The Real Cost of Pet Sitting Platform Fees: A Comparison

If you are a pet sitter listed on one of the major platforms, you already know the sting of watching your earnings get shaved on every booking. But most sitters I talk to have never actually sat down and calculated the annual cost. When they do, the reaction is always the same: shock, followed by quiet anger.

I spent years as CTO of Pawshake, and later built ModerateKit, a trust and safety platform for online marketplaces. I have seen the fee structures from the inside. I know what platforms actually spend on the services they provide to sitters, and I know the gap between that cost and what they charge. This article lays it all out with real numbers.

The Major Platforms and Their Fee Structures

Let me break down what each platform currently charges as of late 2025.

Rover (Global)

Rover is the dominant player globally and operates in the US, Canada, the UK, and — following its acquisition of Mad Paws — Australia.

• Sitter commission: 20% of every booking
• Owner service fee: Rover documents an 11% booking fee on top of the sitter's listed rate, plus a marketplace fee on California bookings (Rover support documentation, re-checked 6 September 2026 — the US page states no cap on this fee). That is Rover's published US position — fees can vary by market
• Cancellation policy: Rover holds funds and releases to sitters 2 days after the booking starts

For a sitter charging $50/night for a 7-night booking ($350 total), Rover takes $70. At the documented 11%, the owner pays an additional $38.50 in service fees, bringing the total platform extraction from a single booking to $108.50. On a $350 booking.

Mad Paws (Australia — Now Rover)

Mad Paws was Australia's largest pet sitting marketplace before Rover acquired it in November 2025.

• Sitter commission: Mad Paws' own sitter help page publishes 15% of the Pet Service Fee (including GST) for sitters who joined before 29 June 2017, and 20% for everyone who joined after
• Owner booking fee: Owners pay a booking fee that scales with the length of the booking, but the rate is not published — owners only see it at checkout
• Impact: Approximately 70,000 sitters and 300,000 pet parents affected

For The Pet Sitter, the current offer is free software with no subscription or booking commission. Compare each provider’s charges alongside what it actually supplies: client discovery, payment processing, records, support and any stated protection are separate parts of the service.

Pawshake (Europe, Canada, Australia)

Pawshake operates across Europe, Canada, and Australia, with strongest presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK.

• Sitter commission: Approximately 15% (varies slightly by market)
• Owner service fee: Included in the sitter's commission (not charged separately)
• Payment timing: Funds released 48-72 hours after booking start

Pawshake's rate is lower than Rover's, but 15% of a full-time sitter's income is still substantial. And having been on the inside, I can tell you the platform's actual costs to service a booking — payment processing, hosting, support — are a fraction of that 15%.

Floofers (Australia)

Floofers is a smaller Australian platform that has positioned itself as a lower-cost alternative.

• Sitter commission: 10%
• Owner service fee: Minimal or none
• Market: Primarily Australia, much smaller user base

10% is better than 20%, but the model is the same. The more you earn, the more you pay. And smaller platforms face constant pressure to raise rates as they try to become profitable.

The Pet Sitter (Global — marketplace coming soon)

Full disclosure: this is our platform. But I include it because the model is fundamentally different.

• Sitter commission: 0%
• Software fee: Free, with no subscription or paid tier
• Owner fees: Free for pet owners
• Payments: Owners pay sitters directly. The Pet Sitter does not process or take a fee from that payment; the sitter’s own payment provider may charge fees.

The Annual Cost Comparison

These examples assume identical booking revenue and deduct only sitter-side platform fees. Taxes, business costs and any independently chosen payment-provider fees are excluded. They do not predict how many bookings a platform will generate.

Part-Time Sitter: $2,000/month ($24,000/year)

At $24,000 in annual bookings, a 20% commission costs $4,800. With no platform fee, The Pet Sitter leaves that $4,800 with the sitter, before other costs.

Full-Time Sitter: $3,000/month ($36,000/year)

At full-time income, a sitter on Rover loses $7,200 per year in commission. That number should sit with you. Over five years on the platform, that is $36,000 in fees paid for the privilege of being listed in search results and having your messages routed through a branded inbox.

Professional Sitter: $5,000/month ($60,000/year)

At $60,000 in annual bookings, the platform-fee difference is $12,000. This compares identical revenue before taxes and other costs; switching tools alone does not guarantee that revenue.

The Hidden Costs You Do Not See

Commission percentages are only part of the story. Having worked inside a pet sitting marketplace, I can tell you about costs that are not on any pricing page.

Float Income

When a pet owner pays for a booking, the platform holds that money. On Rover, funds are released to sitters 2 days after the booking starts. On Pawshake, it was typically 48-72 hours after booking commencement.

During that holding period, the platform earns interest on the float — the aggregate of all held funds across all active bookings. For a platform processing millions in monthly bookings, the float can generate significant passive income. At Pawshake, we were holding tens of thousands of euros on any given day. Across the industry, platforms with larger booking volumes hold millions.

This is not illegal, and it is standard practice in payment processing. But it is revenue the platform earns from your money, on top of the commission they already took from your booking.

Pricing Pressure

Commission-based platforms create invisible pricing pressure on sitters. When a pet owner sees your rate of $50/night and then gets charged an additional $4-6 in service fees at checkout, their perception of value shifts. Some owners filter by price, meaning sitters feel pressure to lower their rates to stay competitive — but every dollar they lower their rate, the platform still takes its 20%.

I saw this at Pawshake. Sitters in competitive markets would undercut each other on price, but the platform's commission was calculated on the already-depressed rates. The race to the bottom benefited the platform (more bookings, same percentage) but compressed sitter margins.

Anti-Circumvention Systems

This is the part that always bothered me most.

Pet sitting platforms invest significant engineering resources in preventing sitters and owners from connecting outside the platform. At Pawshake, we built systems to detect phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles in messages. We flagged accounts that showed patterns suggesting off-platform bookings.

From the platform's perspective, this is rational — you are protecting your revenue. But from the sitter's perspective, you are being surveilled and restricted in how you communicate with people who are coming to your home to leave their pets. The platform is inserting itself as a permanent intermediary in what is fundamentally a personal, trust-based relationship.

Every dollar spent on anti-circumvention is a dollar that could have been spent on features that actually help sitters — better calendar tools, tax reporting, insurance options, marketing support.

Free Software and Commission Costs

A commission grows with every booking. A paid software subscription is a fixed business expense. The Pet Sitter now removes both charges: the software is free, with no commission.

Compare what each option actually provides. A marketplace may bring you new clients or offer payment handling and protection under its terms. The Pet Sitter supplies tools for your own client relationships and shared booking links; public owner search is not open.

Free software does not remove the costs of running a pet-care business. Budget for insurance, taxes, equipment and any provider you choose to collect payments.

What This Means For You

If you are a pet sitter currently on Rover, Mad Paws, Pawshake, or any other commission-based platform, I would encourage you to do one thing: open a spreadsheet and calculate your annual commission payments. Look at the number. Ask yourself what you got for it.

Then consider what you could do with that money if you kept it.

The Pet Sitter is accepting sitter registrations worldwide. Wherever you sit, you can sign up today, keep 100% of what you earn, and run the whole business from one place. Public owner search is coming soon; what works today is your profile page and booking link, which you share yourself.

Choose based on the tools and services you need, and calculate fees using your own bookings. The Pet Sitter has no subscription or commission to deduct.