Best Software for Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters (2026)

Pet-sitting software differs from generic schedulers in three ways: clients manage their own pet profiles and access notes, staff check in with GPS and send photo reports, and pay splits by visit. As of October 23, 2026, the solo pick is Precise Petcare at $20 a month, the small-team pick is Time To Pet at $40 plus $16 per active staff, and the growing pick is Precise Petcare at $90.

This guide is for owner-operated dog walking and pet sitting businesses in the US and Canada: a solo walker, an owner with a few helpers, or a business adding staff and a daycare or boarding side. We compare from vendor pricing pages, help centers, and app-store listings, not hands-on testing; see how we compare software.

Quick picks by business size

The right tool depends mostly on how many people do visits and whether you also groom or board. Prices are month-to-month in US dollars, verified October 23, 2026, before card processing fees.

How we compared these tools

We read each vendor’s pricing page, feature pages, and help center, and checked the app-store listing to confirm the mobile app is still being updated. Pet-sitter forums told us which questions owners actually ask (visit reports with photos, GPS, QuickBooks, and Time To Pet versus Scout), and we built the comparison table around those. We did not run the software, and we do not use ratings or user counts. Every price carries the date we checked it; vendors change plans without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Six tools made the cut. Four are built for in-home pet care: Scout, Time To Pet, Pet Sitter Plus, and Precise Petcare. Square Appointments stands in for the generic booking apps many solo walkers start on, and MoeGo and Gingr cover grooming and boarding. All six had public pricing and a recently updated mobile app or active help center as of October 23, 2026.

Do you need pet-care software yet?

If you walk or sit for fewer than about 12 regular clients and work alone, you probably do not need paid software yet. A calendar app with repeating events, a note per pet with the gate code and feeding routine, a payment app, and a photo text after each visit will carry you a long way. Pay for a tool once one of these becomes true:

• You have hired, or are about to hire, a second walker and need to hand them a schedule and get their pay right.
• You spend more than an hour a week sending photo updates, reminders, and invoices by hand.
• Clients ask to book, change, or pay for visits without texting you.
• A missed visit, a lost key, or an unpaid invoice has already cost you a client.

The free SmallCrew Growth Calculator shows the month you fill your own week and when a second person pays for themselves. It asks for your recurring clients, price per visit, how often each client is visited, and hours per visit; it was built for cleaning businesses, and its highest visit frequency is once a week per client, so it cannot yet model a client walked several days a week. If you are weighing a paid plan, the SmallCrew Software Break-Even Calculator shows what it would need to save in admin hours or missed visits to cover its cost.

The features that matter for a pet-care business (and the ones that do not)

Five features separate pet-care software from a salon scheduler. Look for all five before you compare prices.

1. Client-managed pet profiles and access notes. The client, not you, keeps the vet, medication, feeding, and key or lockbox details current in their portal. Every walker sees the same notes.
2. Visit check-in with GPS. Staff check in and out on their phone, and the visit records where and when. Time To Pet, Scout, Pet Sitter Plus, and Precise Petcare all do this; Time To Pet and Precise Petcare can also record the full walking route.
3. Photo or visit reports to the owner. A report card with photos and notes sent automatically at check-out. This is the feature clients talk about, and the one generic schedulers lack.
4. Recurring schedules. Monday, Wednesday, Friday midday walks set once and generated for months, with per-visit changes when the client travels.
5. Pay split by visit. Each service has a pay rate per walker, and a pay report totals what you owe each person for the period. Every pet-care tool here calculates this; none pays staff from the core software, though Time To Pet offers a separate payroll service at extra cost.

Features you can safely ignore at this size: branded apps (Scout charges $300 a month for one), marketing automation, and enterprise reporting. Text messaging is worth checking: Time To Pet charges $10 a month to enable it, and MoeGo caps included texts by plan.

Comparison table

All four pet-care tools include the core features; the differences are price model, trial, QuickBooks, and how billing works. Verified October 23, 2026.

Booksy Biz, the other generic option walkers ask about, is $29.99 a month plus tax and $20 per extra staff member with a 14-day trial as of October 23, 2026; like Square, it has no pet profiles, GPS, or visit reports.

Two pricing models are hiding in that table. Scout, Time To Pet, and Pet Sitter Plus charge a base fee plus a fee for each staff member scheduled that month (Scout’s base includes the first), which is cheap for a solo owner and rises as you hire. Precise Petcare charges a flat price for a staff range, which costs more for one person than Time To Pet Lite but stays flat as the crew grows.

Scout

Who it is for

Scout is for walkers and sitters who want billing to run itself. Invoices generate, cards are charged through Stripe on a schedule, and receipts go out without you touching them. Solo owners and small teams that bill weekly get the most from it.

Pricing verified October 23, 2026

Solo is $39 a month, or $33 a month billed annually ($390 a year). Team is $39 a month plus $18 for each additional active staff member; billed annually it is $33 plus $15. An active staff member is anyone with an appointment assigned in the month, and you always pay for at least one. Unlimited clients and invoices on both plans. The free trial needs no credit card, but the pricing page does not state its length, and Scout’s help center says annual plans are not refunded. Add-ons: a fully branded app for $300 a month and a website for $42 a month.

Strengths

• Automated billing: after each billing period, Scout charges the client’s card on file through Stripe and marks the invoice paid, retrying the next week if it fails.
• Report cards with photos and a GPS map delivered to the Scout for Pet Owners app.
• Recurring appointments (daily, weekly, biweekly) that clients can request themselves.
• Per-staff pay rates with a payroll report for any date range, linked to each completed visit.

Limitations

• QuickBooks Online and Xero sync is listed on Scout’s features page, but its help center has no setup article as of October 23, 2026; confirm how it works in the trial.
• The trial length is not published, so you cannot plan a side-by-side evaluation around it.
• Solo has the highest entry price of the four pet-care tools at $39 a month.

Verdict

Choose Scout if hands-off card billing is the problem you are solving; if you rely on QuickBooks or Xero, confirm how its listed sync works during the trial. If you want the lowest solo price, look at Precise Petcare.

Time To Pet

Who it is for

Time To Pet is for teams that want the most complete client-facing experience: a client app, report cards with photos, GPS shared with the owner, and video on Solo and Team. Its per-active-staff billing suits businesses with seasonal or part-time walkers.

Pricing verified October 23, 2026

Lite is $25 a month ($250 a year) for one person and leaves out calendar sync, backups, QuickBooks, texting, Zapier, mass email, and video. Solo is $50 a month ($500 a year) and adds those. Team is $40 a month plus $16 per active staff member for the first 25; above 25, the help center lists $5 each, while the pricing page now asks larger teams to contact Time To Pet for custom pricing. Annual billing is not offered on Team. Facility, a separate product for daycare, grooming, or boarding, is $79 a month. An active staff member is anyone with at least one assigned or completed event in the period, and admins and office managers always count. Text messaging is $10 a month extra. The trial is 14 days with no credit card. Time To Pet Payments, powered by Stripe, charges 3 percent plus 30 cents per card payment and 1.3 percent plus 30 cents for ACH in the US.

Strengths

• GPS that records check-in and check-out coordinates or the full route, optionally shared with the client in the post-visit report.
• Visit report cards with photos, plus video up to 20 seconds on Solo and Team.
• Pay Center with default and custom pay rates per service and pay stubs for any date range.
• QuickBooks Online sync on Solo and Team; Zapier and calendar integration on the same plans.
• Roles (admin, office manager, staff, trainee) on Team, and time off on every plan.

Limitations

• The owner counts as active staff on Team, so an owner plus two walkers pays for three: $88 a month before texting.
• Lite is a real cut-down plan; most solo owners who want QuickBooks end up at $50.
• Card processing at 3 percent plus 30 cents is slightly above the 2.9 percent plus 30 cents that Pet Sitter Plus cites as a typical Stripe card fee.

Verdict

Time To Pet is our pick for teams of two to five that want the full feature set and clean books. Solo owners should compare Lite at $25 against Precise Petcare at $20 with QuickBooks included.

Pet Sitter Plus

Who it is for

Pet Sitter Plus is for owners who want detailed staff pay and GPS reporting with a 30-day trial and up to half off the first year. It suits businesses with a mix of contractors paid per service and employees paid hourly.

Pricing verified October 23, 2026

Solo is $36 a month; Pet Sitter Plus offers up to 50 percent off the first 12 months (as low as $18 a month), with the biggest saving for subscribing early in the trial. Team is $28 a month plus $14 per active user (two to 25 users), so two staff are $56 standard or as low as $28 in the first year. Enterprise, for 25 or more users, caps the price at the 25-user level (about $378 a month at standard rates). An active user is anyone with a scheduled service in the billing period. Every plan includes the full feature set and unlimited one-to-one support; there are no feature tiers. The trial is 30 days with no credit card. Card processing runs through Stripe, which Pet Sitter Plus says typically costs 2.9 percent plus 30 cents; ACH is 1.2 percent, and clients can also pay through PayPal.

Strengths

• Staff pay report with flexible per-service rates (by day, holiday, service type, time of day) and a separate timesheet system for hourly employees.
• GPS check-in and check-out, with check-in and check-out locations mapped and visit times recorded.
• Client portal for requests, pet details, card payments, and visit reports.
• QuickBooks auto-sync on every plan.

Limitations

• The first-year discount makes the headline price look lower than what you pay from month 13; budget on $36 and $28 plus $14.
• The vendor’s public pages do not name a visit-photo feature as prominently as the other three; confirm the report format in the trial.
• Per-user pricing reaches $140 a month at eight active users, where Precise Petcare is $90 flat.

Verdict

Choose Pet Sitter Plus if staff pay rules are complicated and you want everything included from day one. It is the strongest of the four on payroll detail; for a team it costs less than Scout or Time To Pet at standard rates, but more than Precise Petcare’s flat tiers.

Precise Petcare

Who it is for

Precise Petcare is for owners who want one flat price with every feature included, from a solo walker at $20 to a ten-person team at $90. Its key management and payroll tools suit businesses with staff who hold client keys.

Pricing verified October 23, 2026

Solo is $20 a month. Flat tiers follow: $45 a month for 2 to 5 staff, $90 for 6 to 10, $160 for 11 to 20, and higher tiers beyond that. Only active staff count toward the tier, there are no contracts, and paying annually takes 5 percent off. Every plan includes the complete feature set. The trial is 30 days with no credit card, and a practice mode lets you try the system with sample clients before you enter your own.

Strengths

• Flat tiers: a crew of five pays $45 a month, where per-staff tools cost $98 to $120.
• GPS from arrival to completion with full walk tracking, and Pet Care Journals with photos sent to the client app and portal.
• Payroll by visit and pay period, time and mileage tracking, and key management with pickup and return history.
• QuickBooks Online sync for invoices and transactions, and cards on file with tips and refunds.

Limitations

• The payment processor and its rates are not published on the pricing or features pages; ask before you commit.
• The vendor’s public pages say less about text messaging costs than Time To Pet’s do.
• The 2 to 5 tier is $25 more than Solo, so one rarely used helper more than doubles the bill; Precise Petcare counts only active staff, so ask how it bills a month when the helper has no visits.

Verdict

Precise Petcare is our pick for solo owners and for growing businesses of six or more, because the flat tiers include everything and stay cheap as you hire. Teams of two to five should weigh it against Time To Pet Team on integrations rather than price.

Square Appointments

Who it is for

Square Appointments is for a solo walker who already takes payments with Square and wants a free booking page today. It is a generic scheduler and stays one; treat it as the starting point you outgrow.

Pricing verified October 23, 2026

Free for one location with an online booking site, reminders, and unlimited staff calendars. Plus is $49 a month per location and adds no-show fees, multi-staff booking, and a waitlist. Premium is $149 a month per location with resource scheduling; time tracking is on Plus and Premium. Card processing on the Free plan is 2.6 percent plus 15 cents in person and 3.3 percent plus 30 cents online; Plus drops online to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. Paid plans offer a 30-day free trial.

Strengths

• Free, with booking, reminders, and card payments in one account.
• Recurring appointments set from the dashboard or the POS app.
• Square’s ecosystem (invoices, payroll, banking) grows with the business.

Limitations

• No pet profiles, no GPS check-in, no visit reports, no key notes.
• Clients cannot set up their own recurring bookings; you do it for them.
• Card-on-file payments cost 3.5 percent plus 15 cents on every plan.

Verdict

Use Square Appointments while you are solo and under a dozen clients, then move to a pet-care tool when photo reports and staff scheduling start to matter.

If you also groom or board

Grooming salons and boarding or daycare facilities need appointment slots, kennels, and report cards rather than in-home visit tracking, so two other tools fit better. MoeGo starts at $49 a month for a solo mobile groomer (one team member, 200 texts a month) and $79 a month for a salon, with mobile Growth at $99 and Ultimate at $159 per van; boarding and daycare are quoted by demo, and no free trial is stated on the pricing page. Gingr is $109 a month for appointment-based grooming (Spa), $169 for daycare (Play), and $179 for boarding (Stay) with integrated payments, with a pet parent app, report cards with photos, and online booking; it sells by demo rather than trial. If in-home visits are still most of your revenue, Time To Pet’s Facility plan ($79 a month on its own) covers daycare, grooming, or boarding; ask Time To Pet about bundling it with an in-home plan. Prices verified October 23, 2026.

What it really costs for your team size

The examples below use month-to-month prices verified October 23, 2026, before card processing fees and text messaging. Time To Pet and Pet Sitter Plus charge the per-staff fee for the owner too; Scout’s base price includes the first staff member.

One person, 40 visits a week. Precise Petcare Solo is $20 a month. Time To Pet Lite is $25, or $50 on Solo with QuickBooks. Pet Sitter Plus Solo is $36 ($18 in the first year at the full discount). Scout Solo is $39. Over a year, the gap between Precise Petcare and Scout is about $230.

Owner plus two walkers (three active staff). Precise Petcare is $45 flat. Pet Sitter Plus is $28 plus 3 × $14, or $70 (as low as $35 in the first year). Scout is $39 plus 2 × $18, or $75. Time To Pet Team is $40 plus 3 × $16, or $88, plus $10 if you enable texting.

Owner, an office manager, and six sitters (eight active staff). Precise Petcare is $90 flat. Pet Sitter Plus is $28 plus 8 × $14, or $140. Scout is $39 plus 7 × $18, or $165. Time To Pet Team is $40 plus 8 × $16, or $168. At this size the flat tier saves $50 to $78 a month, which is why Precise Petcare is the growing-business pick.

To see what a tool needs to save to pay for itself at your numbers, the SmallCrew Software Break-Even Calculator takes any monthly price. The SmallCrew Client Value Calculator shows what one recurring walking client is worth in margin, which is the number that decides whether a photo report that keeps clients is worth $20 a month.

Key takeaways

• Solo: Precise Petcare at $20 a month includes GPS, photo journals, a client app, and QuickBooks sync; Time To Pet Lite at $25 has the stronger client app but no QuickBooks until $50.
• Teams of 2 to 5: Time To Pet Team ($40 plus $16 per active staff) for integrations, or Precise Petcare at $45 flat for price.
• Growing, 6 or more: Precise Petcare’s $90 flat tier beats per-staff pricing by $50 to $78 a month.
• Every pet-care tool here sends visit reports with photos; the generic schedulers do not.
• Prices verified October 23, 2026. Check the vendor page before you buy.