Pet Grooming Software
Updated
In short
Pet grooming software handles online booking, appointment reminders, client and pet records, and payments for a grooming business. In 2026 it costs between $0 and $350 a month: free tiers cover basic scheduling but exclude SMS reminders, affordable platforms run $19 to $39 with SMS included, and premium platforms built for boarding facilities run $105 to $350. For a solo groomer or a salon of up to five groomers, the deciding factor is almost always whether SMS reminders are bundled or billed as an add on.
GroomBoard is grooming software for independent groomers and small salons, online booking, SMS reminders and client management from $9/month, SMS included. Below: what every platform actually costs, and which one fits your setup.
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Grooming Software Compared (2026)
The headline price is rarely the real price. SMS reminders are the line item that most often doubles a bill, so it gets its own column.
| Platform | Monthly cost | SMS reminders | Online booking | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GroomBoard | $9 to $39/mo | Included | Solo groomers & salons up to 5 | |
| MoeGo | $49 to $149/mo | Capped per tier | Larger & multi location teams | |
| Gingr | $109 to $179/mo | Paid add on | Boarding & daycare facilities | |
| Groomsoft | $29.95 to $39.90/mo | SMS packs ($10 to $350) | Shops wanting a long established tool | |
| DaySmart Pet (123Pet) | ~$59 to $179/mo | Paid add on | Multi service pet businesses | |
| Goldie (free tier) | Free to $25/mo | Paid plans only | Groomers just getting organized |
Pricing as of August 2026 from each vendor’s public pricing page; PetExec does not publish rates. Verify directly before switching.
The Platforms, Reviewed
What each one is actually good at, and what to watch before you commit.
GroomBoard
Built for independent groomers and small salons. Booking, SMS, pet profiles and Stripe payments in every plan.
Good: Three plans at $9, $19 and $39 a month, each with a monthly text allowance and no per message fee. Most groomers are set up in under 30 minutes, with no contract.
Watch: The phone app is in beta and installs from the browser, with no App Store or Google Play listing yet. A newer platform, so advanced reporting is thin.
Best for: Solo groomers and salons up to five who want the core done well at $19 to $39 a month.
See GroomBoard pricingMoeGo
The deepest feature set on the market, priced accordingly and billed per van or per location.
Good: Real route optimization for mobile fleets, polished native apps, advanced analytics and marketing automation.
Watch: Texts are capped per tier, so groomers who text every client outgrow the entry price fast. A second van doubles the bill.
Best for: Multi location teams and mobile fleets running 8 or more stops a day.
Full MoeGo comparisonGingr
Facility software first: boarding, daycare and capacity management with grooming attached.
Good: Strong reservations and kennel scheduling, an established user base, integrated retail POS.
Watch: One of the most expensive options, SMS costs extra on top, and since the private equity acquisition users report rising prices and slower support. Demos only, no self serve trial.
Best for: Boarding and daycare facilities that also groom.
Full Gingr comparisonPetExec
All in one facility management with a self serve portal for pet owners.
Good: Owners manage their own bookings and vaccination records; grooming, boarding, daycare and training live in one system.
Watch: No public pricing (expect a sales call), a dated interface, and grooming features that read as an add on to the boarding core.
Best for: Multi service facilities that need everything under one roof.
Full PetExec comparisonGroomsoft
A veteran grooming specific tool with a long track record and an older interface.
Good: Purpose built for grooming, priced below the facility platforms.
Watch: SMS is sold in separate packs that can double the effective price, and the interface shows its age.
Best for: Shops that want a long established tool and will price the SMS packs honestly.
Full Groomsoft comparisonGoldie
A lightweight general booking app with a free tier, popular with brand new solo groomers.
Good: Free to start, five minute setup, dedicated mobile apps.
Watch: SMS and payments need a paid plan, profiles are basic, and there are no grooming specific features like size based pricing. Most groomers outgrow it past ten regular clients.
Best for: Brand new groomers getting organized before committing to anything.
What solo groomers need insteadWhat You Get at Each Price Point
Free tools are not free. They move the cost from your bill to your calendar. For the tools that do have a real free plan and what each one leaves out, see free dog grooming software.
| Feature | Paper & Google Cal | Free tier | $19 to $39/mo | $105+/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online booking page | No | Basic | Yes | Yes |
| SMS reminders | No | No | Included | Add on ($100+/mo) |
| Client & pet profiles | No | Basic | Full | Full |
| Online payments | No | Limited | Stripe | Yes |
| Double booking prevention | No | Varies | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue tracking | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Multi groomer calendars | No | No | Salon plan | Yes |
| Boarding & daycare | No | No | No | Yes |
The hidden cost of running on paper
For a groomer with 20+ regular clients at a $75 average ticket, going without software costs roughly $200 to $500 a month in lost revenue and unpaid admin time:
- No shows: 10 to 15% without SMS reminders versus 3 to 5% with them, $150 to $450/month in empty slots.
- Phone tag: 5 to 15 scheduling calls and DMs a day without online booking, 5 to 10 unpaid hours a month.
- Payment chasing: 2 to 4 hours a month sending requests and waiting on transfers.
The break even on a $19/month plan is preventing one no show. Run the numbers for your own business.
Which Setup Are You Running?
The most expensive mistake in grooming software is buying kennel grade capability to run a one person business.
Solo groomer
GroomBoard Solo, $19/mo
You need a booking page, SMS reminders, pet profiles and payments. Nothing else earns its cost yet. Skip anything charging per user or metering messages.
Software for solo groomersHome based groomer
GroomBoard Solo, $19/mo
Same feature set as a solo groomer, plus one thing that matters more: your booking page shows services and availability, never your home address. You stay a service area business and still look like a storefront.
Software for home based groomersSalon with 2 to 5 groomers
GroomBoard Salon, $39/mo flat
Per groomer calendars, a shared client database and staff access, for up to five groomers at one flat rate. Commission tracking, payroll with overtime and groomer selection at booking are included, at roughly a quarter of the price of Gingr or MoeGo.
See Salon planMobile groomer
GroomBoard Solo, $19/mo
Address capture on the booking page, a mobile first dashboard that runs in the van, a map of the day's stops with a suggested shorter driving order, and SMS reminders that cut the same day cancellations that wreck a route.
Software for mobile groomersHow to Choose Grooming Software
- 1
Price the whole bill, not the plan
Add SMS costs, per user charges and setup fees to the headline number. A $109/month platform with a $150/month SMS add on is a $259/month platform.
- 2
Match features to your actual size
Commission tracking, boarding modules and granular permissions are what make premium tools expensive. If you are one or two people, none of them apply.
- 3
Check the exit before the entrance
Confirm you can export clients and pets as CSV whenever you want. A platform you cannot export from is a platform you cannot leave.
- 4
Test with your real book
During the free trial, load a genuine week of appointments, multi pet households included, and send yourself a reminder. Demos hide the friction that daily use exposes.
Red flags, whatever you pick
- Long term contracts. Software that locks you in for a year is betting you will want to leave and cannot. Good software earns its keep monthly.
- “Contact us for pricing.” No public price means a sales call, a custom quote, and almost always a higher number.
- SMS sold separately. The most common way a cheap looking platform becomes an expensive one. Always ask for the all in monthly cost with texting.
- No self serve trial. A demo shows you what the vendor wants you to see. A week with your real book shows you the truth.
- Private equity ownership. Priorities shift from serving customers to maximizing revenue. Watch for price hikes and slower support after an acquisition.
Working out of a van? The mobile grooming software roundup ranks the options for route work. And for the cost question on its own, see what grooming software costs.
Booking, Scheduling or Appointment Software?
Three names, one category, and a difference that decides how much admin you do.
Dog grooming booking software
The half your clients touch. A public page where they pick a service, see real availability and book themselves, without texting you. This is the half that decides whether a client books you at 9pm or Googles someone else.
Dog grooming appointment software
The half you touch. The calendar, the double booking guard, the pet notes you read before the dog is on the table. Useful on its own, but on its own it only records the work you already booked by hand.
Dog grooming scheduling software
Usually a synonym for the second one. Some platforms use it for staff rostering instead, so it is worth asking which one a vendor means before you compare prices.
Most platforms sell all three under whichever name ranks, so the label tells you very little. Two questions tell you a lot. Is the booking half public, meaning can a client finish a booking without you? And do reminders go out on their own, or do you send them? A tool that answers no to both is a calendar with a subscription attached. GroomBoard does both from $9/month, with SMS reminders included rather than sold as an add on.
Grooming Salon Software for Two to Five Groomers
A salon is priced differently from a solo groomer, and the difference is the seat.
Most grooming salon software charges per groomer. Add a second groomer and the bill doubles, add texting and it climbs again, and a shop of four can pass $150 a month before a single reminder goes out. What a salon actually needs is one calendar per groomer, a booking page where the client picks who grooms her dog, reminders that go out on their own, and an owner view that rolls the whole team up. GroomBoard’s Salon plan does all of that for a flat $39 a month covering up to five groomers, with 600 texts included, and staff sign in to their own schedule without seeing the books.
Read the full breakdown in what a multi groomer salon needs from its software. If the salon already takes payments on Square, keep it: here is how GroomBoard and Square run side by side, including the plain answer that the two do not integrate.
Grooming Software FAQ
What is the best pet grooming software?
For independent groomers and salons up to five groomers, GroomBoard is the best value at $19/month (Solo) or $39/month (Salon) with SMS reminders included and no per message fees. MoeGo suits larger multi location operations at $49 to $149/month. Gingr fits boarding and daycare facilities at $109 to $179/month. Groomsoft runs $29.95 to $39.90/month but sells SMS in separate packs. The right answer depends on your team size and whether you need boarding features, most solo groomers overpay for capability they never use.
How much does grooming software cost?
Grooming software ranges from free to $350+/month. Free tiers (Goldie, OurPetGroomer) cover basic scheduling but exclude SMS reminders. Affordable platforms run $19 to $39/month. GroomBoard is $19 (Solo) and $39 (Salon) with SMS included. Premium platforms cost $105 to $350+/month: Gingr $109 to $179, MoeGo $49 to $149, PetExec around $105. The number that actually matters is the all in cost: most premium platforms charge $100 to $200/month extra for SMS reminders as an add on.
Is there free grooming software?
Yes. Goldie and OurPetGroomer both offer free tiers with basic scheduling and a simple client list. What they exclude is what costs you money: SMS reminders, online payments, and detailed pet profiles. Without automated reminders, expect a 10 to 15% no show rate versus 3 to 5% with them. For a groomer running 20+ regular clients at a $75 average ticket, that gap is $150 to $450 per month in lost revenue, far more than any $19/month subscription.
What software do dog groomers use?
The most common platforms are GroomBoard, MoeGo, Gingr, Groomsoft, PetExec, DaySmart Pet (formerly 123Pet), and Pawfinity. Solo and mobile groomers tend toward GroomBoard and MoeGo for their lower cost and mobile first design. Boarding and daycare facilities use Gingr or PetExec for kennel management. Many groomers still run on paper or Google Calendar and switch once they pass roughly ten regular clients.
Which pet grooming platforms avoid hidden costs and lengthy implementation?
The ones with no setup fee, no onboarding call, and a published text allowance: GroomBoard ($9 to $39 a month, 100 to 600 texts included, self serve setup in about 15 minutes), Groomsoft ($29.95 to $39.90, 100 texts then prepaid packs), and Goldie (free to $39.99, 500 credits on Pro). Gingr charges a one time setup fee and runs an onboarding program, PetExec publishes no pricing at all, and MoeGo publishes tier prices but caps texting so the entry plan rarely holds. Prices as published in August and September 2026. If a vendor will not put the number on the page, budget for a call before you learn it.
DaySmart Pet vs PetExec for pet grooming and boarding businesses: which is better?
DaySmart Pet publishes its prices and PetExec does not, which decides it for most small shops. DaySmart Pet runs $29 to $199 a month with 500 to 2,500 texts by tier and optional boarding and daycare calendars, as published in September 2026. PetExec is facility software for boarding and daycare with grooming attached, priced by quote, with directories listing around $105 a month. A shop that boards and wants payroll, inventory, and a published bill leans DaySmart Pet; a full kennel operation that wants package tracking and a customer portal leans PetExec. A grooming only business needs neither and pays $19 to $39 on GroomBoard.
What features does grooming software need to have?
Five features do the real work: an online booking page (clients will not text to book. They will Google someone else), automated SMS appointment reminders (the single biggest lever on no shows), client and pet profiles with breed, temperament and allergy notes, a visual calendar that prevents double booking, and integrated payments. Multi groomer calendars, commission tracking and boarding modules only matter if you actually run a team or a kennel.
What should pet business owners consider when comparing grooming software?
Compare the all in monthly cost rather than the headline price. SMS add ons, per user charges and setup fees are where budgets break. Then check three things: whether SMS reminders are included or metered, whether the platform charges per groomer or a flat team rate, and whether you can export your own client data as CSV at any time. A platform you cannot export from is a platform you cannot leave.
What is the best grooming software for a salon with multiple groomers?
A multi groomer salon needs a per groomer calendar, role based staff permissions, and reporting by groomer. GroomBoard's Salon plan covers up to five groomers for $39/month flat with SMS included, with groomer selection at online booking, commission tracking and a pay period payroll report with overtime built in. Gingr ($109 to $179/month) and MoeGo ($149/month at the Growth tier for 3+ staff) cost roughly three to four times as much for a 2 or 3 groomer salon. For 5+ groomers needing a direct payroll integration, Gingr or PetExec are the stronger fit.
Which grooming software is best for a home based groomer?
Home groomers need the same client facing polish as a storefront without paying for salon features. That means an online booking page, SMS reminders, pet profiles and payments, and not multi groomer calendars, commission tracking or boarding management. GroomBoard Solo at $19/month covers exactly that set. Your booking page shows your services and availability, never your home address, so you can stay a service area business while looking as credible as a commercial salon.
Do I need grooming software if I only groom a few dogs a day?
Once you have more than about ten regular clients, yes. Below that, a calendar works. Past it, the manual overhead compounds: without online booking you field 5 to 15 scheduling calls and DMs a day, and without SMS reminders your no show rate roughly triples. Groomers who move off spreadsheets typically report saving 3 to 5 hours a week on admin. The break even on a $19/month plan is preventing a single no show.
Is there dog grooming software compatible with Square?
GroomBoard does not integrate with Square. Payments run through Stripe: you connect your own Stripe account, and clients pay deposits or invoices through your booking page. Plenty of groomers run both anyway, taking online payments through the software and keeping a Square reader on the counter for walk ins, because the two never touch each other. The honest tradeoff is reporting: Square sales stay in Square and will not appear in your GroomBoard totals. If having every payment land in one ledger with Square as the processor is a hard requirement, GroomBoard is not the right fit and it is better to know that before the trial than after.
What is the difference between dog grooming booking software and dog grooming appointment software?
Booking software is the half your clients touch: a public page where they choose a service, see genuine availability and book themselves. Appointment software, often sold as scheduling software, is the half you touch: the calendar, the double booking guard and the pet notes. Most platforms include both, so the label a vendor picks mostly reflects which phrase ranks. What separates them in practice is whether the booking half is public and whether reminders send themselves. If a client cannot finish a booking without you, and you are still sending reminders by hand, you bought a calendar rather than grooming software.
Can I switch grooming software without losing my client data?
Yes, if your current platform exports CSV. Groomsoft, MoeGo, Gingr, DaySmart Pet and most others do. GroomBoard imports that CSV during the 7 day free trial, deduplicating clients by phone number and matching pets to owners automatically. Migration help is free and most groomers finish the move in under 30 minutes. Your clients see no disruption; you just share the new booking link.
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Try It on Your Own Book
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