Cat in a Flat spent a decade as an independent, cats-only platform with a flat booking fee for owners. Its sitters moved onto Rover at the end of March 2026 and now pay Rover's commission. The Pet Sitter is free for sitters and owners, with no subscription, booking commission or client limit.
| Metric | The Pet Sitter | Cat in a Flat |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue model | Free — no subscription or commission | Rover's 20% commission, plus an 11% owner fee |
| Sitter cost structure | Free — no subscription or commission | Scales with your revenue |
| Ownership | Independent | Acquired by Rover 2024, sitters migrated 2026 |
| Markets | Worldwide — sitters in any country | UK and Europe — not Australia |
Commission marketplaces generate revenue by taking a percentage of each transaction processed through the platform. The model aligns platform revenue with transaction volume — the more bookings that flow through, the more the platform earns. What Cat in a Flat shows is what happens to that percentage when the company collecting it changes.
Commission models lower the barrier to entry — you pay nothing until you earn — which helps a young marketplace build liquidity quickly. They also make a specialist marketplace an attractive acquisition: a trusted niche brand with a loyal owner base can be folded into a larger network while keeping the front door owners already recognise.
Cat in a Flat was founded in London in 2014 by Julie Barnes and Kathrin Burckhardt, and it did one thing deliberately well: cats, in the owner's own home, with sitters who chose cats on purpose. That focus is genuinely valuable, and it is why the brand still has a following. Rover announced its acquisition on 31 October 2024, citing more than 50,000 care providers and two million visits across nine countries. At the end of March 2026 — seventeen months later — Cat in a Flat's sitters were migrated onto Rover and began paying Rover's rates: the standard 20% sitter commission, with an 11% booking fee charged to the owner on top. Rover's fees do vary by market — the UK and Europe have run a 15% sitter fee, dropping to 5% for recurring weekly care — but 20% and 11% are the broadest standard rates, and they are the figures used throughout this page. The Cat in a Flat brand continues as a cats-only booking front end for owners, powered by Rover. It is still a live place to book a cat sitter. What changed is who sets the terms.
The booking examples are in Australian dollars; Cat in a Flat bookings are billed in pounds and euros. The model uses Rover’s broad standard rates of 20% sitter commission and an 11% owner booking fee. Regional exceptions are explained below. The Pet Sitter is free.
The Pet Sitter has no subscription cost or booking commission, so there is no paid-plan break-even threshold. Your own business expenses, taxes and any external payment-provider fees still apply.
At the modelled 20% rate, annual commission is A$1,920. The Pet Sitter charges no commission or subscription; your business costs, taxes and external payment fees are separate.
At the modelled 20% rate, annual commission is A$4,800. The Pet Sitter charges no commission or subscription; your business costs, taxes and external payment fees are separate.
At the modelled 20% rate, annual commission is A$9,600. The Pet Sitter charges no commission or subscription; your business costs, taxes and external payment fees are separate.
New and repeat bookings carry no The Pet Sitter fee. Your revenue does not change the software price: it stays free. This comparison covers platform fees, not your total business profit.
Estimate your annual platform costs based on your monthly booking revenue.
Annual platform cost on Cat in a Flat
€2,880
20% commission on your booking revenue
Annual cost on The Pet Sitter
€0+ VAT
Free software, no commission
Estimated annual fee savings with The Pet Sitter
€2,880
Based on fee difference only
Cat in a Flat figures are converted from their published price at an approximate rate, for comparison only. The Pet Sitter price shown here is the amount Checkout charges in euros (EUR).
| Annual gross booking revenue | €14,400 |
|---|---|
| Estimated net on Cat in a Flat | €11,520 |
| Estimated net on The Pet Sitter | €14,400 |
Cat in a Flat used to charge pet owners a flat booking fee of about £1.50. Since its sitters moved onto Rover at the end of March 2026, bookings carry Rover's owner booking fee instead — documented at 11% as Rover's standard rate, and at 15% capped at £49 in the UK. A flat fee became a percentage; only the size of the percentage depends on where you are.
The Pet Sitter charges neither side of a booking.
Structural differences between the two business models.
Percentage of each transaction (Rover's standard 20%)
Free — no subscription or commission
Your booking revenue
Free — no subscription or commission
Rover, since the March 2026 migration
Independent, sitter-focused
11% booking fee at checkout
None — owners pay nothing to book
Overnight stays and drop-in visits booked separately; pricing per cat
Sitter defines their own services and rates
Cash payment and off-platform communication prohibited
Card, bank transfer or cash — the sitter decides
Cats only
All pets, six bookable service types
UK and Europe
Worldwide — the software sells globally
Transaction volume
Revenue scales with the number and value of bookings processed, so the platform is incentivised to maximise throughput through its own payment rails.
Payment intermediation
Since the migration, cash payment and off-platform communication are not permitted on these bookings. A percentage model has to stay in the payment flow to collect its percentage.
Group-level economics
Once a specialist platform sits inside a larger group, its fees and product rules are set at group level. Local and niche priorities compete with the parent company's.
Organise your work
Keep bookings, client details, care updates and invoices together. The tools are free, and you decide whether they fit your day-to-day work.
Direct client relationships
Set your own rates and share your booking link with the clients you bring. You manage the relationship directly; a profile does not guarantee new bookings.
Room for your client list
Add clients without a paid tier or client-count cap. Import client records by CSV; historical bookings, invoices and payment credentials do not transfer.
You set your care prices and receive payments directly. The Pet Sitter deducts no commission and charges no software subscription; your business expenses, taxes and external provider fees are separate.
Neither model is universally better, and for most readers of this page it is not a live choice: Cat in a Flat operates in the UK and Europe, not Australia. What follows is about which model fits the business you are building.
Cat in a Flat is where a great many cat owners in those markets start looking, and it is the only one of the two platforms that operates there at all.
Bookings now sit inside the Rover network and are covered by the Rover Guarantee, which contributes up to £25,000 or €25,000 toward vet care on eligible claims. That is real, and a young platform cannot match the demand-side scale behind it.
An established marketplace may help you reach owners when you do not yet have your own clients. Weigh that access and its terms against its fees; The Pet Sitter is free at every booking volume.
The Pet Sitter has no subscription cost or booking commission, so there is no paid-plan break-even threshold. Your own business expenses, taxes and any external payment-provider fees still apply.
New and repeat bookings carry no The Pet Sitter fee. Your revenue does not change the software price: it stays free. This comparison covers platform fees, not your total business profit.
Set your own rates and share your booking link with the clients you bring. You manage the relationship directly; a profile does not guarantee new bookings.
The Pet Sitter has no subscription cost or booking commission, so there is no paid-plan break-even threshold. Your own business expenses, taxes and any external payment-provider fees still apply.
Your profile, booking link, date-range bookings, messaging, report cards, unlimited client records and CSV client import are free. Share your profile and booking link with your own clients from day one. Owner-side search, team and facility workflows are on the roadmap.
Cat in a Flat operates in the UK and Europe. The Pet Sitter is available worldwide and is free. This comparison is most relevant where both products are available to you.
What we are building is infrastructure for professional sitters who want to own their business economics: predictable costs, direct client relationships, and a fee that does not grow because you did. If that is where you are heading, we would like to build it with you.
Rover announced its acquisition of Cat in a Flat on 31 October 2024, citing more than 50,000 care providers and two million visits across nine countries. Cat in a Flat's sitters were then migrated onto Rover at the end of March 2026 and now work under Rover's fees and rules. The brand itself continues as a cats-only booking front end for owners, powered by Rover — it is still a live place to book a cat sitter.
Rover's standard published rates: 20% of the booking from the sitter, with an 11% booking fee charged to the owner on top. Those fees do vary by market, which is the next question. Older sitter-fee figures still visible on some undated help pages predate the migration and no longer describe what sitters pay — check the current Rover fee page for your country rather than trusting a number without a date on it.
Yes. The rates used on this page — a 20% sitter commission and an 11% owner booking fee — are the broadest standard ones. The UK and Europe have run a 15% sitter fee, dropping to 5% for recurring weekly care, and California is a 25% marketplace fee plus the 11% booking fee. Rover is also piloting a tier that varies with how much a client has booked with you: 30% under US$599, 15% from US$600 to US$1,199, and 10% at US$1,200 or more — so a new client relationship starts at 30%, above the flat 20%. That pilot runs in a handful of US cities, with a Canadian variant at lower thresholds; it is not a national rollout. Check Rover's current fee page for the country you sit in.
The booking fee. Owners used to pay a flat fee of about £1.50 (€1.90 in Europe) per booking; they now pay a percentage instead — Rover's 11% booking fee as standard, and in the UK and Europe a 15% service fee capped at £49 or €49. Bookings are covered by the Rover Guarantee, which contributes up to £25,000 or €25,000 toward vet care on eligible claims. Practically, overnight stays and drop-in visits are booked separately now, pricing is per cat, and cash payment is not permitted.
This is sentiment rather than fact, and the volume is modest — a handful of public posts, not a survey. In a TrustedHousesitters community thread titled "Private equity ruined my cat-sitting side hustle", and in scattered comments elsewhere, the complaints cluster more on the new booking experience than on the fee percentage itself; the most repeated one is losing the ability to offer several drop-in visits in a single day. Rover's own sitter help pages acknowledge the reaction: "We hear your frustration and we're listening." Read it as an anecdote worth knowing, not a verdict.
Cat in a Flat operates in the UK and Europe. The Pet Sitter is available worldwide and is free. This comparison is most relevant where both products are available to you.
Yes, where both are available to you. Many professional sitters list on several platforms while building their client base, and there are no exclusivity requirements on our side. Note that off-platform communication is not permitted on bookings that originate inside the Rover network.
The Pet Sitter is free for sitters and owners, with no subscription, booking commission or client limit.
Your tools. Your clients. Your business.