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DaySmart Pet Pricing in 2026: Complete Cost Breakdown (Tiers, Texting, Add-Ons)

GroomBoard Team··Updated · 5 min read

DaySmart Pet (formerly 123Pet) is one of the longest-running pet-business platforms on the market. It is capable and well-established, but its pricing is tiered in a way that quietly pushes growing groomers toward the more expensive plans. This page breaks down every publicly listed DaySmart Pet price for 2026, which features are locked to which tier, and the cheaper alternatives groomers benchmark against. All pricing verified against DaySmart's public pricing page as of August 2026.

DaySmart Pet Pricing Plans (2026)

DaySmart Pet publishes five tiers, priced by number of users and the depth of the communication/marketing toolset. These figures were read off DaySmart's own pricing page in August 2026:

PlanMonthly priceTexts / moBest for
Basic, "Be Your Own Boss"$29/mo500Solo groomer wanting booking, scheduling, and payments
Deluxe, "Expand Your Business"$69/mo1,000Small salon needing phone support, gift cards, digital forms
Deluxe Growth, "Grow Your Clientele"$149/mo1,000Businesses that want two-way texting and text/email marketing included
Premium$199/mo2,500Higher volume, adds reputation management
Premium GrowthCustom quote2,500Multi-location, commission rules, expense tracking

One caveat that is easy to miss: every price above assumes you run payments through DaySmart. Bring your own processor and each plan costs $10/month more, so Basic is really $39 and Premium is really $209. Optional add-ons include daycare and boarding calendars at roughly $25/month each, a website builder at $15/month, and standalone reputation management at $49/month. A 14-day free trial is available, though it excludes some add-ons.

The Tier Trap: Real Texting Lives on the Upper Plans

Here is the part that surprises groomers, and it is subtler than "texting costs extra." Every DaySmart tier does bundle a text allotment, 500 messages a month on Basic, 1,000 on Deluxe and Deluxe Growth, 2,500 on Premium. What separates the tiers is the kind of texting. Two-way texting and text marketing only come included from Deluxe Growth at $149/month upward; on Deluxe they are paid add-ons, and on Basic you get one-way messages against a 500-message cap. A groomer who signs up for the $29 Basic plan to "keep it cheap" and then wants clients to be able to text back is looking at a jump to $149/month.

That is a 5x price increase for a single capability that other platforms include by default. For a solo operator, it is the difference between software being a rounding error and software being a real line item.

Real Annual Cost: What a Texting Groomer Actually Pays

The honest annualized math for a solo groomer who wants automated client texting:

ScenarioPlanAnnual cost
Booking + payments only, no textingBasic ($29)$348
Small team, no full texting suiteDeluxe ($69)$828
Wants two-way texting + remindersDeluxe Growth ($149)$1,788

For comparison, a solo groomer on GroomBoard Solo pays $228/year ($19 × 12) with SMS appointment reminders included in the base price. Versus DaySmart's texting-enabled tier, that is roughly $1,560/year in savings.

Who DaySmart Pet Is Right For

DaySmart Pet earns its place if you are:

  • A multi-service business that runs daycare or boarding alongside grooming and wants one calendar for all of it
  • An established salon that values a long-tenured vendor with phone support
  • A team already budgeting $100+/month for software and using the marketing + reputation tools

DaySmart Pet is harder to justify if you are:

  • A solo groomer who mainly needs booking, client records, payments, and reminders
  • Trying to keep software under $50/month
  • Unwilling to jump to a $149/month tier just to send appointment texts
  • Looking for a modern, mobile-first interface (DaySmart's roots run back to the 123Pet era)

Cheaper Alternatives for Grooming-Only Businesses

The platforms groomers most often compare against DaySmart Pet:

  1. GroomBoard, $19/mo (Solo) or $39/mo (Salon). SMS reminders included in every plan, no tier trap. Purpose-built for grooming. 7-day free trial, no credit card.
  2. MoeGo, feature-rich, $49-239/mo per van or location, with SMS capped per tier. See the MoeGo pricing breakdown.
  3. Gingr, $109+/mo, strongest if you also run boarding/daycare; SMS is an add-on. See the Gingr pricing breakdown.

Side-by-side: DaySmart Pet vs GroomBoard.

How to Switch from DaySmart Pet (If You Decide To)

Switching is faster than most groomers expect, your client relationships live in your phone and your head, not locked inside the software. Five steps:

  1. Export your clients from DaySmart Pet as a CSV.
  2. Start a free GroomBoard trial, 60 seconds, no credit card.
  3. Upload the CSV in onboarding. Clients and pets import in about 2 minutes.
  4. Set your services and hours. Add prices, durations, and the days you work.
  5. Share your new booking link with one text to your client list. Cancel DaySmart at the end of your billing cycle.

Quick Verdict

Stay on DaySmart Pet if you run grooming plus daycare/boarding under one roof and actively use the marketing and reputation tools on the higher tiers.

Switch to GroomBoard if you are a solo groomer or small salon who wants booking, payments, client records, and SMS reminders without climbing to a $149/month tier to get texting.

Start your free 7-day GroomBoard trial →

Last updated: August 2026. Pricing reflects DaySmart Pet's publicly listed rates and may vary by add-ons, users, and billing term. Verify your final quote with DaySmart directly.

DaySmart Pet is one option among several, our grooming software hub compares all of them on real monthly cost, and Groomsoft's pricing gets the same treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does DaySmart Pet cost per month in 2026?

DaySmart Pet has five plans as of August 2026: Basic at $29/month (single user, 500 texts), Deluxe at $69/month (up to 3 users, 1,000 texts), Deluxe Growth at $149/month (1,000 texts, two-way texting included), Premium at $199/month (2,500 texts), and Premium Growth by quote. All listed prices assume you use DaySmart payment processing, without it, each plan is $10/month more. Daycare and boarding calendars are optional add-ons at about $25/month each.

Does DaySmart Pet include text reminders?

Communication limits scale with the plan, and the full texting suite, two-way texting and text marketing, is part of the $149/month Deluxe Growth tier. Groomers who rely on automated client texting to cut no-shows usually need the top tier, which is why the real cost lands well above the $29 headline. GroomBoard includes SMS appointment reminders in every plan from $9/month.

What is the cheapest DaySmart Pet plan?

The cheapest plan is Basic at $29/month for a single user, which covers online booking, appointment scheduling, and integrated payments. Advanced texting, marketing, and reputation tools are reserved for higher tiers.

Is DaySmart Pet worth it?

DaySmart Pet is an established platform with a long track record and works well for multi-service businesses that also run daycare or boarding. For a solo groomer or small salon that mainly needs booking, client records, payments, and texting, lower-cost purpose-built tools like GroomBoard ($19-39/month with SMS included) cover the essentials for less.

Does DaySmart Pet have a free trial?

Yes. DaySmart Pet offers a 14-day free trial of the full platform, though some add-ons such as text marketing and reputation management are excluded from the trial. GroomBoard offers a self-serve 7-day trial with no credit card and no sales call.

How do I switch from DaySmart Pet to GroomBoard?

Export your client list from DaySmart Pet as a CSV, start a free GroomBoard trial, upload the CSV in onboarding, set your services and hours, then share your new booking link. Most groomers finish in under 30 minutes with no disruption to clients.

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