9 Best Apps for Pet Sitters in 2024

What it is: One of the most popular apps, Rover is the first place most people start their pet sitting careers. In addition to pet sitting, you can also get dog walking gigs.

Rover seems to be a good place to operate a steady pet sitting side hustle. Lainie Bolinger, a pet sitter on Rover, told us that repeat clients make up a whopping 80% of her bookings. That said, competition is high for newbies.

One anonymous Rover sitter told us that the platform is good for those who want to make money from home (rather than trek to owners’ houses). She does dog boarding exclusively from her house, an option she says isn’t always available on other platforms.

Types of pets: Dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and more. The only pets prohibited on the platform are venomous snakes and horses.

Payments: Payments are processed through Stripe and are deposited into your bank account within 2–5 business days.

Meet and greets: Rover offers the option to do meet and greets before you accept a booking request, giving you plenty of control over who you work for.

Insurance: Every Rover gig is backed by the Rover Guarantee, which includes up to $25,000 in coverage for vet care (after $250 is spent) and coverage for property damage you cause. However, there’s no coverage in the event that you get injured.

What it is: Originally a dog walking app, Wag! has expanded to include dog sitting, cat sitting, and dog boarding services. Both Wag! and Rover have extensive application processes for caregivers, so be prepared to fill out a thorough application, submit to a background check, and even pass a pet care quiz.

Wag! claims dog sitters on their site can make up to $500/month by just sitting 3 times per week. 1 However, Wag! user Elizabeth Perez told us that the app gives first dibs on bookings to premium users who pay for Wag! Pro. This means Wag! is better for serious pet sitters than those who just want the occasional gig.

Types of pets: Dogs, cats, birds, fish, aquatic pets, hamsters and other small mammals, amphibians, lizards, and snakes. Poisonous and venomous animals are prohibited.

Payments: Payments are processed through Stripe and are deposited into your bank account every Friday for the previous week, though you can also get paid immediately with Instant Pay.

Meet and greets: Wag! doesn’t offer the option to do meet and greets until after you’ve already booked a gig. While you can informally meet clients beforehand, you’ll be penalized if you then decide to cancel.

Insurance: Wag! has a claims policy that may cover certain veterinary expenses or property damage you cause. However, there is no protection in the event that you’re injured.

What it is: If you’re a bona fide cat person, consider pet sitting through Meowtel, where you can access cat-only sitting gigs. Meowtel doesn’t mess around when it comes to cats, so prepare for a tough application process. The company claims to only accept 10% of applicants, but thankfully they offer a guide to submitting the “purrfect” application. 2

A huge pro for Meowtel is that they’re very transparent about their fee structure and offer some flexibility. Commission fees are tier-based and range from 15%–30%, determined by how often you cat sit for that particular client. 3

Types of pets: Cats only.

Payments: You’ll get paid via Venmo or PayPal. Payments are processed within 48 hours for short bookings, and they’re processed once per week for reservations lasting multiple weeks.

Meet and greets: You have the option to attend a 15–30 minute meet and greet before you commit to a gig.

Insurance: Every reservation at a rate of $20 or more per visit automatically qualifies for Meowtel’s cat sitting insurance, which covers the injury, death, theft, or disappearance of a cat in your care as well as any property damage or theft.

What it is: A hidden gem among pet sitting services, Holidog allows you to sign up as a walker, sitter, or boarder. Best of all, they don’t take a commission, so everything you earn will be yours to take home. The downside of a service without a commission structure is that it doesn’t come with the same built-in resources—like training, insurance, and payment processing—that other services offer.

Types of pets: Dogs and cats.

Payments: You and the client work out all the payment details yourself, so there’s no guarantee in terms of when, how, or what you’ll be paid.

Meet and greets: You have the option to meet a client before accepting their booking request.

Insurance: There’s no complimentary insurance, but clients can opt into Holidog’s own insurance program, Holivet guarantee, when they book sitters.

What it is: Another option for pet sitters who don’t want to pay commissions or service fees, PetSitter.com is an international pet sitting site with a presence in the US, UK, and Canada.

The service offers sitting, boarding, grooming, walking, and training, so you have plenty of opportunities to flex your range if you have more to offer than pet sitting alone. One feature that makes PetSitter stand out is that it’s one of the only pet sitting platforms open to teens under 18 years old.

While the service doesn’t charge a commission, this means it lacks certain resources and protections, leaving you to manage your payments independently.

Types of pets: Dogs, cats, birds, small mammals, exotic pets, reptiles, fish, farm animals, and horses.

Payments: You and the client work out all the payment details yourself, so there’s no guarantee in terms of when, how, or what you’ll be paid.

Meet and greets: You have full freedom to vet clients before accepting a gig. PetSitter.com even offers a secure calling system, TeleSafe, which allows you to call potential clients to discuss job details while hiding your phone number.

Insurance: The site offers no included insurance coverage.

What it is: With a foothold in 50 countries, PetBacker is a great international platform for pet sitting. Services seem to start at $20/visit, but likely vary based on location, time, and circumstance.

PetBacker charges standard commission fees on a sliding scale from 15% to 25%. When you first start out, you’ll owe 25% of your earnings to PetBacker, but that rate will drop as you establish yourself as a pet sitter.

Types of pets: All types of pets.

Payments: Payments are processed via PayPal within 2–7 days after job completion.

Meet and greets: You can discuss job details through the app, but you can’t meet clients or share contact information until the booking is confirmed.

Insurance: All bookings are automatically enrolled in PetBacker’s Premium Protection program, which covers you in the event that a pet in your care is injured or causes damage to a third party.

What it is: Similar to Care, Sittercity is a broad-range care-providing platform that hooks up different caregivers (pet sitters, nannies, tutors, etc.) with people in need of those services.

Signing up for Sittercity as a caregiver is free, though they also offer a featured sitter subscription plan. The paid plan costs $14.99 per month, but it allegedly makes you 4x more likely to land a job. 4

Teresa Cortes, who uses the platform to find pet sitting and childcare jobs, told us that the featured sitter plan makes a huge difference when you’re first starting out because of the high competition among existing sitters. This suggests that Sittercity may be best for people who are willing to invest in starting up a serious pet sitting side hustle.

Types of pets: All types of pets.

Payments: You and the client work out all the payment details yourself, so there’s no guarantee in terms of when, how, or what you’ll be paid.

Meet and greets: You have full freedom to meet clients before accepting a job.

Insurance: The platform offers no included insurance coverage.

What it is: TrustedHousesitters is a house sitting platform rather than a pet sitting platform, which makes it different from the other platforms on this list in one key way: You won’t get paid for pet sitting. Instead, what you’ll get in return is a place to stay for the duration of the owner’s vacation.

There are also other key differences with house sitting. For example, you’ll need to perform basic housekeeping tasks. There’s also just one type of sit you can do: overnight pet sitting. This means no option to just do drop-in visits or look after pets in your own home.

While this isn’t a good way to make money, it’s a great way to travel on the cheap, have a temporary home while you’re relocating, or meet pet owners in your community. Madolline Gourley, one TrustedHousesitter user we spoke to, pointed out that the annual fee is equivalent to just a couple of nights in a hotel, so the cost is worth it if you’re a frequent traveler.

Types of pets: All types of pets.

Payments: You won’t get paid for pet sitting through TrustedHousesitters.

Meet and greets: You have full freedom to meet clients before committing to a booking.

Insurance: Basic membership plans come with no insurance. However, standard and premium memberships come with accident and third-party liability coverage, which protects you up to $1,000,000 per incident in the event that a pet causes damage or injury to another person, their property, or their pets while under your care.

What it is: A one-stop-shop caregiver service, Care links up those in need (parents, the elderly, pet owners, and more) with qualified caregivers. Pet sitting is among their many services, connecting pet sitters with pet owners looking for someone to step in while they’re away.

Care is another hands-off platform where there are no commission fees, but this comes at the cost of limited support. Ryan S., a decade-long use of the Care.com platform, told us that you’ll get the advantage of access to often hundreds or thousands of jobs, but the downside is that you need to put a lot of effort into protecting yourself from scams or high-risk clients.

Types of pets: All types of pets.

Payments: You and the client work out all the payment details yourself, so there’s no guarantee in terms of when, how, or what you’ll be paid.

Meet and greets: You have full freedom to meet clients before accepting a job.

Insurance: The platform offers no included insurance coverage.