Getting a flat share in Berlin is pretty much the number one priority for a lot of us. For some, it’s also about finding a social life as much as a roof, or else a stepping stone for their own place one day.
For others, there is simply no other choice. We don’t have the money, we don’t have the time and we don’t have the papers! So the best solution is to find a nice flat share in Berlin with friendly room mates.
This guide shows you how to find a good place, a good match and get noticed through the noise of hundreds of other applicants.

Table of contents
A flat share is called WG (pronounced “VayGay”), short for “Wohnungsgemeinschaft”. It is as popular as ever in the city. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find one from the moment you are tat bit organized.
Try offline first
The best way for you to find a flat share in Berlin is certainly through your own network. If you are interested in Berlin in the first place, it’s probably through a connection you have already here. It is the best place to start investigating.
If you are coming to Berlin to work for a specific company, be sure to check that it doesn’t offer relocating services for foreigners. It could also be part of your benefit package.
If you are coming as a student to one of the universities, it could also be the best way for you to start looking for a flat share in Berlin. Many of those universities have a international office where many international students meet and find an accommodation solution together.
If you attend a language course in Berlin, talk about your current search with your fellow students. Chances are that they are in the process of looking too, or heard a good tip.
There are also several specialized website for you to find a flat share in Berlin, I’ve made you a sweet list :
- WG Gesucht (the most popular one, with no doubt)
- WG Suche (also available in English)
- Studenten WG (for students)
- Studenten Wohnung
- Immowelt
- Ebay-kleinanzeigen
- Craigslist (for the English speaking crowd out there)
- wgay-gesucht.de/en/ (for LGBTQIA+ friendly people)
- Facebook Marketplace for Berlin
Active Facebook Groups
- Easy.wg/
- WG Berlin
- BerlinWgZimmer
- Flatmate.berlin/
- Berlin.Startup.flats & Flatshares.
- Wohnung & WG Berlin
Coliving platforms
Think of the coliving concept as “serviced flat shares”. It’s completely furnished, with cleaning services, utilities, sometimes with premium amenities & services such as gyms, stocked fridges, spa. Common areas are designed for mingling, collaborating & having fun. It’s naturally more expensive but it can’t maybe help in the first few months to get started. Check:
Make you first intro memorable to be noticed
It is very likely that you will pass through several filters before even being invited. Being fast is the key as people offering a flat share in Berlin are flooded with answers once they have posted an offer. As far as i can tell, answering to posts in English is no problem but it is always a plus to be able to convince in German.
Keep your introductions short, relevant and memorable to maximize your chances. I have found very important to be willing to participate to the community life with activities such as cooking, nights out, or others. It helps a lot.
Chose your medium well as well. You can get far by simply avoiding boring old words. Try WhatsApp voice messages with music, a cool short video, a cool drawing. Get your personality out-there and make use of your talents.
How I do make sure it will be a good fit?
There are simply no way to make sure your future roommates aren’t psychopaths but a few rules can help your chances.
Move in with people in the same life phase as you
Even though flat shares used to be for 20-something people, nowadays some stay in WGs until their mid 40s. This means that they are probably no longer students anymore and will have different expectations on common life & routine. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to move in with people that are on the same page as you in their lives. If you are a student, move in with students. If you are struggling young professional, move in with some. You get the idea. This maximize the chances for compatibility.
Have a good look at common areas
A thorough inspection of the kitchen & bathroom can tell a lot about the state of the flat share. It says a lot about hygiene of course, but also about respect to one another. It’s a good way to rate common life. If you see a lot of group portraits & pictures of them in the kitchen, then it’s a sign they do stuff together and there is a good atmosphere for example.
Turnover rate matters
This might help to detect “parasites”, “profiteers” or “psychopaths” roommates; ask (discreetly) how many people lived in the flat the past 2/3 years. If the number is much higher than normal, it might mean that the Hauptmieter is behaving in such a way that people can’t bear life with them. Either they don’t do their share of chores, they are not sociable or they profit from your misinformation to charge a high rate.
Lifestyle check
In general, don’t pick flat shares which promotes lifestyle too far away from yours. We all learn from each other and it’s good to be different, but if it makes life impossible, it’s not worth it.
Do your homework before meeting IRL
You got invited to meet in real life? Congrats! Now it’s all about making a great impression and convince you can be a good fit. But don’t forget to be convincing on the nitty gritty as well. Come to the meeting prepared.
Bring proof you can pay rent:
This can be done in a few ways and not everyone will ask for all of it, but at least one of the following:
- Bring a copy of your SCHUFA report. More info about in this post.
- You may also consider bringing some sort of certificate from a previous main tenant or landlord that you always paid on time. In German, this is called “Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung“.
- You can also bring copy of your payslips or employment contract.
- If your parents or other relative is paying rent for you, bring something about that.
Bring proof you have insurance:
I know: this is very German. But nothing screams reliability more than somebody who has insurance. For anybody living in Germany, I’d recommend a contents insurance policy and a personal liability insurance policy. Follow the links for more info on each.

There is a good chance that you won’t be able to find the perfect WG right away. Don’t hesitate to find a Zwichenmiete in one of those websites for a month or more if you can. It will give you more time and peace of mind to find a good flat share in Berlin. You can also use youth hostels, AirBnB or Wimdu if you are more comfortable with these options.
You might also want to have a look at platforms like Wunderflats which provides fully furnished flats. You can rent them without a SCHUFA record and they make sure you can register there as well.
A high demand increases prices when the supply cannot satisfy all requests. This might lead to some people taking advantage of the situation. Aside from asking to connections you might have in Berlin, you can also ask for advice on the Facebook groups I mentioned in this post to double check if the price is all right. You can also refer to this map made by Immobilien-Scout & WG-suche for guidance. Based on their data, an average room costs 429€ in a flat share. It fluctuates on your location of course as you can see on this map.
You will often find the expression “Zweck WG” in offers you will find on the website. This means that the flat share is only aiming at sharing the costs and won’t be about having a social life together. It might be what you want but be warned that it’s very serious nonetheless. On the opposite, you will often find people that expressly want room mates that are looking for a dense social life within the WG.
It is a temporary rental often offered by people leaving for holidays or a long trip. It is by nature limited and could a great alternative to get started. Make sure that you are not paying more that you should: it’s allowed for the main tenant to raise prices for the subtenant. It should match the rent’s price, no more.
You have to be more creative than the rest of the crowd. Try leaving a WhatsApp voice message if you have access to a phone number. You can try to do an intro video if you feel like it too, and send it instead of a long paragraph. If you can draw, make a 2 strip comics about you. Use your natural talents to stand out. Keep it short and to the point, you can always expand on it when you meet in real life.
Good luck and feel free to ask questions in the comments !
You can use my website RentIndicator if you want to get an indication of the market prices for rents in different neighbourhoods, http://rentindicator.com/averages-per-district/berlin/
My name is Maria and I just moved into the city. I have to say thanks because your site is the reason why I was FINALLY able to find my new place to live! 🙂
My search for a place was actually a really stressful experience and a pain, that’s why I’m writing to let you know that I wanted to recommend that you extend your list.The ones that helped the most were:
https://www.wohnraumkarte.com
https://medici-living.com
https://studenten-wg.com
Bye 🙂
Hey Maria, do you happen to know how long you can rent through Medici living? Also, do you know if it’s possible to do the “anmeldung” or city registration there?
Looks like the provide city registration: https://support.medici-living.de/hc/de/categories/360001422651-Unterlagen
Hi,
My student colleague and I are searching for a two bedroom flat or apartment in Berlin for a minimum of 6 months. We will appreciate if you can make recommendations on affordable places
Gina
Hello!
My partner and I are looking for a place to stay at in Berlin for a minimum of 6 months, but could be extended indefinitely if everything works out. I’ve been looking all over on sites such as wg-gesucht and haven’t had any luck yet. I’m beginning to think about furnished apartments but most of them are pretty expensive. I was able to find very decent offers on spotathome.com. The site claims to get you in direct contact with the landlord and that they would take care of all the difficult elements in the transaction. All you have to do is come from abroad, inspect the apartment, and sign the contract. My questions are, are you familiar with websites such as this, and is this service legitimate? Also, provided that it is, since I am in direct contact with the Landlord and not subletting, I would be able to obtain my Anmeldung without any problems, correct?
Thank you!
Hi there Brian. I don’t know this provider in particular and it looks like they are based in Spain & the U.K, so they might not have the real knowledge of the local market in Berlin. I usually recommend Wunderflats when it comes to furnished flats in Berlin. They are based here and they make sure you can register at the flat you rent with them.
Okay thank you!
What about Nestpick? I remember seeing it mentioned multiple times on this site (maybe in the comments section). Would that be a good option in Berlin or is its situation similar to spotahome?
Nestpick is another option that is handy to scan for furnished apartments across many websites and platforms at once. It’s a good place to start your search.
Spotahome has locals on the ground in each city they operate in, that is how they make the tour videos on their site. For this reason, they do know the local market.
Hello! I’ve been looking for a flatshare in Berlin for two weeks now – the thing is, I’m moving there on November 12th. As of right now, I’m still in Canada. I have only had ONE person reply out of the probably 75+ messages I’ve sent on WG-Gesucht and various Facebook WG groups. Would you recommend searching while still abroad? Or is it a waste of my time – should I just give up and try again when I arrive in Berlin?
Hi there Amber. People will probably prioritize prospective roommates that are available to meet in person within the next few days so it’s definitely better to be on site for your search. Maybe start again the week before your arrival and try to find a way to differentiate yourself to attract people’s attention.
Hi there, I am moving to Berlin from New Zealand. I am looking for a flat share – I know this isn’t a forum for that but I thought I would give it a go!
I work in the film industry and am coming over for a movie. I am 27, tidy and independent. Thanks!
[…] Studenten-WG:無英文,多數放租俾學生哥或者房源係學生宿舍 Settle in Berlin: 柏林搵屋功略,英文,我未認真睇因為未需要住。 […]
Hi, I am currently on the hunt for a WG. I have just moved to Berlin from Dublin. I have seen on a few profiles on WG-gesucht that you need a Schufa document. As I have just moved here I don’t have those documents yet. I thought I would need an address first to register and gain all of these documents so I am not sure what to do.
This is the typical egg-chicken situation for a lot of people coming from abroad and starting with a WG is usually a way to go around it. I must say i find it strange that people on WG gesucht ask for that document! Is it landlords or the Hauptmieter asking for it?
Hallo! I’m moving to berlin from September 2016 until February 2017 or probably longer. I’m 24 years old and will study a master in Berlin. I’m looking for a flatshare, if someone is interested we could rent one flat together. I’ll leave my e-mail: [email protected]
i live in berlin/lichtenrade.
but i am not at home from june to end of november.
anyone here who need a room inj this time?
get back to me…
[email protected]
Has anyone used Nestpick or Uniplaces? Likely leaving after a 10-month stay (on a DAAD scholarship) so the ease is ideal. Also curious for any other places that rent furnished rooms for reasonable prices (less than 500 euro).
Have you had a look at Wunderflats ? It might be what you are looking for ?
Hello,
Is this ‘Nestpick’ only for students? I find the prices in Wunderflats to be a little on the heavy side. Is this normal for long stay temporary accommodation in Berlin?
Thanks
Will
I think Nestpick is targeted a little bit more at students than Wunderflats is yes. Those platforms are a bit more expensive that’s true but you pay for more convenience, more safety & more service.
What kind of luck have people had with Craigslist. I have seen several places, but due to the nature of the website I am careful when communicating with people advertising. Just wondering if you or anyone you know has had a positive outcome using it, Thanks!
It’s craigslist. So in my opinion, there are mostly legit offers but it’s good to be careful. Look at this for a few tips
Hi Sandra,
When can we come & view the flat?
Thanks.
-nine-
Hi everyone! Thanks for the information, it’s very interesting! I’d like to add another website in order to look for housing in Berlin, it’s name is Beroomers (www.beroomers.com) and it was very useful for me when I moved to Germany.
Thanks and regards!
Hallo,
I’m from Malaysia, newly married to my beautiful German wife looking for a long term rent in any part of Berlin.
I’m currently promoting Malaysian product & services to Europe & my wife is still at uni but doing her part time job in one of an established production house in Berlin.
If it’s a shared flat, we would prefer the typical German cleanliness & rest is good as we’re pretty easy going couple to live with.
Our preference will be as per below:
Move in Date: 01/02/2016
Location / Radius: Berlin, Germany
Estimated Max. rent: EUR 350.00 per room / month including utilities
Lets catch up for a coffee once you’re free.
Thank you.
Regards,
@nine
Hello,
How are you doing today i would like to know that i would like to rent
my apartment out for longer or short period because im moving to USA
for my research program and work over there please contact me asap for
more information’s about the apartment.It has a big kitchen, bathroom and an additional WC. Next
to the house is the center of the city where there is a super market,
a bank/ATM, post office, a pharmacy, places to eat, system bolaget, press byran etc. And it is close to the university. The neighborhood is quiet and safe and mostly families live there.
Sandra
Hey, offer is still on? If yes, contact me on [email protected]
Hello Sandra,
I am moving to Berlin to study my second year of a master degree at Humboldt. I am moving there in September. If your place stills available I would like to get in contact with you. My email, [email protected]