Best Software for Dog Walkers in 2026 (Canada and US)
The best software for dog walkers depends on one thing more than any feature list: how many walkers you have, now and next year. A one-person business can run well on almost any of the apps below. A team gets expensive fast on software that charges for every walker. BooknBuddy starts at $39.99 CAD (US$29.99) a month with every walker included, plans pickup routes on live traffic, and works the way Canadian clients pay. Here is how it compares with Time To Pet, Scout, Precise Petcare, PetPocketbook and Scritches, on prices checked November 7, 2026.
The short answer
| If you are | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Just starting, under 5 clients | Scritches | Its Starter plan is free for up to 5 clients, with invoices and report cards |
| Solo, every client pays by card in the app | Precise Petcare, Time To Pet Lite | $20 and $25 a month for one walker |
| Solo, clients pay by e-Transfer or cash | BooknBuddy | No fee on those payments, and e-Transfer is a built-in payment method |
| A team of walkers | BooknBuddy | The price does not go up for each walker you add, and pickup routes plan themselves |
| Walking plus daycare, boarding or grooming | BooknBuddy | Every service on one account and one plan |
What dog walking software costs in 2026
Prices below are as listed on each company's own pricing page on November 7, 2026. Only Precise Petcare names a currency (US dollars); the others show "$" without saying. Most charge for each active staff member, and they count staff differently, so treat the team columns as close estimates and check before you sign up.
| Software | One walker | Team of 3 | Team of 6 | Free trial | BooknBuddy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time To Pet | $25 (Lite) or $50 (Solo) | about $88 | about $136 | 14 days | From $39.99 CAD / US$29.99 at every size. 30-day trial, no card. |
| Scout | $33–39 | about $78–93 | about $123–147 | Yes, length not stated | |
| Precise Petcare | US$20 | US$45 | US$90 | 30 days | |
| PetPocketbook | $25 | $25 | $25 | 30 days | |
| Scritches | Free to 5 clients, then $20 | about $85 | about $121 | Free plan |
A few things the monthly price does not show:
- PetPocketbook has one price for any team size, but its pricing page says pet owners pay a 5% service fee on top of your prices when they pay through it, unless you choose to cover it.
- Time To Pet Team is $40 plus a charge for each active staff member ($72 for two on its pricing page). Its Facility plan for daycare and boarding is a separate $79 a month.
- Scout lists $33 and $39 for its plans with a monthly and an annual option, and $15 to $18 for each active staff member. A branded app is an extra $300 a month.
- BooknBuddy uses Flex Pricing: you start at $39.99 CAD a month with every feature. If most of a month's money goes through your connected Stripe or Square, you pay $39.99 plus a card fee on those payments (1.5% on the first $4,000, less after). If most of it comes in another way, the month is priced on your size, up to $199.99 CAD. Small shops stay at $39.99. Text messaging is a paid add-on. How Flex Pricing works.
Run next week's walks on the free trial
Thirty days, no credit card, every walker on the account.
Start Free TrialThe features that matter once you have walkers
GPS walk tracking, report cards with photos, a client portal and automatic invoicing are standard now. Every product above lists them. The differences show up when you are no longer the only walker:
| What to ask | Why it matters | BooknBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Does the price go up with each walker? | Part-timers and weekend cover cost you a full seat each month | No, every walker is included |
| Does it plan pickup routes? | A pack walk is a van run before it is a walk | Fastest pickup order by live traffic, then directions |
| Can I see every walker on one screen? | Moving a dog between walkers should be a drag, not a phone call | A walk board with a column per walker |
| Does payroll come from the walks? | Hand-counting dogs per walk every pay period is where mistakes happen | Pay per dog and per walk type, read off the board |
| Can it keep two dogs apart? | One bad pairing on a pack walk is one too many | Flag the pair once and the board warns before it saves |
| Can regulars prepay a weekly plan? | Prepaid weeks mean fewer invoices to chase | Per-walk price by walks a week, prepaid or billed after |
Pickup routes are the clearest gap. None of the other five mention pickup route planning on their pricing or dog walking pages. In BooknBuddy the walker taps Start run, and the app puts the pickups in the fastest order from where they are standing, tells the first owner they are on the way, and opens the run in their maps app. See the pack walk software page for the whole team setup.
For solo walkers
If it is just you, the cheapest card-only option is probably Precise Petcare or Time To Pet Lite, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise. BooknBuddy makes sense for a solo walker in three cases: your clients pay by e-Transfer or cash (there is no fee on those), you want a mileage log for your taxes (GPS trips, totals against CRA or IRS rates), or you plan to hire. When you add a second walker there is nothing to move and no new plan to buy. The dog walking app page shows the solo setup.
Is there free dog walking software?
One real free plan turned up in our check. Scritches' Starter plan is free for up to five clients, with invoicing and report cards. Time To Pet, Scout, Precise Petcare and PetPocketbook have free trials but no free plan. Other "free" listings we found in search results could not be confirmed on the vendor's own site, so we have left them out.
A free plan suits a brand-new walker with a handful of clients. Once you are past five clients, compare what each option costs at the size you will be in a year, not the size you are today.
Dog walking software in Canada
Most dog walking apps are priced in US dollars, and the ones we checked do not publish Canadian prices. Time To Pet's help pages confirm it takes payments for Canadian businesses through Stripe, without ACH or instant payouts. BooknBuddy is made in Calgary and billed in Canadian dollars. GST and HST are applied per line, e-Transfer is a built-in payment method, and invoices sync to Xero or QuickBooks with Canadian tax codes. The same applies to kennels and daycares, covered in the best kennel software in Canada.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best software for dog walkers?
It depends on your size. For a solo walker whose clients pay by card, Precise Petcare (US$20 a month) and Time To Pet Lite ($25) are the cheapest paid options. For a team, BooknBuddy usually costs less because the price does not rise with each walker, and it is the only one of those compared that plans pickup routes. Prices checked November 7, 2026.
Is there free dog walking software?
Scritches has a free Starter plan for up to five clients. Time To Pet, Scout, Precise Petcare, PetPocketbook and BooknBuddy offer free trials of 14 to 30 days but no free plan.
Is there a dog walking app made for Canada?
Yes. BooknBuddy is made in Calgary and billed in Canadian dollars, starting at $39.99 CAD a month. It applies GST and HST per line, takes e-Transfer as a built-in payment method, and syncs invoices to Xero or QuickBooks with Canadian tax codes.
How much does dog walking software cost?
For one walker, $20 to $50 a month on the plans compared here, and Scritches is free for up to five clients. For a team, most apps add $12 to $18 a month for each active staff member. BooknBuddy starts at $39.99 CAD (US$29.99) a month with every walker included.
Which dog walking software plans pickup routes?
BooknBuddy puts a walker's pickups in the fastest order using live drive times, tells the first owner the walker is on the way and opens the route in their maps app. Time To Pet, Scout, Precise Petcare, PetPocketbook and Scritches do not mention pickup route planning on their pricing or dog walking pages.
Do I pay more as I hire walkers?
On most dog walking software, yes: Time To Pet, Scout, Precise Petcare and Scritches all charge by active staff. PetPocketbook and BooknBuddy do not charge per walker.
The bottom line
If you will only ever walk on your own and every client pays by card, pick the cheapest app you like using. If you have walkers or plan to, price it at the team you will have next year, and ask every vendor whether it plans pickup routes. Thirty days is enough to run a real week through BooknBuddy.
Start your 30-day free trial
From $39.99 CAD a month after that. Every walker included, cancel any time.
Start Free TrialRelated reading
- Time To Pet vs BooknBuddy — prices and features side by side
- How to leave Rover and start your own pet care business — for walkers going independent
- Best kennel software in Canada — currency, GST/HST and e-Transfer
- BooknBuddy pet care business software — the full product