Leaving Rover in the US, the UK and Germany: your reviews, your clients and what the terms actually say
Two questions come up from Rover sitters in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany who are thinking about going independent. Do my reviews come with me, and can I keep my clients?
The short answers are no, and only the clients you did not meet through Rover for as long as you are on the platform. What happens to that obligation once you close your account is the part Rover's published terms do not answer, and we have not found anyone who can point at a clause that does.
We run a competing product and benefit if you leave, so take nothing here on trust. Everything below is from Rover's own pages, with links, and here is exactly how we read them. The US, UK and German help centres we read live on 6 September 2026. Rover's own website blocks automated requests, so its Terms of Service (effective 17 August 2026), the "Bookings on Rover" page and the US privacy statement come from the Internet Archive's copies of 20 August, 17 July and 20 July 2026, read on 6 September 2026 — open the live pages yourself before relying on any of it, that effective date included. Our earlier post on Rover and Mad Paws in Australia covers that market.
First, the distinction that matters
"Leaving" means two things. One is closing your account and building elsewhere. The other is taking a client you met on Rover off Rover while you still use it. Nearly all the trouble sitters get into is the second, and the contract is written around it.
What the terms actually say
Rover's Terms of Service at rover.com/terms/tos are effective 17 August 2026 in the archived copy we read, and cover every localised version of the site. The UK and German addresses now forward to that same document; the last UK-specific version we could read, dated 30 May 2024, and the last German-language one, effective the same day, carry the same clauses. Check which version your own account shows.
Section 4.1 is the one that matters. You agree not to use Rover to arrange a service with another user and then complete the transaction outside Rover. There is no stated time limit and no exception for a client who asks. The same section bars using Rover to promote other products or services, so your own booking link does not belong in a Rover message or profile.
Section 4.2 lets Rover suspend or terminate access for a breach, at its discretion. The help centre is blunter: the UK article "Can Rover deactivate my account?" lists offline payments among the grounds and says merely inviting someone to pay outside Rover.com can lead to deactivation. The German article says the same.
The contract publishes no fee: section 9.4 says the service fee is a percentage of each booking and points to the help centre for the number, which can therefore change without the contract changing.
This is general information, not legal advice. The version you accepted is the one that binds you.
What happens if Rover decides you diverted a booking
Rover's Bookings on Rover page is plain: arranging a booking on Rover and completing it off Rover violates the terms and could cost you access. For sitters that means, in Rover's words, "you'll lose your reviews and star ratings" (Rover, Bookings on Rover, Internet Archive copy of 17 July 2026, read 6 September 2026). You usually get to appeal unless Rover decides the case warrants permanent deactivation; per the UK and US help centres, the appeal is a reply to the deactivation email re-agreeing to the policies and accepting that a further offence closes the account for good.
We looked for a case of Rover suing a sitter over off-platform bookings and found none. The realistic risk is your account, not a courtroom.
Why your reviews stay behind
The review was written by the owner, and section 7.2 has every user grant Rover a licence over what they post that the terms describe as irrevocable and perpetual. You were never in the chain.
Section 7.6 says Rover has no obligation to give you the content of reviews about you, before or after deactivation, may remove them at any time and need not store them indefinitely; section 7.5 makes backups your responsibility. The help centre describes one way to read your reviews — your public profile — and we found no export function in the US, UK or German help centres. The review policy also lets the owner who wrote a review ask for it to be deleted.
So take Rover at its word: screenshot every review with the date visible, and your profile page with its rating and repeat-client count. You cannot move a review, but you can keep a record of one.
What you can take
Your personal data, on request. UK residents have a subject access request under UK GDPR, and German residents the same right under the GDPR — Rover's German help centre routes it through the Datenschutz-Management-Center, tab "Datenrechte". Rover's US privacy statement (last updated 27 March 2025 in the archived copy we read) gives California residents a right to know the specific personal information collected about them, and says other states may have the same. Every route runs through Rover's Privacy Management Centre, under "Data rights". This gets you your data, not your reviews.
Your relationships, as a matter of fact. Section 2.4 says every transaction is between the owner and the provider, with Rover facilitating payment. That does not override section 4.1 and is no permission to solicit anyone. It does mean the trust you built is yours.
How to tell clients, the honest way
No clever wording turns a Rover client into your client while you keep using Rover. Do not look for one, and do not discuss it in Rover messages, which the UK help centre says can itself trigger deactivation. The clean routes are these.
- Finish every Rover booking on Rover — existing bookings and repeat requests from those owners, until the day you close the account.
- Build your direct book from people you did not meet on Rover. Neighbours, word of mouth, your vet's noticeboard, your own website. Rover's help centre encourages sitters to promote their business outside Rover.com, and nothing in the terms stops you running a separate channel for clients who came to you directly.
- If you leave, leave properly. The published terms state no post-termination period, and they do not say whether the section 4.1 obligation ends when your account does. We could not find an answer either way — and section 7.2's content licence, which the terms themselves call irrevocable and perpetual, shows the contract does contemplate obligations outliving the relationship. Treat it as unsettled rather than settled in your favour: read the version you accepted and, if the money justifies it, take advice. Deactivation is reversible by logging back in; data deletion, through the Privacy Management Centre, takes up to 30 days and is not.
The money
United States. Rover's fee article, edited 23 June 2026, says providers pay a 20% service fee and keep 80%, and owners pay an 11% booking fee on top. It states no cap on the owner fee, so check your own statements. Rover is also piloting tiered fees in the Seattle, Chicago and Dallas metro areas: a new client starts at 30% until your completed bookings with them reach 600 dollars, drops to 15% until 1,200 dollars, then 10% — automatic, no opt-out, training and grooming excluded. California prices differently again: the rate you enter is what you keep, and owners pay a 25% marketplace fee plus the 11% booking fee. A US sitter grossing 30,000 dollars a year pays 6,000 dollars at 20%.
United Kingdom. Rover's UK fee article, edited 15 April 2026, says sitters keep 85% of one-off bookings and 95% of weekly recurring care; that cut from 15% to 5% on recurring services appears in archived copies from mid-2025 onwards. Owners pay a 15% service fee capped at £49 per booking. A UK sitter turning over £20,000 pays £3,000 at 15% — £1,000 if it is all weekly walks.
Germany. Rover's German fee article, last edited 18 January 2024 and read on 6 September 2026, says sitters and dog walkers keep 85% of their earnings from each booking, so Rover keeps 15%. Owners pay a 15% service fee on top, no more than €49 per booking. One point that matters in Germany: if you are not registered for VAT, the same page says the service fee includes the VAT and Rover remits it; if you are registered, the fee is exclusive of VAT and you account for it yourself. A German sitter turning over €20,000 pays €3,000 at 15%.
Rover notes in all three countries that take-home rates vary by country and by when your profile was approved, and the UK "Is Rover free?" article says a signup fee may apply.
Us. A profile on The Pet Sitter is free, and the Free plan charges no commission: a profile, a booking link, and your client list imported up to the Free plan's 10 clients. Pro is €199/year + VAT at the founding rate for the first 100 Pro subscribers, locked while the subscription stays active, then €299/year + VAT. Billing is in euros wherever you are, because we are a Belgian company. Against 6,000 dollars, £3,000 or €3,000 a year that is not a close comparison, and on the Free plan it is a comparison against nothing at all. Every price we charge is on the pricing page, and the Rover comparison runs the numbers at your own volume.
What Rover sells for that percentage is real: demand, a guarantee with published terms, payment handling, round-the-clock support. If you need bookings you cannot generate yourself, stay — or run both.
A 30-day switch plan that respects the contract
Days 1 to 7: read and record. Read the terms you accepted, in full. Screenshot every review and your profile statistics. File a data access request. Split your client list into "met through Rover" and "did not".
Days 8 to 14: set up your own base. Create a free sitter profile — a name, an email, the city you work in and the terms tick, and your page and booking link work from that moment. Import your direct clients (Free plan: up to 10), then add services, rates, a cancellation policy and how you want to be paid: cash, bank transfer, PayPal, your own card link. The first-week guide walks you through it.
Days 15 to 23: run in parallel. Every Rover booking stays on Rover; your booking link goes to direct clients only. Ask them for a review after their first booking, and on Pro submit your Rover screenshots for verified import.
Days 24 to 30: decide with numbers. Compare the commission you paid this month with what direct bookings earned. Once your page has the essentials — headline, bio, photo, a priced service, your availability — request a review: a person on our team reads it, and approval makes the page eligible for search-engine indexing while your search-engine visibility setting is on. Then choose: keep both, or deactivate Rover once your last booking completes.
Where we fit
Sitters arriving from elsewhere can import their reviews on Pro: you submit a screenshot or a link, a human checks it, and the review appears on your profile with its source platform recorded. One verified import earns the badge "Verified on another platform" — a copy shown with attribution, which neither moves the original nor restores your Rover star rating. The verification and badges guide has the detail.
Be clear on the rest of the trade. We charge a flat annual subscription and take 0% of bookings. We started in Melbourne and now sell worldwide; owner-side search is coming soon and not open yet, so today we send you no enquiries at all. What works from the day you sign up is the software: a profile page and booking link your clients can use immediately, booking management, report cards and a client book that belongs to you. Pro adds invoicing, review import and no cap on clients. Judge us on that.