concierge services are more in demand than ever before. We have seen mobile apps such as STANDWITH help the infirm to leverage their friends and neighbours to take care of their daily chores. And now Hello Alfred is a service that crowdsources local helpers to act as a butler service for laundry, shopping and cleaning tasks.

While disparate apps such as TaskRabbit and Instacart offer similar services, they’re typically tailored towards one-off use. For those who know they’ll need regular help putting their life in order, Alfred connects users with a single helper who visits on a regular basis. Customers simply set up the tasks they want help with — whether it’s grocery shopping, dry cleaning, or picking up mail — and their personal Alfred will head to their home to drop off goods and pick up items for servicing. Users can tweak their settings at any time through their account, as well as request special actions such as party preparation and equipment fixing. The service can also be synced with accounts such as FreshDirect and BlueApron, and Alfreds will monitor their fridges to make sure they don’t run out of favourite foods. Monthly membership starts at $279, with groceries and other billable costs charged separately. The service took first prize at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014 and has extended from Boston to other US cities.